heart palpitations tonight scaring me

I started having heart palpitations this afternoon. This scares the Hell out of me. Is this a sign of AFIB coming back? My heart is skipping beats and making me nervous which makes matters worse.

I have been doing so well but right now I am worried. Am I over thinking this? Maybe the Antibiotic I started last night is causing this (Doxycycline). ?

Any advice would be appreciated. My heart rate has not been above 80 but it is bouncing around down to 50 bpm.

Hi Smackman.

Don't worry about it, you are in the chute now and heading for an April landing soon. 80 bpm is nothing to worry about even if it was AFIB. that is a level many people with persistent AFIB aspire too as an ideal level using rate control drugs and they hope to stay there! That's not my idea of a good long term status, but still even if you were in that the next two months it wouldn't be a big deal and as Natale said, that would just be one last thing he would have to do at the beginning of your ablation.

It doesn't even sound like a real arrhythmia at this point anyway and more likely just some ectopics. Have you started the Strategy electrolyte repletion protocol yet? It might take a while but its a VERY good thing to do in preparation for you ablation upcoming and given a good effort might well calm some of that down in the meantime.

With the list of drugs you are taking the lion's share of those have magnesium depletion as a key side effect, as well as reducing the effectiveness of certain other nutrients.

The fentanyl as well will deplete significantly your testosterone, growth hormone and adrenal hormones like cortisol, all of which can make the anxiety much worse. I know its likely well needed but working with a knowledgeable doctor ... not now but after you are through this ablation business ... Id highly recommend getting those hormones well balanced with a fellowship certified BHRT (bioidentical hormone replacement therapy) trained MD or Functional medicine MD to be your next step after getting the AFIB on the back burner.

That will help your overall sense of well-being and help with sleep and certainly reduce the high anxiety significantly and will help mitigate to a fair degree the downsides on hormone levels and vital nutrient assimilation that Fentanyl, Ativan, Multaq, Lipitor and Toprol, among others, deplete your body of.

First things first though, in the meantime one thing you could do tomorrow, in addition to picking up some good quality Magnesium Glycinate capsules, is to buy some 200mg capsules or tablets of L-Theanine and start taking three a day, one every eight hours. This can really help with the anxiety too in a natural easy on the body way and will only complement the ativan and fentanyl and not counter their effects. It won't add any more drowsiness but will facilitate a good sleep and it can and does very often help settle the heart down too for many people.

Give it a try and see if you don't notice that you gradually feel better on L-Theanine and have at least a bit less anxiety...

Sleep well.
Shannon



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 01/25/2014 11:53PM by Shannon.

Smackman - As Shannon notes, it is important to keep up with your electrolytes...especially the magnesium as your extensive list of other Rx medications is undoubtedly depleting your magnesium faster than you can replete it without intensive supplementation which takes time to be effective. The Lipitor depletes CoQ10 which is essential to your heart function as well.

Jackie

I do the MOM water. Do you recommend a particular name brand?
I do have low T. I have Testim to use but am concerned it will cause my AFIB to blow up

Hi Smackman -

There is a growing body of evidence against the use of statin drugs (Lipitor). One strong opinion is found in the book called Cholesterol Clarity www.cholesterolclarity.com. This is a drug that has provided huge profit for the pharmaceutical companies, so any "studies" they provide are suspect. I can't comment on your need for it, but it may be worth doing some of your own research on it.

Aspirin is another drug that is being questioned. If I am correct in recalling what others have said, I believe Dr Natale is still prescribing it for a period after an ablation. From first hand experience that is not the case with the Bordeaux group.

After doing lots of my own reading and research I determined the risk / reward benefit was not there for these two drugs and eliminated them.

I will be following your story and cheering you on from the sidelines.

Ron

No Testim won't cause your AFIB to blow up, just use it everyday and don't be sporadic, its the relative change from being irregular with use that can make things more variable.

Your heart has more testosterone receptors than any other organ in the body ... there is a reason nature made that so, in in order to support the most essential muscle in the body.

For Magnesium, get a brand that has chelated Magensium Glycinate with the symbol or patent description on the back of the bottle confirming it is the 'Albion Labs' chelation process. Like Bluebonnet, Solgar, Dr's Best and others. You can order them from Iherb.com at the Vitamin store link above which not only gives you an extra 10% discount over their already low discounts on supplement, but helps defray some of the cost of hosting this site as well.

