A DNA test, a book and a diet - AFib Eureka moment !

[Dyldog]

First I wanted to say what a fantastic group this is and just how much it has supported, reassured and lifted me on my AFib journey, it’s been invaluable

I’m a 61 year old woman with paroxysmal lone AFib, possibly SVT too. My story in brief is that I was diagnosed 3 years ago after my Fitbit showed up a worryingly high heart rate resulting in a visit to A&E. I was given beta blockers, apixaban and an appointment with a cardiologist

I started with a conservative approach (meds), monitoring and not to rushing into an ablation, but over the next year had quite a few long episodes lasting between 1 and 6 days, not too debilitating but none the less worrying

I tried anti-arrhythmic drugs – Sotalol, Propafenone, Fleicanide (as a PiP) – in retrospect (since I stopped taking them and have been no worse) I don’t think they were effective, in my own individual case at least

A year after diagnosis I had a PVI ablation. It was unsuccessful and my EP thinks the origin may be somewhere in the right chamber, not the usual Pulmonary veins but he didn’t want to ‘experiment’ with more ablation without evidence, fair enough. However after another A&E episode he reviewed my ECG and diagnosed more of a tachy ‘flutter’ than afib but I think I have both – so I’m currently awaiting a touch up PVI plus an EP mapping / ablation in the right chamber

So getting to the main point of my post. We all know what a minefield it is trying to identify our own unique triggers. It can seem random but obviously there is always an underlying cause which can be very subtle indeed, or a combination of things. This can of course take a long time to find but it’s encouraging that if we can find it, that’s the route to curing the condition, or at least being able to control it out of existence ! Recently I feel I have come close to understanding what my own triggers might be and wanted to share it in case it helps someone else. I’m not medically trained but have spent years reading and researching and have a deep interest

I recently did 3 important things, unrelated at first but turned out to sync up and give me almost a ‘Eureka’ moment !

1) I embarked on a low carb diet, strict Keto at < 20g carbs a day. This was mainly to lose a little weight as I weigh about a stone more than I should. I did this for about 6 weeks and noticed that my Afib improved dramatically. I had a couple of short episodes lasting only hours but they converted back to NSR very quickly compared to previous episodes

2) I had a DNA test – one of those where you send off a sample, it’s analysed in a lab and the results made available online. I think there are a few companies doing it, not sure if I’m allowed to advertise the one I used but it was excellent and gave 40 DNA profiled reports across diet, sleep, exercise, fitness, stress etc. But importantly for me, one of the results was a personalised analysis of my sensitivity to food groups and lo and behold – high sensitivity to carbohydrates. I was knocking everything out of balance by eating way more carbs than I should and not knowing my body wasn’t good at coping with it - Afib material ?

3) I read a great little book. I’ve read many but this was simple, short and hit the nail on the head for me. It was ‘How I cured my AFib’ by Jay Clarke - now my bible

It just all made sense

So in summary, I’m going belt and braces on this – I’m a believer in medical procedures if they stand a good chance of helping and I will be having one soon, but in addition I’ve started taking a more holistic approach to health as in keeping the whole body in balance with a diet tailored to YOU and generally taking care of yourself. It seems at least in my case that our triggers are determined by our DNA (actually that sounds fairly obvious when you say it out loud !) and this can be analysed and acted upon. It gives me optimism which can only be good

Anyone else have similar stories to share ?

Sue

[Barny12]

Can you say a bit more about ‘How I cured my AFib’ by Jay Clarke and how it hit the nail on the head for you? Thanks

[Dyldog in reply to Barny12]

Yes of course. I just felt it was a really well structured book, medical enough without being overwhelming for the lay-person and the author was in a similar situation to myself - paroxysmal and diagnosed relatively young with no co-morbidities. It was optimistic and confirmed a lot of what I was thinking about a holistic approach helping a lot. At the same time not dismissing medical intervention where required.

[Sambaqui]

Thanks for sharing your experience. I'm absolutely with you on continuing to explore non-medical possibilities, along, yes, with careful consideration of options the health service can offer us. I've been reducing carbohydrate recently and its too early to know of any impact on AF. I'd be interested in taking a DNA test as you did. You mention the company you used positively - would you feel ok to pass on its name?

[secondtry]

Thank you so much for posting, totally agree with your approach. Please post the DNA company, provided you don't have an interest that should be fine; I have often mention the brand of nasal strip that has helped me (Breathright) as I assume there are inferior products out there that may not be as effective.

[Singwell]

Really interesting! With the DNA test did you have to ask for specific areas of interest or is it a full on profile? I'm interested in getting one for me and my husband. Thanks!

[Dyldog in reply to Singwell]

Hi Singwell

I think most of the providers do an ‘across the board’ sort of test but some are more focussed on the ancestry side of things rather than health. The DNAfit one I used does a full health profile which was exactly what I wanted

Best wishes

[Outsidethelines]

Thanks so much for your post. I too would like to know the name of the DNA test company you used. Like you, I’ve made some big lifestyle changes and I’ve lost 5kg in weight (a lot for me as I’m only little) got my BMI and cholesterol right down BUT blood pressure remains stubbornly high and my AF is getting worse and worse. Keep thinking there must be something I’m missing, and maybe DNA would pinpoint it

[Dyldog in reply to Outsidethelines]

Hi, I’ve posted a general reply with the provider - there was a lot of interest. Hope it’s useful

Sue

[Dyldog]

Thanks so much for your responses to my post, there seems to be a general interest in the DNA testing company. The one I used was DNAfit which I was happy with but a quick google of ‘DNA health tests’ will bring up a selection and more information - I’m absolutely not trying to promote any particular provider !

[Threecats]

Hi Dyldog

Thank you for sharing your story, I’ve found it very interesting and informative. I’m in persistent AF and have been told that an ablation wouldn’t hold for very long due to other health issues affecting my heart. I’m therefore very interested in ways to help myself. Coincidentally, I picked up a book on the keto diet just the other day, as I have put on around 6kg whilst on beta-blockers . I’m now on CCBs but the weight is proving stubborn to shift. I’m very interested in your DNA testing, too and will certainly look into that further.

All the best to you, TC