I sent off for a book written by Jack Wolfson DO. He's cardiologist who has a natural cardiology practice in Arizona. He was tired of just being a pill pusher and just treating symptoms. He started studying alternative natural treatments for various heart ailments. His wife is a chiropractor. I have read about 1/4 of the book entitled "The Paleo Cardiologist, The Natural Way to Heart Health". Of course he and his family eat a strict paleo diet. He delves into different foods that cause health problems especially sugar. A lot of what he writes about diet is probably things some of us on here already know. Some of us, like me, have been guilty of not eating right. I like sweets and would binge. Eat sweets for a couple weeks then maybe not again for months. No matter. It still was bad for me. Dr Wolfson brings up several times about how Drs never ask what's going on in our lives that could contribute to any heart disease that befalls us. Nothing about nutrition. Don't check our vitamins, minerals. Nothing. Just throw some pills at us and send us out the door. Exactly how I felt I was treated with my recently diagnosed afib. The sad thing about Dr Wolfson is he is pretty high priced. At least for me. He does seem to get people who come from all corners of the earth to see him. And I do believe he helps a lot of people but people like me are priced out. And some people would think he's a little odd. He and his wife believe in getting a lot of sunshine. All over the body. So he tells people he and his wife and two sons run around naked in their back yard. Hopefully it has a high fence. 😳 Too bad more Drs aren't like him. He says many people agree to procedures from pill/surgery pushing Drs that they don't need. Too bad there aren't more Drs like Dr Wolfson who tries to find a cause rather than just treat symptoms.
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That's a really good book, The Paleo Cardiologist. I read it recently. It's got a good chapter on Top Twenty Supplements, and another on Top Twenty Blood tests. So some really practical information for us.
Haven't finished it yet. Sounds like he's got good information. I posted to CDreamer below. Explaining what most people in the U.S. are up against with the insurance companies and Drs. The insurance companies basically rule what Drs do here. It's nuts. Take care.
A friend of mine and I went through this scenario about 5 years ago - so we got together a team of Medical Doctors of who were dual trained in Lifestyle Medicine, Physiotherapists, Exercise Specialist & Meditation Teachers and Nutritionist & a lady who specialises in making cultured foods - for free - to give talks locally on all of the above. It was a great success and very well received and we were sold out for most talks.
There are passionate doctors out there who are willing to give up their free time to educate - they may not be able to enter into personal consultations but the information imparted helped many people.
You are right - it costs because Doctors need to cover their costs and that does put it out of the reach of most people. Campaigning to medical education institutions is getting through in the UK - and as this movement started in the US I wonder why it hasn’t progressed as fast in the US?
In the UK the organisation which pushes very hard for this training is Nutritank.
See if you can find a similar organisation in the US?
The U.S. is so far behind in medicine in treating the whole person because the pharmaceutical companies, the insurance companies and majority of the Drs here are all driven by MONEY. I remember when I was younger Drs were actually concerned about their patients. They LISTENED to the patients. With the insurance system here you basically get what you can afford. Drs love to do what makes money. They don't listen especially if you have less than wonderful insurance which is what I can afford. If you don't want to follow their advice they don't care. There's other people who they can hoodwink. Oh there are good Drs out there but I'd say the bad ones outnumber them. Dr Wolfson mentioned that most Drs have no idea what the side effects are of drugs. The ones they do know are few. The more common ones. And there are many other side effects. It's frustrating. It's aggravating that the healthcare in the US is just so money driven. Especially here in Florida because so many elderly people live here and it's almost like they are the prey to the Drs. They don't see people they can help. They see how much money they can make. Probably the majority of Drs in Florida come from other states. It's crazy. There are some Drs who have begun practicing functional medicine to treat the whole person but not very many. I believe there's a couple of them in Florida but far away from me and I don't have the finances to travel far or money to pay one and my insurance wouldn't cover it. So people like me try and research and find answers on our own. Jeanjeannie50 below said she has blood tests quite often. Ha. I practically had to beg my primary to get labs for me to test for vitamins and minerals and electrolytes in my system. Cardio Dr wouldn't do it. Said have your primary do it. That tells me he has no desire to know what else could be affecting my afib. He's only interested in pills and surgery to treat the symptoms and nothing else. Oh the other thing in the US. Our health care system especially the Medicare (which almost everyone has when you turn 65, some people who are uber wealthy don't need it but still get it cause you do pay into it) system frowns if you go to see a Dr too many times or in the hospital too many times. The reasons being the Drs and hospitals aren't getting you well (how ironic after what we've all posted here) and the insurance companies are having to pay too much in claims. MONEY MONEY MONEY. And lastly there's a lot of politics in medicine here too. It's just a big mess. I sent a title of an article written by I believe John Gordon Steele. It's "A Short History of American Medical Insurance" . It tells how medical insurance started in the US. It was first started by hospitals to help people pay bills. Then Drs jumped on the bandwagon. Then the private sector saw this as a way to make lots of money. And here we are. 