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BenHall1 profile image
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I previously traded on here as Carn Euny ( John). Abandoned it all due to stresses and strains (over last 8 months) arising from having been scammed out of £5.5k for solar panel installation work which never took place. Matter now in hands of Trading Standards for a review and hopefully a successful prosecution. This particular region of TS has already one successful prosecution for a similar case.

Hope everyone who I'd been in contact with previously over the years is fit and well and that you have all managed to kick your AF demon into touch. Amazingly despite all the emotion and stress of these last few months my AF has not stuck its head above the parapet and in fact I've not had a blip now for the best part of a year. Not a blip.

Cheers,

John

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BenHall1 profile image
BenHall1
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Threecats profile image
Threecats

Hi John

Funnily enough I was only thinking yesterday that I hadn’t seen any posts from you for a good while and wondered if you were ok. I’m sorry to hear about the scam, what a nightmare for you. Hope that TS follow through with a successful prosecution. Excellent news that your ticker has behaved despite all the stress, though, Long may that continue!

All the best, TC

BenHall1 profile image
BenHall1 in reply toThreecats

Hiya TC,

Thanks for your comments, nice to hear from you. Well as far as TS go I am planning for the worst and hoping for the best. The file they have from me is around half an inch thick. I hope they aren't feint hearted ( to make a horrible pun). The last prosecution ( that I know about) resulted in a guy getting 2 and half years in the slammer and a ban on holding directorships for some 6 years.

In a whacko sorta way it is comforting to know that stress doesn't trigger my AF ( when it used to kick off) ... it was always food. I knew that, BUT it is nice to be able to prove that beyond doubt after the last few months.

Looking forward to reading posts again.

John

Gumbie_Cat profile image
Gumbie_Cat

Really sorry to hear that, but glad your AF is behaving! Best of luck with TS, what a nightmare!

BenHall1 profile image
BenHall1 in reply toGumbie_Cat

...thanks Gumbie_cat. Its all gonna be a long process - time will tell.

John

meadfoot profile image
meadfoot

Sorry to hear you have had a tough time scam wise and hope it is soon resolved. Good you have kept AF free. All the best, great to have you back on forum.

BenHall1 profile image
BenHall1 in reply tomeadfoot

Thanks for your comments meadfoot. The big plus out of all this is that stress doesn't impact on my AF - food only, but to still stay AF free for so long is a big plus.

John

jeanjeannie50 profile image
jeanjeannie50

Sorry to hear this news John, honestly it's enough to make you swear for the rest of your life isn't it! I've mumbled a few for you. I hope it's soon resolved so that you can put it all behind you.

It's good to see you're back, but after years of you being Carn Euny I'll have to try hard to remember your new name.

Glad you have been AF free for so long.

Are you still working?

Jean

BenHall1 profile image
BenHall1 in reply tojeanjeannie50

Hiya Jean, really nice to hear from you. Well, I toyed around with going for Carn Euny 2 - but decided against it. Instead I went for the name of an Australian Bush Ranger - Ben Hall - shot dead outside a New South Wales country town, Forbes, where my grandmother lived for many years.

Well given all the stresses of the last few months I am well chuffed that my AF has withstood it all. I have to say I just didn't realise what a load of rats and mice there were in the Solar Industry and none are particularly regulated. There needs to be some form of licencing.

Yes, I am still working but I have cut my hours right back, I drive for a national bus operator who has a contract with a major College in Cornwall for teens and young adults ( in their 20's ). So I have weekends off and all school/college holidays. Nice ! Still get 20 days holiday a year too. Still passing my medicals too which enables me to retain my PCV licence.

I hope you and all the other AF'ers I knew as Carn Euny are still around and are fit and well. Is CD still on here. Stay safe Jean

John

jeanjeannie50 profile image
jeanjeannie50 in reply toBenHall1

Yes, CD is still on here giving her wise advice. FJ is too, but he's been to hell and back over the last few years and doesn't come on very often.

You put your lack of AF down to diet don't you. I'm doing very much the same and have felt so much better lately. Are you still on meds? I take just1.25 of Bisoprolol now daily alongside my Warfarin.Have dropped Flecainide. My cardiologist looked at my ECG and said I needed to come off it as it appeared to be causing more problems than helping. True it was and there was me thinking it was helping. I feel a different person now.

