acupuncture

i read in may afib report about someone having success with acupuncture and being a fib free. i had acupuncture for leg muscle and was going back again so i ask about it. he poked me a few more times in the back (no big deal).
i have gone from afib every other day to once in the past 2 plus weeks.
has anyone else tried acupuncture?
i feel like when episode is comming on in the evening i can stop it.

Mark

I tried it - the acupuncturist said that it was unlikely to help because I had had afib for a very long time, and he was correct - it made no difference. It did make me feel good though.

Gill

I tried it as well and found it relaxing but 5 sessions didn't change my afib episode frequency. The MD/OMD who did the acupuncture said it could open the meridians to strengthen the heart but that in itself probably wouldn't stop the fib.

It would have been interesting to have an acupuncture treatment while in the middle of an episode but I was never able to co-ordinate the onset of an episode with the availability of my OMD.

Gordon

Mark - good if it works for you. I had 20 sessions and it did nothing for the afib, unfortunately. Jackie

thanks for comments i go again on fri.

Vagally mediated AFibbers will have a much higher chance of acupuncture benefit. Some practitioners will argue that they have had successes - hope you are one.

Joshua

I just had my first acupuncture treatment yesterday, and am not sure I notice anything different. I kept asking her what to expect, and she answered that there is no "normal" - eveyone is different. I have to wonder then, what's the 'selling point" of acupuncture? What's it really supposed to DO?

Since I'm on Flecainide and basically have no episodes any more, I wasn't expecting any afib results, but AM hoping it might help my chronic neck problems!

Barb

Barb - acupuncture opens up energy flow to major organs through meridian pathways. The results can be very subtle or dramatic. My experience was that it did not change my afib at all but it definitely made my whole body feel relaxed. I had 20 treatments by an MD who was also a OMD.

Many years before the AF problems, I saw another acupuncturist who worked under the supervision of an MD but spoke no English. He was Chinese and very gifted. I had golf elbow and he was able to normalize it in 3 treatments by increasing the energy flow to that area.

Jackie

Mark,

Here are a couple of success stories regarding acupuncture. As with ablations and other treatments I am sure the skill of the acupuncturist is all important in determining whether the treatments will be successful.

"My Experience with Traditional Chinese Medicine and LAF
By Wanda Craig

It was a beautiful spring day in Charlotte, North Carolina about 4 years ago. My husband and I were eating chicken Caesar salads at a sidewalk café and enjoying the warm sunshine. All was well in my world. Suddenly, my heart began racing. I was concerned but not alarmed, so I did not go to the doctor until the next day. My doctor ordered a series of tests and heart monitoring. I was diagnosed with arrhythmia—lone atrial fibrillation (LAF). My heart was strong, my thyroid was functioning well, my blood chemistry was normal—they found nothing to blame. “It’s just one of those things,” she said. I was immediately put on Coumadin, a blood thinner, and also Diltiazem. Later, because I was only 52 at the time, my cardiologist took me off Coumadin but prescribed low-dosage aspirin therapy. I told him I had been on the Atkins Diet for about a month and asked if that could have triggered it. He did not think it did, but to this day I am convinced that the change in diet upset my body’s balance.

For about six months, I felt much better and had episodes about once a month that lasted a couple of hours. Then my ankles began swelling to twice their size, so my cardiologist put me on flecainide, which I took for over three years. Even on medication, I continued to have intermittent episodes several times a week that lasted for several hours. Common triggers were cold drinks, alcohol, caffeine, and stress. My cardiologist said “break-throughs” while on medication were normal. But I felt tired all the time and could sense that my body was getting weaker. One morning I woke up and decided I was going to heal myself.

After reading some research by Dr. Lam I increased my dosage of CoQ10 to 200 mg/day and added magnesium, fish oil, L-Carnitine, and Lipoic Acid. I also decided to try acupuncture to return my body to balance. Li Jie Chu, a wonderful acupuncturist in Charlotte, felt confident she could help me. She prescribed two acupuncture treatments a week and Chinese herbs to take twice daily. After two months, I could tell I was getting stronger, so I decreased my flecainide by taking one pill each night instead of the usual twice a day. My heart went crazy, so I had to go back to taking the prescribed dosage twice a day. After a few weeks, I then tried taking half of a pill twice a day to keep the dosage more even, but I began having frequent AF episodes, so I returned again to taking two 50 mg pills a day. I was getting discouraged. After three months of acupuncture, I was no closer to being drug free, so I decided to stop the treatments. Then my inner “wise woman” voice said, “Keep going.” So I kept going and tried again to wean myself off the flecainide. This time when I took just one pill each night, I had no problems. I continued this dosage for about a month, and then began taking one pill every other night. At first, I had short, mild AF episodes as my body was learning its rhythm again. As Li Jie reminded me, my heart had “forgotten” how to function without drugs. After another month, I stopped the flecainide altogether. I took my last pill on October 31, 2006—Halloween night. My heartbeat has continued to grow steady, and after eight months of acupuncture, I feel great. I am finally drug free.

