My Story

Greetings fellow a fibs. I have finally decided to come clean. I have been guilty of voyeurism on the forum. I have been following various conversations and debate for some time. Enough though I shall participate!

I am male, 43 years old active with mostly vagal a fib for the last three years. Bouts normally last an average of 5 hours starting mostly late at night or approx 3 am. Triggers are alcohol, late meals with some rare rebound events. Occurrences vary but on average once every two weeks. If bouts last longer than twelve hours I take myself off to ER where they do the normal tests, (lone paroxysmal a fib) and give me flecainide to convert. Four times this year. I have now persuaded them to give me flecainide which I can take on demand.
Previously I was prescribed beta blocker ( bisoprolol ) which made occurrences every other day. (Vagal ah !!)
I have been trawling the web for some time looking for info and advice and this site is a credit to Hans Larsen and fellow contributors. Thank you.
It is surprising how isolated you feel with this condition, as friends and family can’t seem to get to grips with the psychological and physical impact it has on you and conversely on how you react to them.
Being of a very self reliant and determined nature I decided that I will have to sort this out myself by exploring every avenue of investigation. Having followed your efforts and advice I now take daily;
One aspirin
One concentrated garlic capsule
800mg of magnesium (Solgar)
120 mg CQ 10
One multivitamin
One banana (potassium)
One gulp of cod liver oil (uck!!)
Two standard vitamin C tablets
10 mg losec (acid reflux, had it for years.)

I try to cut out or limit triggers. I used to be a heavy social drinker, I still have my moments but it’s vastly curtailed. This past month the ectopics have stopped. first time in three years and every thing is more stable and calm, possibly due to the magnesium. I am sure they will start again but at least I get a breather. Any how thank you Hans and fellow sufferers I hope in some small way I can input something of some use in the future continuing struggle.
Chris H

Chris,

I'm glad you decided to join us. Welcome!!! I'm glad to hear that Mg. is helping you, and even more glad to hear that you're receptive to its benefits. If you've been lurking, then I know that you're aware of my take on stomach acids and the use of meds. Have you ever considered the use of enzymes to assist the stomach, rather than slow down the production of acid, that is necessary for breaking down the foods? Most of the time, they are now finding the problem to be more due to lack of acid. Changing my diet and taking enzymes, have made all the difference. I wish you continued success on your endeavors of taking the supplements.

Richard

Welcome on board Chris. Like you I'm (nearly) 43 and vagal with long history of acid reflux and heavy social drinking. 3 AF episodes over last 4 years but have had ectopics for last 20 years. This forum is a GREAT place to be and to learn - loads of kind, knowledgable, and helpful people here. I'm into the paleo diet thing at the moment (well, for the rest of my life as it goes) which I believe is really good for all round health. Hats off to Hans.

Mike F.

Welcome, Chris..... Lurking is not all bad. I suspect we have many lurkers who benefit from reading here and don't participate. Congratulations that you were receptive to the ideas and theories presented here and took them to "heart."

It's safe to say, that most people can afford to clean up their diet. Your supplement list show you were reading and paying attention.

Most likely the increased magnesium intake has helped with the ectopics.
You may be able to cut back to about 600 mg and still have the same effect...and I wouldn't be at all surprised if your acid reflux went away as well. Give it some time.

I would only caution you about the cod liver oil.... Vitamin D as in cod liver oil is important, but it is also very important to take other fish oil from the body of oily fish - like salmon.....that is where the very important Omega 3 essential fatty acids are and what we all need.

Consider researching Omega 3 oils in the product writeups at www.iherb.com. You can't beat their prices and the product data is accurate. Suggest you consider Natural Factors Omega 3 product or Carlson Labs.their Norwegian Salmon oil .. the capsules eliminate the taste or if you prefer liquid, their Omega 3 product is lemon flavored and has absolutely no fishy taste.

The Natural Factor's product is said to be the only pharmaceutical grade Omega 3 produced and guaranteed to be safe or free from heavy metals.
Carlson's is also safe, but doesn't carry the pharmaceutical grade title.

If you are interested, and while in iherb, check out what Dr. Michael Murray has to say about the Natural Factors....he's a very well-known and well-respected Naturopathic Doctor.

I agree with Richard, adding a digestive enzyme with each meal goes along way toward breaking down food and eliminating gastric distress.

Thanks for joining us - stay in touch. Loved hearing your success story.Healthy is wealthy. Jackie

Hi Chris

Its great to know that there are more people benefiting from Hans site than is apparent by the number of posters. I do believe that once an afibber takes health into his own hands and looks for cause rather then accepting plain old symptom supression from the Dr's, we are well on the way to better health - and in some cases overcoming AF.

It is a a lonesome condition. No matter how well you explain to a non afibber they cannot understand the 'life threatening' panic and fear associated with each episode.

Welcome

Fran

Another excellent pharmaceutical-grade fish oil is the Dr. Sears brand from the Sears Lab in Marblehead, MA.
Tom

ditto that fran

Hi chris welcome to the club
I have a small question that I put to my doc and that was.
Was It good to take asprin every day she replied where out to lunch on that one as the ratio of increase of bleed stomach ulcers to heart attacks etc is this true

Kr
robin

Gretings Robin

I don't know. I recently went to see my Cardio , please see posting . I could have asked him if I'd read your post before. I think it depends if you have one or are prone to one. I suffer reflux acid problems from time to time ,however asprin doesn't make it worse and I had the acid before taking asprin. I beleive there are many benefits to asprin apart from anti clotting . It appears to one of the good medications however it is based on a natural product I forget what.
Maybe take small amounts , although what is the optimum dose.? any sugestions peeps?