Jim - as Peggy mentions, some people have tried with mixed results. That was one of the first remedies tried for me early on in my afib journey with no noticeable effect. Unfortunately, the doctor at the time did not focus on intracellular magnesium or potassium which undoubtedly would have turned it around for me early in the game. Jackieby Jackie - AFIBBERS FORUM
Andrew - Try to get back on your 'eating clean' diet as soon as possible. Add more magnesium and potassium regularly.... start with low doses and ramp up every 3 - 4 days or so if all goes well and if you don't experience bowel intolerance. If you do, then you are going too fast. It can take months to fully saturate the cells (intracellular) and if you experience diarrhea earlyby Jackie - AFIBBERS FORUM
Quinn - metaprolol and other drugs are known to cause insomnia because they (all drugs) deplete magnesium. Try taking at least 200 mg of magnesium glycinate at bedtime. You are probably depleted in magnesium, overall, so if you aren't supplementing optimally during the day and before bedtime, then insomnia is only one of many symptoms of magnesium deficiency. Some of the others arenby Jackie - AFIBBERS FORUM
Liz - oops - eyes crossed again! Sorry. Jackieby Jackie - AFIBBERS FORUM
Al - Your afib journey reminds me of mine. Right around year four, post-ablation, I had 4 breakthroughs about 3 months apart and then a singular event in year 5 - none since. I wrote about my experiences in a recent celebration of 6 years anniversary since ablation. <; The stabilizing nutritents I found helpful are in that link. You should also read more about using d-ribose. I donby Jackie - AFIBBERS FORUM
Andrew.... I totally love anything that Dr. Mark Hyman offers for wellness. If any one has walked the talk, he has. As for ribose - it won't raise your blood glucose because it functions in a different pathway (5 carbon - pentose) which is different from glucose and fructose. But, it can lower blood glucose and make you feel 'weird' after taking it.... I always take mine witby Jackie - AFIBBERS FORUM
Andrew - I neglected to elaborate that when one becomes insulin resistant (Metabolic Syndrome), they are not able to store magnesium in red blood cells (and all the other minerals as well) so therein lies the beginning of a problem for some individuals in also developing atrial fibrillation. This also affects the ability to store amino acids in neurons which accounts for the nervous system invoby Jackie - AFIBBERS FORUM
Liz - My PIP was prescribed by Dr. Natale and it probably isn't out of date...as they do remain effective for quite a while - in fact, that tested to be true on the first one in 07; then I replaced the Rx so I'm good for another few years. The BB is Toprol XL - 25 mg and the AA is Flecainide 100. I had 4 breakthrough's in 07 and one in August of 08. Jackieby Jackie - AFIBBERS FORUM
Curt - This is absolutely wonderful news. You deserve a huge amount of credit for tackling this project with such diligence. It would be difficult to say it was only one thing, but the purity of the organic food (no pesticide residues) combined with the lack of activity from the gluten/gliaden proteins in wheat - in your biochemistry - must have been the perfect combo for you. Of course, nevby Jackie - AFIBBERS FORUM
Andrew - sure stress, and the stress hormones...And as we know, alcohol depletes magnesium and anything with sugar will also deplete both magnesium and potassium. But... on the hospitalization topic, I went once to the ER early on in my 8-year afib journey - It was such an ordeal, I vowed not to repeat that unless I felt it was critical. When you are light headed, just sit or lie quietly aby Jackie - AFIBBERS FORUM
Andrew, since you have a family history, then I'd be strongly suspect that you have some form of dysglycemia as well. As for testing, it can sometimes be misleading. The fasting glucose is only half the story... it's the fasting insulin that tells what happens.... as I explained in the overproduction of insulin in the case of insulin resistance. I would not advise you to have the stby Jackie - AFIBBERS FORUM
Andrew - have you been able to note any connections as to what may trigger your onsets in those 3 events? Any foods or drinks, diet drinks or food, alcohol or even not eating or activities in the hours preceeding an event? The faster your heart beats, the less oxygen gets to your brain so you will feel light headed. That's just how it works. Jackieby Jackie - AFIBBERS FORUM
Gill - I would just use both until you notice the bowel tolerance issue. They are both excellent forms of adding magnesium, and the WW also helps with alkalinity plus it makes your water takes really good. I would not consider choosing between either forms and use both myself every day. Jackieby Jackie - AFIBBERS FORUM
Barb - The New Year is a great time to resolve to become gluten free.... you have nothing to lose but a whole host of undesirable symptoms including afib and digestive issues. There is a list of at least 150 disease conditions that are related in some way to gluten sensitivity. Many are so obscure they are often go unnoticed. You don't have to view this as a consequence or punishment, lby Jackie - AFIBBERS FORUM
Andrew - Since the citrate form of magnesium can cause bowel intolerance, I'm curious as to the amount of this form that you tolerate. Since you still have AF, I'd consider changing to the more tolerable form, magnesium glycinate so you can optimize your intracellular stores. Regarding the comments on panic attacks, I have personal experience with these and that of three other people. We fby Jackie - AFIBBERS FORUM
