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Its refreshing to see these two doctors stepping up to the plate and challenging both the FDA and Merck be sure to read the whole article. I hope it does go to Congress. The people deserve to know. Jackie Clinic doctor blasts FDA, Merck in Vioxx case Calls for probe, says maker 'valued sales over safety' Thursday, October 07, 2004 Sarah Treffinger Plain Dealer Reporter A drug manuby Jackie - AFIBBERS FORUM
Jim - my experience from when I published my alternative health digest is this: It's okay to copy and report the whole article as long as credits are given accordingly. It is already on the Internet....and Peggy is doing this for educational purposes. It's part of the public use domain. If one were to copy it and then sell it as one's own, the problem of infringement becomeby Jackie - AFIBBERS FORUM
Kevin - I can't recall if you take a beta blocker...but when I took those, I had very wild and very disturbing dreams. Many times, I had to wake myself up in order to calm my heart and not go into AF from a dream. Jackieby Jackie - AFIBBERS FORUM
Karin - Is your husband taking supplemental magnesium and potassium? I found that after my ablation, these electrolytes kept the ectopty in check nicely. He could try a minimum of 400 mg magnesium glycinate in divided doses and just get the potassium from a couple glasses of low sodium V8 daily. It may take a month or more to settle down depending on how magneisum deficient he is. I hope tby Jackie - AFIBBERS FORUM
Mike - we don't have too many poor doctors here in the US!by Jackie - AFIBBERS FORUM
Richard - I was told once the reason.... way back a long time ago..... it went something like.... alcohol metabolizes very rapidly to glucose...and you get first the sugar spike and then the drop when excess insulin comes into play. I'm not sure if that is exactly it, but that's partly what I recall. I presume this would be drinking with no additional food to slow down the rapid absoby Jackie - AFIBBERS FORUM
Pam - tactfully stated. Why would we want to believe anything this author has to say? Jackieby Jackie - AFIBBERS FORUM
Judy - Jim - I agree 100%...... when I had afib, my HR was always low... around 64 - 68..... but when I would go into AF, it would soar to 120 and more quite easily. I always felt it was a low heart rate that slipped even lower when transitioning from sympathetic to parasympathetic and when the HR became too low, the adrenaline response - triggered the AF. It happened so frequently, I became cby Jackie - AFIBBERS FORUM
Fran - excellent post - as usual. I do believe I read also that glutamate has implications in Alzheimer's disease....can't quote a source, but I seem to recall that was another "biggie" disease and a hugely important reason to avoid it at all costs. Jackieby Jackie - AFIBBERS FORUM
Mike - I just asked my chiropractor about T2....he said "yes" that is the one we work on for heart issues. That said, however, it didn't correct my afib before I had ablation. Jackieby Jackie - AFIBBERS FORUM
Dear Pam~ Once again, thanks for sharing your story. Dan has done an outstanding job of reporting what happenend and it serves to remind everyone what can happen. It breaks my heart to read again how you all suffered and I pray that life wil be good to you and your family forever more. Bless you, Pam. Thanks for being a participant here with us in this little family of afibbers. You wilby Jackie - AFIBBERS FORUM
Judy - weight gain in the mid-section...ie apple shape is the first and obvious physical symptom. There is a long list - carb cravings, weight gain and difficulty in losing weight, elevated blood lipids, liver involvement and secondary thyroid problems...these are just a few that come to mind out of many. The only reliable diagnosis is by doing a fasting glucose and insulin test with post praby Jackie - AFIBBERS FORUM
Lon - Good on both comments. I wish you success. Jackieby Jackie - AFIBBERS FORUM
Allen - Hans says in his book that beta blockers are contraindicated for vagal afibbers. Ask for other options. Insulin resistance is a tough thing to reverse. You don't need another health risk. I found that all the while I was on Toprol, my afib seemed to get worse and I felt severe symptoms of fatigue. I used to say I felt as if I were in hybernation. Jackieby Jackie - AFIBBERS FORUM
Carol - this is no secret. The current medical model is based on drugs and surgery. No question. This is the way they are educated. After graduation, the majority of their continuing education comes from the pharmaceutical companies. They give in-house seminars on new drugs; the sponsor cruises and lavish vacations and offer education during these. They bring in grocery bags full of drug samby Jackie - AFIBBERS FORUM
Carol - why not? If it could spare him some discomfort and perhaps alleviate some or all of the AF, you will have done a great favor for him. Jackieby Jackie - AFIBBERS FORUM
From the July 2004 Issue of Townsend Letter for Doctors and Patients... Alan Gaby, MD writes this in his literature review.... Case of the month: heartburn and esophageal reflux A 28-year-old male presented with a several-year history of heartburn and symptoms of esophageal reflux. Treatment with various H-2 blockers or proton-pump inhibitors had controlled the symptoms, but they would recur iby Jackie - AFIBBERS FORUM