Another good brand of magnesium that I like is Jigsaw brand which has the SRT Magnesium which is a sustained release form of small slender 125mg per caplet tablets, that make it easy to titrate the dose up and down. You don't start with the full dose of magnesium if you are not taking mag now, and gradually increase the dose until you get two bowel movements a day with well-formed but not too soft stools. If you get loose bowels at all then back off by one tablet and stabilize for a while before trying to increase the dose slowly again. Usually a dose from a low of 500mg to around 1,000mg a day works for most people. Some need considerably higher. It also can take over 6 months to replete an empty mag tank and with the drugs you are taking you really need daily supplementation.

Also, consider going to a Naturopath or functional medicine MD in your area to get a series of Myers Cocktail' IV treatments where they infuse large doses of B vitamins Vitamin C other nutrients and ask them to include 3 or 4 grams of Magnesium sulfate in each IV treatment that is slowly infused over an hour or so. This will do wonders for restoring a depleted intracellular magnesium much much quicker and will really help with your anxiety big time as well. It might cost from $85 to $125 for each Myers Cocktail session, but after 4 to 6 of those doing one a week over a couple months its a great way to catch up fast with your IC mag stores and then the potassium supplements and diet increase of potassium will work a lot better as well.

Topical magnesium is also a very good idea as it bypasses the GI track and absorbs much more readily than oral forms of magnesium which can be hard to absorb if there are any digestive issues going on.

Shannon



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 01/26/2014 12:45PM by Shannon.

Yes, an antibiotic can cause palpitations in an already sensitized system. Be sure to take the antibiotic with food and a good probiotic (I like Goodbelly) at a time apart from the antibiotic.

______________
Lone paroxysmal vagal atrial fibrillation. Age 62, female, no risk factors. Autonomic instability since severe Paxil withdrawal in 2004, including extreme sensitivity to neuro-active drugs, supplements, foods. Monthly tachycardia started 1/11, happened only at night, during sleep, or when waking, bouts of 5-15 hours. Changed to afib about a year ago, same pattern. Frequency increased over last 6 months, apparently with sensitivity to more triggers. Ablation 6/27/13 by Steven Hao.

For Shannon: In your post below of last December you said that you take and like Magnesium L-Threonate but I didn't see it in your list of magnesium forms above. Do you still take that form and/or recommend it?

Thanks,. Gordon

Shannon [ PM ]
Re: Magnesium Threonate question
December 22, 2013 08:39AM Admin
Registered: 1 year ago
Posts: 755
Hi Ron and George,

I've ben taking Life Extensions Magnesium Threonate called 'Neuro-Mag' for the last two years with two capsules twice a day morning and before bed.

Mag Threonate is a special form of Magnesium that more readily passes through the blood/brain barrier and some studies support its enhancement of cognitive function.

It also has much less tendency toward bowel intolerance than many other oral forms of magnesium.

Seems to help sleep too.

Shannon

Hi Gordon,

Yes I do take 3 capsules of Magnesium L-threonate at night before bed usually. I like the product and with my documented high rate of magnesium wasting I need about as much as I can get.

Shannon

smackman Wrote:
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> I do have low T. I have Testim to use but am
> concerned it will cause my AFIB to blow up


Hi Smackman,

My testosterone was below reference range, both total T and free T. I am on injectable T, once you learn how to do it it's not a big deal. In fact, once on T my anxiety is about zero. I used to let stuff bother me, and I read in your comments and sense the same from you. It didn't provoke my atrial fibrillation, it didn't seem to make a difference as I was a a-fib mess before T as well! :-) If you didn't want self done shots, my understanding compounded cream is the best. Women's International Pharmacy out of Wisconsin is a good one (yeah, they compound men's and women's hormones equally well, my wife has her's done there too), there are other excellent compounding pharmacies as well.

If you are on testosterone (of any form), sure it's another lab to keep track of (both your T level and estrodial level), but it's worth it. I see a D.O. doctor every six months to 'keep the wheels on the bus'.

As far as Dr. Natale, my advice is to book your ablation, keep the date, and don't look back. You need to put this behind you. I originally had a date for a consult with Dr. Natale in 2010, but put it off for a cardioversion. Well, my chronic a-fib went on and on, mostly on, and Dr. Natale when he eventually did my ablation in 12-2013 had to do so much work (4 hours actually) including around my LAA I may have to either take AC forever or have a Watchman put in. So, just get it over with! If you show up for the procedure in sinus Dr. Natale can provoke your a-fib to rear it's ugly head with the isoproterenol infusion he gives during the procedure to find out your triggers.

Take good care,

Neil



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 01/27/2014 03:50AM by onewaypockets.