🙄😠 You all take care. I will continue to plug along. I go for a treadmill stress test and holter monitor test next Tuesday at the cardio Dr. That will be my 2nd visit with him. Follow up for the results of those tests the end of this month and I have one more visit allowed by my insurance company. Allowed by my insurance company. What a crock. One more thing. The pharmaceutical companies spend tens of millions of dollars in the U.S. advertising their drugs EVERY YEAR. They hire sales reps to call on the Drs to get the Drs to use these drugs on their patients. These sales reps take these Drs out to dinner and do whatever it takes to get these Drs to use these drugs. Some Drs get paid by the pharmas to give "talks" to other Drs about these drugs. Oh it's all supposed to be a big secret that this goes on. Well several of these sales reps that ended up having a conscious and quit were whistle blowers and spilled the beans over the years. Did it change anything. No. Doesn't matter if the Drs believe in the drug or not. In turn the more Drs these reps bring on board the more incentives the reps earn. Money bonuses, all paid trips. Cars. Yes this is the world of money driven insurance companies, pharmas and Drs in the good old USA. They all hold hands.
Same here - I worked as a temp for a while for a pharmaceutical company so well aware what happens. Since then 30 years ago now - there have been changes to what is allowed to be spent on entertaining & of course the NHS is the big customer in the U.K. so there is little point in marketing directly to doctors.
Geez. I didn't think that went on in other countries. Sad to hear. Another thing over here in the US the insurance companies (each one) has a list in each plan they sale of what drugs the Dr can prescribe. There is a tier system that categorizes what each drug will cost the drug company. They say it's for your cost but it's really the insurance companies. If your Dr wants you to use a drug not in your list oh well you're s.o.l. Unless you have a Dr who will fight with the insurance company if he believes a certain drug is best for you. It's such a racket. Once again the patient is the one who suffers.
You can check out this website "Dollars for Docs" to find out how much your physician was paid by the pharmaceutical industry, here is the link:
projects.propublica.org/doc...
I was in a shock to find out that one of my doctors was paid over 1M during 2013-2016!
Oh my I had no idea this existed. Just looked up the cardio Dr and my primary. In 2018 says my cardio only had a little over 200 dollars and my primary had more-over 300. But your Dr is rolling in the dough. Terrible. Shows what some of these Drs care about. Money. Of course both Drs I looked up have multiple offices so it may not be reporting the full amount. They know that people can look this up and could have a way to not report all the money.
That's true, we don't know how accurate their reports are. By the way I am in Florida too, on the east coast. What part/county are you in?
Central Florida. West of Daytona.
Not too far, I am in Melbourne. Had ablation last year in Vero Beach.
That's what I'm trying to stay away from. How are you doing?
Totally understand! I was trying to avoid ablation for as long as I could trying herbs, minerals, acupuncture and eventually meds, however Afib kept on coming more frequently, up to 3x week. On top of it my heart rate started fluctuating - would go up to 130+ and then out of blue would drop to 34 for about 1 hour - that was so scary and I was afraid of passing out (especially while driving), unfortunately Flecainide was no longer helping. So last year in desperation I decided to go for ablation and praise God so far have been in NSR except for occasional ectopics. Just feel bad I hadn't done it sooner and had to endure so much misery for so long.
Everything I've read most people end up having ablation repeated. Sometimes several times. As it is not really a cure. Seems after awhile the Afib comes back. And people still have to take the meds. Blood thinners and rhythm drugs. I have a stiff mitral valve which may have caused my Afib. There are people in this forum who stay on blood thinners and the rhythm drugs for a long time and do well. Some just take the blood thinner and change their lifestyle and diet. Some use natural supplements along with a blood thinner and do well. I also don't have much faith in the Drs in Florida. Never have. I had one good Dr here several years ago. When Drs still took time to listen to the patient. Now it's in and out as fast as they can get you and don't explain anything to you. At least that's my experience. People tell me to find another Dr but I have HMO advantage and it's limited. Not the greatest Drs in the plan and my pockets aren't full of extra money to seek out other Drs. So I do the best I can.
