anyone have any luck with a naturopath

I'm going to see a naturopath and see if I can get any help from that route. Of course it is dependant on the doctor but has anyone achieved any kind of success with this?
I'm a skeptic by nature but the fellow I'm going to seems a bit more to the mainstream of the spectrum if that makes any sense.

Am I wasting my money?

Thoughts?

Monty

Yes I saw a naturopath for about 6 months. At first it seemed to help (I didn't get a complete remission of afib but I did see improvement, and it did seem to gradually get better). Then all of a sudden my afib got as bad as it had ever been. At that point I stopped seeing her, and went to my EP and started on flecainide, which is fortunately working.

I think the explanation for the improvement I saw for a while seeing the naturopath was the placebo effect. I don't think the supplements she had me on, nor avoiding MSG, made any difference.

I am seeing a "holistic" MD who has seen the light and believes there is much more to the brain / body connection, nutrition, chinese medicine etc etc. She has me on lots of supplements etc and there is some success in some areas. I have no idea if this is the right path to go down and will only know when I have it cured and can look back.

What is important to me at this time is that I try everything possible and keep all doors open. And this means that I need to be on the path to get an ablation when the time is right - probably sooner rather than later. I don't believe you can get on the path to an ablation through an Naturopath. To go there requires a referal from an MD to a Cardiologist and to an EP.

Perhaps you can see a naturopath and an MD at the same time.

I am continuing to see my GP and my EP as well but I am at the point where he wants me to start on daily propafenone. I have been using the PIP strategy for a year and a half but things seem to be getting worse lately.

I want to exhaust all other possibilities before I go down that road. In fact, I may not do it at all and go straight to ablation. Either way I want to give it a last great effort first.

It's not cheap though so I'd like to hear something positive before I commit.

Monty

Monty, My story is quite long and this is the short version. I do see a naturopath, he discovered I have several food allergies, with GLUTEN being one of them. I do avoid gluten but I am not gluten free yet.... They will also work to balance hormones and minerals which "could" play a factor in A-FIB, but I have gotten the best results from a chiropracter in the northwest that specializes in upper cervical correction and reading these posts. Ron's comment on the brain/body connection promted me to post, as that is what my chiro claims to restore. I started seeing this chiro out of desperation never believing that they have an answer, but I had nothing to lose . I was having breakthoughs several times a month, usually for short periods of time. The EP put me on Flecanide, which did little but make me consider pulling the trigger. I lasted a month on that and have not taken anything else but supplements since. It took several weeks before I saw definate results. I have four times in the past three years gone into his office in A-Fib and each time after a correction I have converted to NSR. Twice before I left the office and twice within the hour. The past six times I have been in A-FIB I have needed a correction. Two of those six times I was in the hospital for hours and finally converted only to go to the chiro and find I was out of adjustment. I've had two breakthroughs this year, both lasted less than a few hours and both converted after an adjustment. The last time was two months ago. Still hate the A_FIB but I will take a short term episode once or twicw a year.

Good luck

BTW Naturopaths and the chiropracter have been the best investments for me. I'm all but ready to give up on modern medicne.

Ed, there is a term you are using that i do not understand. You mention "a chiropracter in the northwest that specializes in upper cervical correction" and that sounds like some kind of manipulation of the spine, but it sounds like it would be painful. It is quite true i am a worrywart, but i do not mean to offend. I have never been to a chiropractor and do not really have any knowledge about them or about whatever it is they do. As a child our family doctor was an osteopath, and he used to do some kind of back adjustment thing for my father which dad would ask for, and this doctor said he wanted to do that to me, but something must have gone wrong because he hurt me when he tried to do it, and i would not let him try it again. Doubtless i was just a little kid and did not properly understand what he was trying to do, but that experience has put me off from seeking out anybody who was into that kind of thing.

As an adult, the thing that stands out about people who go to chiropractors is that they always have to go back there a lot of times, and this is not a public service provided free either. It seems like they do not fix anything permanently, but just temporarily, and one always needs more expensive treatments.

So can you explain what is meant by the term correction? Is that some kind of manhandling that the chiropractor does? And if so, or if not, then what is it?

PeggyM

Peggy, The chiro I see uses a special technique that does not require "manipulation" that is in any way uncomfortable. In fact when the adjustments are made, you will swear they did nothing to you. The C-1 vertebra (atlas) is at the base of the skull and surrounds the brain stem. The theory is, if that bone is out of place it puts pressure on the brain stem and interferes with the "brain/body" connection. The vagus nerve is but one of the nerves bundled in the brain stem. The atlas is the only bone they will adjust. I was raised to avoid chiropractors and was quite skeptical, but I was desperate for something to work. In fact I was not officially diagnosed with afib until after I had started treatment from this chiro, as my heart would usually behave whenever I went to the doctors. I went through a myriad of tests and procedures to find out what was wrong to no avail. I felt I had nothing to lose. It wasn't cheap, the insurance wouldn't help, there were alot of visits, there were several adjustments, but there was progress. I haven't been to the EP in over two and a half years. When I did see him last and explained that I felt this was working, he blew it off as placebo effect. Placebo effect or not, I have been helped by this. In many more ways than just the arrythmia. I no longer take any meds for the afib. No metoprolol, no flecanide, no nothing. I do supplement, but started that after I began feeling better and finally learned I had PAF and found this website. I go to the chiro now on a maintenance schedule, about every other month, or if I feel something is not right, or if I feel the AFIB, which is getting rarer and rarer.

Ed

Hello Ed~ I'm so glad to read about your success which is most definitely not placebo effect.

Your chiropractic treatment must be similar to that which I've been using for an overall 'tune-up' via correction of subluxation or spinal misalignment.... totally amazing and totally different from the typical 'bone crunching' chiro techniques. Through sophisticated scan-testing equipment, ANS status and nerve function is evaluated and areas of alignment concern are pinpointed precisely, then treated with light touch according to muscle response.

My chiro says that starting with the Atlas and C1, if anything is out of alignment there, nothing downstream functions properly. Subluxations (misalignments) disturb nerve function and cause an abnormal amount of electrical current flowing to the affected muscles that correlate to each. That's why disturbances in the Cervical vertebrae bothers the heart.. as you mentioned via the vagus.

Her treatment focuses on total-body tuning which optimizes function and overall health by balancing the ANS with the goal of not being in sympathetic mode unless there is an 'emergency' that calls for it. The scanning equipment is state-of-the-art technology and the mapping identifies abnormal areas shown on a color print-out. Her hands-on testing detects the minute deviations which are the focus of each treatment session. The focus is to allow energy to flow freely and to facilitate energy production. Emphasis is on a healthy lifestyle and maintaining an alkaline tissue status.

Most of her patients are children and MDs. Her results with children is way beyond awesome.

Jackie

Jackie, I am impressed with your description of the treatment you are recieving from your chiropractor. Is there a specific name for the "style" of treatment she uses? I would like to find a practitioner near me, here in Gainesville, FL. Of special interest to me is the "special equipment" used to evaluate the funtioning of the ans. Thank you.