Very rare occurrences of pulse irregularities ?

Jackie and anyone else who may have ideas

I am 79 years old very healthy and no medications Blood pressure is fine 118/75, body fat is low and I go to gym with heavy weights a few times a week.

10 years ago lone atrial fibrillation was found in a routine check. I hadn't noticed anything.

After two years of reading enormously,changing my diet, not doing lots of cardio, and fortunately coming across this website my atrial fibrillation ceased in 2006.

The publications of Hans were of enormous benefit .I sometimes wonder where I would be now without them.As an example I learnt about the evils of sotalol which I was taking at the time. My somewhat younger partner is a nice person and didn't complain about the sotalol effects on our intimate life.

Now is now.


Early in the morning my pulse is normally between 48 and 52 , strong and regular.

As rare intervals like this morning I woke up feeling a little different but not bad. My pulse was a bit irregular and was 70. I ate a little, communed with my iPad and went back to sleep.

My pulse was then back to normal at 54.

Any comments on reasons or suggestions?

On the positive side maybe I should be thinking of it as lucky that there is nothing worse.

Thanks

Alex

Congrats Alex,

I definitely would go with your last sentence above, sounds like you are doing wonderfully well in the AFIB and overall health front it. If your heart is having short runs of what feels like irregular beats it may well just be some ectopic activity like PACs or PVCs. Since you know the mineral/nutrient protocols just try bumping up the potassium when that happens using potassium gluconate powder from NOW brand supplements via IHerb available through our Vitamin Store link above. Read Hans PAC -Tamer article in the AFIB Resources lim above as well. However, so far it seems very mild and transient , so I wouldn't worry much at all here. Enjoy your good health!

Cheers!
Shannon

Alex - One of the gems I learned in my journey coping with afib is that pulse or heart rate will change in the early morning when you awaken, or even in the hours of 2 - 4 am... if you have become hypoglycemic. In my case, if I became hypoglycemic, I could easily slip into AF.
The fluctuations you notice could well be the same thing.

My story is that my doctor at the time was also hypoglycemic and told me to make sure I ate a protein and fat snack about 2 hours prior to bedtime. And, if I awoke in the wee hours feeling symptoms of hypoglycemia...which are often perspiring, elevated and/or irregular heart beat to eat a container of full fat yogurt (plain, unsweetened)...He said to keep it right there at the bedside as it wouldn't spoil overnight so that it was within reach and could be consumed immediately. I found I didn't need to do that once I began the appropriate late snack.

My problem (then) apparently was that I was a fast metabolizer and ran out of fuel easily so eating at 6 pm and then nothing until 6 the next morning was not enough fuel to span the12 hours. The fat is the key. I typically take a dose of Omega 3 fish oils and then eat the small snack as well. Once I got the tendency to become hypoglycemic under control, I no longer had the 'pre-amble' occurrences of HR and blood pressure bouncing around.

The same thing would be true for those who awaken in the middle of the night and can't get back to sleep...or sleep fitfully... as it is often driven by hypoglycemia which is a stress on the body. When the body senses low blood glucose, it goes into 'alert mode' because the brain must be protected at all costs... ..thus adrenaline or epinephrine is released as the response to the low glucose stress and that elevates HR, respiration etc.

In addition to the snack before bed, make sure that the evening meal is not one laden with sugar or starchy carbs as that definitely won't last through the night if you are a fast metabolizer. Same with drinking alcohol as it acts in the body like sugar.

Glad you are so healthy at age 79!

Best to you,
Jackie



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 03/05/2014 10:18AM by Jackie.