Hi
I have been diagnosed with AF and also have a mildly dilated left atrium. My AF lasts for anything up to 8-9 hours, two being the shortest time I have it. I was prescribed Bisoprolol which gave me really bad headaches/migraines having never had a migraine for 40 years. The Bisoprolol made no difference to the AF. After the consultant confirmed diagnosis he put me on Flecainide together with the Bisoprolol. However the Flecainide really had an adverse affect on my vision and the headaches started again and that was only after 2-3 days on the Flecainide.
Has anyone any advice about successful treatment for this problem. I appreciate that everyone reacts differently to medication but I am getting really depressed with it as the AF generally only comes on at night so I don't get any sleep and no medication seems to have any effect on it. Has anyone successfully treated it with natural remedies?
Many thanks in advance.
Gloria
Hi. I use Amiodarone now and it seems to suit me, only a few special effects ! Sorry about your reactions. When mine starts I very quickly crush up an extra pill, wash down with icy water, take half a 5mg valium, then music or dvd game till I am really dropping off and it has stopped. I have to be quick or it will last ages. I have found no natural cures yet, still looking - good luck . . .
You are fortunate that Amiodarone suits you. Within days It gave me a tremor in my hands and an unsteady gait and floaters in my eyes the first time I was prescribed it and hastened my need for cataract surgery. The next time the tremors and floaters came back and it disturbed my equilibrium and I became unsteady when making small turning movements as in the shower or when cooking. I again stopped it after another cardioversion and my obvious symptoms went.
I later developed a problem with my left eye that has been diagnosed as Nonarteritic anterior ischemic optic neuropathy (NAION). It has many causes including a sudden drop in BP when asleep caused by BP drugs or as a side effect of Amiodarone.
Afib is an electrical conductivity problem with the heart. The key elements that effect the electrical conductivity are sodium, potassium, magnesium and calcium. If the concentrations of these electrolytes are out of balance, with each other, the heart's rythm can get out of sync and afib results.
You get your electrolytes from food but now in America (and I think parts of Europe) it seems that some of the plant-based foods are becoming deficient in adequate amounts of certain electrolytes like magnesium, a key electrolyte for heart rythm.
Find a way to increase your magnesium and potassium and use the right kinds of supplements if you need to.
Also, what you take in can cause a decrease in magnesium and potassium through the urine - sugar, alcohol and caffeine, along with stress - are known culprits. (Knowing you have afib is a source of stress).
There is a lot to learn since all people are different, as is afib. The docs are not well versed on how to adjust ones' physiology to re-balance the tissue electrolytes.
Frank
Frank thank you for your very helpful reply, I will look into those supplements further. I have cut out all alcohol and went on to decaff tea and coffee, took retirement from a really stressful job and just didn't know what else I could do to help myself as none of the medication has been helping. Thanks again
Gloria
I have some supplement(s) recommendations, so if you are interested let me know and we can have a dialog about them. You seem to be on the right course of action though.
Frank
Hi Frank
I would really appreciate that thank you. I have already looked up all the foods which contain potassium etc and will ensure I incorporate more of them in my diet but there may be some days when it doesn't happen. However by taking supplements every day you know you are ingesting what you need.
Thanks again
Gloria
Frank, please put a list of supplements on here, and have you any ideas about one side effect of Amiodarone, water retention ? - in a few months I have grown out of a lot of my clothes - huh.
Visible Water Retention is listed as one of the severe side effects.
I never read the side effects leaflet as I dont want my brain to make any extra side effects ! So, how can I get rid of the bulge? Apart from shutting myself in the cellar for a week or two.
You would need to ask your doctor. Then if he gives you a diuretic you will have other side effects:-)
Gloria - a few points about me: 1. I am in the USA, so our products might not be available to you in the UK, if that is where you are; 2. I am a gym rat, so a lot of my supplements are found in health food an vitamin stores, not regular grocery stores and, 3. I have a Ph.D. in chemistry which has taught me about how dumb I am but also how to be very skeptical of certain claims made by marketing gurus.
2 products I like very much:
1. is called Vitamin Water ZERO "revive". It tastes like fruit punch but is water with 880 mg potassium in 590 ml. It is designed for taking after exercising. Number
2. recommendation is called "CALM". It is a solid powder containing magnesium citrate with sodium bicarbonate. When you add water to this, the bicarbonate neutralizes the citrate and there is a lot of bubbling, but the magnesium is rendered soluble. So you are drinking soluble magnesium in a slightly acidic solution, so it is well absorbed by the stomach.
N.B. Most magnesium pills are not well absorbed by the stomach, especially magnesium oxide - a useless supplement.
Alternatively, magnesium can be applied in a form called magnesium oil or by soaking in epsom salt and these appraoches allow magnesium to enter the body through the skin. Magnesium is well absorbed through the skin.
That's it for now.
Questions?
Frank
Hi Frank
Thank you so much for your reply. I am in the UK but luckily live in a part of the UK that is 'into' health so there are quite a few health food stores around. I did try the magnesium tablets but didn't get on with them at all well. I have looked up all the foods which contain each of the elements you mentioned so have decided to start juicing to make the most of the fresh ingredients.
I will have a look to see if I can get the supplements you have mentioned particularly the magnesium oil.
I had a particularly bad episode of AF yesterday which lasted over 9 hours so I felt absolutely awful and I do worry about having a stroke. Apart from the AF I am and always have been really healthy so I find it frustrating particularly as none of the medication helps. My GP thinks I may be particularly sensitive to medication and their side effects particularly as I normally use natural remedies for things.
How much of the powder do you take and how long were you taking the alternatives before it made a difference to your AF?
