Hi all, I wrote sometime back when I was officially diagnosed with PAF and SVT. I’m scheduled for an ablation on the 19th of this month in Phoenix, AZ which is a stones throw from Tucson, AZ. It was extremely hard to come clean about my condition to my coworkers/ friends and my chiefs. It’s hard because I’m a firefighter which this condition puts my job in danger. Actually choked up when I told my chief that I had this condition . Luckily I have two months of PTO saved up so I can theoretically take two whole months off of work and be paid. I will have to take a physical to be cleared for work but I’m hoping my radiofrequency ablation fixes me up for a while. I’m going through paramedic class in January to further my possibilities once I can’t be a firefighter anymore. I’m hoping this ablation is smooth. I do wonder what I should eat and drink after? Thanks.
RF ablation date : Hi all, I wrote... - Atrial Fibrillati...
RF ablation date
If you look at pinned posts you will see reference to our two fact sheets on preparing for and recovering from ablation which I strongly recommend that you read and absorb.
Whilst we do not specifically cover diet there is plenty of eveidence that a diet containing less meat and more plant based foods is beneficial. Also try to reduce processed foods and eat more whole food prepared in a healthy way. A BMI of 25 or less is also ideal.
Hi bobd when you say processed foods you talking about the ready made vegan stuff also?
I have no knowledge of such things personally even though I do eat a great deal of veggie food these days. My wife is a vegetarian and prepares a lot of such food hereself for example cauliflower cheese and vegeetable lasagne which are great . It is dfficult to get sufficient protein with vegetables alone but I do suspect that a lot of the veggie "meat subsitutes" are full of chemicals I would rather not have and would take a lot of convincing that many of the butter and milk subsitutes are not chemically much worse than what they are supposed to replace. I do not wish to become engaged in any debate on the wisdom of any diet other than what has been shown to be beneficial for AF.
Thanks for this bobd, yeah the subject of diet is really a hard one was watching what the health on Netflix, as I’m trying to go plant base but at the moment eating a lot of ready made vegan sausages burgers etc, so just trying to find the right balance, do you eat meat at all bobd?
Yes but try not to eat it more than three days a week and then not so much eg banger and mash and beans = one butchers sausage only rather than two. Man as an animal historically only ate meat when he killed a monkey or similar small animal but here in the western world we seem to rely on it to excess. I love Indian street food for example but have moved towards lamb from beef or chicken not for any religious reasons but because I find it more digestable. I also try to eat oily fish at least once a week for the health benefits.
It really is a difficult subject to discuss rationally as it attracts so many extremist rather sadly.
Who is your EP. I had Dr Vijay Swarup after 2 failed ablations by another EP. He is the best and does a lot of clinical trials.
Glad that things are looking up for you a bit after a difficult time. I was told by doctors that the Mediterranean diet was good for AF and the heart generally; that is the Mediterranean diet minus the wine unfortunately, although low alcohol consumption is ok for most people with AF. Bias your diet towards plant-based foods. Tea and coffee in moderation are also ok for most people.
Try eating and drinking this before your surgery and you might not need surgery:
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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 (this is why all doctors agree that afib gets worse as you get older). 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??
I'm pretty sure that Afib is caused by a gland(s) - like the Pancreas - or an organ that, in our old age, is not working well anymore and excess sugar or dehydration is causing them to send mixed signals to the heart - for example telling the heart to beat fast and slow at the same time - which causes it to skip beats, etc. I can't prove that (and neither can my doctors), but I have a very strong suspicion that that is the root cause of our Afib problems. I am working on this with a Nutritionist and hope to get some definitive proof in a few months.
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
My EP says to follow whole food plant based. It's the first thing he tells all of his patients. He too said doing this would avoid episodes as it avoids triggers.
Check out Rip Esselstyn and the Engine 2 diet.
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