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McHale - the success was before the ablation... the rest of the story is... I was able to go to zero afib but tried to wean off completely from the flec about 2 months prior to the ablation date. I got down to a negligible amount of flec but then I went into a terrible rebound effect with a nasty bout of AF. I went back on a much lower dose and was able to maintain NSR taking only 50 mg vs theby Jackie - AFIBBERS FORUM
Mike - See my comments to McHale on flecainide as this pertains to you as well. Erling will probably respond to your specific questions, but I wanted to point out that 'diet' is absolutely necessary for you and anyone else.... You must eliminate canned, packaged and processed foods that undoubtedly contain high sodium content. Cutting back on sodium should be done gradually overby Jackie - AFIBBERS FORUM
Josiah - I've supplemented with potassium but also rely on food sources.... and do not see that my B12 has suffered. B12 shots are very helpful if you test low for B12. Sub-lingual may nor may not be enough if you are deficient. If you don't have the intrinsic factor produced in the stomach's parietal cells for B12 absorption, then there is a problem. Jackieby Jackie - AFIBBERS FORUM
McHale - My own experiement with several years using flecainide was that it was never totally effective for preventing AF breakthrough....until I maximized my magnesium and potassium intake. Over 4 years, my afib escallated from a few times a month to every day or every other day and for long durations as high as 27 hours. I took 300 mg flecainide in divided doses. Stress depletes magnesiumby Jackie - AFIBBERS FORUM
Hi Tom - thanks for posting your experiences and especially for taking advantage of the information in CR 72. As you've learned, sodium is a huge factor. The easiest method for lowering dietary sodium intake is to just consume fresh foods...no canned, no packaged. There is very little nutritional value to canned vegetables and using fresh avoids all the time spent evaluating labeling.by Jackie - AFIBBERS FORUM
MarkS - your comment on colloidal silver needs some clarification. While the FDA may not have approved it...or found it useful as an antimicrobial, that in no way means it isn't effective... and it is safe to use.... otherwise, we'd have seen long ago a lot of death-by-silver notices. I've been using it for about 15 years for various reasons and have had success and no adverse effects. I was evby Jackie - AFIBBERS FORUM
Mike - you are certainly the "poster guy" for assuming control of your own health issues!! Thanks for taking the time to detail how you've managed to achieve your success. Impressive. I'm glad you have decided to rule out processed meats because there is nothing good that can come from eating those chemicals and the extra sodium. Just a word of caution... it's not gby Jackie - AFIBBERS FORUM
In the current conference room session, A Theory for the importance of sodium and potassium in atrial fibrillation the last two entries by Erling offer important summary statements. This is a powerful and most enlightening contribution to nailing down many of the complexities of atrial fibrillation and should be required reading for every afibber. This is the very 'heart' of the matter. At tby Jackie - AFIBBERS FORUM
Hi Mike - you deserve a huge amount of credit for losing that much weight and managing your blood glucose. That's fantastic! The bowel issue is undoubtedly the aftermath of the whole process. Detoxification of one's system is important and should go hand-in-hand with any weight loss program so that you begin to restore all tissues, but especially that in the GI tract. Bowel transitby Jackie - AFIBBERS FORUM
Mike - one thing important to learn is that you don't gobble up handfuls of supplements thinking more is better... you need to use recommended doses...typically small... as George indicates and allow the body time to build up a storeage. If you flood with too much, chances are you'll only waste a good deal of it because the body can only absorb so much as one time. That's why theby Jackie - AFIBBERS FORUM
George - Good point about the low magnesium factor. So few are aware that potassium can't function without optimal IC magnesium. Even in the hospital when serum K shows up as low, they often just give potassium rather than a 'cocktail' that addresses the whole functional approach. Jackieby Jackie - AFIBBERS FORUM
Will - very often the attacks provoked by left side sleeping relate to stomach issues. The one thing you need to do is train yourself not to sleep on the left side and not rely that flecainide will prevent AF. In many cases, it does not. AF in the wee hours of the morning can come from undigested food due to lack of stomach acid; digestive enzymes can help with that. It can also come fromby Jackie - AFIBBERS FORUM
Chad - welcome to our group. There is a huge amount of information to be found here about atrial fibrillation and it will take some determination and commitment on your part to wade through the various posts. We can help guide you to some of the relevant information regarding the immediate concerns you mention. I presume you are dealing with the VA hospitals and physicians? It may be difficuby Jackie - AFIBBERS FORUM
Murray - I'd think you could use up your original CoQ along with the new, improved version.... just be sure that the old formula is taken with some fat...like a dose of Omega 3 fish oil, peanut butter, olive oil... because that's how they initially were able to get the old form of CoQ absorbed. The old form was a large crystal and not readily absorbed. The new form is a nano-particleby Jackie - AFIBBERS FORUM
Sheila - While my heart was totally calm post-ablation for 103 days, I had a breakthrough that required cardioversion. After CV, I was left with runs of tachycardia diagnosed by heart monitor as "atrial tachycardia"... It was thought that was from treating the hypothryoidism too aggressively. Dr. Natale said that people with thyroid issues often present with that type of tachycardiaby Jackie - AFIBBERS FORUM