I have a friend who had 4 ablations (several years ago in Virginia) and still suffers from Afib, so I was very reluctant to take that road; also had difficulties dealing with doctors at ORMC (lived in Orlando at that time) - would take too long to write about it. But at some point doing a lot of research I realized that the rate of ablation success very much depends on doctor's skills and the ablation equipment, because now there is a new generation 3D technology that increases success rate.
So after moving to Melbourne I started looking at different hospitals and discovered that Vero Beach hospital had the new technology and when I met the EP doctor it was like day and night between them and ORMC - I was put on Holter monitor for 2 weeks and 3 days later the doctor himself called me to tell me how my heart rate is! At ORMC I was given a malfunctioning monitor and was told to call the manufacturer if I continue having problems, which I did, so I was sent a new monitor which took couple of days and it reduced my monitoring time from 7 days (which was preprogrammed) to 5 days only. Everything at ORMC was creating more stress than relief, and I was so pleasantly surprised with the caring staff at Vero hospital.
Here is an article about dr. Faulknier who did my ablation - it was both cryo- and Rf ablations.
veronews.com/2019/02/12/fib...
I'm glad you were able to get a really good Dr. If I had insurance that would cover that Dr, which I don't and cannot afford different insurance, or if I had deep pockets which I don't I world probably be more open to the procedure. I know the Drs in my insurance plan I would not let touch me with a hundred foot pole. So many people like me have to look for help in other ways. Plus having mild valve problems won't be fixed by an ablation. That's another problem in its own.
Understand your situation very well as I and my family being self employed were having insurance coverage struggles for decades 
Hope you will find an effective treatment and relief from this affliction, there is wealth of knowledge on this website and internet and hopefully you'll get some help.
Thank you so much for your support. Just the support of this forum is so much help. Sometimes life doesn't seem fair. You deal with what it throws at you. I have to put faith in God and put it in his hands and hope that somehow I get through it.
Whether you have ablations repeated is highly dependent upon how far along your AF is. If you are in paroxysmal with few episodes, one should do it. If you are paroxysmal but close to persistent, you will end up with more than one. If you are persistent, you will need two or more. There are two factors to consider: whether in the first ablation there are any gaps for the rogue signals to get through, and whether there is any reconnection of the ablated tissue.
There is a new procedure -- Pulsed Electric Field -- soon to be on the market whereby the success rate is much higher than radiofrequency.
And a lot depends on how good the Dr is that performs the ablation. Where I'm at, and the insurance that I have and can only afford, I wouldn't be confident letting them do one on me.
Thanks for your input.
You are absolutely right. I did leave out the experience and skill of the EP plus if he/she is using the latest equipment available. That should have been foremost.
I will be getting a stress echo test via treadmill in October, was told to get nuclear test but I insisted on this one as its more healthy
Yes. I didn't want the nuclear test as the drugs they use are dangerous. Of course they don't tell you that. I will also say if you are taking a beta blocker they will tell you to stop taking it 24 hrs before the test. They will give you instructions. I am taking metoprolol and different articles I've read say it leaves the body in 24 hours. And the Dr says the same. Not true. It stays in the system for awhile. I did the treadmill and it really taxed my heart because the beta blocker was still in my system. I didn't say anything because the Dr isn't going to believe it anyway. I just want you to be careful. Drs don't know everything about how the patient feels. Only know what they read in their textbooks. Treadmill still better than being injected with two extra drugs. They use a contrast as they have to take pics of the heart before and after the treadmill. So they put an IV in an arm for that. Didn't feel anything different in my body after I was finished. The first set of pics they had me lie on my back. The 2nd set of pics were on my back then on my stomach. Pics take about 10 minutes each time. I guess it may be the same wherever you are. Good luck. Just an idea so you might know what goes on.
yes one reason dr said he didn't want to do stress echo is because I was on beta blocker but I reminded him that I had weaned off of it last January and only use if I go into AF.
Are you in the UK or USA? I notice things are done differently between the two. Actually as much as people in the USA poo poo the healthcare in the UK it seems in some respects to be a little ahead of some of the Drs in the USA. It's so frustrating to have to jump through hoops because healthcare has become just another big business only interested in making money. Have you ever seen the old movie "Soylent Green". My friends and I joke that's what people will be looking forward to in the future. You get too old you get turned into crackers.
