exhausted need advice

Need some help will try to provide as brief a history as possible.

Will be 61 years old next month, female, eleven years ago diagnosed with afib about 6 weeks after bout of pancreatitis followed by gall bladder removal, - have had all the usual tests, etc. including an angiogram last year. Can't find anything wrong with my heart. Cholestorol and additional blood work in normal ranges.

Last year had a cluster of 7 episodes in March and April then nothing until 1 ep. in December. Started again with a cluster this March and April, so far 7 again, counting this morning which is still going.


Here's the snag: Have been treated for almost twenty years for high blood pressure, well controlled by meds - Afib seems to be vagal in nature, fairly well tolerated. Started out with 3-5 episodes a year, always self converting, 12 hour average, but two longest episodes were 22 hours and 19 hours. They are getting more frequent and lasting longer.

Have done tons of reading, tons of research in past ten years, and found this site to be invaluable. I'm doing the magnesium, taurine, etc. and tried all the diet changes. Well aware of stroke risk which is starting to freak me out - have taken 6000 units nattokinase daily and 4800 mg. fish oil daily, for last 13 months.

Should I just surrender to the doctors who I don't trust and who obviously can't or won't take the time to treat afibbers as individuals and try to help us sort this out, and start the antiarrythmics and anticoagulants even tho' they scare me to death? I'm putting a lot of faith in the nattokinase and all the docs look at me like I'm crazy. The more episodes I have, the harder it is to stand my ground. Just don't know what to do anymore and would like some opinions please. I'm stressed, and exhausted from trying to figure this out. Thank you in advance for your time.

Kay:

I had my afib cured in Sep 2010 by have a TTM 5Box minimally invasive heartr procedure by Dr. Sirak at Ohio State. I was in paroxsymal afib for several years but episodes were getting more frequent and lasting longer. My research indicated that the longer one experiences afib, the more remodeling (fibrosis) that will occur. Chances for successfully curing the afib go down the greater the amount of fibrosis. You may want to search on afib and remodeling to read more about this, and then factor that into your decision making process. I moderate a group of folks who have had the 5Box and would be happy to discuss the technical issues (pros and cons) involved with the 5Box procedure, either here or perhaps off line.

Ken

Sorry for the mixup in the name with the last reply above. Taken care of now, it seems.

Ken
(Ken45140)

You may be taking to much of the blood thinning supplements. Fish Oil
Fish Oil is a A F trigger to some on this forum including me.
Natto K was a trigger for me to. Tried it for a week or so.

I think there is room for both mainstream and naturopathic medicine to be honest.
1. I am in NSR thanks to TIKOSYN when my options were short.
2. I absolutely KNOW I feel, say, 50% better taking my supplements than not.
3. I was scared to death of Warfarin but have had multiple surgeries over the last six months while on warfarin and therapeutic INR with no ill effects including a resection of my bladder/prostate!

For whatever it is worth.

Murray L

Murray L

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Tikosyn uptake Dec 2011 500ug b.i.d. NSR since!
Herein lies opinion, not professional advice, which all are well advised to seek.