Hi Benj - my recent experience with a friend with a naturally-low heart rate (runner) and pacemaker is that he had a series of blackouts. They said he was low on potassium but also installed a pacemaker because while he was under observation, he coded. If you haven't read the current conference room topic on why optimal potassium (and low sodium) is important to maintain healthy heart volby Jackie - AFIBBERS FORUM
Wes - sorry to read your post. For future dental procedures involving local anesthesia, be sure to insist on anesthesia that does not contain epinepherine...don't take no for an answer. The best way to determine if any of your supplements might interfere with Praxada is to check with your local pharmacist. Here's one list of cautions for interactions Jackieby Jackie - AFIBBERS FORUM
Mike - this is not good. Try to see another doctor who understands the implication of edema...if that fluid builds in your lungs, you are in trouble. Don't put this off. Amiodarone can seriously affect thyroid function in some individuals and cause water retention - expecially serious around heart and in lungs. Jackieby Jackie - AFIBBERS FORUM
Lynn - Also, the protein molecule in dairy is apparently very similar to one of the many gluten proteins molecules or dimers. It's not uncommon for a gluten-sensitive individual to also be reactive to dairy...although very often (as with gluten) the reaction is silent so damage isn't immediately detected. The 'other Lynn' from San Diego who used to post had mentioned that usby Jackie - AFIBBERS FORUM
Lynn - I'm not cutting back on DHEA or pregnenolone... just the bioidentical estrogen but continuing with progesterone. Jackie Interesting comment by a naturopath on another topic about hormonal dysfunction and treating people with adrenal depletion. She recommends DHEA and pregnenolone supplementation to support the adrenals and says 'its important to ensure that the body's rby Jackie - AFIBBERS FORUM
Murray - The key nutrients required for cellular energy production (ATP) and therefore Normal Sinus Rhythm are detailed in The Strategy- Metabolic Cardiology and The Theory in the Current Conference Room. You need optimal magnesium inside heart cells to facilitate all of the actions that depend on the various nutrients. If you are at bowel tolerance with your dose, that may not necessarily sby Jackie - AFIBBERS FORUM
Jack - yes - several other large men have found they need much more flecainide in divided doses than 100 mg to stay in NSR. Jackieby Jackie - AFIBBERS FORUM
Michael - I had a breakthrough about 3 months post-ablation and then went on to have four years of blissful NSR. You should spend time reading at these links and understand about the importance of maintaining the critical nutrients required for support of your heart's electrical system. First thing, assess if you are on overload with sodium-containing food. Everything is spelled out iby Jackie - AFIBBERS FORUM
Miriam.... by any chance do you have a recent serum potassium level? Have you assessed your daily dietary intake of both potassium and sodium? Concerning your other post on magnesium, potassium can't work it's magic if you are deficient in magnesium. If you eat a lot of sodium from packaged and processed foods, your potassium is overwhelmed. This results in inability to maintainby Jackie - AFIBBERS FORUM
Miriam - it's all spelled out in The Strategy and The Magnesium Absorption posts found in the Afib Resources tab. The Albion form of magnesium does not rely on stomach acid for metabolism -- rather it remains complexed until it reaches the small intestine. A hundred milligrams of magnesium is virtulally nothing. You definitely need to take increased doses of the Albion magnesium glycinatby Jackie - AFIBBERS FORUM
Liz - Depending on who's doing the quoting, its said from 68 to 80% of the population tests low but much will depend on where you live and mineral content of the drinking water for generalities. Some communities will test very low. I'd think it's close to 100% of afibbers initially test low. (In an old survey,) The National Academy of Sciences has determined that most Americans are mby Jackie - AFIBBERS FORUM
Justine - its difficult to work with Exatest outside of the US. You could email them, though. They use epithelial cell/tissue scraping from under the tongue and then scan with an electron microscope. From their literature: "We used energy-dispersive x-ray analysis to measure i in sublingual epithelial cells and to correlate the level with those in atrial biopsy specimens from the same patieby Jackie - AFIBBERS FORUM
Bill - you probably have a genetic tendency that allows the manifestation of AF. It's really all about gene expression. Enviornmental influences allow forthe adverse affects of that gene expression. Figuring out what the culprit is can be difficult. One example might be the tendency for wasting of either magnesium and/or potassium in kidney function. It may not show up as a physical imby Jackie - AFIBBERS FORUM
Phil - While the RBC magnesium test may be considered helpful versus a serum level, it actually does not reflect your intracellular Mg levels. The RBC measures magnesium inside cells in the blood stream but not where we need to know about it and that's inside heart cells or tissue (where it functions). All is not lost, though, because if you measure low by any standard, it's practicalby Jackie - AFIBBERS FORUM
McHale - originally, I was hospitalized for the induction of flecainide and Toprol XL. That was the initial dosing. Because of the symptoms and the feeling of being in hybernation 24/7, and after reading here, that beta blockers weren't appropriate for vagals, I decided to stop. I told my cardiologist why I was doing it. He didn't object or give me any cautions about inducing fluby Jackie - AFIBBERS FORUM