Four weeks A-Fib free - how I did it.

O.K., it's not that impressive but the way things were going - 41/2 years before my second episode, 17 months before the third, 2 days before the fourth and 1 day between the next two - I'm pleased.

I made two changes.
1) I realised I wasn't drinking much water so started on 8 -10 glasses (about 4 pints) a day and ordered Dr. Batmanghelidj's book "Your Body's Many Cries For Water". The effect was instant; my heart felt better than it had for a long time. I thought I'd found the complete cure, at least for me, but had another episode 2 weeks later; though not an all-nighter this time.

2) I now started to look again at breathing techniques. Almost all the techniques I'd reasearched in the past encouraged deeper breathing and more oxygenation of the body. This made sense to me so I'd been in the habit of taking deep even breaths when the heart felt a little unsteady. One technique I'd come across & dismissed was Buteyko breathing which advises fewer & more shallow breaths. I had, however, added it to my favourites list & now considered it more carefully.

Next time the heart felt 'about to go' instead of deep breaths I exhaled and didn't inhale again for 15 - 20 seconds. I followed this with very shallow breathing. It was really hard to do! Every instinct, including the nervous reaction to the prospect of another bout of A-Fib , was to breathe deeply. It took me an hour to do it properly. The A-Fib didn't come and I've been practicing this every night since, with excellenent results. Even occasional erratic beats have almost disappeared.

It's ironic that the treatment I received during my last A&E visit was no movement, no water (just a glucose drip) and an oxygen mask for 18 hours!

Anyone who hasn't tried the above techniques should give them a go. You might be surprised!

Sam,

I recently bought an Aussie Buteyko tape on Ebay. It looks interesting, though, since I've pretty well put my afib back in the box with supplements, I can't say it makes a difference with my heart.

George

Hello Sam,
It was Batmanghelidj's books that got me into drinking more water,
too. I the Buteyko method on file somewhere - (painstakingly copied out in longhand from a library source) and will hunt it out again.
It took me ages to learn to breathe the Buteyko way - you are right about the instinct being to draw a BIG breath - and I remember having great difficulty keeping it up when I was doing my brisk 2km walks. This was in the days before my Afib went permanent - I'm unable to walk very far at all now - however, you've inspired me to get the chart out again.
Thanks for your post,
Emmie

Good for you, Sam - I love the Buteyko aspect. I have long felt that if one could be disciplined enough, it would help with afib.

Keep up the good work.

Jackie

Sam,
That is the kind of information that makes this site so valuable. I'm sure it will help others out there. What works for you will work for someone else.
All the best, Lou

I, too, discovered that if I take very shallow breaths - almost to the point of not breathing - it stops my p. atrial tachycardia.

I wonder why this works.

Carol

Carol - It's been a while since I've thought about this and I hope I remember correctly.... holding your breath or even shallow breathing will allow carbon dioxide to buildup in the blood. This is alkalizing. An alkaline pH reduces irritation and inflammation and is far more healthy than an acidic condition.

Sam can probably explain better than I but Buteyko breathing is a timed sequence where you exhale thoroughly and hold your breath as long as comfortable to allow the CO2 to build and then breathe in again with another timed sequence. You can't do this correctly without instruction but it's not difficult to learn; takes alot of practice and discipline but people have changed their lives with this method.... those with asthma, sleep apnea come to mind.

The Buteyko method is online if you care to read up on it. Some years back, I did a few lengthy posts on it.

Jackie

When in AF after the beta blocker and Cialis have set in I always try to hold my breath for about 1 min which will lower my HR from about 100-110 to around 70 and also BP to 100-115/65-75 and then I usually converts immediately. In connection with a hot bath I have even better success rate. It is the dive reflex that comes into play. A I am trying to be without Cialis and is substituting it for L-Arginine, it happens that I get AF now and then.