Well, I joined this list a couple of months ago just after my GP told me I had AF, and appreciated your responses to my posts. It turns out he was wrong and what I have is episodes lasting several days of a high burden of ectopics (with runs resulting in resting HR up to around 130bpm) mostly PACs and some probably from somewhere in the fast conduction system. I had a really helpful session at the John Radcliffe arrhythmia clinic last week.
So perhaps I shouldn't be on this list but actually the causes and symptoms seem to be quite similar to AF, with increased risk of stroke and also of developing AF.
I don't think they'd understood before they saw me that the ectopics were episodic my 24 hour ECG in January was in the middle of an episode. They wanted to prescribe daily flecainide but agreed I could try it as PIP (it helped a lot having a chart of my episodes over the last 4 months). They seem quite keen to give me an ablation but I'm not quite ready for that and want to understand the risks better, either way. I don't think they'd be able to identify the misbehaving cells anyway unless they do the EP mapping during an episode.
I'd still really like to see how far dietary and lifestyle changes can help. And I'd really like to hear from anyone in the UK who has managed to find help with anything like the Afib diet - especially the kind of intense monitoring of vitamin D etc. that they recommend.
Written by
Lorris
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Hi & welcome - many here with PVCs but you might also look at the Arrythmia Alliance forum?
I can only comment on diet - no BUT some people have identified triggers which are individual.
General Advice
Common elements to AVOID - ultra processed foods, sugar or anything containing sugar and artificial sweeteners (worse than sugar), caffeine, alcohol, some nightshade plants are known antagonists for AF - aubergine, potatoes & tomatoes affect some, gluten & dairy.
General rule is eat fresh, organic and mostly plant based foods or Mediterranean Diet or Pan/Mediterranean and my rule is ‘ Eat the Rainbow’, foods High in Polyphenols & antioxidants. Keep meals small & don’t eat anything for at least 3 hours prior to bed and try to fast for at least 12-16 hours infant 24.
The AFA have good info on ablation so good place to start. I have to say from experience the procedure was a doddle, had 2 for AF, the recovery took a lot longer than I thought and that seems to be a common experience. Also ectopics seem to be an after affect, but they do vanish eventually as you heal.
Thanks CDreamer. Yes, that is helpful. I'll look at the Arrhythmia Alliance. I'm vegan and eat a lot of (organic) fruit and veg and also generally eat within an 8-10 hour window,. I actually cut down on kale and broccoli because I realised I was maybe getting too much calcium. It hadn't occurred to me that nightshade family plants might be a problem and could perhaps experiment with that. I would really miss tomatoes!
In my case anxiety I am pretty sure is one of the causes of my past AF. The gut can increase anxiety by sending messages via the Vagus Nerve. I have therefore spent some time and expense identifying what, how and when I am eating incorrectly.
There seem to be various substance triggers for Afib. My partner(73) has cut out coffee, tea and alcohol and keeps out of the pre-diabetic range by moderating carbohydrate intake.So far so good. No Afib for a year. Only on Apixiban now after various rate control drugs and then a cardioversion a year ago. She also takes moderate exercise walking and some cycling.
Food is one of my many triggers for both ectopics and afib. Currently on FODMAP diet which seems to help some. Good luck with the flecainide. It has helped my afib and stopped my ectopics which tend to trigger or at least precede an afib episode. PIP may be all you need. If that doesn't work than maybe a low daily dose. If ablation is required, they should be able to reproduce your PACs, but that is a discusion you should have with your EP prior, including what they will do (or not do) if they can't reproduce the PACs during the procedure.
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