Jean

BenHall1 profile image
BenHall1 in reply tojeanjeannie50

Hi Jean,

With the experience of stress behind me over the last 8 months, at least for now, I am absolutely confident it is food and only food in all its glories that triggers my AF. However, if I do misbehave and eaten forbidden stuff ( accidently or deliberately) it impacts only on my digestive system and doesn't seem to cause any agro to the vagal nerve. Its a long analytical road going through the diet process but well worth it. Yes, still on the meds, pretty much the same as when diagnosed in 2010, Bisoprolol 5mg and Warfarin 4 mg daily, both taken at night. My INR stays pretty much in range and is always in the vicinity of 2.2 to 2.7. Interestingly, just thinking about it - it went whacko Jacko and got quite a bit out of range up to 3.7 at the height of the issues with this solar panel company ..... maybe stress. Even more interestingly my INR clinic had an almighty job getting it down to my INR range.

Bisoprolol is holding my HR at around the 64 to 67 bpm but I am considering whether to ask my GP to reduce it a tad say down to 3.75mg in the hope I can get the HR up to low to mid 70's in the hope that doing so will improve my tiredness which I am feeling more this year than ever before since I had AF diagnosed. I am happy for you that dropping the Flec has been a big plus for you and that I am posting this to the 'New Jean' and that you are feeling so well. Great news, hoping it continues. I seem to remember ( before I went off line) that many AF'ers had unpleasant experiences with Flec. Onward and upward then Jean.

A friend of my sisters had an AF diagnosis some years back. Her Cardio guy wanted her to stop Warfarin so that she could have an angiogram. She was off it for 2 days, and followed this with a blood clot which resulted in a stroke which is now quite debilitating for her. She recalls being very cold and slept on her lounge as it was the warmest part of the house. Next morning her O/H got up to find her on the floor with the loss of movement in her legs. Hospital didn't expect her to survive but she did.

And I thought .... omg .... and I cut it out for 6 days for several medical procedures at different times including knee replacement. 😱😱😱. anyway Jean, glad you are feeling so well. Hope you are enjoying the great sunny weather where you are .... our half term grockles are pretty much all departed and so we can have our town back.

John

jeanjeannie50 profile image
jeanjeannie50 in reply toBenHall1

That's awful about the friend of your sisters having a stroke when stopping her anticoagulant. I think it's something we all dread, but rarely hear of it happening.

In your reply to someone below you said that you still had problems with your digestion, well I did through taking Warfarin at night. It wasn't long after starting it that I switched to taking it mid breakfast and that problem quickly went. Also you told me to stop eating yogurt, which I did and that really helped, never touch it now. Have no digestion problems at all.

Grockles are always here in my town. Once the kids go back to school the older people come by the coachload. The National Trust property where I volunteer as a room guide has been busier than ever this year. I think people are having holidays in the UK rather than going abroad because of all the chaos at airports.

Jean

Vonnegut profile image
Vonnegut in reply tojeanjeannie50

Interesting about the Flecainide not being useful for you- how different we all are! It seems to work at preventing episodes for me while the 1.25mg of Bisoprolol was too much for me!!

Fortunately, we had our solar panels fitted many years ago but so sad to find that scammers are entering that too!

BobD profile image
BobDVolunteer

Hi John sorry to read that but in the interests of security and to establish that you are who you say you are, where did we first meet? (too many cloned FB friends. lol 😁 )

BenHall1 profile image
BenHall1 in reply toBobD

Bob, I perfectly understand. We originally met, back in the day, when the AFA forum, that we are now on was hosted by Yahoo. That would have been around February or March 2010 - when I was an AF greenhorn. 😂😂

John

BenHall1 profile image
BenHall1 in reply toBobD

Bob, an additional thought ...... at about the same time you and I met on the AF Yahoo website another AF'er was Mark S.

John

BobD profile image
BobDVolunteer in reply toBenHall1

Yes he is still around and occasionally posts here. Remember the lunches we used to arrange? Good times and many of those are still with us.

BenHall1 profile image
BenHall1 in reply toBobD

Yes, certainly do - two locations I seem to remember, one pub in Exeter itself which is where I first met Flapjack. Also we congregated at a pub in Budleigh Salterton - don't ask me the name of the pubs though.😂😂

Hello Cobber, I had so many problems spelling the old name, so BenHall sounds pretty good to me! I hope you get a result and the scammers get their just deserts, they are just scum!

