is Chinese food poison?

Before I had the ablation (Oct 19th of last year) I avoided Chinese food of a certain kind. Often General Gao's chicken would be hard to digest for example. If I did order anything it would be non-MSG contaminated and not so spicy or fried. On the few times I did have MSG in Chinese food it would inavariably start an AF incident. Anyway, after the ablation, I relaxed the rule and while it didn't lead to AF it led to some pretty 'thumpy' missed beats - almost every 4th beat would be missing. I am never sure if these are PACs or PVCs. Some Potassium might have helped - I took some (nasty taste but held my nose) - and the missing beats came back after a half hour or so but heartrate was 78 or so. It is still 68 this morning.

Heartrate post ablation is a strange thing. Before ablation it was always high 40s, low 50s- oxygenation 98. That was normal for me with no lightheadedness or breathlessness. Ablation increased it of course to 70s, low 80s but affter 3 mths it precipitously dropped back to where it had been pre-ablation. Cardiologist tested it all and said was fine. Now it seems to have gone back up to high 60s, and maybe not totally diet related (as in caused by Chinese food).

I suppose even after 4.5 mths the heart is still trying to find a natural balance after the procedure.

MSG throws some folks into afib, it's never been a problem for me. Chocolate, on the other hand...

If you can't stand the taste of potassium, or even mixing it into something, do what I do - I buy empty gelatin capsules and fill them with it, then take those along with my magnesium capsules during the day.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 03/03/2013 09:09AM by Nancy.

Potassium gives me runs of AF, I avoid taking the supplement, I have rarely had chinese food, but didn't have any problems with it as I recall.

In addition to MSG, Chinese food can, and often has two offending culprits: firstly it is often cooked in soy sauce which has gluten/gliadin in it. Secondly much of it is breaded and therefore contains gluten. If you have not yet tested to find out if you are gluten intolerant it might be an idea. The grain GMO is turning out to be a frankenfood, and many many people are finding it is poison to their systems. It is theorized by some that gluten is a leading cause of damage to the villi in your small intestine, which leads to malabsorbtion of nutrients and can be a cause or contributing factor in developing afib plus the indigestion it causes is a trigger. We are very fortunate to have a gluten aware chinese restaurant in our town. Gluten free soy sause is available and our local eatery provides it, but most don't. I am hell bent on getting my health back and there is no way at this point in the game that I will conciously eat gluten. Maybe when I get things under control.

AFhound... as you observe, MSG is often a culprit for extra beats or even AF since MSG is a neurotoxin. Potassium may help but in reality, it's the excitotoxicity of those taste enhancing chemicals... not always just a sodium overload. But, then, if the food was overly salty, it could be the added salt unbalanced your ideal potassium-to-sodium ratio of at least 4:1. Sometimes with Asian cooking, they season with soy sauce rather than salt....and soy sauce is a source of MSG as well as high sodium... and for those sensitive to gluten...it typically wheat sourced, although there is gluten-free soy sauce.

Keep in mind that although your ablation was last fall, your heart may not be totally settled down and may still be slighly more vulnerable than it will be at your one-year anniversary. Of couse, the requirements for intracellular magnesium and potassium and the other core nutrients to maintain heart energy production will always be needed... even though you've had an ablation.

Give it time.

Be well,
Jackie

Hey afhound - other than the chinese food situation has your ablation been good? Would you do it again? I am reluctantly on the path to having one, although I would love to find a solution that does not involve sticking somenting in my groin. So I am always interested in hearing how others have done with it. Where did you have it done at?

Ron, was at Mass General EP Lab . Yes, no afib as far as anyone has discerned so far. The least of the issue is a catheter in the groin. My procedure went fine except they probably did some damage putting in the foley catheter as when they pulled it out there was some blood but that was not typical and resolved itself ( except I am being hounded by a MGH urologist to allow them to put a cytoscope up it "just to be sure"). I did try supplements (esp Iodine - thought that was a winner for a while - it kept AF at bay for 6 months) but in the end it came back, so I tried the ablation "gold standard" in the words of the EP who worked with Natale at Cleveland (Natale being AF God). So far it has been good. I suspect, and the literature I have seen adds to it, that ectopic beats originating in the Pulmonary veins, is good at starting AF. They isolated my PV in the ablation but it seems they start to try to crank it up nonetheless. 5 months and counting. One day maybe AF will come back. Maybe not.
For sure I am glad I did the procedure. Odds are low for a disaster so why not?

Chinese food is indeed poison for ME but each of us are different. I tend to stick to Chinese foods that are low in salt and MSG which means knowing the restaurant you are going to well and reminding them NO salt and NO MSG. Asides from that we try to stick to dishes that are heavy in veggies.

I generally try to avoid meat proteins these days; eating fish 2-3 times a week and perhaps a bit of tuna with lunch now and then. Breakfast is fresh fruits and berries; lunch is legumes and cooked veggies; dinner is the same with the fish thrown in a few days a week. No dairy at all. And no salt or MSG at all. I avoid processed foods like the plague. My blood sugars are trying to normalize as is my BP. I am losing weight. I drink one beer cup full of low sodium V8 every day and now have found Low Sodium V8 with added fibre and try to stick to that when we can find it.

We do not eat out often but when we do it must be a restaurant that will accomodate my needs. Most Chinese Food places will acknowledge your request with a smile and a nod and then cook exactly what the heck they want so be forewarned.

My aFib has been under control on dofetilide 500ucg twice daily for over a year now (Dec 2011) and am hoping to get a renewal Rx before I run out next week.

Murray L

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Tikosyn uptake Dec 2011 500ug b.i.d. NSR since!
Herein lies opinion, not professional advice, which all are well advised to seek.