Afib and Potassium Magnesium

[Janeybur]

Hi everyone! I was diagnosed with what was anticipated to be a one off Afib event in November 2020 ( in hospital for 3 days after emergency admission) Summer last year I had two further events and after an 11 month wait I elected to see a consultant privately. Echocardiogram, MRI and zio patch later he has confirmed Afib and atrial tachycardia non sustained. Generally I feel okay but am really stressed. I have just changed my multi vitamin and since gave had only a few fast HR episodes. It contains Magnesium - could that be beneficial? I gave read about Potassium too but as I am now on Bisoprolol and ezetimibe I don't want to jeopardise their function. Any experiences or advice would be most welcome !

[Autumn_Leaves]

Be careful with ANY supplements and seriously ask yourself why you’re taking them in the first place. The purpose of a supplement is to address dietary deficiencies or insufficiency, and that’s it. I was advised not to take magnesium supplements by my arrhythmia nurse (though some people are). Some people find them helpful. I tried them to see if they would help my ectopics but I felt they probably made my ectopics worse. I would rather get my magnesium from dietary sources — vegetables especially leafy greens, fruit, nuts, seeds, whole grains and so on. Potassium is also found in fruit and vegetables. Potassium supplements can potentially trigger arrhythmias so you don’t want to mess about with them. Only take potassium if prescribed. You’re better off eating oranges and bananas for potassium, assuming you don’t have a life threatening allergy of course.

[Janeybur in reply to Autumn_Leaves]

Thank you for such a thoughtful replyI eat at least 8 portions of fruit and veg a day including broccoli, bananas etc as I always watch my weight, so maybe the supplements in a multi vitamin are not required. I will try checking with my GP practice nurse. You constantly hear conflicting information. Maybe the improvement is coincidence

All good wishes

[secondtry in reply to Janeybur]

The time consuming bit is to source a sustainable supply of organic fruit & veg from growers who have invested in the soil not large scale Eastern European farms. It's time to buy from individual farmers you trust and in the case of veg, locallyas well, to secure a reliable supply even if a bit more costly.

[Autumn_Leaves in reply to secondtry]

People should eat what they have access to and what they can afford. It’s great if people can afford organic and it’s better for the environment and so on, but nobody should avoid eating fruit and veg if they can’t afford organic. This isn’t a personal criticism of you, please understand. I know you are coming from a good place, but there are plenty of people who don’t have the income to make these choices, and it’s not because they’re wasting their money on poor choices either.

[ozziebob in reply to Autumn_Leaves]

I have recently started to buy pumpkin and sunflower seeds as an alternative to more expensive nuts, but have quickly discovered most, including the "organic" supply, are grown in China where the farm land is the most heavily polluted with toxic heavy metals of any in the world. So my wider search for a better quality product, that will obviously cost more, is based more on necessity than being a luxury I can easily forego.

[Autumn_Leaves in reply to ozziebob]

I also buy pumpkin seeds, sunflower seeds etc. I don’t trust the ones from China. The ones I buy are grown in the EU. They’re a good option for people who need to avoid nuts.

[Autumn_Leaves in reply to Janeybur]

I agree it’s very confusing but the most evidence based advice is usually quite boring. If you’re eating a diet based on whole foods you’re probably doing well in that respect. You might want to arrange for some blood tests via your GP practice to check your B12/folates/ferritin and vitamin D if you can. My GP practice is quite good at ordering these tests but that’s not everyone’s experience. A vitamin D supplement is a good idea, but personally I don’t go for huge doses. I’ve also found that my levels stay around the same regardless of dose, including the spray ones, so I’m not going to micromanage it.

[Auriculaire in reply to Janeybur]

You should be ok for potassium. I have my potassium measured in my annual blood tests and it's always in the top of the range . I don't eat as much fruit and veg as you. Potassium should never be taken as a supplement unless specifically prescribed by a doctor. Magnesium is less tricky. If you take too much your bowels will tell you straight away!

[Silky57]

Both my EP (cardiologist) and my GP recommended magnesium taurate to me. My EP said the evidence was anecdotal but many of his patients reported an improvement in ectopic beats. I’ve been using a supplement for a year now and personally it’s reduced my ectopics by c.80-90%. But everyone is different of course & the caveat is always to check with your own healthcare professional. Also note we were discussing reducing ectopic beat burden as opposed to sustained tachycardia or AF.

