Update! and question.

Hey guys,

I posted here a couple of months ago ,as I started having afib symptoms at 35 after all part of my life exploded in a flaming ball of stress.

Anyway, I now have a 2 month old daughter, and ever since she was born, my ectopic, irregular heartbeats, skipped beats, etc etc level has almost dropped to nil.

For about 3-5 weeks post her birth I had 0 afibs, but now I seem to be getting them once every 7-10 days, for 3 hours max, mostly converting in 30-90 minutes. The good news there is that the afibs are very "chill", whereas before my heart would be 130+, now sometimes it's between 70-90, and hte only reason I know I'm in afib is because I know what afib feels like (and the side effects, urination, defecation, etc).

That's the update. Thanks so much for helping me thru these past 6 months, they've been crazy, but reading so much great stuff on this forum makes me feel like afib is a annoyance to be dealt with, as opposed tosomething that will control my life.

My question is:

I've noticed now, that I usually get afibs in the morning, between 3-8am. Sometimes I wake up in a state where I feel like "Oh man, my heart is ready to afib, if I do something wrong". In the past, I would roll from my right side to my back, and now I realize THAT ACTION is what caused the afib. The action of just moving from my right side to my back.

So a couple of weeks ago, I stopped doing that, I went right from sleeping on my right side to standing up. Standing up that fast causes my heart rate to jump to 100-110 or so, but then it calms down and I wouldn't afib.

Last week when standing up from sleeping on my right side, I dropped my phone, and when I bent over to pick it up, I went into afib!!

So my question is, when you guys "feel" like you could go into afib, what things do you to do stave it off? It's clear to me now that bending over or moving from my right side to my back, while in bed when I'm "feeling" like I could have an afib could cause it. Has this happened to anyone else? Is there a technique I can do to avoid getting the afib? Maybe by sitting up in the bed first? or jumping out of bed and going for a run? I just feel like if there's sequence of events that is sure to trigger an afib, maybe there is a sequence of events that could prevent it as well.

Thanks.

-Eric

Erich - one consideration may be that you are consistently running an acidic acid tissue pH. That's a direct reflection of the types of food you eat that metabolize to an acid ash. The body needs alkalinity to be healthy and to function optimally....and avoid irritation of important nerves such as the vagus.

As a start, read this post on Alkalinity, Healing, pH and Voltage - The Inside Story
[www.afibbers.org]

There are definitely other considerations - the most important of which is your intracellular stores of magneisum, potassium, sodium, calcium.. and if they are out of balance.

Jackie

Eric,

Congratulations on your daughter!

The 3-8AM time as well as the going to standing says vagal trigger to me.

Some vagal afibbers have been able to ward off their episodes by raising their heart rates, which standing will do. Some would even run or climb stairs, whatever. I was able to convert episodes this way early in my afib career.

There was a point several years ago, when I didn't have my electrolytes balanced (I was taking my potassium, magnesium and taurine, but eating way too much calcium in my food). At this point, I was subject to afib during the vagal time when the heart rate is slowing rapidly after orgasm. I would first feel some PAC's and if I did nothing, this could easily progress to afib. If I stood up and moved around, or even just sat up in bed and got my torso vertical, I could ward off the episode. Subsequent to reducing my calcium intake, I no longer have this problem.

You may want to search here on "ginger." During the time when I was more sensitive, I found that consuming organic ginger spice before bed could ward off episodes. Ginger can act in several ways. One, it helps with digestion, which can be an issue for vagal afibbers. Second, it will raise the sympathetic or adrenergic side of your autonomic nervous system (ANS). Colin (registered as colindo) has written about this quite a bit. I had some posts in the Nov 2012-Jan 2013 timeframe as did Hans. I think Hans may have written about this in the Afib Report, too.

You can try the Valsalva maneuver, however it tends to stimulate the vagal side of the ANS and would likely be more effective for an adrenergic afibber. Carotid massage is in the same category - helps some but can cause afib in others. It also stimulates the vagal side of the ANS. See <[www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov]

Punch line: "In an interview with me the next day, Dr Day said he thinks (in most cases) AF may be unnecessary."

George



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 05/15/2014 04:12PM by GeorgeN.

Hey Erich
Yes for a while I had the exact same type of experience. If I went from right side to left. for me getting up to quick would cause afib. This was especially true during times when I would wake kind of foggy headed. I assume getting up too fast was causing a blood pressure drop, im not sure. Anyway if I get up to sitting position and wait a minute, let my mind clear and then get up out of bed it seemed to help stop those types episodes, not 100% but helped.
Also I found that sleeping on my right side and putting a pillow behind me against my back helps during sleep

Eric,

If you want to give ginger a go, get this
[www.iherb.com]
You can get it through the vitamin shop
Take one with each meal and one before bed time.

Colin

Thanks tsco, thats kind of what I've been doing, I'll continue to experiment.

George/Colin - I have been taking 750mg of ginger a day, thanks to George's suggestion awhile back.

I can tolerate no magnesium, but I eat a minimum of two bananas and 1 orange a day for potassium. I've also lost 20 pounds and eat fish 3x a week. Up until this week, my heart had been silent for almost 2 months.

we shall see how it goes!

Eric - keep in mind that if you are low in magnesium inside the cells, taking in a lot of potassium can make the situation worse instead of better. Then there is the issue of eating too much fruit sugar from high glycemic fruits that can cause you to utilize even mor magnesium and potsssium.

What forms of magnesium have you tried? Some are designed to have a laxation effect. The amino acid chelated versions do not stimulate laxation.

Jackie

Colindo, have you looked into doing it yourself, like buying this [www.amazon.com] and this [www.amazon.com] and this [www.amazon.com] ? For less than $50 you can get the equivalent of a ton of those $8 bottles from Now Foods. Of course one doesn't want to do DIY potassium chloride, for example, it's not good to do a bolus of certain supplements, but for other stuff it'd be a lot cheaper than bottled capsules. You also can find better deals on the capsules too, depending on the size you want. [www.amazon.com]

Frontier Ground Turmeric Root (minimum 5 percent Curcumin) [www.amazon.com]



Edited 5 time(s). Last edit at 05/17/2014 02:36PM by morpheus.

All ginger capsules are not the same, I have been a guineapig for 18 months trying all sorts of ginger and have found that Now Foods, Ginger Root Extract, Standardized to min. 5% Gingerols, is one that works the best, for me at least.
I have been Afib free for five months and last year I had six afib events, reduced from three a month.
I also take magnesium, fish oil, and curcumin.

Colin