Thanks again Frank. I will let you know how it goes.
Gloria
Hi Gloria
I think it might be worth asking your Cardiologist if you could see how you get on with Amiodarone. I'm OK with Flecainide which I take in conjunction with a small dose (1.25 mg) of Bisoprolol. All these drugs have side effects and everyone's reaction to them differs.
With regard to your worry about stroke, it very much depends on your risk factors, and I feel that if you were deemed to have been at risk of stroke they would have put you on Warfarin. I'm 63 and when first diagnosed was most concerned about the stroke risk and kept doing the FAST test, because a lot of my smptoms, dizziness etc, made me feel as though I was very unwell indeed.
However they haven't put me on any blood thinning tablets as there is an algorithm which they use and I don't fit it.
Are they going to consider giving you an ablation?
I was very interested to read the comments about diet - I used to skip meals etc, but now that I've given up work lead a much healthier lifestyle but do this by just eating regularly with a balance of home grown veg etc.
Hi
Thanks for this and the reassurance about the stroke. There is no heart disease in my family apart from a cousin so I assume I must be low risk.
I am finding that I get really bad headaches and vision problems on the Flecainide and the Bisoprolol. I have stopped the Flecainide and my GP has put me on Gabapentin and 7.5mg of Bisoprolol to see how that goes. The Gabapentin has stopped the headaches so I will have to see how I get on with the higher dose.
My GP told me that because I also have a mildly dilated left atrium that I couldn't have an ablation. I don't see the cardiologist until the beginning of August, so there will be a lot of questions for him!
Thanks again
Gloria
Gloria
My afib appears to be gone now. It took about a month once I started the magnesium but almost immediately the duration of each episode went from about 5 hours to 2.
I got onto this by reading a blog on the subject where an individual said he once took "CALM" in warm water after an afib episode began and it subsided within 10 minutes. When I read that, it all started to make sense for me.
If you google the health benefits of magnesium you will see that magnesium plays an extremely important role in regulating heart rythms among hundreds of other things.
Concerning your use of juicers - good idea but the problem may reside in our (in the USA) finding that what is reported for magnesium content of many vegitables and fruits may be far off. Some here think the reason afib is on the rise is because our fruits and vegitables are becoming deficient in certain minerals like magnesium. It turns out that the well-known Mediterranean diet is magnesium rich and that might be why it is considered so healthy.
As a chemist I would like to measure the amount of magnesium in certain foods, like almonds and spinach, but I do not have access to the technology to do so. It would be an interesting study to see how the results would compare to those reported in the literature.
I take about 350 mg soluble magnesium citrate 2X each day for a total of about 700 mg/day. 30 minutes after taking the magnesium I take some sodium bicarbonate (1 teaspoon/cup of water) to neutralize the acid and make my stomach feel better. I think the acidity of the citrate hellps absorb the magnesium.
Beware that the oral magnesium might cause occassional diarrhea but that is a small price to pay to get rid of afib, in my opinion.
I also use the magnesium oil on my neck, arms and, believe it or not, as a deodorant. Every 2 or 3 days I also soak my feet in a bucket of warm epsom salt for 30-40 minutes before going to sleep at night.
Frank
Frank
You have been really helpful in sharing this with me. I looked on Amazon and can get Natural Calm magnesium citrate powder,it doesn't however have the sodium bicarbonate in it. Having looked up sodium bicarb it says you can't take it with Flecainide not that I'm taking it. Is it necessary to take it with the magnesium?
I did read about the benefits of taking magnesium and did try ordinary tablets but they upset my stomach and didn't make a difference to the AF.
Like you I do believe that there is a natural way to manage this problem. When I asked my consultant what caused AF he said that they have no idea! There must be a reason for it, I don't believe it just happens.
I will wait to hear from you about the sodium and then probably send off for the magnesium the bouts of AF are getting really frequent now and I am finding them really depressing as I can't sleep with them.
I will also try and get some magnesium oil and do the foot soak in epsom salts.
Thanks again Frank, you are a star!
Gloria
Gloria
Do most of your afib episodes begin after lying down, or going to bed? They all did for me and for many sufferers. I can explain later...if you'd like.
I also think there is an explanation for why afib episodes gradually increase for 30% of the people who suffer from afib. So the approach should be to slow down the progression first with the hope of eventually ending all episodes if possible. Age, long-term diet, etc. all seem to play a role in this. So ending it would be expected to take time and patience is necessary.
The sodium bicarbonate is simply baking soda used everywhere. I recommended it since the citrate does make the stomach ache for some people, so by taking the bicarbonate 30 minutes after the magnesium citrate, you'll neutralize the stomach acid. That neutralization causes the formation of carbon dioxide gas, so most people belch a lot for a minute or 2 after taking it. It is only for relief and is not necessary at all for taking the magnesium.
What is necessary for taking the magnesium is to make sure it is well dissolved and you have a fairly clear solution. I think it is best to use warm water with the Natural Calm both for dissolving it and for drinking.
Frank
Yes I would say a minimum of 95% of the time they start during the night and wake me up but as they are getting worse I have also started having them in the afternoons/early evenings. I thought it was down to stress as I had a rather stressful job but I took early retirement last August but it hasn't made a difference. I did move house and life now is relatively stress free compared to what it was but it hasn't made a difference tothe AF.
I will send off for the Natural Calm and try it with the bicarb.
Thanks again.
Gloria
Okay - it sounds like you've got vagal afib. The magnesium should really help, if that is the case. However, certain components of your diet could also be contributing. Those are not food allergies but intolerances, and your vagus nerve does not like them, and the vagus nerve controls your (and mine) heart beat.
Got GERD also?