[Janeybur in reply to Silky57]

Thank you Silky57. I will give my practice nurse a call. As we are talking multi vitamins its worthwhile asking them to check the whole ingredients just to he sure

[Auriculaire in reply to Janeybur]

Magnesium taurate tends to be expensive. I take magnesium biglycinate and taurine which works out cheaper and you can control the amount of taurine and magnesium separately.

[Cavalierrubie]

Did you have a blood test to check your electrolytes are in sync.? If they are not, it can cause AF. Over supplementing can do more harm than good. I would see your practice nurse for advice. It is stressful, but treatable, and not terminal and l hope you get some help to reassure you that you are ok. Lots of us on here have had AF for many years and it’s such an individual thing to become stabilised on the treatment that suits you. You can still have a good quality of life. Don’t let it define who you are.

[Luludean in reply to Cavalierrubie]

Cavalier ! That is so sensible!!! If possible grab at life, explore possibiities of having fun , learning , being sociable, being friendly.

Not giving in to self pity , yes, and not letting AF or RA etc define our being. Easier said than done but , with winter coming ( I hate it) I will go back to U3A , yoga , painting anything to stop thinking about ailments. Well that is the theory !!

[Shcldavies]

If your deficiant in Potassium or Magnesium, then suppliments will help (not magnesium oxide), if your not deficient they won't help. Problem is that your cell count magnesium (the important bit for your heart) is not easily measured, your blood count could be fine but cell count could still be low. Also too much potasium will be bad for your heart. It really is not as simple as a yes or no answer - sorry. I would take a good quality magnesium supplement, there are different types so best try a multipe magnesium supplement, if it turns out to be ineffective then the worst that could happen is you will need the toilet a lot. Worth being aware tha magnesium suppliments are not like aspirin etc that work within a few minutes, these supliments can take weeks/months to have an effect on your cell count magnesium. From experiance many medics will not know a great deal about your condition and consequently may not provide the advice you need. Your heart is an extremly complex bit of kit that even the most proficient medics know so little about, that said they do know a great deal more than we do so do not go against their advice but do look for a second opinion. You will find many posts on utube from Dr Gupta, a cardiologist from York, these videos probably provide the best advice for you.

[Kaz747]

As others have said, everyone is different. On the advice of my Electrophysiologist, I take a magnesium supplement morning and night and it helped greatly. I got advice from a well regarded pharmacist who is also a master herbalist (I’m in Australia) and he advised me on what to buy. I take a powder that I mix in a glass of water. The beauty of a powder is that you can adjust the dose. I have a very good diet with heaps of fruit, vegetables, nuts, seeds, etc and I also take a daily multivitamin and exercise regularly.

I have had 4 ablations and apart from a couple of hiccups when I had a bad virus, when I had the Covid vaccines and when I have undergone surgery, I have had no real issues for more than five years.

As always, check with your health care professionals 😉

[Singwell]

Many of us take a magnesium supplement. Also Vitamin D3 with K2. Most British people over 50 are Vit D depleted. It's worth your while reading a book called The AFib Cure by 2 American electrophysiologists. Can't remember both names but one is Dr John Day. The book is a useful guide to understanding the multiple systems in our body that might impact on AF abd you can read about vitamin and mineral supplements there.

[Sixtyslidogirl]

Hi,

I have paroxysmal Afib, with a few episodes a year, waiting for an ablation. Another vote for the Afib cure. Many will say learn as much as you can about Afib so you can understand your own body better and understand what agency you have. I take magnesium and that made a big difference to my ectopics. I also follow a largely plant based diet (Zoe) which together with giving up alcohol has really reduced my levels of inflammation as measured by HS-CRP.. if you are in the UK you can get this measure through private blood testers. I use Thriva. Good luck!

[Ppiman]

I feel sure it is safe to take your daily vitamin pill with AF. Judging by the sales of supplements, a lot of people find comfort in taking such things. Medically speaking, unless you have a health problem that is causing a deficiency, then there is no benefit from taking them.

Study after study has shown zero benefit from taking them, however, and no study has ever demonstrated any supplement will reduce or prevent AF episodes, including magnesium or potassium (the former is at least safe, but the latter can be much less so in some people).

