John, As an aside, after looking these references up for you, I looked at the quantity of bicarb I consume daily. It is around 7.8 g/day. 6 from potassium bicarb and 1.8 from mag bicarb. This works out to 98 mg bicarb/kg of body weight for me. In this paper: < "An ingestion of 300 mg/kg of body weight of bicarbonate before exercising will help you reduce muscular fatigue and so incby GeorgeN - AFIBBERS FORUM
Mike, Steve's comments about Bordeaux being the only ones concerned he'd had a 60 day episode, along with a search of his comments about Bordeaux in general < < < Georgeby GeorgeN - AFIBBERS FORUM
Short answer - yes to both questions. WW is certainly mag bicarb and the benefits are from both the mag and the bicarb... You may be interested in these links (thanks to Erling!): <; < < < and a search here: < For more bicarb (I take about 200 ml of WW concentrate a day), I consume food grade potassium bicarb < I calculated 1/2 tsp ~ 1 gram potassium.by GeorgeN - AFIBBERS FORUM
I would say that what I learned here - which I found over nine years ago and about a month after my first episode - gave me the understanding to know what I'm dealing with. Am I happy whenever I go into afib. Heck no! But I deal with what I have and have worked like crazy to moderate the negative influence on my life. I don't think a psych would help me at all. Georgeby GeorgeN - AFIBBERS FORUM
For what it is worth, here is a comparison: < Dr. Brownstein has a book on these salts (and as I recall, this is Liz's doc). < <by GeorgeN - AFIBBERS FORUM
John, Hoping for a speedy and successful repair. Georgeby GeorgeN - AFIBBERS FORUM
Louise, It is pretty hard to tell without a some kind of a monitor. You can have runs of closely spaced PAC's or PVC's (perhaps bi or tri-gemini {sp?} which means every 2nd or 3rd beat is an ectopic) or some other pattern that feels irregular, but is not actually afib. With years of experience, I can usually tell, however if I wake at 3 AM with afib, sometimes my brain wants to tby GeorgeN - AFIBBERS FORUM
Ah, found my copy of Hans' book. < Here are some quotes: "Continuous use of beta-blockers lowers blood pressure and heart rate significantly leading to fatigue and an increased risk of vagal attacks. Getting off beta-blockers after continuous use can also be a problem as the blood pressure may rise precipitously when the drug is discontinued." "For example, beta-blockeby GeorgeN - AFIBBERS FORUM
Diane, Sounds like you have vagal triggers and your BB's make that worse. Don't know your whole story, but taking flec to counteract BB's sounds kind of like driving with your foot on the gas and brake at the same time. As I mentioned, ginger powder had a vagolytic (or really adrenergic stimulus) effect for me and helped counter the vagal tendencies. The BB's would increby GeorgeN - AFIBBERS FORUM
Diane, I've noticed this in the past. Hans posted an antidote - a hot drink. It is a form of vagal response. I've posted about my year-long excursion from my afib quiescence due to too much calcium intake from food. During this time ice cold drinks/food (frozen berries in almond milk) could trigger either rapid PAC's or afib. The hot water did work to settle it down, as didby GeorgeN - AFIBBERS FORUM
Mike, Mike, in my mind it would depend upon the complexity of your case. Several here have mentioned this. In my case, my 2 1/2 month episode nine years ago puts me in the complex category. Even though I've had relatively few episodes since. For seven years I had a total of around 10 episodes, then a year of many episodes, that I figured out was due to too much calcium intake. Toby GeorgeN - AFIBBERS FORUM
Glycinate is one of the most bioavailable forms. Your limit is individual and may change over time. To get extra in your system, you can use the transdermal approach - i.e. put it on your skin. An inexpensive method is to make a cream with epsom salts see: < The simplest approach is to take a small amount of epsom salts (may be 1 TBSP) and add just enough water to dissolve the saltby GeorgeN - AFIBBERS FORUM
"Overall, 4000 per 100,000 patients with atrial fibrillation will have a stroke each year" The statistics are different for idopathic or lone afib.by GeorgeN - AFIBBERS FORUM
afhound, "It's good if you can keep AF at bay by natural means but it seems to take a lot of mindshare" When I've got it dialed in, like I do now, it doesn't take up much, except for participating here to help others. When it is not controlled, certainly. Georgeby GeorgeN - AFIBBERS FORUM
"While I was in persistent afib for three months, I was a shadow of my former self. both psychologically and physically." When I was in persistent afib for 2 1/2 months, I thought I was fine. After I converted this episode with PIP flec, I felt on a "high" for a month. I didn't realize what a drag the afib had been on me.by GeorgeN - AFIBBERS FORUM
< Common causes Three percent to 11% of patients have idiopathic or 'lone' atrial fibrillation (diagnosis of exclusion) where there is no evidence of heart disease, and all investigations are normal {this would be me GN}. Cardiac causes (organic heart disease): Most common cause is hypertension, especially where left ventricular hypertrophy is present. Left atrium mayby GeorgeN - AFIBBERS FORUM
