New to

[Goldenheart]

New to a fib. My cardio gave me a presumed diagnosis of coronary spasm, based on symptoms similar to a fib. An episode was caught via alive cor, confirming a fib. I could have eithet,kr both apparently. Could anyone,please,tell me if with a fib,theyve had chest pain that intense it feels like stabbing pains,or very painful .

[Buffafly]

I've had chest pain during an AF episode but more like intense squeezing inside. It was diagnosed as a spasm because a clot didn't show up on angiogram.

[Goldenheart in reply to Buffafly]

Thanks for replying, does that mean you have a clot,im worried that s maybe me too.

[Buffafly in reply to Goldenheart]

No, the angiogram would have found it. You would have other symptoms if you had a clot blocking an artery. If you have dizziness, nausea, cold sweat and breathlessness as well as the pain you need to go A&E/ER. If you feel ok don't worry.

[Goldenheart in reply to Buffafly]

Sorry i misunderstood you, ive had a heart scan which showed no blockages, so that,and my symptoms,led to my spasm diagnosis,but since, a fibs been captured on my alive cor.from what your saying,sounds like there coukd be a connection between a fib,and coronary spasm.

[Buffafly in reply to Goldenheart]

I have to say it wasn't explained to me at all but as I had a long episode of fast AF/Flutter when the pain happened and the comment on my discharge note was 'possible artery spasm' it seems there was a connection. I had all the symptoms of MI (heart attack) including rising T levels which is why I had the angiogram.

[Goldenheart in reply to Buffafly]

So baffling, i wonder if a fib triggers the spasm,or vice versa. On the basis that my cardio told me theres no cure for coronary spasm,which causes variant angina,and to avoid the triggers,if a fibs a trigger,and thats controlled, hopefully the spasms will stop.

[Tapanac]

My old cardiologist many years ago when I started odd heart happenings also diagnosed coronary spasms and also syndrome X. Years later I have Afib. You will be fine. All the best

[Goldenheart in reply to Tapanac]

Thankyou for your kind words, at the moment im trying to be positive,but im frightened to even leave home some days as my symptoms make me feel faint and very lightheaded. The long wait between cardio appts doesent help.

[Hidden]

Not sure what you have or your age or anything, but you might want to watch your sugar intake and make sure to keep hydrated. Here is what I found about them:

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After 9 years of trying different foods and logging EVERYTHING I ate, I found sugar (and to a lesser degree, salt – i.e. dehydration) was triggering my Afib. Doctors don't want to hear this - there is no money in telling patients to eat less sugar. Each person has a different sugar threshold - and it changes as you get older, so you need to count every gram of sugar you eat every day (including natural sugars in fruits, etc.). My tolerance level was 190 grams of sugar per day 8 years ago, 85 grams a year and a half ago, and 60 grams today, so AFIB episodes are more frequent and last longer. If you keep your intake of sugar below your threshold level your AFIB will not happen again (easier said than done of course). It's not the food - it's the sugar (or salt - see below) IN the food that's causing your problems. Try it and you will see - should only take you 1 or 2 months of trial-and-error to find your threshold level. And for the record - ALL sugars are treated the same (honey, refined, agave, natural sugars in fruits, etc.). I successfully triggered AFIB by eating a bunch of plums and peaches one day just to test it out. In addition, I have noticed that moderate exercise (7-mile bike ride or 5-mile hike in the park) often puts my Afib heart back in to normal rhythm a couple hours later. Don’t know why – perhaps you burn off the excess sugars in your blood/muscles or sweat out excess salt??

Also, in addition to sugar, if you are dehydrated - this will trigger AFIB as well. It seems (but I have no proof of this) that a little uptick of salt in your blood is being treated the same as an uptick of sugar - both cause AFIB episodes. (I’m not a doctor – it may be the sugar in your muscles/organs and not in your blood, don’t know). In any case you have to keep hydrated, and not eat too much salt. The root problem is that our bodies are not processing sugar/salt properly and no doctor knows why, but the AFIB seems to be a symptom of this and not the primary problem, but medicine is not advanced enough to know the core reason that causes AFIB at this time. You can have a healthy heart and still have Afib – something inside us is triggering it when we eat too much sugar or get (even a little) dehydrated. Find out the core reason for this and you will be a millionaire and make the cover of Time Magazine! Good luck! - Rick Hyer

[Goldenheart]

Hi, and thankyou for your reply. Interesting, but i eat very limited sugar, just a cube with tea and coffee. I cut out all sweet things a couple of years ago. Thanks for trying to help though, much appreciated.