My experience with Ginger

Recent posts on ginger for pac's really interested me as I often get these between 1.00 a.m. & 3.00 a.m when my heartbeat is just under 60.

Last night I took a capsule with my 6.30 p.m. meal - 120 mg of concentrated standardised extract; (from 14,400 mg ginger root).

My heartbeat was a bit faster, probably around 70, during the night but I still got the usual pac's which lasted longer than usual.

The main reason for this seems to be an intolerance for ginger. I had slight indigestion symptoms all night and a slight gingery taste in my throat.

It reminded me of a time over 30 years ago my my wife and I visited her sister and husband. We all had ginger ice cream which included little pieces of fresh ginger. The other three were fine but I was really sick all night.

A lesser possibility is that the capsule was just too strong.

None of this proves ginger doesn't work, when it clearly does for many, just that as we all learn at an early age - life just ain't fair!

You are probably just like the vast majority of afbbers.
Ginger may help a few, but it also may not be as effective as claimed, especially if the results were to be studied in a scientific fashion.

Don't discount the placebo effect as well as the enthusiatic and hopeful embrace of a possible cure and the mindset that causes such...just because someone says ginger works for them and others follow suit doesn't necessarily mean that it is actually making any real difference. One thing that is hard to ignore is the "silver bullet" rise and fall of many different supplements that have been touted as a cure or pathway to cure for afib - yet, as time passes many such supplements fade from popularity as the problem has not actually been resolved, after all.

I can't count the number of times I thought a supplement had reversed the course of afib or reduced ectopics, only to find the heart would begin the old routine again, soon enough. I'm not talking about magnesium, potassium etc. ion supplements that are necessary for many of us who find themselves deficient in those.

Tom

Hello Sam,

Thank you for sharing your experience with ginger. It could be that the that the ginger content of the capsule was too much or that you actually have an intolerance for ginger. It may be worthwhile to try a cup of ginger tea made from a bit of fresh ginger or if you have not already done so you may wish to try the PACTamer drink before bed [afibbers.org]

Hans

Thanks Hans.

Sam

Sam,
Sorry your experience with ginger has been less than expected. For me, it has truly been a miracle worker. I have had no lost beats and have been able to discontinue Prilosec for my acid reflux problems since I started taking ginger two months ago. No placebo effects here - I have delt with these problems and tried too many possible solutions over the last 15 years not to know what works for me. I hope you do not have an intolerance for ginger and that you can adjust the dosage to a level that will work for you. BTW, even though I have had a sucessful ablation, I have still continued to take the "trio".
Best of luck,
David

Sam,

As digestive issue are a trigger for many, if you are sensitive to ginger it makes sense it would not be helpful for your case.

Tom,

While anything is possible, I very much doubt my positive experience with ginger is due to placebo effect. I look at it as treating a specific risk factor for my afib - an overly large vagal response. My experience this year [www.afibbers.org] has been that afib episodes were getting much more frequent, to the point they were nightly, converted with 300 mg PIP flecainide. Additionally, the conversions were taking much longer - 4 hours instead of 1. I was having many very strong vagal responses accompanied with runs of ectopic beats or precipitating afib.

I initially turned this around by taking flec at bedtime, one day at 300 mg, then dropping to 200 mg and titrating down from there. It is curious to me that the a much lower dose of flec at bedtime worked when the serum concentration of flec from taking daily 300 mg doses is much higher and was not preventative. My only explanation is that about 25% of the efficacy of flec is due to its vagolytic properties. It is possible that those properties have a shorter half life than the ion channel properties.

During the downward titration of the flec, I was still getting some strong vagal responses, 8-23 hours after a dose. I would treat these with flec. It was during this time that I started taking ginger. I immediately noticed the cessation of the strong vagal responses. This cessation gave me the confidence to reduce my flec dosage in a much more aggressive manner and ultimately to stop the flec altogether. The ginger alone, without flec continues to be effective, 3 weeks and counting. Given the generally progressive nature of afib and that 10 weeks ago I was having afib and taking 300 mg flec nightly - and the flec was not preventative, I find a placebo explanation a low probability.

The ginger has absolutely eliminated the strong vagal responses. I have noticed a 100% correlation with taking ginger and the cessation of these responses. In my case, without these strong vagal responses, I also am not getting afib.

Will ginger be effective for all afib? Certainly not. However for vagal afibbers it is worth a try.

