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Since last Saturday I have been having some pretty wierd symptoms which I associate with AF due to a family history(my brother in England has permanent afib) and my mother complained of palpitations for years before she passed away.I have had many bouts of palpitations myself the last 15yrs or so,most of which I can pin down to certain food sensitivities or being stressed over one thing or anotheby Steve L - AFIBBERS FORUM
Greetings What an unstable heart week this has been...four out of seven days with waking irregular heartbeats. Have finished reading Hans' Vol I and many of the CRs referenced in recent responses to posts. I feel much more knowledgable about probable triggers than I did just a week ago. Thank you so much to Jackie and others for sharing insight and knowledge. Thankfully the irregular HB hby Cyndie - AFIBBERS FORUM
Curt, I take Taurine and Theanine, but the only time I take Theanine is if I am going to be in a stressful situation. I take 500 mg of Taurine, AM, lunch and 1,000 before bed. I buy the 500 mg capsules so that is a total of 2,000 mg per day and I do fine with that. I have taken about 3500 when I have been in afib. Seems to work great for me. Sharonby Sharon Glass - AFIBBERS FORUM
Curt wrote: > Is it OK to take Theanine while taking Taurine? > thx As far as I know it is and I was/am though I've drastically reduced my intake of taurine, since I think that it makes my afib worse. Joyceby Joyce - AFIBBERS FORUM
Curt I've found that a good way to deal with anxiety is to believe that whatever I am facing will work out okay. The more I fret, worry or stew about what might happen or go wrong, the more I'm going to bring on the afib attack. We have considerable capacity to look at a situation and make it worse by worrying or we can do the oposite and cool our attitude down to where it is not aby Darlene - AFIBBERS FORUM
Just informational: As a result of the statin post and my testimonial about muscle damage, Ive been doing research into mitochondrial disorders and came across some references to dysautonomia and arrhythmia in a Q & A session with responses provided by physicians. Since we post on dysautonomia in relation to atrial fibrillation, Im posting some of the comments just for your edification.by Jackie - AFIBBERS FORUM
Steve, I had an ablation almost 6 weeks ago. I too was pretty wary about the procedure. When you get right down to it, an ablation is an elective procedure ,and when they mention the possible complications it can produce some anxiety. I went in at 5:15am and was very nervous. They hooked me up and by 6:00 they had me seriously relaxed and headed to the ep lab. I was totally under and awakenedby Martin - AFIBBERS FORUM
Is it really a year since I posted to the board my experiences after my ablation? My how time flies when when you're in NSR! Mmmmmmmm, I've stolen my own thunder there. Yes, I am happy to report that since my ablation with Prof. John Morgan at Southampton General on Friday 13th (!) July 2007, I have been in in NSR. I do get occasional PACs and although my initial recovery was quiteby Shaun - AFIBBERS FORUM
Bill - so sorry to read your ordeal. Does the hospital you visited have an obudsman on staff? I registered a complaint via that approach one time and at least I had the satisfaction of that. While I've only gone to the ER three times for afib, (two different facilities), my experience is that it all depends on who's on call and what the expertise is of the attendings on duty. Some sby Jackie - AFIBBERS FORUM
Philippe - Nice to hear from you but sorry under the circumstances. I can certainly see how stress would enter into your afib recurrence what with a weak area and the Bear Stearns issue etc. What are you doing, if anything to handle the increased cortisol that is undoubtedly being produced continually in light of all the stressors you've mentioned? Resolving that and shoring up neurotransby Jackie - AFIBBERS FORUM
Boy, have I had a surprise... Afib in the afternoon! I have always had it in the early morning hours. But...it is the 11th! As most of you know all of my afib episodes have been between the 10th and 19th . So now, they have been like this...March 09 (17 hours) ; May 11 (I think it was 6-9 hours, will have to check records) and now July 11th. Well, I have tried my best to figure this thing out asby Sharon Glass - AFIBBERS FORUM
Joanna - I have some personal experience with panic attacks. The symptoms are racing heart rate, sweating and clammy feeling, dry mouth, and cotton head feeling of not being able to think properly and along with all this comes a sense of anxiety. I know of four people experiencing panic attacks with similar symptoms who were eventually diagnosed as having a hypoglycemic event. Mine was driby Jackie - AFIBBERS FORUM
Johana: Rule of thumb my cardiologist said was that if your home blood pressure cuff can read your heart rate you're probably not in fib. Jean's suggestion of an event monitor for a month is a good one. Certainly just the worry of undiagnosed afib can lead to anxiety. Lexapro is not a pill in the pocket solution to anxiety. I'd also ask my internist for something to handle tby Gordon - AFIBBERS FORUM
Johanna, the following website defines panic attacks. If your rapid heartbeats are irregular, you are probably in afib. A sure way to find out is to have an EKG during one of your episodes or wear an event or holter monitor for 30 days to detect an event. I'm not familiar with bystolic and quinapril, but when I googled these medications, it appears they are used for hypertension. Ifby jean brassell - AFIBBERS FORUM