Good to hear about the AF though, as Jean said, we have had a difficult year and I am amazed that my AF hasn’t reared its ugly head either, long may it continue eh! So no driving through the school/college holidays eh, boy you’ll miss dodging all the grockles! Good luck Ben😉

BenHall1 profile image
BenHall1 in reply to

G'day Flapjack,

So very sorry to read of your difficult year, but, as with myself delighted that your AF hasn't returned to make your life even more challenging. Actually, I am quite chuffed that despite all the anger and stresses my AF has stayed away because that makes me more confident than ever that my AF kicked in after a range of foods I'd eaten caused havoc with my vagal nerve. That said my digestive system still gives me occasional problems and poor Mrs Ben Hall has to be more creative with her cooking. Anyway, I hope that your AF behaves. I think it is comforting that if you can endure lifes difficulties and the demon stays in its box then it really is a massive plus.

Correct, no driving through school/college summer holidays ........... Mrs Ben Hall however, has many projects listed for me to attend to .......... and therein lies a problem to be dealt with - Australia and England are playing the Ashes Test Cricket Series, and hopefully some day night limited overs games too. Back in yer box Mrs Ben Hall.

Stay well, stay safe Flapjack.

John

Frances123 profile image
Frances123

Good to see you back John. What an awful thing to happen to you and Mrs Ben Hall. Do hope TS win the case for you. Glad the old Afib is still knocked into touch. Have to admit I’ve not found stress to be a trigger either.

I fully empathise about the grockles. We have the Yorkshire version mainly from Easter to late September and a few hardy ones in the winter. Living in a tourist TV location it can be manic at times. It’s lovely to see people enjoying themselves and helps all the local traders and local economy but I wish they realised that people still lived here and need to get on with their lives.

Sorry, but I don’t understand cricket at all but know how much you enjoy it. I hope you see some good matches. I did use to enjoy watching a local cricket match from a deckchair on a village green, glass of cider in my hand and enjoying the sunshine. I would clap when others did but I hadn’t the faintest idea what was going on. It was just nice enjoying the atmosphere and local life. 🏏.

Stay well and Mrs Ben Hall too.

BenHall1 profile image
BenHall1 in reply toFrances123

Thank you Frances123 - yep, Easter to late September is our season too. The sad thing about down 'ere in Cornwall ( and I guess many other parts of UK ) is the youth of the area grow up with the mindset that they are living in an seasonal/tourist economy - and I guess they rely on the bank of mum and dad and/or the benefits economy for the rest of the year. A bit sad.

Stay well.

John

Tilly1957 profile image
Tilly1957

good to see you back x

BenHall1 profile image
BenHall1 in reply toTilly1957

Thank you Tilly.

Cha275rL profile image
Cha275rL in reply toBenHall1

I wondered where you had gone, and glad to see you’re ok, but very sorry to hear about your scam, that’s terrible, and there’s so much of it about.

Good news about your AF though. Mine hasn’t kicked off recently either, despite breaking two bones in my leg, and my poor husband being told he has MND. I wonder if, maybe our minds are so tuned in to what’s going on in our lives besides AF, that we don’t think about it so much? Who knows.

Best of luck getting it all sorted out x

Mrsvemb profile image
Mrsvemb

I was only wondering the other day if you were ok, as I haven’t seen you on here for some time. Pleased to hear that you are ok health wise, in particular no AF.

Very sorry to hear about the scam and I hope that you get a satisfactory outcome.

I am with you on the food triggering AF, I cannot eat dairy, gluten or soya. Just Friday, I had some turkey breast that had been basted in butter. AF started 11pm that night and still continues. My own fault for not checking the ingredients, I had a lot going on last week.

Anyway, pleased to see you back and good luck with trading standards.

Val

BenHall1 profile image
BenHall1 in reply toMrsvemb

Thanks for your comments Val. Talking of meats that kick off AF ...... pork with any fat, including crackling will do it, also Duck, seems to be an inherently fatty bird which plays havoc with my system. The leaner the meat for me the better. I can eat pork steaks, nice n' lean and no problem. I've given up on all Chinese meals now, be they packaged in a supermarket or in a Resturant. Damn nearly kills me. Just get sooooo ill. Chinese hits me two way - pain in the chest around the low part of rib cage, and the digestive system itself. And yes Val, thats all it takes, a lapse in concentration and yep, we're off down the AF slippery slope. 😂😂😂

John

Cat04 profile image
Cat04

Welcome back and keep avoiding the emmets, there are plenty about!

