Lying on Left Side after Ablation

It's seven months since my Bordeaux ablation and heart rhythm is very good. However a problem I've had since then is nighttime acid reflux. I've had this before and fixed it with Alkaline water and half tcp Bicarbonate Soda before bedtime.

(It wasn't caused by too little acid. I tried a Hydrochloric Acid supplement and the problem was instantly much worse.)

I believe I have a lax LES which allows the acid to come into the Oesophagus in the night when lying on my right side. The acidy is considerably reduced by the alkaline water and bicarb but still enough that I have a sore throat in the morning which doesn't completely disappear throughout the day.

I'm getting visions of the Barretts Syndrome that my sister has and the Oesophageal Cancer that a close friend died of a few years ago - not a nice way to go.

The reason for this post is not to get a cure for reflux in general but the fact that the best thing for me at the moment would be to lie on my left side which stops the backflow and after many years of always sleeping on the right I find this quite scary.

I would appreciate hearing of anyone who has started to sleep on the left after a successful Ablation or just thoughts on how others feel about it.

Thanks

Sam

I understand being accustomed to sleeping on one side or the other and having a hard time getting used to switching, but I don't understand the scary part. Why is it scary and what does it have to do with your ablation?

Hello Sam - Sorry to read about yet another health problem for you.

As most of us did, I trained myself to sleep only on the right side and never was tempted to deviate until after ablation #2 in 2014...and the touch up 7 mos later in 2015 and after that, I decided to try sleeping on the LH side to help balance out all those restrictive years. Now, keep in mind that I did not have a reflux/Gerd problem but did find my heart was more calm with the right side sleeping posture all those years.

I've not had any blips, PACs, ectopy, etc. since 2015 either awake nor have I been awakened from sleep with any activity and I routinely rotate from side to side. (Felt it was probably smart to give the hip joints some equal time.) As we always say, we are all different, but I'd think it would be worth a try to help you avoid the excess acid risks that you mention. I certainly hope so.

Have you ruled out the potential for hiatal hernia which can help promote the reflux ? (and also AF).

Good luck with your experiment.
Jackie

Sam, I've always noticed that I have an easier time 'getting wind up' when lying on my left hand side and for the obvious reasons.

Since my ablation at Bordeaux a couple of months after yours I definitely have an easier time alternating between right and left during the night. That said, I still notice some PACs when becoming 'amorous' in the mornings lying on my left than I do lying on my right!

Glad to hear your heart is behaving itself.

Sam,

I understand a lot of afibbers have indicated that being on their left side can be an issue with PAC's or a trigger, but I wouldn't worry about it as an ablatee.

During the 18 month time I was consuming excess (for me) calcium through food (cheese) and unknowingly changing my electrolyte balance to make me more sensitive to afib, left sided sleeping could be an issue. However once I figured this out and gave up the cheese, it no longer matters. LIkewise with many other things I was sensitive to during that 18 months - consuming ice cold water, the time immediately after orgasm, digestive issues or gas & etc. These do not bother me now or did they before the 18 month time period. The only reason I bring this up, is that once your system is stable - and it should be post ablation - you should be fine.

George

I have said this before but I ask Dr. Natale about AFIB and sleeping on the left side in 2014. He laughed and basically said there is absolutely no medical reason why sleeping on the left side causes a increase in AFIB episodes. I never heard of this myself until I joined this website in 2011.
Anyway, Just telling you what one if not the top AFIB Ablationists thinks of this. The mind is a powerful thing.

From the archived topics in The Conference Room Sessions...note this one by Patrick Chambers, MD

[www.afibbers.org]

Heart beats are more heavily felt when laying on the left side than on the right, which may increase stress and then, ectopics.
I've some GERD because of a weak LES but, provided I don't go to sleep while digesting, there's no big problem on either side.
Laying on my left side with stomach bloated is often triggering PVCs, because there's some pressure on the heart. Laying on my right side in the same conditions often induces GERD, which may trigger PACs.
When I go to bed with a light stomach and having taken the time to relax progressively in the evening, I'm usually fine the whole night, whatever the side I lay on.

Thanks for all your replies, folks. Having read them I lay on my left side last night. Had a few runs of faster/ stronger than usual beats but were short-lived.

Unfortunately I had a horrible night. I couldn't find a position that didn't hurt my neck and got very little sleep. I persevered to see what effect there would be on the painful breathing in the morning but there was no difference, This could be because the water I drank during the night had sodium bicarbonate in it and this may have irritated inflammation in the oesophagus.

On rising in the morning I had a painful left hip as well as oesophagus. I was very dizzy and It took a few minutes to stand up without falling over. I stayed a bit dizzy for quite a while. I've been on a bit of a daze all day.

I'll try again tonight but if I can't get comfortable neckwise I'll revert to right side and think again.