A day late - but a Merry Christmas wish to you and Judi, Hans and to all our forum readers. Thank you for making this possible. Jackieby Jackie - AFIBBERS FORUM
Josiah - I believe in the discussions on boosting the immune system for defense by using vitamin D against the various flu viruses, one of the posts reproduced the table of ranges and recommendations from Drs. Mercola and Eisenstein. Maintaining a level of around 70 is where my doctor wants mine and it was a challenge getting there. The older you are, apparently the harder it is to increasby Jackie - AFIBBERS FORUM
The Krebs Cycle will remain in my recall forever from the anguish I suffered in Cell Biology requirements for dental hygiene. We were required to be able to write out and explain the basics of the Krebs cycle and recite it in a verbal exam responses. For those who had recently graduated from high school and then went right into college, it was no big deal, but since I was a latent learner retrby Jackie - AFIBBERS FORUM
Andrew - Welcome but sorry to meet you under the circumstances. I'd suggest you start by ordering Hans' first book... Toward a Cure... listed just below where you click to post. It's a great start toward understanding about afib and some of the treatment options. Most likely, you are deficient in some of the critical minerals/electrolytes and have some triggers that you may notby Jackie - AFIBBERS FORUM
Lance - the idea is to reduce or eliminate the phytate coating... phytates are mineral-binding antinutrients. Many people prefer soaking nuts overnight to accomplish the same thing. I prefer the lightly roasted at the lowest temp possible by oven. In my toaster oven, there is one notch down below 150 and that's where I set mine. I roast for an hour and then leave in the oven until totaby Jackie - AFIBBERS FORUM
Barb - Are you gluten free? A good deal of gastric problems are caused from gluten. Of course, it can be compounded by other issues as well, the first that comes to mind is incomplete digestion and food lying in the stomach too long and fermenting because it can't be broken down and metabolized in a timely manner. The addition of a good digestive enzyme to break down fats, carbs, andby Jackie - AFIBBERS FORUM
Valerie - my personal experience as well as that of many people I've helped with additional potassium is that by adding small incremental doses, yes, it definitely does help. The majority of people are too low in potassium. (and magnesium). The taurine will also help if there is enough of both electrolytes for the taurine to 'manage.' If you start increasing the dosing with smby Jackie - AFIBBERS FORUM
Julia - Peggy meant that it doesn't provide much in the way of other electrolytes, but the magnesium water does provide another benefit and that is the alkalizing effect from the bicarbonate component. Many find this to be instrumental in eliminating their afib because of neutralizing a highly acidic system. It would be hard to list all of the benefits one receives from alkalizing an acidby Jackie - AFIBBERS FORUM
Barb - on the neck injury issue... definitely can influence heart meridians. I had a whiplash injury - fairly minor and many years ago, but the chiropractor always worked on maintining a free meridian as it's a couple of the cervicals.. C2 and 3 (?) that directly flow to the heart as well. If you are fortunate enough to find a really good chiropractor, this work along with cranial sacralby Jackie - AFIBBERS FORUM
Lance - good choice versus junk carbs. Nuts are high in calories, of course, but a few here and there is all it takes. They should be raw. And some of the experts feel you should roast the raw yourself at a low temperature for about an hour - like less than 150 degrees. This changes the natural protective coating on the nut from not very digestible to very digestible. I eat them both ways;by Jackie - AFIBBERS FORUM
The nightmare problem comes from the elevated serotonin which is what it does. Many people report similar reactions; some quit and others persist and report they normalized after a couple of weeks. Apparently, it takes the body (in some individuals) time to stabilize and get used to the missing neurotransmitter. I've tried 5 HTP and sometimes use it before bed although it did not give meby Jackie - AFIBBERS FORUM
Valerie - I'm glad to see you have a supply of the beta blocker. I recently worked for several months with a post-ablation afibber who also had elevated HR but not consistently. (He was in his 3rd to 6th months). He hated the way the BB made him feel and had cut back considerably on the dose. He would call me when he started feeling anxious about some of his 'rumblings' and fasby Jackie - AFIBBERS FORUM
Nick - I certainly commend you for an excellent post, blog and outlook on managing afib. Your success is definitely impressive and is certainly worth sharing with others. Thanks for sharing the details with us. Jackieby Jackie - AFIBBERS FORUM
Paul - some EPs such as Dr. Natale have the reputation for being able to clean up botched ablations. One afibber mentioned that as he (too) sat in the reception area waiting for a consult with Dr. Natale, the other patients began comparing notes on why they were there... their last hope for success after having one or more unsuccessful multiple ablations, elsewhere. There is no comparison to aby Jackie - AFIBBERS FORUM
Barb - there is a "yes, but" to my story, though... one I optimized the critical electrolytes and had my diaphragm adjusted (this was peculiar to my situation only).... I was able to have zero afib events on a significantly lower dose of flecainide (50 mg daily) and probably could have eventually weaned off totally given enough time..... I have no reason to think that I could not haveby Jackie - AFIBBERS FORUM