Cilla - thanks..... I was in atrial flutter when they tried the heart stopping drug. I only know one thing....that is I'll never submit to that again. Stopping the heart is an awful feeling. I think it was nerve-wracking for the attending doctors as well because they were looking pretty anxious as they looked at me.... and asked me...."how do you feel"...and I responded "by Jackie - AFIBBERS FORUM
Jamie - sounds like AF to me....and your testimonial seems to confirm that alcohol is a trigger for you. It will be up to you to decide if you want to risk it and continue with the alcohol or just bite the bullet and give it up. Difficult, I know, but AF has a way of worsening in both frequency and duration with time. If you avoid alcohol and any other triggers you discover along the way, youby Jackie - AFIBBERS FORUM
Judy - No but they should be. Mine didn't seem to make the differentiation. By the time I was referred to an Electrophysiologist, I knew I was vagal and had eliminated the beta blockers myself. My experience is they just don't seemed tuned into which type and which drugs are best in each case and I find that extremely disturbing, since I was vagal and was prescribed beta blockers foby Jackie - AFIBBERS FORUM
Benj Im not sure how relevant this response is to your last post, but my experience was a low metabolic rate and subsequently, the accompanying slow heart rate brought on by hypothyroidism, allowed me (vagal) to slip easily into AF in the evening when the HR was lower. (Additionally, though, I had other physical symptoms of hypo even though my TSH numbers were low.) A recent adjustment iby Jackie - AFIBBERS FORUM
Lon - I am wondering why with no thyroid, they are treating you with a product that contains only one of the needed hormones. Thyroid hormone adjustments are difficult. Many people who do not have success in regulating thyroid find that the natural product, Armour thyroid, (which is still a prescription item) works better for them because it more closely resembles actual human thyroid hormoneby Jackie - AFIBBERS FORUM
Great News! Liz. I remember well how miserable you were before ablation. I'm so pleased this has all turned out so well for you. Now you can move on and enjoy the rest of your life in NSR. Live with passion! Jackieby Jackie - AFIBBERS FORUM
The point of the article is that "normal" in the range can still be too high to catch subclinical hypothyroidism. My only comment then would be that if you are in the normal range and have AF, that can be a symptom. Both hypo and hyper can activate AF. I think I covered that in the CR topic on Subclinical Hypothroidism early in 2004. Jackieby Jackie - AFIBBERS FORUM
Congratulations, Gill. Thanks for sharing your experience with us. It is important for those outside the US to know of positive ablation experiences. We've heard about Haissaguerre's work and now we have living proof of his expertise.... and at a very reasonable cost, too. Again, thanks. Enjoy the rest of your live in NSR. Live with passion! Jackieby Jackie - AFIBBERS FORUM
Carol - The solution is to eat as "plain" as possible without commercially made sauces. Cook from scratch. Buy organic condiments such as catsup if you have to. Whole foods, lightly steamed or sauteed, no commercial sauces.... are really the best for all of us whether or not there is AF involvement I find them delightful but I do make my own sauces for variety and add just plaiby Jackie - AFIBBERS FORUM
My thyroid was undertreated for at least 15 years. My numbers were "normal". I suffered with subclinical hypothyroid symptoms and even developed a goiter (sure sign things are not "normal") and all the while my numbers were in "the normal range". The complaints about my physical symptoms were ignored in deference to the normal range. Current thinking by infby Jackie - AFIBBERS FORUM
Fran - I agree with your last statement..... during my intense attacks over the 8 years I suffered with AF, there is no way I could run a country when thinking about my heart and what was going to happen. Heck, I had to quit my job and that is no comparison to what PM Blair has to do. In some cases, just getting on with one's life is the best course of action. Had ablation been perfecteby Jackie - AFIBBERS FORUM
Some people really dont like Sidney Wolfes (M.D.) work and his reporting at Public Citizens, but in the Vioxx case, it is right up his alley. In his publication, Best Pills, Worst Pills . his latest commentary on this announcement points out something afibbers should note about the sister product, Celebrex of the same Cox 2 inhibitors family. The article is a bit long and only availableby Jackie - AFIBBERS FORUM
Erling - A similar, but not nearly as complete article, was in our Cleveland paper yesterday quoting Dr. Topol. It would be interesting to know if the CCF issued directives to all their staff not to prescribe Vioxx regardless of what Merck had disclaimed/denied. I'm betting they did not....in fact I know at least one person who was put on Vioxx just last year by a CCF MD. That'by Jackie - AFIBBERS FORUM