Quote
Jackie
From the archived topics in The Conference Room Sessions...note this one by Patrick Chambers, MD

[www.afibbers.org]

Someones opinion in 2005 which I respect but still a opinion. Dr. Natale could be wrong but its possible Dr. Chambers is wrong? In the real world, It is not a issue for me and never will be. I cannot lay on my left side due to surgery scarring which wraps around my left side from a T12 Anterior Corpectomy in Jan. 2006. Scar tissue pain is definitely real IMO.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 01/20/2019 12:49PM by smackman.

Smackman - Certainly, as you mention, your scar tissue impingement offers yet another complication.

If you read through that report and the responses which indicate (as usual), we all can respond differently to any given situation, Dr. Chambers (or PC) gave his experiences relative to the topic and his research and others responded with theirs. Posture or positions have always been influences or potential triggers because of the impact on the vagus nerve and that would include the GERD connection as well.

Here’s a report on that topic as well.

Acid Reflux, GERD, Hiatal Hernia and Vagus Nerve Imbalance
[www.afibbers.org]

Jackie

Quote
Jackie
Smackman - Certainly, as you mention, your scar tissue impingement offers yet another complication.

If you read through that report and the responses which indicate (as usual), we all can respond differently to any given situation, Dr. Chambers (or PC) gave his experiences relative to the topic and his research and others responded with theirs. Posture or positions have always been influences or potential triggers because of the impact on the vagus nerve and that would include the GERD connection as well.

Here’s a report on that topic as well.

Acid Reflux, GERD, Hiatal Hernia and Vagus Nerve Imbalance
[www.afibbers.org]

Jackie

How do you digest Dr. Natales position? I was so concerned about this issue with the left side that I had to ask him. Back then, I would sleep on my left side with a soft pillow under it because I was so use to sleeping on my left side. Anyway, As I grow older, Sleeping on the left side has become nearly impossible due to scar tissue. My Wife was with me at this visit in 2013. He did not hesitate with his answer. Anyway whatever works for all of us physically and mentally.

Quote
smackman
Jackie
How do you digest Dr. Natales position? I was so concerned about this issue with the left side that I had to ask him. Back then, I would sleep on my left side with a soft pillow under it because I was so use to sleeping on my left side. Anyway, As I grow older, Sleeping on the left side has become nearly impossible due to scar tissue. My Wife was with me at this visit in 2013. He did not hesitate with his answer. Anyway whatever works for all of us physically and mentally.

For years, this was never an issue for me and I never even thought about it. Then, as I've previously posted, I started consuming excess (for me) calcium. Then it was an issue. I could feel PAC's starting the minute I turned on my left side. I would never sleep on that side during that time. Once I reduced the calcium in my diet, all my triggers reduced dramatically. Left side was no longer an issue.

Hence I certainly don't think it is an issue for everyone. My experience was the PAC's started almost immediately when I turned on my left side, during the time I was sensitive to many triggers.

George

I guess since I never popped in and out of AFIB I never had the luxury of dwelling on triggers. The 1st time I was diagnosed with AFIB, I never converted back on my own nor could I be converted chemically. I always had to be paddled and I had this done approx 6 times in a 2 year period before my 1st Ablation in 2014. Maybe I ignored the AFIB in it’s earlier years or I was a immediate persistent Afibber. 🧐LOL
We are all different.

In my 20 years of PAF I have always found lying on my left to increase ectopics and runs of ectopics. In the few weeks after my ablation any short runs (up to 10 seconds) of ectopics in bed always occurred on my left side that could always be pretty much (thankfully) terminated as soon as I turned over onto my right side. Definitely a strong correlation for me. That said post-ablation (now 5 months ago) I'm pretty much 100% better laying on my right side going to sleep than I was previously. Even that said, when getting 'turned on' in the mornings, I am still prone to way more ectopics lying on my left than on my right. Whilst we are all undoubtedly unique experiments of one, from all the years I've been here on this forum and others there is inescapably a strong correlation between ectopics/AF and laying on one's left side.

I'm another afibber who found that rolling onto the left side brought on arrythmia. I came to this conclusion long before joining this site.
Roll onto the left side, bumpity bumps start almost immediately, roll onto back or right side, smooth NSR returns. Same result every time for 17 years.
Now that I've had a successful ablation, I can sleep on the left side, or in any position, it doesn't seem to affect the heart.

As far as one of the well known EPs stating that there is no medical reason for the left side problem, that makes total sense.
The medical community freely admits that they do not know exactly why afib occurs.
This is just another part of the unsolved mystery that is Afib!



Edited 3 time(s). Last edit at 01/23/2019 07:05PM by worntorn.

There's a vid by Dr Sanjay Gupta on YouTube where he gives some explanations about that.

Here is the link...

Falling asleep on my left side is my preference. I'm usually like that for 3-4 hours, then things ache and I'll roll onto my back and be there for a few hours. I'll usually only be on my right side for the last hour, if at all. I'm having more and more episodes, and if I'm in Afib at bed time, which is happening a lot, I just settle into the recliner. I'll maybe sleep for an hour, and often wake up in NSR, so head to bed. I have been referred to a doctor in Vancouver BC, about getting an ablation.