My reaquaintance with the beast

Hi All,
First of all, a very happy and peaceful holiday to you all!

I'm writing to share some thoughts and queries around AF,, inflammation hiatal hernias,and which to try to fix first. After maintaining my low incidence of episodes (about 4-5 short ones a year) my episodes have flared up again. Admittedly the circumstances are exceptional - a 10 week work trip in India, China and Australia, starting with a bout of Delhi Belly - but I've reached the point, after 14 years of intermittent AF, where I want to get rid of the cloud which is always hanging over me.

Having housed a couple of different parasites acquired through exotic travel, I've no reason to think that my most recent trip to Delhi was one trigger for the latest rash of AF episodes. Extreme tiredness was another. But the two physical symptoms have been quite bad GERD and bloating. Each of the episodes have occurred at night after a meal.

Whenever my gut gets infected (I have had a hiatal hernia for nearly 20 years) I get a flare-up of IBS. So it has been this trip. it's felt like my whole system has been inflamed and in spasm. I read about Atropine and was interested to see that, in addition to being a muscle relaxant, it is sometimes diagnosed for Bradychardia too. My resting pulse rate is in the low 50s.

I've also been reading about new surgical procedures to correct a HH. When my inlfammation is high, I can trigger an episode simply by turning my torso - it's like I can feel my hernia pushing against the heart and bang! Off we go.... I've always maintained that there was a connection between the two. Drs used to laugh it off, but now evidence seems to be emerging to support this theory.

Years ago I was warned off Nissen Fundoplication for HH, as it would only push against the atrium/vagal nerve, thus making episodes more likely, not less. Now though, there seem to be better techniques available. So, it would seem logical, before booking myself in for an ablation, to investigate fixing the HH. I'm also concerned about the long-term effects of HH (risk of Barrett's/Oesophageal Cancer/Lifetime on PPIs.

I continue to take Zyflamend, Mg Glycinate, B vits, Natto, Flec (PIP only), COQ10

My questions are these (sorry there are so many of them):
1. Does anyone recommend any quick dietary/supplemental was to reduce inflammation? (I've heard Ashwagandha is good)
2. Has anyone been prescribed Atropine for either gut problems or for Bradycahrdia?
3. Has anyone had their HH fixed surgically? If so, did it have any impact on their AF episodes?
4. Am I right in thinking I should try and fix the HH first, then consider ablation?
5. Have there been any significant improvements in ablation procedures and success rates?

Apologies in advance for the somewhat scattergun nature of this post - when things are a s complicated as my conditions and symptoms are, it's hard to know where to start! But i know I can always rely on this board to provide some clarity. Many thanks and best wishes, again.

Most people find that afib is progressive, which explains the increase in trigger types over time. The HH is but one trigger...if you get that resolved and you are like most persons with afib, another primary trigger will likely eventually take its place. As I fought my afib for nearly a decade, I found that in spite of welcome afib remissions while on strict diet and supplement protocols, that vagus nerve stimulus had eventually became an issue, as well as my body's reaction to common infections. Diet became extremely critical to avoid afib - indeed the diet itself became a modulator for the body's normal internal ion balance system.

Now that I've had an ablation, I no longer have to avoid common foods (although I still remain cautious) and the vagus nerve is no longer a trigger. So why not get rid of the actual culprit in all this first? By that I mean isolating the the over-sensitive foci that begin to over-react to nearly every physical stress that somehow affects heart performance - including both the natural input of the autonomic nervous system and normal variations of ion levels due to diet.

This forum is loaded with information on successful ablationists as well as advise on taking that journey.

Good luck!
Tom

No disease or condition can be corrected until the PH balance is corrected. High acid bodies use minerals to correct and buffer the acids. The eventual depletion of those minerals causes disease. Thats why when you get older you get more disease because the minerals get depleted and AFIB is one of those conditions. Correct the PH and correct the condition. It takes time and the best way I have found is with bentonite used internally and probiotics. Mineral supplements can buffer the acids until the body PH gets corrected.All drugs are acidic, every prescription drug and every other drug, legal or illegal is acidic, and also damages the liver. Alcohol is very acidic and causes a common liver disease as well as a fatty liver. Having a medical procedure and taking drugs does nothing to correct the body imbalance and makes that body more unbalanced.

Hi David

You asked if anyone has any quick dietary ways to reduce the inflammation.

The very best thing I did for similar symptoms was to have an ALCAT food sensitivity test. It was able to pinpoint the foods to which my gut had developed intolerances, and I was able to tame the battle going on down there by eliminating and then gradually, over several years, re-introduce those foods.

I did not gain the upper hand until after the ablation, but it was very good to be on the path of healing my gut prior to the surgery.

It was just too much of a game of cat and mouse trying to figure out what I had put in my mouth that caused the uproar, so the science from this rather expensive test was worth every penny.

Even after taking the ALCAT test it was tricky, because so many foods are hidden in other products. For instance gluten is in every packaged food imaginable and a lot of restaurant foods. So there were periodic flare ups for a quite a while afterwards, but overall I had good results immediately.

