When I had my first A-fib attack 3 years ago it scared the crap out of me. Woke me at 3am and it wouldn't stop. I did not know what was going on. Checked my BP and it was pretty low but the abnormal heartbeat icon was flashing, so I was getting a clue. My cardiologist confirmed it the next day.
I wanted to post this today to share something that if it could even help one person would be awesome. I found 3 definite triggers over the course of the past 3 years that after I eliminated 99.9% of my symptoms/attacks stopped. First about a year ago I had a thought enter my head clear out of the blue that maybe my cell phone in my left side shirt pocket might be an issue so I stopped carrying it there and noticed a marked drop in incidences. That RF was doing a number on me, glad something caused that thought. Over the course of the next month or so incidences started to crop up again, because in the meantime I had gotten an ultra sonic humidifier. The positive ion output was affecting my heart rhythms. Stopped using it after a few days and all went back to normal rhythm wise again. Lastly after still suffering an occasional episode I decided maybe that 2 cups of half caff coffee in the morning was a problem. Since my fib attacks were always at night I never thought a weak coffee in the morning could be a problem, but I was wrong. I stopped that 6 months ago and have not had an episode since. I'm still taking xeralto and considering stopping it. I'm being cautious about that and maybe kind of scared. We'll see.
I know I'm not the first one to consider outside sources for triggers but just wanted to add these to the list in case there's one chance in a hundred it could help someone else.
I'm an older guy (70) and was 67 when I had my first episode. My brother also has a-fib and chose an ablation procedure which is mostly working very well for the past 5 years for him. Thanks for reading and carrying the message of hope to other a-fib sufferers.

IMO, considering terminating Xarelto without discussing it with your cardiologist or whoever prescribed it could be attempting Russian roulette with a semiautomatic pistol.

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cbreze
I'm still taking xarelto and considering stopping it. I'm being cautious about that and maybe kind of scared.

For my anticoagulation decision, my goal is to be absolutely pristine with controllable CHA₂DS₂-VASc risks as I noted here. This paper is one reason for this attitude: Hyperinsulinemia, hyperglycemia, and impaired hemostasis: the Framingham Offspring Study A more lay person description of this study: Elevated Insulin Levels Associated With Impaired Blood Clotting Function.

These are good findings George from the good 'ole days. Dr. Jonathan Wright MD from the Seattle Tacoma area has done a lot of good work for the past couple of decades on a related approach toward better controlling elevated insulin, improved hemostasis, etc.

Shannon



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 04/09/2022 07:45AM by Shannon.