Recurring af

[Mazza23]

Well after 3years virtually af free it hit me like a ton of bricks heart flip flopping around pain in chest and head very dizzy sent ecg print out to cardio who suggested I see him ASAP grrr did all the usual things to stop it nothing worked so had a hot drink went to bed af must have resolved in the night but feel the usual like I have run a marathon

[jeanjeannie50]

How disappointing for you to have that AF attack out of the blue Mazza, but thank your lucky stars that your rogue beats did eventually stop on their own accord.

Do you have an appointment to see your EP? Also are you aware of anything that may have triggered this attack? Did you eat/drink anything different or over exert yourself in any way?

Jean

[Mazza23 in reply to jeanjeannie50]

Yes see him Monday no trigger just out of the blue grrr

[1Heart]

I’m sorry to hear that your AF has returned, have you made an appointment to see your Doctor?

I’m currently in AF (10 hours so far) and having to take a day off work.

It can be frustrating when AF takes hold unexpectedly.

[Mazza23 in reply to 1Heart]

It’s not good fingers crossed for you see doc on Monday

[1Heart in reply to Mazza23]

Thank you, now back in NSR after 13 and a half hours.

I hope your review with the Doctor goes well on Monday.

[Poluneeru in reply to 1Heart]

Hi 1 heart,

Do you take PIP when you have A fib and give time to be back in NSR.

Every time I get an attack it scares me and I go to ER. Trying to understand when to go to hospital when in AFib and how long should I wait before going to the hospital

Thanks

[1Heart in reply to Poluneeru]

Hi

I used to take PIP when I was on Flecainide but not tried it yet with Bisoprolol, only had two AF episodes on Bisoprolol.

My arrhythmia nurse said they will only cardiovert me within 24 hours due to possible blood clots. Luckily yesterday i self corrected but if I do exceed 16 hours in the future, I’m going straight to A&E.

[Polly159]

Sorry to hear that, Mazza, hope you get the right treatment very soon. Was just pondering the 'out of the blue-ness' of your episode which sounded similar to what I experienced about a year and a half ago (May 2018). I had had AFIB about 3 years previously due to being overprescribed thyroxine - but balancing my thyroxine intake had, I though, got rid of AFIB for good, then out of that clear blue sky..... Couldn't tie down the triggers at the time, though since then the AFIB is enjoying having its outings at the least hint of the usual triggers (Alcohol, certain foods, overwork etc. etc.) But to get back to the 'out of the blue', I just wonder if there is in fact something that triggers our AFIB, but it's so well hidden and previously unknown no one has spotted it yet! Need for more research, I suppose.....

The one thing the docs did say in May 2018 was that my white blood cell count showed I had a very slight infection, too slight to warrant Antibiotics. That may have perhaps have brought on the episode (it was very severe and I had to have a cardioversion eventually) as anything that seems to cause some 'imbalance' somewhere seems to set it off.

Take care,

Polly

[brit1 in reply to Polly159]

my AF was triggered also by overdose of thyroid meds (thnx to stupid dr). In spite of watching thyroid meds closely and keeping levels safe I have AF episodes, was just once a year but lately been once a week =:0 no idea what triggers mine, no caffeine/chocolate/alcohol etc eat an organic plant based diet/weight good/walk daily etc. Also take mag/CoQ10/taurine/hawthorn etc.

[Polly159 in reply to brit1]

Yes, doc's fault initially, too, with me and soon afterwards he retired so it took a time for follow-up. I think, too 're Thyroxine level (And levels if other things) the docs etc use 'averages,' but for some that is not always helpful. Years ago I was 'borderline" underactive thyroid for about 4 years. I had a lot of the symptoms, but the docs were only looking at the lab results. It took a hospital doctor to diagnose correctly when I was in hospital for something unrelated. Gave me my life back.

All the best

Polly

[Hidden in reply to Polly159]

After 9 years of my own research, here is what I found that triggers my Afib. Try it and see if it works for you. If it does, let me know:

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

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?? I also found that strenuous exercise does no good – perhaps you make yourself dehydrated??

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

[sfh3l]

Sorry to hear the old friend is back - most unwelcome.

Polly probably has a point re the infection. I think the bottom line is that if we happen to have a tendency to AF, in whatever form/s that might be, there is a plethora of things that might just trigger it into action, whether that be the usual culprits or something a little more out of the ordinary. Once it starts, it almost doesn't matter how we got here and it is a question of dealing with the problem and not the cause.

I had viral pneumonia when I was about 8 years old and it was touch and go for a few days. I ran a very high fever for 36 hours and was in an oxygen tent (how quaint!). I am convinced that it was the damage in and around my chest cavity that has caused some change to the nervous tissue and the way it behaves. I had bouts of racing heartbeat in my teens and well remember my heart stopping and starting on many occasions. I had thought that everyone's did that, till my father nudged me at the age of 23 to go and see my GP, where a comical ECG nailed it once and for all. Straight to hospital to be introduced to the electrical paddles........

AF seems to have such a complex set of things that might cause a tendency and a whole lot more that actually trigger episodes when they happen. If we wrote a book of our collective experiences it would not only be toe-curling, but probably very interesting!

[Buffafly in reply to sfh3l]

I blame my AF on heredity and measles initially 🙁

[Polly159 in reply to sfh3l]

Agree with all you say, sfh. Writing a book! Now there's a good idea! Wonder also if there has been any questionnare-type research about afibbers' experiences- could be helpful and revealing....

All the best Polly

[dani777]

3 years free from symptoms? I can't seem to go three months without having episodes. Or three weeks. And before beta blockers, three days. Bad day yesterday, felt like s**t, really weak and off, and had palps most of the day. All I can think of is that I had a very upsetting day on Tuesday with more nonsense off the DWP, again. And I spent all day that day upset and trying to resolve it. So any big upsets, I think, trigger it but it seems symptoms can be delayed by a day or two. Weird, that. But I'm so fed up with this. I have to deal with bowel disease on top of this so my quality of life is often not very good.

[Polly159 in reply to dani777]

Sorry about all the struggle you're having, Dani. I hope the DWP get down to listening to you very soon. In lots of ways AFIB is 'non-standard as illnesses go (which beaureaucratic systems don't deal with that well) but it is still extremely debilitating and interferes with quality of life and ability to work. I turned 65 in the summer, but had hoped to work few years past retirement. AFIB has, unfortunately, put paid to that - thought I might continue til next August then it was next May, but now I'm retiring in April and hope I can manage to keep on going at some level until then.

I found what you said about 'delayed symptoms' really interesting and helpful as I've been noticing that too. Had three of my best days for ages Mon-Wed, but then after a few episodes and just some fibby-like stuff, today I wasn't up to much worked in the morning, then wiped in the afternoon until now. The tiredness used to follow the episodes immediately like clockwork, now they seem to choose their time.

All the best.

Polly

[secondtry]

After the usual medics, I contacted an experienced Naturopath and he wants all his AF patients to be in the upper quartile of the accepted range for Mg (Red Cell test not the usual GP one) & CoQ10. He put me on a Mg compound with Taurine & Potassium and other ingredients plus 200 mgs per day. Most people have low Red Cell Mg level and I have had to cut my Calcium intake which can block the supplement you take. Good luck.

[Hidden]

Give this a try:

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

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?? I also found that strenuous exercise does no good – perhaps you make yourself dehydrated??

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