The key health parameters to get right with AF and cardiovascular diseases in general are weight, exercise, blood pressure, blood sugar and sleep apnoea. Doing our best to look after these by eating a healthy diet, keeping weight down to accepted guideline and carrying out some form of daily exercise routine is the way to truly look after ourselves.

Of course, it's so much easier to take a daily pill, and that is entirely natural. Defeating the psychology of it can be nigh on impossible to the delight of the likes of H&B and Amazon!

Steve

[Gladstone001]

I have experimented for many years with magnesium and other supplements and Mag Taurate or Mag Glycinate are the supplements that have really helped me in both keeping AF at bay and taking alomgside a PiP when I am in AF. I currently take 500mg of Mag taurate a day (available at a reasonable price at Amazon UK). My EP is aware of my supplements and does not believe that they have any negative impact, but can only be positive.

[Countrydweller2]

Magnesium citrate stopped my AF events along with constipation and a lifetime of insomnia. It was a miracle, but after two years AF started again. My sister tried it for just the insomnia but she had a heartbeat event. So from that I take it that magnesium, if not needed can mess with the heart. I don't take it now but I might if my AF gets more frequent.

[Autumn_Leaves in reply to Countrydweller2]

That’s interesting about your sister. I thought that magnesium supplements made my ectopics worse so perhaps they are more useful for people with a dietary deficiency. According to Dr Sarah Ballantyne, author of Nutrivore, who I consider a fairly reliable source of information as far as internet personalities go, most of the US population do not meet their daily recommended intake for magnesium, something like 94%, which is a lot. I don’t know about the UK population but perhaps it’s a similar picture. If so, it’s not that surprising that many people find magnesium supplements helpful. I eat a lot of vegetables, nuts, seeds, whole grains etc, so maybe I get enough. I kept a diary on Cronometer for a few days and I was meeting the daily requirements. Cronometer defaults to the US RDIs which I think might be higher than the UK recommendations. If so, then perhaps my experience with magnesium and possibly more ectopics tallies with your sister’s experience. More recently I tried a B complex to see if it would help with another condition and I experienced a flare up of AF. It may have been coincidence but in general I question whether taking supplements on spec is a sensible idea.

[Genetee]

I had Afib for years 10+ before I knew what it was.When my heart would race (135 bpm) I could not sleep or if sleeping I would wake up.

Any thing good for the heart is beneficial.

Cream of tartar has the highest levels of potassium magnesium that I've found in any natural form safe in smaller doses say1/2 tsp 2 or 3 times a week.

6 tbls can kill but small doses are beneficial, but,if you have bad kidneys keeping potassium on the low side is better.

[Genetee]

I replied before I'd read the rest of the Posts.My Afib was brought on by ,what I believe is a fungal infection compounded by exposure black mold. Remember people die from this.

Made it hard for my heart to pull blood from the lungs. That chamber was overworked for so many years it enlarged and began to beat out of since with the rest of the heart, or Afib.

First cardiologist warned me that I might never overcome the Afib.

Second cardiologist decided do a cardiac conversion as a starting point. This worked for about 2 weeks, but,I was in the hospital for fluid overload when it converted back to the Afib, so the third cardiologist did the conversion again and my Afib has been stopped for 8 months now.

However, the fungus/mold had already damaged my pancreas and my kidneys.

10+ yearsis a long time to have a fungal infection but I've eaten well since childhood.

Whole homegrown fruits and vegetables homegrown beef wild game lots of garlic and spices(fresh Tabasco is by far my favorite pepper and I eat lots of others).

Peculiarly, when I had trouble breathing I used Sulphur, Flowers of Sulphur. Garlic is antibiotic because of the Sulphur in it, and Sulphur is what makes garlic smell like it smells.

Any way maybe more later

[Genetee]

Doing some reading around this website, so,

CV = cardioversion. I thought it was cardiac conversion

Sulphur 4th most prevalent mineral on the planet also great for sinus problems 1/2 coffee spoon for several days works well but another one that can cause problems it has a residual effect. Good for most surface concerns. Your sinus and lungs are all surface area.

[Shopgal67]

poor soul quality now means most of us are magnesium deficient.

As for potassium that’s much easier to get from your diet . Spinach, chard , baked potato, avocado and black beans are all good sources.

[Janeybur in reply to Shopgal67]

Update is the pharmacist says a multi is fine, but only if potassium is not included. Will make a banana a daily feature. So glad I found you guys, what a fantastic co.munity to be part of xx