Lymes and Irregular Heart Beat!?

Hi,
Not sure if this post should be in General Health, but I believe my experience ties directly to Afib.
First of all, I thank all forum members and especially the regulars starting with Shannon, Jackie, George, Mike, Tom
Researcher, and the many others who post and reply with great info and moral support. I am not on the site
that much of late, because so far over the past many years flecainide works for me...fingers cross d.....knock on wood. But in 2015, I did
have a few episodes at the same time I had I thought a "regular" virus with chills, sweats, etc. Living in New England
I asked as soon as virus started for a Lymes test that can back negative. Virus lasted about 4-6 weeks.
Fast forward to 3 weeks ago. My knee swells, headaches, chills. Ortho drains knee, but mystified.
Last week knee swells up again. Because I mention chills, Ortho decides to have infectious Dr check things out
Before knee geTs MRI or scope. Turns out it Lymes. I found this on Internet. [www.washingtonpost.com]
Lesson learned: Insist on repeated testing. My first two years ago MAY have been to soon. I will never know. I may or may not have gotten Lymes in June 2015 when I had a month long malaise during which I had a couple of afib episodes.


Good Health to All
Tibbar

Hi Tibbar - Good to see your name here again... but very sorry it's to report your Lyme situation. Yes.. definitely a connection between active Lyme disease and arrhythmia. It stirs the pot significantly.

I'm very familiar with the infection because apparently, I had it some time ago and have 'latent' markers that are said to be inactive but definitely confirms an exposure. That would explain my severe bout with CFS and muscle pain many years ago long before Lyme awareness (here in NE Ohio) became the norm. And also when we decided to treat the infection ... it stirred up my dormant afib to the point where I had frequent and ongoing afib events which eventually led to ablation #2. I stopped the Lyme treatments and said I'd rather let the Afib kill me because I had half a chance with that, but the Lyme treatments were going to do it faster. So... my heart is fine but we know my Lyme is still there and hopefully, dormant.

In 2014, my FM MD ordered the specific tests and that's how we found the latent markers. She provided me with several CDs from a conference on Lyme's Disease... the top expert in the field of Lyme Literate Doctors... Joseph Burrascano, MD and ILADS are the names to follow. ILADS - International Lyme and Associated Diseases Society...
[search.yahoo.com] - check out all listed here.

What was repeated continually at that conference was the fact that most all tests for Lyme are inadequate...especially the Western Blot so there are now specific Labs for Lyme testing so you can learn what species you have along with testing for the co-infections that frequently accompany Lyme disease. There are protocols for all of the infections.

I learned that the aggressive treatment herbals to kill the Lyme activated the afib.

Email me if you need more info and let us know how you are.

Best to you,
Jackie

PS - I realized I didn't include a tip for you that could be very useful. Liposomal Vitamin C helped me a great deal when I was attempting to recover from the 2014 Lyme treatment 'insult' that we were trying. We've covered it here in various posts see the link below and I can send you more info if you email me... but essentially, it's a 'miracle' formulation of vitamin C that has proven results for managing many ailments, infections, etc. The research and experience of cardiologist, Thomas Levy, MD is documented in his books... Curing the Incurable, Stop America's #1 Killer, Primal Panacea... all worth reading. The dosing equivalencies are in this post.. note you can take very high doses with no bowel issues, unlike regular vitamin C. This makes a huge difference in efficacy, obviously.
[www.afibbers.org]

Check here for more posts on Lipo C. I urge you to try it. It will certainly help - overall.
[www.afibbers.org]
Jackie



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 08/26/2017 06:01PM by Jackie.

Jackie,
Thanks for your thoughts. I will follow-up on your Vitamin n C suggestion. Much appr coated.

Regards,
Tibbar. AKA, J.H

Jackie:

I was very interested in the Lipo C, but when I read the ingredients Soy Lecithin was listed, 1,000 mg. Well, that lets Lipo C out for me, Soy is a no no for people with Thyroid problems. I know you have some thyroid issues as well, I am surprised that you don't have any problems with it.

Liz

Liz – while I avoid soy on general principle, I do not have a soy allergy or autoimmune thyroiditis so that’s not a contraindication for me. However, I did check prior to using the Lipo C… and learned this from their website:

At LivOn Labs, we use highly purified phospholipids derived from soy lecithin. Virtually all of the anti-nutrients naturally found in soybeans, along with soy protein (which is of allergic concern to some individuals), are removed during the extraction process.

What remains is a high percentage of phospholipids like Phosphatidylcholine (PC), Phosphatidylethanolamine (PE) and Phosphatidylinositol (PI). The benefits of phospholipids found in lecithin have been well documented since the early 1900's, and they far outweigh any potential risk associated with the ingestion of miniscule amounts of anti-nutrients naturally found in soy lecithin.[3]

We use Essential Phospholipids (EPL), which are made from soy lecithin. Virtually all of the soy protein, which is of allergic concern to some individuals, is removed from the EPL during the extraction process. While we cannot guarantee our products do not contain trace amounts of soy protein, we routinely conduct DNA testing on each product with an independent laboratory. To date, the laboratory has not been able to detect any amounts of soy protein in our products.

For more information on lecithin derived from soy, we recommend reading Secion II. C. of the FDA's Guidance on Food Labeling, which can be found at [www.fda.gov]

I would rather be safe than sorry, so I will avoid anything with soy. Soy interferes with the uptake of the thyroid hormone.

I remembered that years ago when I was in my 20s and 30s, I took a Lecithin powder which I mixed with juice, I did this for a number of years. I wonder if that might have led to my problems with my thyroid, we have to make sure what we are taking is not also harming us.

Liz



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 08/27/2017 02:03PM by Elizabeth.

