Richelle - You are in a great location to take advantage of consulting with an excellent holistic MD - Dale Guyer, MD, who is medical director of the Advanced Medical Center... phone 317-580-9355. I've known of Dr. Guyer's work for over ten years. If you're interested in dealing with the nutritional aspect of your health and getting away from drugs, he's the one to see. Aby Jackie - AFIBBERS FORUM
I posted this mainly for the reason to observe that the vagus is affected but I'm not reading this to be in a negative way. The Omega 3's are highly anti-inflammatory and that's exactly what we want to help keep the vagus calm. For dosing most doctors recommend 2 - 3 grams a day of Omega 3 fish oil from pure sources - prescription grade. Mine recommended 6 grams and I was happyby Jackie - AFIBBERS FORUM
James - nice response. I'd like to add that the anesthesia choice by the EP in charge should be part of interview questions a prospective ablatee should have on his/her list. The issue of pain may be very important to some patients. Most of us aren't really fond of intense or prolonged pain. At the CCF, I was given the IV type with Versed/Fentenyl - a twilight type; you're ouby Jackie - AFIBBERS FORUM
Wil - Back in early 03, when I was in the desperate stages of AF and when I consulted with Dr. Natale initially, I asked him if there was a limitation on the number of times one could be cardioverted because of damage to the heart. His answer was no limit but economic considerations made it impractical to have them regularly. I'm sure if there were data supporting damage, he would haveby Jackie - AFIBBERS FORUM
Carol - it would depend if the beads are coated for time release or just the capsule. If it's just the capsule, then you're messing up the time release action and circumventing the whole concept of time release or sustained release medication. Jackie Pam - we've all had a mental lapse and paid the price. So sorry about your afib hangover. I remember that all to well. Jackieby Jackie - AFIBBERS FORUM
Profuse sweating without exercise can be traced to improperly functioning adrenal glands - high cortisol is typically found. This condition has to be diagnosed and addressed first before working on a thyroid connection which is also possible but to attempt to regulate or stimulate thyroid without adequate adrenal function will only exacerbate the problem. A salivary collection for cortisol meaby Jackie - AFIBBERS FORUM
Mackey - Good choice - I forgot to mention Dr. Sears' oil which is certainly highly touted as being pure. Jackieby Jackie - AFIBBERS FORUM
Kerry - I've read it several times but right at the moment, I can't put my fingers on the article. I do know one that I posted in the Conference Room regarding Mitral Valve Prolapse being linked to a magnesium deficiency by Leo Galland, MD. It's been offered that once the magnesium deficiency is corrected, the MVP may resolve. I also know Lynn of the BB developed MVP as a resulby Jackie - AFIBBERS FORUM
Research funded by St. Luke's Hospital (Kansas City) revealed one mechanism of action behind omega-3 fatty acid supplementation's known risk reduction of sudden cardiac death involves activity on the vagus nerve, which controls heart rate. Published in the April 15 issue of The American Journal of Cardiology (97, 8:1127-30, 2006), the study results showed omega-3s lower resting heartby Jackie - AFIBBERS FORUM
Aldona - You truly are a fighter and I'm so proud to have your long-distance friendship. Special blessings to you always. Jackieby Jackie - AFIBBERS FORUM
Adam - you mention an eye twitch and that's a classic symptom of magnesium deficiency. Have you had a red blood cell test for intracellular magnesium? It's not the standard serum draw for magnesium but a special one that checks to see how much magnesium is inside the cell. Most of the magnesium the body needs and utilizes should be inside the cell - this is especially true of heartby Jackie - AFIBBERS FORUM
Excellent point Dee - not only the fluoride, but most tap water also depletes magnesium and adds an aluminum burden as well. Most definitely, hypothryoidism can be a culprit and the key to diagnosing that is to find a doctor who understands that the TSH number for hypothyroidism has been lowered to new standards. A thyroid profile is definitely in order for anyone with afib. Jackieby Jackie - AFIBBERS FORUM
- I can certainly appreciate your disappointment and I'm sorry to see you are so discouraged. Let me ask what have you done to help your heart along toward healing after the ablation? Perhaps it's not too late to turn this around. One thing to help is trying to get a more positive attitude and I know that's really difficult when you had counted on being free of the beast.by Jackie - AFIBBERS FORUM
Good for you Chuck - you have only the benefit of health gain when you stop. I understand how truly addictive it is; they actually add addictive substances to it to be sure you become hooked. Try to find a diversion so you can wean off... it's extremely difficult to stop cold turkey. Just don't substitute candy! Keep me posted on your progress. I'm in your corner! Wheby Jackie - AFIBBERS FORUM
Rich - these extra beats (PACs) are not uncommon after ablation although they can be annoying and sometimes unsettling. In the conference room right now, there is a special thread running on PACs after ablation that you may find useful. Also, Hans has developed a PAC tamer recipe that helped him and many others. It's also in the Conference Room - session 38 - just go here: The useby Jackie - AFIBBERS FORUM
