New update on my journey

[Charles1967]

Just an update i had an appointment with my cardiologist today 6th december at fairfield hospital in bury greater manchester about my ongoing af, my next stop on my journey is to wythenshawe hospital under the care of dr fox to see if i would be a good candidate for an ablation. Any advice would be gratefully received as i thought as im 52 it would be better to try and get my heart back into nsr after a cardioversion six months ago that lasted a week till i returned to af so im a bit apprehensive about my next stop on my journey, do ablations last...work..etc...regards to everyone

[Kaz747]

I’m 55 and feeling great since my last ablation. Sinus rhythm is wonderful so if you’re a good candidate I’d go for it.

[Charles1967 in reply to Kaz747]

Thanks for your thoughts kaz747...just have to wait now and see how long the waiting lists are here in the north

[BobD Volunteer]

Ablation can work but must be considered part of ongoing treatment. Since there is currently no known guaranteed cure for AF all teartment is for quality of life. If I were you I'd go for it even if it only lasts a few years. I haven't had AF since 2008 after my third ablation but sadly still have other arrhythmias albeit less debilitating .

[Charles1967 in reply to BobD]

Yep quality of life issue thats why i thought get it done sooner rather than later ...thanks bobd

[Jt222]

My latest ablation did work. It's been over a year and my quality of life has been dramatically improved. It was my 4th in the last 3 years though! I will get another if I have to as well. I never want to live in AF if i can avoid it, it was hell! Cardioversion worked for an Aflutter attack post ablation once. Good luck and keep us informed.

[Hidden]

Charles - here is the data on afib I have accumulated over the years. Hope it helps:

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

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 (afternoon) 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 Thyroid - 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:

https//cardiab.biomedcentral.com/a...

How much sugar do you need to stop your afib? The answer is about 1/2 of what your daily sugar limit (threshold) is. My sugar threshold is about 80 grams a day right now. So if I go over that (and it's sooooo easy to do) my heart will start to afib. Then if I cut back to about 40-45 grams of sugar for one or two days, then the heart goes back to normal rhythm and stays there until I exceed my daily threshold of sugar again. (moderate exercise will shorten that time frame). I have gone 30 days under my sugar threshold with no afib once just to prove it is the sugar. And I have consumed my daily limit of sugar every day after going into afib and it stayed in afib for a week - just to prove that worked. So - as long as you know what your sugar threshold is, and that takes several weeks of experimenting to figure that out. I use the following WEB site to know how much sugar is in different foods:

fatsecret.com/calories-nutr....

[cuore]

You say you have been persistent for 6 months , plus you do not give a date when you have your appointment with your EP. Time is not on your side.

I strongly suggest you read Dr. Haissaguerre's paper where he reveals that beyond the pulmonary veins, three to four rotars will be operative in the first six months, and about another 3 in the six months after that.

A year in persistent is called long-standing persistent. Do remember "AF begets AF." The longer you are in AF, the more AF you will get. I would suggest that it's not so much a matter whether you would be a good candidate for an ablation as it is how long you have to wait in persistent to get an ablation at this point in your life.

I was 6 months persistent for my first ablation. I had to have another two for a total of THREE to now be in sinus for almost 7 months. Persistent AF is not a condition you can sit back and wait if your intention is to have an ablation .

Since you are 52, I would think ablation would be a good route for you. I was 74 when I had my first ablation.