LAF triggered by meals in a younger (36) female

I was diagnosed with Afib back in 2008. I was on Comundin(sp?) for a short time and then taken off when I became pregnant in 2009. I have not taken anything except an aspirin during AF episodes since then. I have AF episodes about once a day lasting about 30 minutes to an hour where my pulse will jump to just under or over 200bpm. It seems to be triggered by food, small and large meals. I am unsure of how long the actual episodes last because I only notice them when my pulse is around 150 and up. It seems that I may be in actual AFib for much longer a day than I notice. Today I had one a half slice of cheese toast and my AFib spiked for well over an hour. Probably a stupid question but should I be overly concerned about this?

I am a mother to 5 children and my husband works 14 hours a day, an ER visit would be hard but I have no problem taking all 5 kids if I need to go, afterall, better safe than sorry right?

Could this be from an allergy? I have been discovering more and more allergies (sensetivities) the older I get. I have limited my caffeine intake to one 12 ounce drink a day and I drink the occasional beer but no liquor. My diet consists mostly of water, carbohydrates, protein and cheeses. Could this be a magnesium deficiency? I take two childrens multivitamins a day Should I try taking a magnesium supplement and see if that helps? I will be scheduling a appointment with my cardiologist when school starts back but I was just wondering if anyone had any advice until then?

I'm sorry if this is all over the place, I got a toddler distraction.

In my case food containing lots of salt is a very strong trigger. Keeping my salt intake low (especially for a single meal) has been key to avoiding excessive episodes. I can't tolerate more than about 400mg of sodium per meal. Cheeses are loaded with salt....you might want to see if avoiding them for a while helps. Make sure you are getting enough potassium also. Check the recommended daily allowances for magnesium, potassium and calcium and make sure your diet is providing at least that amount. Good luck!

Tom

Edit: If that doesn't help, try taking an over-the-counter Tagamet (cimetidine) before your meal - studies have shown that Tagament can, for many persons, reduce the arrhythmias that follow meals.



Edited 2 time(s). Last edit at 08/08/2012 05:32PM by Tom B.

Are you on prescription drugs for any other condition besides afib that might be causing this? Be suspicious of any drug with an arrythmia warning and be suspicious of any drug with a cholinergic effect.

I ask because I have meal-induced afib, and it largely resolved after stopping Evoxac, a cholinergic drug I was taking for a dry mouth/dry eyes condition.

I had been researching possible solutions for meal-induced afib, and I discovered that some folks found help in Norpace, an anti-cholinergic drug. That is when I realized that, wow, maybe stopping my cholinergic drug would have the same affect as starting an anti-cholinergic. Bingo! It worked. For now anyway. I went from having AF 7 hrs/day to less than half hr a day. That 7 hrs AF was actually 14 hrs AF off and on, in roughly equal proportion.

Magnesium supplementation greatly helped my meal-induced AF back when I was having 0.5 hr AF per day.



Edited 3 time(s). Last edit at 08/09/2012 10:58AM by gehauser.

Go as vegetarian (veggies, fruit, nuts, seeds) as you can and I believe that you will eventually be either afib free or have a significant reduction in the number of episodes.

Forget junk food and snack food, pastries, bread, wheat products, sugar, dairy, , etc.

Why vegetarian? Because then you will get all the magnesium and potassium and other macrominerals that your body needs - is calling out for - to be healthy and probably stay out of afib. We in the western world eat far too much protein.

Slip in occasional good proteins like fish and chicken/turkey. Skip the red meat.

You can make the change. Do it. Your children will be healthier, too!

Carol

My experience is somewhat rare, I suspect. After an ablation and touch-up I had 18 months of nearly daily a-fib - short bouts all of which were associated with eating. What I ate was irrelevant. The act of swallowing triggered the arrhythmia. Unambiguous. I could feel the moment every time. Medical exams revealed nothing. An endoscopy was negative. Confusing to my EP, GP, gastro guy etc.

After having "toyed" with supplements for several years, I methodically ratcheted up magnesium. As the dose rose, the a-fib diminished. At 800 mg per day it stopped completely. Haven't had a minute of a-fib in (I'm counting, believe me!) 715 days. I suspect that the trigger was mechanical, not dietary, and that the magnesium restored cellular levels in the sensitive atrial tissue that was irritated by swallowing. It is also plausible that the magnesium affected the vagus nerve, which may have been irritated, thus affected by swallowing, thereby triggering arrhythmia.

No doubt (even on the part of my EP) that magnesium was my answer.

So, you surely ought to try that.

Good luck!

In my appt yesterday with Dr Tchou at CC, I asked him about meal-induced afib. He said your esophagus runs right by your vagus nerve, so eating can stimulate afib in those who already have a low afib threshold.

In my case, where stopping the cholinergic drug Evoxac stopped my meal-induced afib, he suspected that the cholinergic effect had increased my vagal tone over time, and lowered my afib threshold enough to be stimulated by eating.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 08/10/2012 12:25PM by gehauser.

Steve,

As you increased magnesium supplementation, I believe you automatically increased the alkalinity of your stomach and body, which in turn lowers the irritation to your esophagus - and nearby vagus nerve - especially if there was "silent" acid reflux or GERD.

Therefore, eating veggies/fruits which are alkaline producing and very little protein/carbohydrates which increases acid would have the same effect?

The acid/alkaline balance in most western diets is way off due to excessively high protein and carbohydrate consumption.

Carol .