Grateful

[Bikedennis]

Just diagnosed with afib. I went for a colonoscopy and due to elevated heart rate(134), I was evaluated in the ER. Put on diltiazem 120 mg and baby aspirin daily. Im now wating for my appointment with a cardiologist. I am 77 yo with no health problems. I noticed that I had an elevated pulse a month ago,and it went away. I didnt give it much thought at the time. I eat right, exercise, and take care of myself. Angry at first, because I have spent my life cycling, hiking, and climbing and thought that I probably would never get heart problems. Now grateful that afib was caught. The ER nurse said the cardiologist that I was refered to was the best in the area in his opinion. Any thoughts and advice will be appreciated.

[Hidden]

G'day Bikedennis,

I'm gonna try and give you an overview of a comment 'cos I'm not qualified to do much else, more like giving you a perspective to AF.

AF is all things to all people and does not in anyway have any respect or admiration of a persons individual fitness levels. Yes, age is a factor, the older you get the more likely you are to get AF. However, many young people, 20's and 30's also get it. My daughter in her early 30's when pregnant with both her kids was diagnosed with AF on each occasion. When she stopped breeding the AF stopped ! She now practices Thai Kick Boxing (no AF).

Then there is an individuals genetic predisposition to AF which may manifest itself by a family history of strokes or heart problems, then there is diet, then there is extreme sports and some people may regard your levels of activity as being in that category. Certainly Olympic class cyclists have been diagnosed with AF. Marathon runners have also been diagnosed with it. Not sure about tennis players or sprinters. Then there is the influence of the vagus or vagal nerve. Emotions, with some people, can also play a part - stress, trauma, grief and anxiety etc. There are probably many other features like these and hopefully others reading your post will contribute.

My fathers side of the family can show evidence of a genetic predisposition and in my case diet is a trigger.

I always considered myself fit, but the measure of that was always the number of times I was ever in hospital ( hardly ever but for surgery 3 or 4 times in 75 years) and the fact that I was always active and never a sickly person !

However, I can trace the emergence of digestive system issues going back to my early 30's.

I can understand your anger, probably even bordering on feeling being cheated on, but, that's the diagnosis and anger ain't gonna help. It maybe best to let the anger go and focus on activities that you can do which will give you a measure of satisfaction that your activities do without stirring up your AF. Remember your heart ( all our hearts) are basically like a car engine, they are made up of 2 components, mechanical and electrical. Hopeful it is your electrical only that is misfiring. Maybe your cardio person maybe able to advise you.

I was diagnosed with AF at 65 a tad over 10 years ago. My diagnosis was made in some 9 hours from what I now realise was onset ( a feeling of going down with flu) and treatment started. The speed of diagnosis and medical care is, in my view, essential in ensuring this doesn't get too much of a grip. But then, good fortune also plays a hand ! I have been on an AF forum, as have a few others on here, for most of the 10 years and if I'd had a quid for everyone I can remember has made the same comment as you ....... "no health problems, eat right etc. etc." I'd be a very wealthy guy.

AF just doesn't respect this thinking !

I apologise for the length of this ....... its my take on AF and is written just to give you a perspective, my perspective, AND hopefully, others on here may also give you theirs. Good luck.

As an after thought. ............baby asprin ?? so, what formal anticoagulant have you been put on ? Warfarin, Pradaxa etc. etc.

John

[CDreamer]

Hi Dennis & welcome. You will find lots of informed, experienced and knowledgeable people on this site.

AF is a malfunction of the electrics of the heart and you will find that some of the most likely section of the population to suffer this at an early age is - endurance athletes. Many cyclists, marathon runners etc get AF - it doesn’t stop them but it will slow them down and you will need to amend your routines.

You may find this blog by Dr J Mercola - co-author of the Haywire Heart of interest.

drjohnm.org/

You may also want to check out the AFA website and download the leaflet on Questions to ask your EP - links posted by Flapjack on the Pinned Posts.

As Carneuny says - aspirin in NOT advised for clot prevention in AF so in your shoes my first question would be - why was I not prescribed anti-coagulation. Again lots of info on the AFA site.

Your biggest risk factor from AF is stroke - which is why taking anti-coagulants as a prophylactic treatment are SO important for us but it will depend upon your personal risk factors which tend to be age, sex and co-morbidities. You can do your own risk profile using the CHADSVASC11 score - link on the AFA site.

AF is not immediately life threatening but some people become very symptomatic.

Many people live with AF without treatment whilst others are so symptomatic they find every day life difficult so it is hugely variable in how it affects you but the fitter you are, the better as Lifestyle is a huge factor in managing & living with AF.

Any questions don’t hesitate to ask and do read through some of the threads - you can learn a lot.

Best wishes CD.

[Hidden]

Give this a try and see if it keeps your afib away ---

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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 (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...

[Bikedennis]

Thanks for the supportive, informative, and helpful responses. I will soon see the cardiologist and expect that he will prescribe a anticoagulant. My pusle has been in the 58-62 range with the diltiazem.