BenHall1 profile image
BenHall1 in reply toCat04

Thanks for that Cat, I've invested in some heavy duty garden weed killer for the emmets - RoundUp. Asking our Engineering team how best to fit a spray system to the front of my bus.😂😂😂😂

John

Cat04 profile image
Cat04 in reply toBenHall1

Slurry tanker spray?? Just wish they could stick to their side of the road instead of going up the middle and not moving over. Royal Cornwall Show next week too! Time to stay at home!

Auriculaire profile image
Auriculaire in reply toBenHall1

Have you checked that it is the original formula with glyhposate? Because of all the bad press about glyphosate it is now impossible to buy that here in France and Roundup here ( and in Germany - I've tried German amazon) no longer contains glyphosate. I'm at my wit's ends as I used to use a paint on gel on bindweed leaves and dandelions growing in amongst my choice plants.

Auriculaire profile image
Auriculaire

Hi John- really sorry to hear about your problems with the solar panels scam. Hope TS prosecutes and puts the perp/perps away. Here we get cold calls nearly every day from people who we suspect would try to sell us solar panels or a heat pump if we let them get that far. They usually start off by asking what form of heating we use. I tell them it's none of their business and that I'm not interested in whatever they are trying to sell. But I suspect them all of being scammers. Good that none of this has provoked your afib. Enjoy the Test matches and your long summer hols when they arrive.

BenHall1 profile image
BenHall1 in reply toAuriculaire

Hiya Auriculaire, many thanks for your post and greetings. I am hopefully that these people will get a doin' over. I'm fortunate in that they work out from Devon and so that Regions TS are dealing with it and they have a success record so far which is encouraging. It'll be a slow process though, but, I'm patient. I've spent a lot of soul searching hours trying to analyse where I went wrong. I was too obessed with the technology and spent more time researching that - too much time - whereas I should have devoted to spend even more time than I did researching the company. I did quite a bit but nowhere near enough it seems.

Stay well, stay safe, enjoy summer, you are in a lovely region.

John

Auriculaire profile image
Auriculaire in reply toBenHall1

It's a dilemma. We invested in solar panels and a heat pump in 2008/9. We had packages of tax exemptions from the government but we did not really investigate the companies. We were lucky. The only niggle was that the solar panel installers we chose did not take any notice of the weather forecast and did not cover our slateless roof with a protection against rain. That night there was a storm! We are now on our second heat pump. It works better in really cold weather than the first one did. We sell our leccy to EDF and have only been making a profit on the original investment for a couple of years now.

JOY2THEWORLD49 profile image
JOY2THEWORLD49

Hi

Oh dear.

There are alot of scans circling NZ.

One guy who did various checks managed to invest into a scan. From $50,000 he was able to get back $1,800.

Moving on stress is rather bad for AF. I'm glad that you have now risen partially over it.

The introduction of a CCB Diltiazem to control my rapid H/R was perfect. I still take 2.5 Bisoprolol at night to keep the BP in check.

123/69. 62-69 H.R across the day. 47 avge H/R at night illustrated on a 24 hr monitor.

I hope that your AF is well controlled as well and taking the anti-co.agulant if your chad level requires it. Stroke is caused by AF. I was diagnosed 4 days after stroke with Thyroid Papillary Cancer. The hyper caused the AF which caused the stroke. Irregular heart - AF formed a clot. Which got stuck in my left frontal lobe.

Br positive and I'll say a prayer that you win your case.

cheri JOY. 74. (NZ)

BenHall1 profile image
BenHall1 in reply toJOY2THEWORLD49

Hi Joy ( down there in beautiful NZ)

Thank you for your post and your comments and prayers. I must say I'm delighted with the way my heart has responded to the stress of late with this solar panel issues. It simply hasn't missed a beat ( few little bursts of palpitations but very short lived and no problem. They go as quick as they come) and I'm fine. Just have to watch my food intake- that seems to be the mischief maker. So sorry to read of your stroke. A school friend of my sisters has had a similar experience and as I understand it has taken away her mobility, has issues walking. So, I'm still very much into my Bisoprolol and Warfarin, and self test my INR levels as well with the support of my surgery.

Stay safe down there.

John

JOY2THEWORLD49 profile image
JOY2THEWORLD49 in reply toBenHall1

Hi

I was lucky mobility wasn't an issue.

Most of it is the AF and continue to add more distance to my walks with some elevation.

Sunny north but now its winter and we have had tremendous flooding. I chose to be elevated when I purchased a home here in 1990.