Steve, you said "pang of anxiety reading about my situation instinctively look at my pulse watch: it says 62. 62! Sixty-freakin-two! No rhyme or reason I can tell. " Steve, it could have been the anxiety that gave you a rush of adrenlin. I remember I was in afib for 17 hours one time and my agreement with my doctor is when I get close to 24 hoursI would go to ER as I am not on blood thby Sharon Glass - AFIBBERS FORUM
Hello Melanie, you are preaching to the converted. That's the raison d'etre of this website - thank you again, Hans et al. However, no matter how informative or supportive a website, without a CORRECT diagnosis, it is very difficult for a patient to progress further. And for many 'public' patients, there's the rub. Many MD's are less than enthusiastic when it comeby Emmie - AFIBBERS FORUM
Hi everyone i have been on metoprolol now for a little over a week and i think it is making my depression worse. i have bipolar disorder and am not currently on any medication for that illness because the psychiatrist i had stopped taking my insurance and i've been waiting to get in to see one who does. i've been un-medicated for about 6 mos now. i was depressed and suffereing from eby Althea - AFIBBERS FORUM
hi Six years ago, I went into a-fib after eating some ice cream- and last Friday night (well morning, it was 4 am) I ate some sherbet and went into afib for the 3rd time in my life (that i know of, at least) The very first time, I was having a pulmonary angiogram that put me in a-fib, and that time I converted very quickly with an injection of some drug. I don't recall the name of it, I wasby Althea - AFIBBERS FORUM
Jackie - does that mean that maybe we should be focusing on eating an alkaline diet? Also, is this the same idea as what you had mentioned about adjusting your diaphram? As so many people on this board and with afib also seem to have a digestive connection of some sort, this seems like the closest thing to a "cause" that I've read. I am very intrigued by this and plan to consuby Barb H. - AFIBBERS FORUM
Thank you all so much for the support and guidance. I'm going to try some of these suggestions and see what happens. Thanks again. Scott H.by Scott H - AFIBBERS FORUM
David - It's wise of you to check before you take anything since you aren't in the class of Lone AF. For those with LAF, most likely one of the benefits is that lowering of heart rate. One man I worked with a few years ago who took theanine at the onset found it converted him within 20 minutes.... I thought at the time it was just because he was overly-stressed, but it could also haby Jackie - AFIBBERS FORUM
Ok, Nancy, I'm a guy. And I can't imagine many things better than a warm bubble bath!by steve - AFIBBERS FORUM
Jackie, I checked several of the abstracts cited in Wikipedia's entry on theanine, and one study said it lowers the HR. I was considering trying theanine, but I have sick sinus and a resting HR in the 50s. Another study said theanine may help one relax under low stress conditions, but didn't counteract induced stress, and neither did alprazolam counteract induced stress. I guess allby Dave Myers - AFIBBERS FORUM
Stress has been a trigger for my afib in the past couple of years as well. I was diagnosed with GAD (Generalized Anxiety Disorder) several years ago and have been working on that. What works for me Meditation Exercise Warm bubble bath (ok, the guys may not like this one as much - but it works!) Talking to friends Walk in park / forest / green, lots of green You have my sympathies for your loss,by Nancy - AFIBBERS FORUM
Hi Scott, I'm so sorry to hear you lost your wife recently. Sort out the stress-related problems over the insurance, or rather lack of insurance, and then concentrate on your own grief. Try not to get side-lined into worrying too much about the afib, it won't kill you, I find taurine both calms me down (in my head that is) and also keeps afib pretty much at bay. If you don't hanby Kate - AFIBBERS FORUM
Scott, My condolences also on the loss of your partner, and the double whammy of your employer letting you down. How is it that stress and anxiety don't cause AF? I'm a work in progress, and here are some of the things that seem to be helping my progress. I have found that thinking about AF and noticing when in AF cause more anxiety and seem to prolong episodes or make them more lby Dave Myers - AFIBBERS FORUM
Scott - I, also, am sorry for your loss of your wife. Anxiety/stress does contribute to onset of my afib episodes. Things that I practice when I feel stressful are: -moderate excercise - break a sweat, get moving several times a week -talk to trusted friends to work thru the things causing the stress -get outside and just LOOK at nature, breathe fresh air, take walks -deliberately putting aby Sis - AFIBBERS FORUM
p.s. I found their link: for a free 30 minute download of zapper self hypnosis:by susan - AFIBBERS FORUM
Anxiety -> stress = afib. Violence works. For myself, I recently resumed doing noisy violence to innocent pieces of paper with a rifle. Pasting photos of the most despised authority figures (politicians, bankers, employers etc.) on the targets is an option. Williamby William - AFIBBERS FORUM
Dear Scott, I am so sorry for your loss. Have you tried biofeedback? I found it very helpful after the death of my brother. Here is an excellent website for stress reduction CDs and soothing sounds to play during meditation or biofeedback: If you call their number, mention "buy two get one CD free" offer. my favorites: [1] Zapper mind programming: CD: RBZ122$20.00 [2] Rx mind programming: Strby susan - AFIBBERS FORUM