Palpitations

[Cadgie]

Just found out I have SVT and AF , getting loads of irregular heartbeats but can’t see cardiologist until 13 th August , I’m a bit worried as I go to spain on Tuesday

[Shcldavies]

Make sure you have the right "pre condition" health insurance for your holiday. If you have AF make sure you take a anticoagulant - IF YOU DO NOT SPEAK TO YOUR DR.

These are essential precautions, other than that I hope you remain SVT and AF free to enjoy your holiday.

[Cadgie in reply to Shcldavies]

They havnt given me the anti coaģulant as my blood pressure is really good , my gp suggested I up my bisoprolol by 1.5mģ . I already take 5mgs also 50mg of flecinide twice daily my heart rate when sleeping is 46 I'm worried it will go lower, just fed up now these irregular beats are lasting most of the day now

[Cadgie in reply to Shcldavies]

They havnt given me the anti coaģulant as my blood pressure is really good , my gp suggested I up my bisoprolol by 1.5mģ . I already take 5mgs also 50mg of flecinide twice daily my heart rate when sleeping is 46 I'm worried it will go lower, just fed up now these irregular beats are lasting most of the day now

Reply

[Shcldavies in reply to Cadgie]

Yes I sympathise, it sounds similar to what I went through, though I have to say that an increased dose of Bisoprolol made my condition morph into Aflutter, when I then took Flec everything was good for 4 months then I had a serious bout of Aflutter which the Docs said was due to the Flec. After my ablation in Feb 19 I have been OK (slow recovery though and some hiccups in the first 2 weeks) and only on 1.5 of Biso (hope to get off it in September when I next see Cardiologist), just come back from a near "normal" holiday in France.

When I was going through the phase like your going through now, many things triggered my condition such as alcohol, walking up Hil, spicy food, eating too much etc etc. I found magnesium (not Oxide) supplements and potassium rich food helped as well as plenty of rest.

May be worth noting that my Doc reduced my Biso when my HR went into the 40s during sleep! On the other hand high BP can be the trigger/cause of your condition so I would only advise to speak to your Doc regarding your holiday to see what advise is available.

[Cadgie in reply to Shcldavies]

Thankyou I did talk to my doctor that's when he decided to up my bisoprolol from 5mg to 6.5mg he knows my heart rate is 50 when resting and 46 when sleeping but he said that was fine , just worried it could go even lower , but these episodes are really frightening

[Shcldavies in reply to Cadgie]

That's good, Doc knows best. I was given some room to prescribe myself after my ablation but as my HR was in the 40s I reduced the Biso and it worked. The Doc must by more interested in your SVT than your AF, that's good as some SVTs can be caused by electrolyte imbalance, then if this is corrected, the medication can reduce and even stop. It's a bit late for your holiday (as it takes weeks/months) but I would try increasing my magnesium, iron and potassium intake (I presume you have enough calcium as nearly all of us do). Other things I found beneficial (though I don't know why) is to leave at least 12 hours after your last meal of the day before eating anything and drink a glass of water very first thing in the morning.

There are times that a low HR can cause ectopics and these in turn can start SVT, it very difficult getting the medication right and a lot of trial and error involved but you will get there in the end. I have had SVT for 24 years so I have done a lot of trial and error, thankfully the ablation appears to have fixed it for now at least.

[Cadgie in reply to Shcldavies]

Thankyou so very much for your kind response to my dilemma it’s put my mind at rest until I see my cardiologist , will just try and enjoy the holiday

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Try watching your sugar intake. Here is what I found:

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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