Hello. A while back I had a post about some extra weight that I seem to have gained because of afib and possibly because of the medications for it. I have gained between 8 and 10 pounds, and it has not gone anywhere, but lately I've noticed that I am bloated in the gut area a lot more than before. With the extra pounds it puts more pressure in that area, to the point of after eating something if I become bloated I have to just stop and take a few breaths just to settle myself down. I am still taking my water pill furosemide but sometimes I wonder if it could be water weight in that area instead of just extra pounds possibly from the metabolism slowdown from the bisoprolol beta blocker. Seems I get bloated a lot from just eating and I often think that if only I can get back to the gym for some exercise that it will get fixed after a while, but, although I walk and try to take stairs and lift my bags of groceries and bags of wash and house chores it's tougher with the medication and the afib in general. I really don't think that I'll get back to where I want to be before the afib.
Symptoms with afib: Hello. A while... - Atrial Fibrillati...
Symptoms with afib
Have you had a diabetes HbA1c blood test since you began medication and began to put on weight? What diet changes have you made since being on the medication to help reduce how much weight gain you could get on your pills?
Often avoiding artificial sweetener and taking care with salt is a good idea with water retention and restricting processed sugar foods helps too.
Restricting your simple or "white" carbs and having smaller portions of complex carbs ( spuds with skins , oats, wholegrain and wholewheat , different grains , beans and pulses) helps reduce the weight gain or blood glucose spikes that can happen, they also contain more insoluble fibre which can help reduce bloating and weight gain.
Eating more foods that contain B vitamins , particularly Vitamin B and Folate also helps improve your weight and improves insulin sensitivity. It's also a good idea to ask to have your Vitamin B12, Folate, Ferritin/ Iron and Vitamin D tested by the GP if you are over 60, have digestive or cardiac health issues or are on medications that could affect your vitamin absorption every 6-12 months to check you haven't got any nutrient Deficiencies that could be adding to your symptoms and causing breathlessness and weight changes.
Do you have any medications that affect your stomach acid , like PPIs or antacids?
Sometimes stomach acid can increase bloating and breathlessness especially at night , first thing in the morning or after meals.
Eating a few portions of live yoghurt a day can help. You can have a few tablespoons of it for breakfast with a little honey , some berries , nuts , dried fruit or a banana or a handful of muesli.
You can actually mix a tablespoon of yoghurt with some tomato puree and herbs or spices you like or mix it with some mashed avocado and use it as a dip for veggies or a few low salt crackers before a meal and it can help settle your stomach acid before your meal.
Drinking the recommended amount of water a day you are allowed with your type of conditions can also improve bloating and reduce weight gain. I know drinking more water sounds counterintuitive but actually at the amount you are allowed it helps your digestion , metabolism and improves your circulation , helping you to remove excess water and toxins more effectively.
You are keeping as active as you feel you can and active to some level each day so that is a good thing. We have to think about how we age as well as our health conditions when we look back on what we did before aFib , sometimes we won't get right back to what we did before because that's normal for our age.
One way I reduce bloating is by eating five smaller portions a day instead of three big meals. I find a big portion can just cause too much gas bloating and can cause water retention
It would probably be a good idea to speak to your GP and request the blood tests , and also have a look to see if their are any changes that you could still make to your eating habits to help the symptoms,
Hope you get it sorted soon , Bee
Hi Bee. Thank you so much for your kind reply, superb suggestions. I am going to try to change up my eating habits. Basically, my diet is like this, I'll have about 2 cups of coffee when I get up, after a while I'll have a few peanut or almond butter crackers with organic no salt peanut and almond butter, later on usually a hard boiled egg, followed later with a bowl of plain oatmeal with some plain greek yogurt. I might sneak in a small half cup of low salt vegatable juice and at some point a small cup of maybe red beet juice or carrot juice or even pomegranate juice. Later on I'll usually have a banana or apple to eat. Then evening some broccoli and mixed vegatables, and before bed usually a bowl of plain cereal with no-fat milk and a small scoop of protein powder to sweeten it. With eating like this I can't seem to explain why I gained the extra weight. Sometimes with my evening meal I might slip in some avocado and hummus with a few crackers to go with my veggies, I watch the sodium intake a lot.
Do you take any supplements each day?
Life Extension 2 per day multi, vit.D, vit. C, fish oil, quercetin, mag. glycinate, yes I do supplement.
It sounds like you might not be eating sufficient roughage and also not a very varied diet. So your gut microbiomes may not be very happy- hence the bloating. Sometimes we think we're helping ourselves by cutting out food types, but if we don't understand how digestive chemistry works, we can do the wrong thing.
Why don't you check in to the Zoe YouTube channel for some quality information? Zoe is a project based on ongoing research with Dr Tim Spector and others looking into the importance of our gut health. There are also books by Dr Spector and a paid service by the Zoe team where they analyse your gut health and blood sugar response. Well worth it if you can afford.
In simple terms - avoid processed goods (harder in the US apparently), eat at least 30 different plant foods a week (that includes, grains, legumes, fruit and vegetables ) and include one of the fermented Ks in your diet every day - keffir, sauerkraut, kombucha or kmchi. Since you eat yoghurt already, get some keffir instead. And as an older person, make sure you get quality protein every day.
