Exercise to terminate afib episode

Background: diagnosed 5 years ago, after several episodes of paroxysmal afib, likely because of being overweight, nascent diabetes, hypertension. Current meds: metoprolol er, 325 aspirin, atorvastatin (for high cholesterol); dropped weight, got sugar under control (roughly paleo diet), lots of exercise; following afibbers supplement recommendations
Recent occurances: no episodes for the past two years until yesterday; increasing hypertension (probably due to failing to watch my salt intake); addition of losartan potassium to meds.

Usual course of afib episodes was roughly 20-24 hours, highly disorganized at first, settling down over time, spontaneous return to sinus rhythm. (Tried cardioversion a couple of times without success).

Most recent episode: probably triggered by excess sodium intake (some beef jerky and cheese - now there was a bright idea); started around 3p, highly disorganized, pulse running in the high 80s; by next morning somewhat settled but still no well organized P wave; went for a walk with the dog; pulse started running high (150 bpm according to my handheld
ecg) but very regular; feeling very slightly faint; slowed down & felt better; checked handheld ecg on return to house and found regular pulse with well defined PQR sinus rhythm.

My question: Anyone else had similar (or contradictory) experiences?

Yes. For me, as a vagal a-fibber, exercise would convert to NSR. This approach works well in the AM, not so well in the PM when you're trying to get to sleep, however.

When I first had afib, nearly 13 years ago, it would work. For the first 2 months I would have episodes every 10-12 days and I could terminate them with exercise (sometimes a full on sprint or hard run). Then I had an episode that lasted 2 1/2 months and would not convert. I converted it with flecainide and then started my remission program - detraining, magnesium to bowel tolerance and an on-demand dose of flec to convert me if I went out of rhythm. The program worked well enough I've only had to use flec 3 times in the last nearly 4 years. However I don't mess around and I've converted every episode since the 2 1/2 month one with flec, so I've not tried the exercise conversion since.

During my divorce, I was stress eating wheels of brie. My stellar control got worse. I later figured out it was excess calcium in the cheese that upset my control. During this time, I was much more sensitive to triggers. For example, the time after orgasm. I could feel my heart rate during the rate decline. During this time, I could often feel PAC runs which could easily lead to afib. If I sat up, stood up and moved around, the PAC's would quit and I'd get no afib. This is related, and as Wolf says, may work for vagal afibbers. If you have an adrenergic trigger, a vagal maneuver would be the thing to try.

Some years ago on this board, it was quite common for people to post that they could convert with exercise.

George



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 03/09/2017 11:31AM by GeorgeN.

My trigger suite may be mixed, rather than exclusively vagal or adrenergic. Previous episodes (when I was overweight) have started during periods of relatively strenuous exercise (like bucking hay). This most recent episode started while I was sitting at my computer playing solitaire.

If you are still taking the statin, then you should be aware that statins deplete Coenzyme Q10 - a critically important antioxidant and nutrient required for heart energy production. Either way, it's a good idea to supplement with a high quality, CoQ10 product as a heart support nutrient.

Read more here:
[www.spacedoc.com]
[www.drsinatra.com]
[ubiquinol.org]

Jackie

Thanks, Jackie, CoQ10, an element of the supplement program recommended here, is part of my routine.

Good... but just be sure you are taking enough to make a difference to compensate for the statin depletion.

Jackie