Hi all.

Male, 67.

I just had a 3 day episode where it felt like afib started up, so I went to ER but it was NSR with an HR of 140. It just stayed like that for 3 days. They were about to do a cardioversion when my HR slowed down. They had me on digoxin because the usual diltiazem wasn't helping, just lowering my BP.

This is a new thing for me. Usually for the past 10 yrs I've had paroxysmal afib and the fast HR slows as the afib resolves to NSR.

I've also got some gut inflammation from seed oil that I am now eliminating. I think this is the culprit as my arrhythmia is different for each trigger food.

Can anybody help me with an explanation? Suggestions/advice/your experience also welcome.

Sounds like it could have been flutter. A rapid, regular HR somewhere near 150 is always suspicious for flutter, and flutter is notoriously resistant to rate control drugs like diltiazem. It's also prone to continue unabated for long periods of time because unlike afib it's a very regular, stable rhythm.

There's really nothing to be done about it unless it keeps happening.

You should have been given a diagnosis based on the ekg. If not, request a copy of the ekg and have it read by an ep (electrophysiologist). In fact, that's always a good idea anyway, as the ekg machine's AI often gets it wrong as well as those without ep training. As mentioned, likely flutter, but only the ekg will tell what actually was going on.

Jim

I agree with what has been offered by the two gentlemen above. Rates running from 95 to 145 are likely to be fibrillation, with lots of crossover, but rates above 140 tend to be simple tachycardia or flutter. Flutter likes itself, and tends to stick around for a while...weeks, months. Usually a combination of rate and rhythm control keep it under one's thumb, but it is also usually cardioverted electrically. It also can be mitigated by catheter ablation in the right hands.

Rancid seed oils have 'bad' omega-6 (linoleic acid) which is converted to arachidonic acid by the liver, and this is a precursor to inflammation. It alerts the body to want to begin a reparative process which it doesn't need. Inflammation attacks endothelial tissue which is where your impulses to cause the atria to beat travel. They don't travel along nerves out and into the atrial muscle; they travel across the inner lining of the atrium, or the endothelium. Note also that the blood vessels and the pulmonary veins, themselves (where the usual foci of electrical re-entrant are found) are also lined with endothelial tissue. Bottom line, you really don't want inflammation in the body if it isn't strictly necessary for a temporary cause. So, good for you for recognizing this, or for taking someone's well-meant advice and cutting out seed oils.

Seed oils are okay in limited quantities, properly stored, and used while still fresh. If you're the type of person who shops for large bottles to keep overall costs down, and it lasts a year, you're using old and rancid oils.

I'm sensitive to nuts too. Same thing. I get a bloating pain straight across my torso below my ribs. If I have them too many days in a row I get little runs of arrhythmia. I just had a bag of unsalted almonds (usually my fave is cashews) two days ago and I've got the typical what I think is inflammation in my gut. It gets better over a few days. I think the inflammation stays behind for a while even after the nuts pass completely through my system. I expect I'll be okay once I'm away from them for a week. I don't think it even matters if seeds and oils are rancid too.

I was on a bit of a run of mayonnaise there for a few weeks and the soy oil in it does not agree with me, obviously. I also like sesame oil for cooking up turkey burgers but that's also a seed oil.

I have an appt. to see an EP in a few weeks. I've got a bunch of people that think I should get an ablation but I am very chary about it.