Yes Smackman, Testim is very weak testosterone with a very low concentration so it requires a very large among of gel smeared on your skin. Avoid applying it under the arm pit or on other hairy areas of the body as hairy spots are not the best place for Testosterone as you want to stay away from high concentration of hair follicles with topical testosterone as applying it to these hairy areas can increase the conversion of testosterone to dihydrotestostone (DHT) metabolite of testosterone itself. Elevated DHT can cause male pattern hair loss on the head with more hair growth on the body as well as a few other unwanted effects.

Better to apply topical testosterone to the forehead staying about an 1" below the hairline and on the inner side of the biceps rubbing it in fully. But its far better to use a good 10% compounded Liposomal gel such that 1cc of liquid or 1 gram of gel or cream will equal 100mg of bioidentical testosterone. You can start them with around 0.75 grams/day applied as noted above for best effect.

Rub the 10% testosterone compounded liposomal gel or cream (gel tends to be better absorbed than creams) onto your skin very vigorously until the skin is red to improve vascularizaton and thus improve fast absorption. Put it on in layers and rub it in thoroughly wait a minute ot two and then apply another layer or apply the next layer to the opposite side of the body or a different area and rub it in good as well. This will prevent too much gel from smearing over too large an area and also being so thick on the skin that it doesn't absorb well and much of it gets rubbed off on your clothes then. Another problem with Testim and these weaker pharmaceutical testosterone formulas which generally are at most only 1.62% concentration is that since you have to spread such a large amount of gel over such a wide area to get any where near a large enough dose to do you much good, it increases the chances of inadvertent transfer to you wife, children or pets.

Such transfer can be easily avoided with a more concentrated 10% Liposomal gel formula that requires a much smaller dab of gel that is highly absorbable and rapidly so, and in this way it avoids anyone else getting dosed that doesn't need any extra testosterone .. .same goes for most other topical hormones.

Shannon



Edited 2 time(s). Last edit at 01/27/2014 12:33PM by Shannon.

Thanks for all the advice/help. I had a bronchial infection and decided Friday Night to start a antibiotic. This antibiotic has raised my heart rate and I gave some skips in my heart. I took only 2 of the Doxycycline; the last Saturday morning but my heart rate is still 15 bpm higher than usual sedentary and I still have heart palpitation but it is better. I have anxiety; I have this chronic bladder issue and AFIB issues. I was doing so good till I took that antibiotic. It will pass.
The antibiotic can take 5 days to get out of the body.
Heart papalations scare me and raise my anxiety level


Just wanted to add I take 10 mg of Lipitor for High Cholesterol. My Cholesterol level was around 240 last year. I have been taking lipitor 1X daily. What can I safely replace this statin with to help keep my cholesterol at a safe level?



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 01/27/2014 09:54AM by smackman.

smackman Wrote:
------------------------------------------------------
>
> J. My Cholesterol level was around
> 240 last year. I have been taking lipitor 1X
> daily. What can I safely replace this statin with
> to help keep my cholesterol at a safe level?

I went off statins 2 years ago and had a total cholesterol of just under 240 after the year off. My Nurse Practitioner recommended Plant Sterols (Swanson) as a possible substitute. She said the product would reduce levels 10% and it did just that after 4 months taking it. I had no known problems with it.

My levels were still a little high though and I have restarted 5mg of avorstatin daily along with 200mg of Ubiquinol (natural factors) to supplement it. My cholesterol levels are now to good levels and I will continue with statins not worrying about reports of how bad they are for you. Everything is a trade off and the good out weighs the bad on this one.

Just my opinion...ronH.

I drink the Waller Water daily; up to 1/2 gallon. This should add magnesium to my body.
[www.afibbers.org]

My Doctors insist on me taking a statin because I have had a stent in the past and I am a Persistent Afibber. I take 10 mg a day of Lipitor. I read some articles about Statins that are bad; Damn if you do; Damn if you don't.

I will be taking a physical in the near future. I am anxious to find out my levels.

There is so much knowledge on this website! It can be overwhelming. I hate my persistent AFIB. I will be glad when the man in Austin works his magic on me. Dr. Natale is a good man with excellent credentials so I am in good hands.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 01/28/2014 11:49AM by smackman.

I have skipped beats on a regular basis causing chest pressure and thumping heartbeats. Scarey as hell. I find, in my personal case, that a huge ingestion of POTASSIUM will get rid of the skipped beats within 30 minutes. I take either a cup or two of low sodium V8 or Mott's (about 1.5g per cup) or I will dissolve a couple of heaping tablespoons of Potassium Gluconate in seltzer water and down that (again about 1.5g per tbsp.). 20-30 minutes and VOILA - skipped beats gone. I do not understand why those of us with aFib are so sensitive to low sodium but we seem to be just that.

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.