Going downhill!

[123Abc123]

Two years ago, I was given 50mg Atenolol to take daily. This worked for a few months but then I started feeling my heartbeat so Atenolol was increased to 100mg a day. This made me tired but I rarely felt a fast heartbeat. Recently I changed from Warfarin to Apixaban which made me even more tired - the pharmacist said this should wear off but it hasn’t. To make matters worse, for the past week or so, meals have taken hours to digest which has made my heart beat fast esp. at night and that makes me need the loo 3 or 4 times making it difficult to sleep so I’m even more tired! Has anyone ‘grown out of’ Atenolol or found that Apixaban has affected Atenolol?

[CDreamer]

So sorry you are feeling so bad but unfortunately the symptoms you describe are also from the AF itself.

When did you last see your specialist? Maybe it is time for a review of your treatment options?

[123Abc123 in reply to CDreamer]

I think you might be right🙁

[barbara2]

Sorry but I can only speak to Apixaban which I found to be a life saver. It was SO MUCH easier than Warfarin...no blood work, no food concerns, and no side effects. So sorry you aren't feeling well. Have you considered an ablation? I did, and am so thankful for the time I've had without afib.

[123Abc123 in reply to barbara2]

Yes, Apixaban is so much easier than Warfarin. I looked into ablation a year ago but at that point the Warfarin and Atenolol were working well (apart from general tiredness) so it didn’t seem sensible to mess about with something that might not work- also the consultant went through all of the things that might go wrong which scared me a bit!!! I’m going to have to go back to my GP I think.

[barbara2 in reply to 123Abc123]

If my recollection is correct, the longer one waits to have an abalation, the harder it could be to correct the issue. In my case, my symptoms became more and more severe over 8 months after it started, so I scheduled an abalation, and knock on wood, I've been blessed with total relief since that time. I know it could come back, but am so thankful for 3 years without afib.

[123Abc123 in reply to barbara2]

Mmm something to think about too. Thanks.

[Hidden]

Don't know about those meds, but you might try this to decrease Afib, and also to decrease the severity of your Afib episodes:

---------------------------------

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

PS – there is a study backing up this data you can view at:

Cardiab.biomedcentral.com/articles/10.1186/1475-2840-7-28

[123Abc123 in reply to Hidden]

Thanks, I’ll play with this idea. Have you managed to cut out any of your medication?

[Hidden in reply to 123Abc123]

I only take verapamil, which slows the heart down, plus a baby aspirin a day. You will find that keeping hydrated and keeping your sugar intake below your personal threshold, your Afib episodes will become less severe and will happen less often, so that may enable you to reduce some medications (always check with the Doc first of course). If your sugar threshold is 120 grams a day, for example, you should be able to totally eliminate Afib. I did, for 30 days once, but I love deserts so much I just can't stay away from them for very long. But now my threshold is about 65 grams a day and it's really hard to not eat that much sugar a day. I can for a few days, but then go over and live with Afib for a day or so. I have been going to a Nutritionist for the last 5 months and she has gotten my threshold back up to about 85 grams a day and that helps a lot - I'm hoping she can get it up to 120 or more. It's great getting old, isn't it?

- Rick Hyer.

[123Abc123 in reply to Hidden]

Yes! Not!! I don’t tend to drink a lot either so that’s two things to work on. Thank you.