Greg - I couldn't testify as to 'binge' drinking, but I know that red wine brought about my first AF event. Any time after that where I enjoyed a martini or wine, I tempted fate with AF. After about 18 months of experimenting and failing, I decided that alcohol was a definite trigger for me. I'm not talking about a great quantity of alcohol.... the last drink I had, I remby Jackie - AFIBBERS FORUM
Lonnie - you can just request your cardiologist 'humor' you and order the thalium stress test to rule out that you do not have any coronary artery blockage. I don't think that's at all unusual or unreasonable regardless of your age. Of course, if you're on an HMO, they'll be very reluctant to do the more costly test, especially at your age. Whether you need toby Jackie - AFIBBERS FORUM
Tom - since it can cause a fatal heart arrhythmia if you aren't compatible with it - the CCF requires the 3-day stay. Jackieby Jackie - AFIBBERS FORUM
Ian - Congrats and thanks for your very positive testimonial about Bordeaux. I was especially intersted to learn your comment abour ECV. Enjoy the rest of your life Living With Passion in NSR. Welcome to the club! Best regards, Jackieby Jackie - AFIBBERS FORUM
Benj - go to the top of the page to the Vitamin Supplement box and view Hans recommendations for Omega 3's through iHerb. You can't beat the discount of 10% and free shipping if you order over $40. I rotate between Carlson's, Natural Factors, Metagenics and Nordic Naturals - all bottled, liquid, flavored, pure pharmaceutical grade and assayed for mercury, dioxins and PCBs...by Jackie - AFIBBERS FORUM
James - Yes it's still a risk with RF PVI.... Dr. Natale showed the phrenic nerve in a video clip and demonstrated how they had to maneuver to work around it ...or in some cases, isolation is incomplete because of the phrenic nerve location. Of course, first, you have to 'see' it and recognize it in order to avoid it. Jackieby Jackie - AFIBBERS FORUM
Pam - Very sorry to see your experiement backfired and that you had an uncomfortable night. High carbs - pea soup and chocolate (there had to be some amount of sugar in the chocolate) will call for too much insulin and then deplete potassium...plus you'll probably overshoot with the insulin creating an adrenaline surge - which can bring on afib. If it was not homemade soup, most likely thby Jackie - AFIBBERS FORUM
Pam - that's really interesting. Just indicates once again our chemistries are all so different. I took it twice a day and sometimes 3 times a day years back - 100 with each dose and never felt sleepy or tired. Another really nice calming product comes from New Chapter called Holy Basil Super Critical. It helps lower cortisol, the stress hormone which is also called "the deathby Jackie - AFIBBERS FORUM
Hi Adrian - thanks for this post and reminding me how great those tapes are for handling stress and anxiety. Truly, they changed my perspective on stress as well. Glad to see you are still doing well. Best regards, Jackieby Jackie - AFIBBERS FORUM
Lonnie - What are your blood levels of fibrinogen? Any idea? How is your blood lipid profile? Did you have the thallium stress test? That's the one where they inject dye while you're on the treadmill and take images of the flow through the heart to determine if you have blockages in any of the coronary arteries. You can't tell from history or by just 'looking' atby Jackie - AFIBBERS FORUM
TC - Go back into the archives to the BB before this one and read my notes from the CCF AF Summit - I posted Dr. Natale's comments about esophageal fistula and how he uses the ICE guidance system to avoid damage to the esophagus. You're in good hands with him as he is fully aware of the risks and how to avoid the damage, but to set your mind at ease, it's worth reading my notesby Jackie - AFIBBERS FORUM
Randy - I've never taken a drug for anxiety, but recall that some posters here mention that Ativan is fairly mild and has a relatively short half-life where it is out of your system.... but when I did a half-life Google I found anywhere from 9 to 20 hours which doesn't seem very short-acting to me. As you know, or should know, most of these anti-anxiety drugs have a strong correlationby Jackie - AFIBBERS FORUM
Diana - Mast cell in relation to allergy could certainly be considered as a connection to afib as it the food intolerance could act as a trigger. Many people have found they can't eat a certain type of food...like one containing wheat or dairy for example since they act as triggers. If this is suspect for you, it would be beneficial to have a food allergy profile done by blood analysis froby Jackie - AFIBBERS FORUM
Liz jan - I never give a casual recommendation to have ablation without much deliberation and consideration. I also don't recommend them unless you get to the point in your life where you just can't stand living the way it is with afib and drugs. The choice has to be considered a very personal one and also one that you make with great understanding of the procedure and the risks inby Jackie - AFIBBERS FORUM
Pam - I can't answer your question which was also the point of mine....if this was published n 01 - why do we still deal with the 'stares' when we mention vagal or adregeneric? I know as long ago as 2002 when I spoke about vatal and contraindications with BB and my cardiologist, it wasn't pursued... so I just told him I was going off Toprol because it made me worse and he wby Jackie - AFIBBERS FORUM