The EP, Dr. James A. Reiffel, in several papers, has mentioned using vagolytic, anti-cholinergic meds, such as propantheline bromide, PB for this purpose. PB has some side effects, such as photo sensitivity for the eyes, dry mouth and urine retention. I look at ginger as a replacement for PB with no side-effects, at least for me. Ginger also is reported to have vagolytic and anti-cholinergic properties.

George



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 01/07/2013 10:37AM by GeorgeN.

Hi George,
I didn't say it wouldn't work for everyone...my view is that some of the supplements will work for those who have specific issues which may be successfully targeted, but many here have indicated they take a huge variety of supplements in a "shotgun" fashion. That approach, based on individual non-scientific interpretation of results, can, no doubt, lead to more problems than solutions. I use specific supplements also, but as we are an experiment of one...we need to be careful about what we intake - and not rationalize the failure of a supplement as something other.

Just my take.

Tom

George and David S,

How much ginger do you take to prevent afib? I also have recently had problems with acid reflux so if the ginger helps that too, that would be great. I'm currently taking 2 chewable deglycyrrhizinated licorice tablets before each meal, but I still get burning after I eat for a couple hours.

Thanks much,
Nancy M.

Nancy - burning in the stomach after meals ...gas, bloating, etc. is a classic sign that you don't have enough stomach acid and other digestive enzymes to break down food properly. The DGL is supportive and calming to stomach and intestinal lining but it does not provide what you need to break down food molecules although it can calm down post-meal distress.

You need to focus on taking digestive enzymes and experiment with adding betaine HCl with meals containing protein. Consider a digestive enzyme such as Source Naturals Essential Enzymes with non-protein meals and then use NOW brand... Super Enzymes with protein-containing meals (this contains the betaine HCl) .... start with one tab and work up to as many as you need to stop the discomfort. (Hans has both at his iHerb website link).

Experiment with the ginger...it's antiinflammatory, but what you really need is stomach acid to break down protein molecules. Most people with digestive ailments are lacking adequate stomach acid yet are often treated with acid blockers which makes no sense whatsoever.

Can you trace your discomfort to a particular food that consistently causes your discomfort?

Jackie

Nancy,

I generally take 1/2 teaspoon organic powdered ginger (from the spice rack) in the morning and 1 tsp in the evening. I can vary this and add to it on occasion.

George

I am a compounding pharmacist and recently we had to make some lemon flavored ginger lollipops for nausea. Suffice it to say the first batch we forgot the flavoring. We made a new batch with flavor but kept the previous ones. Today after eating lunch I had some ectopics and thought I would try a lollipop and guess what, the lollipop seemed to decrease the timespan of them. After I sucked on the lollipop the ectopics seemed to start and stop and after 2 lollipops stopped completely. These episodes can usually last anywhere from 4 to 8 hours. This doesn't mean a lot but I am going to try them again it it happens. I recently started taking the New Chapter gingerforce capsules ( 2 daily) so maybe,just maybe the extra ginger makes a difference

Whenever i can find it in the supermarkets here in maine, i buy several big roots of ginger. These i grate with an ordinary grater like the ones used for grating cheese, etc. The grated ginger i freeze in small containers. Baggies would work. The lumps too small to grate get sliced up smaller and used in tea. This grated ginger remains effective for a long time despite accumulation of frost inside the container.

Yesterday i apparently got the vicious intestinal disorder that has been circulating here, and broke out a container of grated ginger and chiseled off a piece about the size of an egg, dropped it in a big coffee cup, added hot water, and made tea from it, freezer frost and all. I was afraid the diarrhea would give me an afib episode but that did not happen. The nausea went away when i drank the tea. My gut felt better too but the diarrhea was not completely gone. I was out of immodium and out of money to buy more so every episode of diarrhea i took 2 capsules of S boulardii. That vanquished the last of the diarrhea in 2 doses and this morning i seem to be just fine. That ginger had been frozen into the frost in the bottom of the freezer for at least a year. I will replace it ASAP. I felt ill for one day compared to the several days illness reported by my neighbors and friends. Not a twitch from the afib.

PeggyM

Peggy:

I tried some dried ginger in very warm water (about a teaspoon) and it gave me some diarrhea and a little nausea, maybe fresh ginger would be a little different. There is another spice that is really good for diarrhea and that is cinnamon in warm water and drink it down.

Liz

Hello Liz. I never tried that with dried powdered ginger from the spice rack, just with the fresh root or the grated frozen kind. Sorry you had trouble with it.

PeggyM