Hi Dean, I recall Hans posting on a study done in Olmstead County, MN, where the Mayo clinic is located. It was long term (30 yrs?). The lone afibbers had a lower mortality rate than the non lone afibbers. The counter was a study from a group in Salt Lake, UT that showed more dementia & etc. However, as I recall they were a much sicker bunch to begin with and wouldn't be classby GeorgeN - AFIBBERS FORUM
Hi Liz, I've seen something around the 25 g figure before. When I think about taking 2-3g of Mg/day, it is a huge percentage of the total body store. Obviously not something everybody should do, however if I don't do it, afib is a certain result! I have a local friend who is the same way with Mg and afib. The only thing that makes any sense is I urinate a huge amount of mag. Caby GeorgeN - AFIBBERS FORUM
As I recall, the Reacted 'Ferrocel' Iron Bisglycinate has the property of staying in the folds of the intestine till it is needed and is difficult if not impossible to OD on. In a pig study, they gave huge doses of this to 2 or 3 generations of pigs, with no negative consequences. This is in stark contrast to the normal iron sups.by GeorgeN - AFIBBERS FORUM
Yes, Shannon, I had two months of 6-9 hour episodes every 10-14 days before I had a 2 1/2 month episode. I had to convert that with flec and I've not taken the chance since (in 9 years) to let an episode convert on its own. Fortunately, with my version of The Strategy, the episodes are very rare. I had a 12 month period last year where they got much more frequent & I thought I wasby GeorgeN - AFIBBERS FORUM
Liz, My own experience backs up what David is saying. Certainly one has to be careful with online info, but you do with "professional" advice also. By the time I went to visit my second cardio, nine years ago, it had been about two months since my first afib episode. I was also in what turned out to be a 2 1/2 month persistent episode. I saw cardio #1 for a treadmill test preby GeorgeN - AFIBBERS FORUM
One of the things that is instructive about Theresa's post is the amount of problem solving she used to create a workable solution and her persistence. While her specific techniques may not apply to all, her approach is an excellent one.by GeorgeN - AFIBBERS FORUM
Murray, When I was a veg, I had the digestive problems you describe. My way approach to low carb includes a lot of non-starchy veggies and a modest amount of animal protein. My digestion is now stellar, as is my blood sugar. Georgeby GeorgeN - AFIBBERS FORUM
Barb, I could do that early on, before my 2 1/2 month episode 9 years ago. Obviously it didn't work for that one. After I converted it with flec, I've used flec for every episode since. Over the years, there have been a number of vagal afibbers who've posted about being able to convert with exercise. For the adrenergic afibbers, the converse, a vagal maneuver may work.by GeorgeN - AFIBBERS FORUM
Hi Theresa, Wow, that is an inspiring and very complicated story! Great job figuring out all the details. I've marked this post with "The List" so that it can possibly be found in the future. The idea of The List was conceived by PeggyM nine or so years ago as a way to mark success stories for future reference. CR 61 is a compilation of some of those stories < Thankby GeorgeN - AFIBBERS FORUM
I also used Mitoku "Bitterns" Natural Nigari as a source of mag chloride. < Four or five years ago, I had this brand tested at a local chem lab on their x-ray diffraction machine for heavy metals and it was clean (the results are posted in the archives here). Nigari is MgCl2 that the Japanese use to coagulate tofu. I works well to make "magnesium oil." I purchased aby GeorgeN - AFIBBERS FORUM
Sam, 1) < 2) < Georgeby GeorgeN - AFIBBERS FORUM
Here is the Ativan Conference Room session: < In it, Hans quoted his first book, Quote- Page 99. The tranquilizer lorazepam (Ativan) has been found to decrease parasympathetic (vagal) activity significantly while increasing heart rate by about 8% (6 beats per minute)(2). This change in autonomic system balance may be enough to prevent vagal episodes that begin after going to bed... Gingeby GeorgeN - AFIBBERS FORUM
Wow Jackie, 600 mg of flec in 6 hours. That's a bit. I'm suspecting you don't weigh that much, so a doubly large dose for you! 9 years ago, my 2.5 month episode converted in 20 hours with 300 mg flec. I started my supplement protocol and did have an episode about 1 month later. I recall it also took 20 hours to convert and I think I added some more flec around hour 12. Tby GeorgeN - AFIBBERS FORUM
Patricia, You may want to read this (Dr. John is an EP blogger): < Especially: "15. ...Yes, it is true that atrial flutter often requires an intervention, but the chances of a second procedure or more treatment decrease with simple lifestyle choices. Athletes with atrial flutter pay attention here. If you keep inflaming yourself incessantly after flutter ablation, do not be surpriseby GeorgeN - AFIBBERS FORUM