I want to wean off the metoprolol I've been on. Was prescribed 25 mg twice a day originally. Liked to killed me. Tweaked it til it's only like 6.2 mg a day. I cut one pill into 4 pieces. And that small dose still bothered me. Can I be nosy and ask how much you take when you need to?
originally I was put on 25mg Metoprolol which I took at bedtime. So if I go into AF I take the 25mg usually once but have read some people take another a few hours later if needed
Thanks. I was kind of thinking along those lines. Take care.
Oh my gosh. I googled to see if there were any organizations here in the USA similar to Nutritank there in the UK. I almost laughed. There is something called Culinary Medicine. A course offered at a very few colleges. What I read about it sounds like a regular culinary course like I took in community college decades ago. It seems these culinary medicine courses focus on teaching the med students how to cook. How to talk to their patients about dietary changes and nutrition. But it doesn't seem the course is really delving that deep into how different foods effect health. I saw nothing about looking at testing for vitamins and minerals and electrolytes in a patient to see if there was too much or not enough of something. To tell the truth I wasn't surprised to find that medical colleges who say at least 25 hours should be devoted by students to learn about nutrition is not even being enforced. Drs in this country want to do what makes them money. And that's pushing pills and tests and surgeries. And the insurance companies pay the Drs to do all those. And the drug companies get their big piece of the pie. I also read that Drs are just not comfortable talking to patients about anything related to their diets especially patients who are obese. What a cop out. Gosh if a Dr here tells a patient they might get better changing their diet or using something natural that poor Dr isn't going to make any money. I meant that sarcastically. It's just sad.
Never a truer word spoken:
"Dr Wolfson brings up several times about how Drs never ask what's going on in our lives that could contribute to any heart disease that befalls us. Nothing about nutrition. Don't check our vitamins, minerals. Nothing. Just throw some pills at us and send us out the door"
I think years ago doctors did take more note of our lifestyles. I remember a GP (now long retired), telling me to cut out fatty food when I kept getting a dreadful pain at the top of my leg when walking. I would have to stop, wait for it to disappear and then I could walk again for a while. I did as he advised, the pain disappeared and I've never had it since. My body has never liked fatty food and I've never liked pastry - yuck!
I must admit I quite often have blood tests at my surgery, could never complain about not having enough of them. My last one a month or so ago showed all my levels were good and the nurse reporting back said they were better than his.
I'm really proud to say that my doctors surgery is rated by the CQC as Outstanding.
What usually happens to people when they brag - Pride comes before the fall!!!!
Jean
I hope it continues Jean but I have noticed a marked decline in our GP services, especially on blood tests. The RD&E though do offer a private testing service for some of the basics and VitD which GP’s are often reluctant to test for.
My ex who I still live with uses our VA (military veterans healthcare system, I don't know if you have that in the UK or other countries have it) and is on the same meds I'm on only stronger doses and they checked his labs for any vitamin deficiencies and he was low on D so he's taking supplement for it. I had to practically beg my primary for labs to check all my vitamins etc. And will probably have to end up calling my primary to find out the results. Some health insurance plans here frown if you spend too many visits with your Drs. They lose precious money when you do that
.The VA healthcare is separate from the rest of the healthcare system in the U.S. but they do work together when needed.
There's much time be said about the whole lifestyle approach and this Dr is not alone by any means in looking for new ways to address things. You can make a lot of changes yourself by getting informed so it's great you have got this book. I'd say also check out other sources recommended here. Dr Sanjay Gupta's YouTube channel is good and he too is looking into alternatives. I think his new site is called More than just Medicine? Something like that.
Thanks for the info.
Thanks for the tip. There is quite a lot for AFers and those with chronic illnesses in James Nestor's new book 'Breath' which I have just read.
His sunbathing ways might seem odd but they are logical. Both vitamin D and nitric oxide production are stimulated by sunshine exposure. They are both important for heart health particularly nitrous oxide which relaxes the arteries and lowers blood pressure. The more skin exposed the better. Many years ago the Russians reported that women who sunbathed topless had less breast cancer. Whole body exposure is better for vit D production. The standard advice - that a walk in the sun exposing arms and face a couple of times a week is sufficient is just not true. I can speak from personal experience. I spent hours outside nearly everyday in a sunny climate gardening and the tan on my arms showed I was exposing them - but nothing else. My vit D level was extremely low. As well as supplementing I now sunbathe exposing most of my body for up to an hour each day when it is sunny.
