In AF again!

Woke up about 40 mins ago at 0200 to find myself in AF. I went to bed at about midnight. Seems to be fairly slow at the moment. As always, wondering when or if it will stop. It’s the first episode for about two months. Drank half a pint at about 1900 but it’s hard to believe that caused the AF. I had spent much of Friday worrying about a visit to my GP about a small red spot on the side of my head which she thinks is either just an infected hair follicle or a basal cell carcinoma; told I have to go back in two weeks if it hasn’t gone after using some cream. To make things worse I start work on Monday.

[CDreamer]

Oh NO! Empathise after my 2 recent bouts! I’ve given up theorising about what started the episode and now focus on best and quickest way to help myself into NSR = accept it is and breath and rest if fast and pace myself if slow.

It does sound to me as though you are stressing somewhat. My husband has a lot of BCC’s and the cream usually works - next stage is removal and that is the one thing the NHS seem to react really quickly about - usually within 10 days.

Are you excited or anxious about starting work - both are adrenaline laden.

[Hidden in reply to CDreamer]

Well, it went back into NSR about 20 mins ago after taking my morning Sotalol a bit early, although there are still some ectopics and odd “jumps”. The strange thing is the duration, speed, day of the week, time of waking up are the same as last time. The main worry about work is that the AF will play up at night when I have to get up early. The red spot may have been there for ages- worryingly the doctor said “I’d be a bit more worried if I thought it had been there for 6 months.” I have to go back in two weeks of the Fucilil cream hasn’t got rid of it.

Regarding your recent episode there may not be a specific cause. It’s tempting to look at some proximate event and attribute causation (as I have done above) but one never really knows. I don’t think there has to be a cause, at least that is readily identifiable.

[CDreamer in reply to Hidden]

Pleased you are back in NSR and I can understand the concern on changing your daily routines and I do think that can upset your whole system. I assume you do shift work of some sort and I know from experiences of family and friends it takes it’s toll on our health.

We all try to make meaning of our experiences and believe if we can attribute cause we can avoid - unfortunately that’s not been my experience with AF.

[Hidden in reply to CDreamer]

I don’t do shift work,

- I just have a long commute. I have another year and a bit before I fully retire. At the moment I work for only part of the year( I decided to do this after getting the AF) but need to replenish funds after not working for several months.

I agree that it is not really possible to control AF- at least not for very long. There is an illusion of control, but however careful one is with diet etc., it wil always get through.

[Mouchkin]

I had a basal cell carcinoma on my back. I didn’t notice it growing but found blood on the sheets. ...so I don’t know how long I had had it. No probs with it. Went to GP and quickly referred and it was taken out within a few days. I had six stitches. That was a couple of years ago and nothing since. My husband had one taken off his neck a few weeks ago and didn’t even need stitches.

I know how horrible the night time AF is ...that used to be when it was at it’s worst for me . Hope you don’t get any more and work goes ok. Knowing you have a busy day the next day can be a worry. Somehow though we always seem to manage don’t we?

I used to put more pillows on the bed, have a cold drink, breathe slowly ,go to the loo....(keep having to wee when in AF) and distract myself with something that I enjoy. Usually that is listening to something humorous on my iPad. I try to get into my head that it isn’t anything to worry about and that it will stop eventually...especially if I forget it!! (Easier said than done I know) I used to take my Solitol earlier too.

I have had an ablation and rarely have any AF episodes at the moment .

I do feel for you...those night time visitations are no joke!

[Hidden in reply to Mouchkin]

Thanks. I expect to have an ablation early next year. I’ve since seen another doctor and thinks there is a good chance it’s not a bcc and if it is it’s not too much of a problem.

[Hidden]

Remember that alcohol causes dehydration. Try this to stop your afib problems:

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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?? 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

[Hidden in reply to Hidden]

Certainly worth trying to cut sugar and salt- definitely cannot do any harm.