My mom has been dealing with atrial flutter for the past year looking for some advice.

[Rach_24]

So I'll try keep this short! My mom has been dealing with atrial flutter for about a year now. First showed when she was on holidays she felt her heart rate spike when she was walking to the beach kinda fobbed it off when it went back down, but mentioned to the doc when she got back. She was in the hospital about 6 months later for something unrelated mentioned it again they strapped her up and cut to us being rushed to a&e for 8 hours very scary! She hadn't even been noticing any issues! Anyway they did a cardioversion a few weeks later that only lasted about a week and a half. They performed another cardioversion 2 months ago the doctor said he was very happy with the outcome and was happy that the heart would stay in rhythm. So far so good! What I'm asking is her heart rate was a constant 130 before cardioversion and now has been steady at 70-80 sometimes spikes to 100 after some exercise but always comes back down. Does this sound normal? Has anyone got any tips? Unfortunately we are dealing with a public hospital and while the doctors and students of the consultant are lovely I just feel we are in a conveyor belt sometimes they are throwing all information at you but not giving any advice on heart health or how to control this or what even causes it! I've been googling (never a good idea!) But it's my only source really of information so I thought I would try you good people!

So much for keeping it short!! Sorry but any advice is greatly appreciated

[jeanjeannie50]

Hi Rach, what you are describing here re your mother is typical AF or flutter. Something most of us have experienced. Now some people's heart rates go over 200, you say your mum's was a constant 130 which does sound a little like atrial flutter. When this first strikes we are all worried as we know little about the condition, but there is no need to be unduly alarmed. What she is experiencing sounds very normal to we sufferers and certainly could be a lot worse.

Her pulse rate now of 70-80 and when exercising 100 sounds totally normal, very good in fact.

As you speak to other people about your mothers experience you will discover that a lot have this heart problem. I've had it for 15 years and lead a fairly normal life.

Most of us have learnt that by eating a mostly plant based diet, avoiding all foods and drinks with artificial additives, especially sweeteners, can really help. Losing some weight if needed, having more exercise and avoiding alcohol are other things to be aware of. Some people swear that taking magnesium citrate or taurate tablets have helped. They affect my stomach so I put magnesium in my bath and also have a magnesium spray.

Hope this information will help you a little.

Jean

[Spanaway]

My prayers go out to your mom and you. I feel it's a good idea to get a second opinion in this situation, definitely can't hurt.

[Shcldavies]

Sounds very much like the 130 was when in flutter, current rate seems good, though I would have thought that 100 is low after exercise but that may be a good sign. I would watch for flutter returning and get treated as soon as it does. Flutter does not do your heart any good when it goes on for days (4 days is the trigger for treatment in our NHS) and the longer it goes on the longer it takes to recover. Good news is that an ablation will fix flutter but the waiting list is normally quite long (perhaps a year) unless the condition/symptoms deteriorate when you will normally get an ablation within 8 weeks and treated by medication in the interim.

A goo tip for your mother is to take a Magnesium supplement (not oxide), eat a banana a day to boost potassium and drink water especially first thing in the morning. Perhaps start off with an Epsom's salts bath (use the whole packet and soak for 20 minutes) to boot magnesium levels as it can take time getting to your cells to help with heart arrhythmia.