Liz - I totally agree with you. Don't take chances since you have the autoimmune disorder.

For clarity.... I didn't post the Liv On details to convince you to use it; rather, I offered it as a response to your comment about my using it. My thyroid issues were caused by low iodine - not autoimmune thyroiditis.

Actually, I'm very pleased with the effects of the high-dose equivalencies of this liposomal form of Vitamin C. I've also given it to friends to use when they feel a cold or flu coming on and they all report it works like 'magic' to prevent the progression of a cold or flu bug and suggest they use it daily. And also I'm quite sure that it is suppressing anything that might be related to the dormant Lyme issue.

Jackie

Jackie:

I am a little confused, you said your thyroid issues is caused by low Iodine, I recall you saying that you took Armour thyroid meds why would you take that for low iodine?

Since my thyroid is nuked, technically I no longer have an autoimmune thyroid problem, but I still avoid Soy.

Liz

Liz – short'ish' answer to a complex problem. The underlying autoimmune issue is not eliminated by irradiating the thyroid… but rather, the thyroid is no longer reactive to the autoimmmunity. However, for example… if Epstein Barr Virus drove the Graves disease… it’s still in your system… hopefully dormant, but can be reactivated and cause other health issues. The Big 3 autoimmune drivers are EBV, H. pylori and Yersinia Additionally, other viruses include Campylobactr, Enterobacter, HFV, Herpes 6 and 7 and more. Leaky gut or dysbiosis can also be working behind the scenes. Specific testing is required. (there are other activators as well.)

It’s a complex situation. Exactly as what you related regarding your situation…A major trauma or extremely stressful event happens and then the person develops Graves’ disease right after that. It’s the stress that interferes with or damages immune system function which allows hidden infections to reactivate and take hold.

On the iodine situation for me: None of my earlier doctors when I was 20 yo with hypo-symptoms ever tested for iodine. Then later on I was given Synthroid. After that, I saw two endocrinologists who changed dosing of Synthroid…. but also didn’t test for iodine. Why indeed! ??

Synthroid never did work to eliminate the hypo-symptoms... and also, eventually, I developed the goiter as you might expect. So, then I found a holistic MD who said to try iodine. But, before all that, the damage to other body tissues from iodine deficiency went rampant and I had multiple surgeries as I commented on in the post on Iodine. The Armour thyroid hormone did the best for keeping all balanced nicely. Now, they recommend Nature-Throid or West Throid over Armour.

Jackie

Liz - I checked Dr. Brownstein's Iodine book and he says that " iodine deficiency can lad to hypothyroidism and autoimmune thyroid diseases including Graves' and Hashimoto's. ...and that "studies have shown that iodine-deficient individuals have an increased incidence of anti-thyroid antibodies." He goes on to say that without adequate iodine levels, the thyroid gland is unable to produce adequate thyroid hormone. The result of iodine deficiency can be a poorly functioning thyroid gland, goiter, increased autoimmune thyroid problems and an increased risk of thyroid cancer."...pp 130-131. He also cautions (p. 149) " that patients with Graves and Hashimotos disease may have to adjust thyroid meds when taking iodine and but about about two-thirds of others taking thyroid hormone can usually maintain their dosage of thyroid hormone." (p. 149)

I'm sure he's keeping good tabs on your iodine levels and you are fortunate to be in his care.

Jackie

Source:
Iodine - Why You Need It - Why You Can't Live Without It
David Brownstein, MD
C - 2008

Jackie:

Yes, I have his book. I used to take Iodoral 12.5 mg. for about 3 or 4 years until I started getting hives so I stopped. I looked back over copies of my blood work (I keep all of them) and I saw that I have gone up and down with my TSH values over the years all on the same dose of thyroid meds, free T3 and free T4 remain about the same.

I understand that I live in the goiter belt and that we are lacking in iodine, my father got Graves disease in his early 30s, my mother and 2 brothers did not have any thyroid problems.

Liz

Liz - I'm glad you are no longer using iodine... unless, of course, Dr. B's testing finds you are deficient and is supervising your dosing..... because we know that thyroid issues can underlie arrhythmia.

Another well-known physician/expert on thyroid issues (Nikolas Hedberg) offers some important observations in his book, The Thyroid Alternative.

He says: " Iodine isn't suitable for everyone and the dosing is variable by individual. "

He also warns that if you have autoimmune thyroiditis, you should not take iodine unless you are in the care of a qualified healthcare practitioner because adding iodine can make the situation worse.. but it really just suppresses the antibody production which gives the illusion that the auto-immune condition is improving. He emphasizes that the underlying autoimmunity condition needs to be addressed and corrected. He notes that autoimmune thyroiditis is not a singular disease process but a symptoms of a broken-down immune system due to a variety of possible causes.. including allergies, asthma, IBS, leaky gut syndrome and more.

He notes that Iodine deficiency is a major, global issue that needs to be addressed... and Quote: "Many studies have shown that when iodine is added to the food supply to reduce iodine deficiency, the rate of autoimmune thyroiditis increases. Therefore, there is a risk in triggering autoimmunity if you supplement with iodine." (P. 103)

And just to finish up his other points on Iodine......

Iodine can help with hypothyroidism and fibrocystic breast diseaseIodine also improves estrogen metabolism, reduces the risk of developing breast cancer and may do the same for prostate cancer.

I know you are aware of all this, but I wanted to include it for others who may be thinking about adding iodine so they are alerted to precautions and the importance of testing by an iodine loading dose. The paint-on iodine patch is not considered to be a valid, reliable measure of iodine stores.

As I commented earlier, had I been tested for iodine deficiency in my 20's I could have been spared a lifetime of deficiency complications.

Jackie