But I spent 1991-1997 in UK working in Devon. Felt at home! Both sets of grands born in Devon. I enjoyed your UK and ease with which to travel out to explore the world.

I cannot have an ablation - something about an enlarged chamber LV.

Ablations rather attack the heart by scarring. Only can have 3 according to a friend who was told after No.3.

In NZ if meds control AF then leave alone. With the cancer out I'm hopeful for a self conversion. My Mum lived until 93!

Here's hoping for the both of us. JOY

pusillanimous profile image
pusillanimous

So sorry to hear about your solar experience - it's so heartbreaking (forgive the pun) when you are trying to do your bit for the ecology. I live in South Africa, and electricity is a nightmare, I had an inverter for load shedding but am actually excited (does not take much for me) that my solar conversion is underway, after a long wait for part importation and worry that I had been scammed out of my deposit. That was not the case. Two new inverters were installed on Thursday and on Tuesday I get 14 solar panels and 3 new batteries. I admit my heart has been jumping around for the last few months ! , but I was dealing with a reputable firm, there are so many fly by nights jumping onto the solar panel business!

BenHall1 profile image
BenHall1 in reply topusillanimous

Hiya pusillanimous,

Thanks for your post and your comments. Well with my solar panel experience I may well write a thesis on the whole solar panel business in Britain. It all seems to rest on any company affiliating itself with a Trade organisation to create an impression in the eyes of the consumer that they are a safe and reputable bet. Whereas what it needs, being an infant industry, is Government licencing, with some authority taking a Bond at the time of licencing to be used to compensate the consumer in the event of a default. Well I can dream can't I ???

The best thing is my heart - bless it - has been as steady as the Rock of Gibraltar ( apart from a few palpitations here and there ). No AF at all. So, good luck with your solar system Hope it gives you all the benefits that we are told about.

John

Tellingfibs profile image
Tellingfibs

What a drama for you ! As you say, it’s good that it proved your Afib wasn’t triggered by stress - otherwise you would have been in a rough place Afib-wise ! Good to have you back, but hopefully you won’t need us !

Annie

BenHall1 profile image
BenHall1 in reply toTellingfibs

Thank you Annie. Keeping the AF controlled gives me alot more confidence to deal with the rest. I almost feel normal 😱😱

John

Ducky2003 profile image
Ducky2003

There's some unscrupulous bar stewards around but hopefully, you will be successful bringing this one to account.Haven't got time to go through all the comments but are you the Aussie bus driver in Cornwall or have I got the wrong chap? 😁

BenHall1 profile image
BenHall1 in reply toDucky2003

G'day Ducky,

Yeah that's me ... the Aussie bus driver in Cornwall. One way or another I'll get this guy, the key is patience. And being rat cunning. I am in the process of documenting my experience and will publish it in due course. Peeps in Devon, Cornwall and Somerset need to be aware. Could be worse of course ... I could have full blown AF chucked into the melting pot 😂😂😂😂

John

Ducky2003 profile image
Ducky2003 in reply toBenHall1

If you know where he lives, go and write something rude on his lawn in weedkiller! 😁

BenHall1 profile image
BenHall1 in reply toDucky2003

😂😂😂😂😂😂😱😱😱😱

Maggimunro profile image
Maggimunro

welcome back.

BenHall1 profile image
BenHall1 in reply toMaggimunro

Bless and thank you Maggimunro.

John

Bagrat profile image
Bagrat

Poop for the scam. Pleased it's in the hands of those that can maybe sort things. I'd almost forgotten the Yahoo group, must have been 2011 when I joined. Good that your AF has not added to the mix. I only bob in from time to time these days.Good to hear from you John.

Best Wishes Wendy

BenHall1 profile image
BenHall1 in reply toBagrat

Thanks for your message Wendy. Great to hear from you, gosh .... I knew (like myself) you'd been on this forum for a while - didn't realise how long. See how time flies when you're having fun. 😂😂😂

John

Snowgirl65 profile image
Snowgirl65

It's funny how we a-fibbers gauge our successes by whether or not the stressors of life trigger our a-fib. Glad to hear you went through yours with flying colors, and hope you have a successful conclusion!

BenHall1 profile image
BenHall1 in reply toSnowgirl65

Thank you Snowgirl ... maybe my life (30 years in Sydney, Canberra, Surrey and now Cornwall ) as a bus driver has conditioned my heart (bless it) to cope with stress. Yes, the outcome will be interesting ... time will tell. I must be patient, a commodity I have never, ever been blessed with.

John

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