Oh I totally agree. I think he's doing the right thing. I was just saying that some people would find it odd that his family run around nude. But here where I live in a neighborhood where people don't have much privacy it would be hard actually impossible to do that. The neighbors would be calling the police for indecent exposure. But I suppose there could be ways around that. Right now I'm still taking that nasty metoprolol which I'm going to try and stop when I figure it out. My ex husband loves to fish. Goes almost every day and his arms and legs are exposed wearing t-shirts and shorts (Florida) and is deficient in vitamin d. So yes you are right. It's getting the majority of Drs to listen to that. Which in this country of the USA is a useless challenge.
A tiny bikini is probably just as good and if the neighbours think that is indecent exposure they have psychological problems! It certainly should not be any excuse for calling the cops. The trunk actually makes the most vit D.
They at least would get a good chuckle seeing their 68 yr old neighbor in a bikini. 😊 Some people are just offended by anything. Which I could care less. Right now it's too hot for me to lay out. It's been very hot and I don't do heat well. I'll figure it out. Because anything that helps is worth it. Thanks again for your input. So many people out there with good knowledge.
Yes we were having a heatwave last week with temperatures up to and above 35 ° for several days. Also it has been very humid. Impossible to lie in the sun. Now it is back down to 28/30° so more comfortable . Our neighbours one side live in Paris most of the year but come in the summer. She is Brazilian and spends most of the day outside in the tiniest bikinis . Despite 3 kids she's very thin and very brown!
Are you in the UK? It's nice to "talk" to people from other places. Who would have known 20 years ago it would have been possible to type on our cellphones iPad's or whatever and in a few seconds send a message to someone else a half world away. 😊. In Florida the temps have crept higher in the last few years. It's been in the mid to high 90's this summer. But feels like over 100. Not sure what that compares to Celsius. It used to be more in the upper 80's years ago. I am in central Florida and southern Florida gets even hotter and humid. After it rains it's really humid. Like a sauna. The hurricanes are more numerous and stronger. But the climate is changing everywhere all over the world. California is having terrible fires right now. Most of the state is a semi desert and perfect conditions for the fires. I come originally from Kansas. It's in what we call tornado alley. From Texas to Ohio and in between is where the majority of tornadoes occur. But those too are happening in places that aren't known for tornadoes. California is also known for earthquakes. They keep saying the big one is yet to come. So the weather and mother nature is always keeping people on their toes. So many people want to blame the climate changes on pollution. Actually one volcano (we have those too🙄) puts more pollution in the air than what is currently on earth now. I see the changes as earth doing what it does. The relationship between the earth and the sun and the moon. Every so often the earth's axis tilts from one direction to the other. I just read the earth is slowly pulling away from the sun. I'd also read a couple years ago the earth is 13,000 years overdue for another ice age. So earth goes through cycles no matter what us humans do. I believe we have polluted our home. Landfills, acres of plastic and debris in the oceans. Radioactive waste buried in this country that is leaking into the ground from the corroded barrels it's in. Those things we could do better controlling. The other things we have no control over. And since we can't it's best to live our lives as best we can. Especially during this pandemic. Which itself has changed the lives of the people of the whole world. Gee sorry for sounding so depressing right now. We just have to find a way to carry on. 😍
I think Brasilian women are known for their tiny bikinis and they like body perfection. I read a lot of them have cosmetic surgery. Men too. But she could also have been born with good genes. As we say here. And they love to be tan.
No I live in France in the Limousin region. The heat here tends to be humid unlike in the south where it is a dry heat. It rains a lot in winter but the summers have got drier recently.
Can't say I know where that is but I've heard France is a beautiful place. I worked as a caregiver years back and the gentleman I took care of had a brother who lived in France for years. He said he wouldn't live back in the states for anything. But when he died the family brought him back to the states to be buried. He probably haunted them for that😌. I do hope you are managing during this craziness with the pandemic. I'm 68 and never dreamed I'd live to witness something like this. Take care.
Really interesting re sunlight. I feel so much better in sunlight and have spent every moment I can outdoors these last month. Now wondering why I chose to live in Wales...
I am currently reading it. It aligns almost exactly with what my new cardiologist told me!
That's great. You are blessed to have found a GOOD cardiologist.
See if you can find a doctor trained in Functional or Integrative Medicine. Many of the major hospitals in the US have departments now that have the them on staff, and they accept insurance.
I've tried that but aren't many around. And the ones I did find don't accept my insurance. Mayo Clinic has a satellite in Jacksonville, FL. They don't accept full payment from Medicare insurance so you have to pay a lot more out of pocket. And some specialities don't accept Medicare at all. My HMO really limits me and my finances do to.
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