A couple of words of caution are in order. It is never wise to stop your medication without medical supervision. I asked my doctor and cardiologist to help me find a natural treatment. Neither signed on to help me, so I did it on my own out of desperation. I understood the risk, but I felt the risk of staying on medication the rest of my life was worse. While I am happy to share my happy ending, I also do not want to be responsible for anyone taking risks without understanding the potential consequences. I chose not to live in fear and dependence, but you have to make those decisions for yourself.

Another thing to keep in mind is that I also made significant lifestyle changes. I began yoga and learned to breathe properly, which helps regulates the nervous system. I continue to take all the supplements listed above plus the Chinese herbs and eat a balanced diet of fish, chicken, fruit and vegetables. I gave up alcohol completely, limit caffeine, and drink lots of water. The benefits are definitely worth the small sacrifices I have made.

I encourage anyone suffering from LAF to do the research, try acupuncture with a certified practitioner, take heart-healthy supplements, pay attention to your body’s reaction to what you eat and drink, and above all—do not give up. I believe LAF is a symptom of the body’s imbalance and can be managed without drugs. My story has a happy ending, and I believe yours can too.

I can be reached at wbc@carolina.rr.com"

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"An Afib Success Story – Acupuncture
by Don Girskis - dongirskis@aol.com

I'm 50 years old, and have had lone a-fib of a vagal nature on and off for the past 5 years. I've had heart examinations of every type and doctors believe my heart is very healthy. I exercise 5 times weekly and eat well. On September 11, 2009, I was in a mountain bike accident and broke my arm (ulna and radius), and also suffered a hard blow to the head (thank goodness my helmet was on, it was destroyed). Prior to the bike accident, I had but one a-fib episode in the prior 2 years. After the bike accident, I experienced an a-fib episode lasting from 4 to 30 hours every other day for 4 months.

During those 4 months of a-fib, I sought a number of different treatments. I went to two different chiropractors for multiple treatments with each believing that some structural tweak must be contributing to the problem. They were of no help. I tried self-medicating through a combination of magnesium, potassium, calcium, fish oil, vitamins C & D, but to no avail. I sought the help of a nutritionist who had me on a slew of supplements, including magnesium, potassium and calcium, and then I started experiencing a-fib daily. After two weeks of daily episodes, I ceased taking the supplements and I went back into the every-other-day a-fib routine, which was somewhat of a relief.

I sought the advice of an electrophysiologist who did not believe there was any correlation between my bike accident and the a-fib; he said it was just coincidence. He prescribed flecainide and metoprolol as the first step, and recommended ablation as the next option. Upon being told that the side effects of these drugs could include "male" problems and depression, I decided to hold off taking the drugs, and to forego an ablation given the risks involved with the procedure.

My GP recommended an acupuncturist, who is a MD and an acupuncturist from Taiwan and trained in both western and eastern methods. I've been having an acupuncture treatment every 2 - 3 weeks now for the last 3 months, and I have been completely a-fib free. He also recommended I eliminate sweets, red meat and fried foods from my diet, and he placed tiny magnets with tape in my ears and on my lower back. I had IMMEDIATE improvement after seeing him the first time. I do believe he's made the difference. He told me of another patient of his that he treated who had a-fib for 10 years and now have been a-fib free for the last 2 years.

I really wanted my success story to be shared with others in the hope they too can become a-fib free! I have not changed my lifestyle one bit. I still drink coffee, beer, and have an incredibly stressful job that includes weekly travel somewhere in the world. But I am also passionate about exercise, eat healthy, and live life to it's fullest. "
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Hans

I tried acupuncture. I went to an acupunturist college clinic where this is taught. Not only did it not help, I always felt it made it worse.

g.

I get acupuncture once per week and used to do it twice per week. I have done so since May of 2008. In addition, I have changed my diet and I am Afib free. I had Afib 4-6 times per week (primarily vagal type).

I have had experiences with acupuncture where it stopped my Afib while I was in the clinic. However, acupuncture for me, has reaaly been an adjucnt for me to get my digestive issues under control which in turn, according to Traditional Chinese Medicine, is at the root of my prior Afib problems. This is not entirely a crazy idea, considering that a lot of us vagal afibbers get afib after we have ingested a meal.

However, we cannot neglect either that the majority of us who have afib also develop a certain amount of anxiety over our condition. With that, acupuncture really helped me a lot. I have also added yoga nd meditation into my life, combined with a very healthy diet.

But, for those of you interested, the biggest change for me really was broccoli and mastic gum. These two easy to find remedies get rid of H-Pylori which research has found, is at the root cause of many afibber's problems. If our digestive system and especially the internal environment/chemistry of our stomachs is incorrect, then we are going to have problems with our hearts. The Chinese and their acupuncture are not that "crazy"...and this is something they have been aware of for 5000 years.
Blessings,
Ulla