AF advice please

[Deezy24]

Hi all me again. Have now been stuck in AF for two weeks now. Drs arranged an ECG this morning as saw go Monday. Results were average 90 bpm peaking at 130. Was just told to get another appointment and await seeing consultant - referred me as urgent. Please could you tell me just in your opinion as I know none of us are medically trained, is this something to be worried about as never had it more than a day before. It seems to feel even worse after eating dinner has anyone else felt this? Any advice would be gratefully accepted by this panicky person. Thanks.

[Buffafly]

I can't comment on 'should I be worried' but I find AF messes up my digestion very badly 😟

[Deezy24 in reply to Buffafly]

Really in what way. Mine is just AF all over the place after eating 😒

[Buffafly in reply to Deezy24]

Diarrhoea sometimes, or nausea, or both 🙁 Eating a large meal is out because it puts stress on your heart in several ways, snacks are better.

[Deezy24 in reply to Buffafly]

Gosh I didn’t realise that. Poor you. Thanks for reply.

[DevonHubby1]

Im not medically trained but their lack of concern mirrors my wifes experience.

My wife suffers from PAF but when one bout went on for over a week and she had pains in her chest as well she rang up the arithymia nurse who suggested we go to A&E.

She was admitted and over a week the doctors attempted to revert her and eventually declared she was now in permanent AF and with the introduction of digoxin (along with increase in existing Bisoprolol) to get her resting BPM down below 90 were happy to discharge her. Her follow up appointment was scheduled for 4 months time!

Good news is wife self reverted, shes off the digoxin, and AF episodes reduced now. Pains in chest may be angina but that's another saga.

Good luck with the appointment when it comes and if you get chest pains take yourself to A&E.

[Deezy24 in reply to DevonHubby1]

Thank you for your reply. It gives me hope mine will get sorted Glad your wife is better. 🙂

[CDreamer]

Hi Deezy - it sounds as though your AF is progressing so the ‘urgent’ referral will be so that you can have an assessment as to the best way of treating you now which may be a cardioversion as the sooner you can be converted back to NSR the more likely it is to be successful.

This is what happens with AF - it becomes more insistent and many people end up in persitent AF but if that can be avoided it is sensible.

Digestive problems are just part of the AF journey - often triggered by the vagus nerve which runs very close to the heart and through the stomach.

Recommendations are that you eat very small meals, avoid eating anything 3 hours prior to going to sleep and to note any particular foods or drink that trigger the affect.

Hope that helps, best wishes CD.

[Deezy24 in reply to CDreamer]

Thanks it’s just weird it went from just hourly bouts to this for over two weeks. Useful to know re food. I hate it after dinner still think my heart is just going to pack up 🙂

[CDreamer in reply to Deezy24]

The electrics may go a bit haywire but the house ain’t go to fall down!

I know it is easy to get into that mind frame but I’ve had AF for 13 years now with long lasting episodes of fast AF and I’m still here to tell the tale.

[Deezy24 in reply to CDreamer]

Thanks for you reply. How long is the longest episode you have had and did it revert back without intervention?

[CDreamer in reply to Deezy24]

I got to the stage when I was having episodes every other day which lasted up to 36 hours so I was in AF more than NSR. The longest ever episode was 72hours which self converted but only for a few hours. My husband was in persistent AF for over 6 months - CV didn’t result in NSR but drugs did after 3-4 weeks on Amiodarone. He’s now maintained NSR for about 9 months.

People who stay in NSR say that it is much easier to cope with than AF which comes & goes = PAF - Paroxysmal AF.

[Deezy24 in reply to CDreamer]

Thanks. I know I’ve just got to wait n see what consultant says next week. All the best to you both.

[Hidden]

Try going nearly sugar-free for 2 days. That stops my afib.

Here is the data that I have accumulated on sugars, and salts...

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

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, Thyroid (sends signals to the heart to increase speed or strength of beat), Adrenal Gland (sends signals to increase heart rate), Sympathetic Nerve (increases heart rate) or Vagus Nerve (decreases heart rate), Hypothalamus Gland or others - 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...

[cuore]

CDreamer gave you a wonderful, thorough reply covering the basis when AF progresses to persistent, defined to AF lasting more than 7 days ( yours is two weeks).

I suggest you not focus more on the time period of day ( after dinner ), but definitely on the length (two weeks) . "... is his something to be worried about..." -- YES, absolutely. AF begets AF, and the more you are in AF, the more you will get. When it gets to the persistent stage, your heart can remodel very rapidly , from the signals around the pulmonary veins to areas throughout the atria. Hence, you have been given a warning -- "referred me as urgent." Your rogue signals are spreading fast.

I had the same referral from my GP who kept me under his wing for a whole year until I got to persistent AF. Without telling the story again, Canada kept me persistent for 5 months, so losing faith, I packed it in and went to Bordeaux, France at the six month persistent stage where I had my first ablation, and the next two for a total of 3 ablations . I was told that if I had not had an ablation at the 6 month stage,I would never have been able to return to sinus rhythm. I lament that the western Canadian system wasted my valuable time allowing my condition to worsen so that my heart has had extensive ablation.

You are at the stage of procedure -- cardioversion. There are two types : chemical and electrical. You might want to do some homework to learn the difference between the two , plus the outcome depending how long you wait.

Keep on top of the system so that you are not abandoned into persistent for too long. Time is of the essence. You might want to read Dr. M. Haissaguerre's papers that discuss the spreading of roters (concentration of electrical signals) in the atria. He cautions about the wait period.

Good luck to your getting out of persistent AF quickly.

[Tyffica]

That sucks. Do they have you on blood thinners.