I'm an omnivorous eater with a very very picky digestive system and I feel so much better since following these principles.
Hi Singwell. Thanks for your reply. I will have a look at Zoe. I actually forgot to mention that I do use keffir, plain unsweetened in with my bowl of cereal which is usually Post shredded wheat. The protein that I use in my cereal is whey isolate, sometimes I'll also put a teaspoon of it in my coffee. Sometimes I'll buy some plain no salt turkey and wrap it in a piece of provolone cheese, no bread. Tuna fish also once in a while. Daily psyllium husk also.
Hi I think your diet is possibly why you are gaining weight. Eating just before going to bed is not helpful...try to eat at the latest by 6pm then give the digestion a break until breakfast. I know if I ever have to eat late in the day I'll gain a couple of pounds. Maybe try having mixed chopped fruit for breakfast with a bit of yoghurt instead of crackers. Drink water first thing rather than coffee. Drink more water throughout the day up to 2 litres. Add in some beans and lentils for protein or tofu, with a mixed salad for lunch. Add in some seeds and nuts (not peanuts)Try to vary your diet more and leave out highly processed foods like peanut butter and crackers and cereal which are not good for digestion and have little nourishment for your microbiome. Good luck.
Hi Sylviep7. I actually sleep better with a bit of food, I've only gained this extra 8 to 10 pounds since having afib and taking the medications. I make sure I drink enough plain water throughout the day because of the water pill I take. I do occasionally munch on nuts such as almonds, pecans, walnuts,etc. The peanut butter or almond butter is plain with no added salt or oils, just natural stuff, the few crackers I have with them are also whole grain unsalted, same with the Post shredded wheat cereal, about as unprocessed as you can get in the whole "sea" of highly processed candy-like full of preservatives full of sugars junk cereal in the store shelves. I read food labels probably more than most. Unless you actually go into a farmers field and cut down the wheat stalks yourself and munch on them right there you have to rely on what is available, which would be the least processed least added additive product. Even a bag of fresh frozen vegetables would be considered by some to be processed because of being already cut for you and flash frozen. Even going into a so-called "health food" store you have to be careful. One glaring example would be seeing something that is "fortified" with flax seeds. Seeing ground flax meal would be much better, the only thing flax seed will do unless you can chew every last one is they will pass straight through you and possibly cause problems if you have diverticulitis.
You do not mention any meat or fish and your diet seems low in protein and heavy on crackers. Too much wheat maybe?
Hi Auriculaire. Turkey wrapped in a slice of cheese once in a while, along with occasional tuna. Daily whey protein also.
That does not sound like nearly enough. Sliced cheese is usually processed cheese . Not good.
Hi Auriculaire. I was always on a high protein diet, needed it for my intense gym workouts. Unfortunately it changed after the afib diagnosis. Because of lowered kidney function I cut back on the excess protein as a safeguard, and depending on my next blood test I'll see where I'm at. Between the afib, heart failure at the time of diagnosis and the medications, the kidneys took a bit of a beating.
I get bloating too which I never experienced before the drugs and I only take Flecainide now which has put an end to episodes. I developed chronic fatigue around the same time as the PAF as a result of a virus, so that might have something to do with it too, but I haven’t put on weight.
Hi Vonnegut. thank you for the reply. Very frustrating, I never had a gut like this, seems as though something has possibly changed the gut bacteria, yet I do eat plain greek yogurt and plain keiffer. I keep thinking getting back in shape will help, but, this afib makes it tougher to work out, at least with the way I used to.
Do you eat gluten? That definitely causes bloating. Remember, "bread rises".
Hi Pommerania78. Thank you for the reply. Gluten could possibly be a culprit in this, and yet another thing that I was investigating was possible oxalate issues. Seems afib and sometimes kidney issues go hand in hand. I'll admit that I eat foods higher in oxalates, such as my nuts and nut butters, along with a half teaspoon of raw cacao in my coffee, and maybe about 4 or 5 ounces occasionally of beet juice. I stay hydrated and get my calcium from foods, which helps remove excess oxalate, but, I will try staying away to see if it helps, maybe not totally, but less of. Trouble is, many higher oxalate foods are really healthy for you in other ways, it's a double-edged sword.
I’ve gone gluten free, as that had helped a younger friend get rid of the chronic fatigue that arrived with the PAF but it doesn’t seem to have made a great deal of difference.
That's interesting as I too developed bloating and bowel problems after being treated for COPD, which triggered my Afib to be permanent.
Was due a Ablation yesterday but cancelled.
Presently having tests for any bowel abnormalities.
Hi shorttail. Have you had the tests done yet? Did your doctor actually say that the bloating and possible bowel problems contributed to the afib becoming permanent? I'm very curious about these types of posibilities. There are things with digestion that I have read about which could cause afib, or make it worse. I'm currently looking at high oxalate foods info.
Had tests , awaiting results.
Short AFIB runs In between normal rhythm. 
Persistent AFIB
The Trouble with AFib
Afib and congestive heart failure
Nocturnal afib