There are many other things that I am sure others will suggest to help heal the gut. I'm sharing this because for my particular set of experiences I got the most bang for my buck from this one test. I had lots of other tests and medical consultations as well and I have been in NSR for almost 6 months now since my second ablation.
Ron

It is my opinion that being sensitive to certain foods is an indication of a poorly working digestive system and the healing only has taken place when those foods are no longer an issue. In other words when you are no longer lactose intolerant or gluten sensitive you can say your gut is healed.Not that i recommend wheat or dairy which I do not but the fact one is sensitive to those types of foods in an example of an unhealthy gut. Those that have bad food allergies, same thing those food allergies are a sign of an unhealthy gut. I recommend getting to the root or the heart of the problem go directly for gut health. 2000 years ago the father of medicine said all disease begins in the gut, to bad modern medicine got away from that and has gone on a disasterous course of medicating not healing. There are over 200 diseases modern medicine has no cure for, in fact the only cures they have are invasive surgeries, or antibiotics. There are no natural disease corrections in their arsenal, only treatments which many time makes something worse not better. Acids create many diseases and drugs are very acidic. They are treating an acid caused condition with more acids.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 12/23/2013 10:18AM by Hans Larsen.

Hi David - I think it makes sense to deal with the HH issue and then if there is still afib, treat for that. The Nissen Fundoplication does have some drawbacks... being irreversible and never being able to vomit again and other long-term effects.

I understand that here in the US at least there is a less invasive and reversible procedure called the LINX reflux management system which is titanium magnetic beads, titanium coated and have just enough pull to cling to each other. They separate when the bolus of food is swallowed and moves down the esophagus and then retract, preventing acid/bile from moving north into the throat. I learn of this from a former afibber (ablated) who continued to have reflux problems but no afib. He's proceeding with the LINX.

The other issue as I commented in my email to you is to address the gut bugs and stabilize your bowel flora by killing off the pathogens and then repleting the necessary bowel flora and repairing and restoring the gut tissue... as mentioned in the report about the GI Tract and Afib connection.

As for the best supplement for inflammation, there are certainly many herbals that are extremely effective, but the old standby, Omega 3 fish oils remain the king of anti-inflammatories and when dosed high enough have about ten times more efficacy than many other choices...according to the functional medicine type practitioners. You can certainly try a combination of ginger, curcumin, tumeric as well.

That said, consider that another very traditional and long-standing highly effective remedy is good old vitamin C in doses high enough to actually be beneficial and curative. This means higher doses than typically recommended and now it's highly "deliverable and tolerable" in the Liposomal delivery form that has evidence of working nearly as well as high dose IV vitamin C (ascorbic acid) delivery. If you can get IV ascorbic acid, I'd vote for that as first choice.

If you want more info, you an Google Liposomal Vitamin C...by LivOn and the Cardiologist who wrote the books about the healing properties of vitamin C...Thomas E. Levy, MD, JD.... or email me and I'll funnel through to you some research links. I'm in the process of compiling data for a report on this topic but it's not ready for publication. I used high dose Liposomal C without any adverse effects and continue to use a moderate amount daily because to maintain health, the body needs a lot more vitamin C than is typically recommended and for a lot of reasons... not the least of which would be cardiovascular health.

I hope that once your gut issue is resolved, there will be no need to pursue an ablation, but with Bordeaux so near by, it should be an easy decision for you.

Kind regards,
Jackie

Many thanks for all your considered responses. I've been trying to research the impact of HH repair surgery on AF episodes, without success. Since my AF is genetic and caused by hypertrophic cardiomyopathy, I can see the argument that getting the HH fixed would simply allow the beast to find another escape route. But I also have to consider the long term implications of HH and the long-term use of PPIs.

When I return to the UK in a couple of weeks, I think I need to seriously investigate both options!

In the meantime, thanks for your suggestions on reversing the overstimulation of the vagus nerve through GERD. I will continue to eat as well as I can (I've already eliminated wheat and dairy from my diet)

Thanks again,

Hi David. I think inflamation of some sort is involved in my flare-ups, but I don't think I have an HH. There are some people on this forum that want to tie any self-reporting of symptoms by others into their own story/belief of progressive afib and the need for an ablation. They are overly vocal it seems, and I would caution against being unduly influenced by them as the ones with differing views just seem to be more silent.

In any event, I've had an elevated lymphocyte count starting around the same time that I had my first afib episode 6 years ago. My overall white blood cell count is in the higher side of the normal range, but I have more lymphocytes than neutrophils, instead of vice-versa. From what I've read, lymphocytes are brought forth more by viruses and neutrophils are brought forth more by bacterial infections. My MD's say, in essence, don't worry about it, but I suspect it matters. Alternative practioners have tried unsuccessfully so far to bring it back into balance. One theory I have is that there is some undetectable virus in my system that flares up in erratic ways - interestingly I have bouts of fatigue that have no detectable rhyme or reason regarding timing. Maybe a virus is partly or entirely responsible for my afib as well? I may never know, and may choose to go for an ablation at some point.

Best of luck however you proceed. Ralph