AFib aged 32

Hello everyone,

I have been reading through this forum for quite a while and I find it quite impressive and encouraging to see so many people, sharing the same burden, connecting each other and helping each other with the tough decisions which come along with this disease.

Myself, being from Germany, I have had my first afib episode on my 31st birthday. Since then I have had episodes every month or so, sometimes more frequent, often during stress phases or after big meals or alcohol intake. The longest episode so far lasted around 6 hours. Until now my episodes always ended spontaneously, sometimes when I did some light exercise, sometimes when I was standing under the shower.

I know it is quite unusual to have afib at my age, although it is not totally uncommon. I guess, I had a bit of bad luck...

Anyway, as I am still quite young and want to continue to enjoy my life (I do quite a bit of outdoor activity like hiking, sailing and jogging) and to work and travel without the constant fear of suffering another episode, I am quite worried about what is yet to come. The first cardiologist I went to said I should not do anything, besides taking an ASS 100 every morning. I knew this couldnt be right. Therefore I went to see two EPs in Germany both of them recommended to me to have an ablation as a first line measure. The reasoning behind that is, as I understood it, that the alternative would be taking strong medicine for the rest of my life with strong side effects and without knowing whether the meds really do work, especially in the long term.

As a result I have an ablation scheduled for end of this month in Hamburg.

As you all can imagine and perhaps know from own experience, I am quite nervous and not at all sure whether I am doing the right thing. On the other hand, I do not really see any reasonable alternative, taking into account that the disease is prone to get worse and in fact chronic. Having said all this, I have a couple of questions for this forum:

- Have you heard from any other young afib patients who had an ablation as a first line measure?
- After my episodes terminate I regularly have chest pains coming and going for a couple of days as well as shortness of breath - is this a symptome familiar to any of you? Could that be due tissue irritation or any damage done by the afib burden?
- Will I have to take blood thinner after my ablation even though I havent done so so far (nobody really suggested that to me - besides the ASS 100..)?
- Has anyone heard about ablation experts in Germany? Do you know people having had an ablation here?

All the best
Ben

Ben,

- Have you heard from any other young afib patients who had an ablation as a first line measure? Yes, one of my son's best friend age 21 had it done late last year. At first, the EP thought it was SVT. Further holter monitoring suggested AF also. There was no question that ablation was the way to go for him. He was very active. Plays soccer, surfs, etc.. Medication management made no sense with long term side effects and low probability of arresting progression. He is doing well.

- Will I have to take blood thinner after my ablation even though I havent done so so far (nobody really suggested that to me - besides the ASS 100..)? Should follow EPs recommendation to minimize stroke risk post ablation. Assuming the procedure is successful, then you will be able to get off of it after a few months.

- Has anyone heard about ablation experts in Germany? Do you know people having had an ablation here? There are a number of world class ablation specialists in Germany. Hamburg has Karl Heinz Kuck and his group. He is the Natale of Germany. Where are you getting your ablation?

Hi Researcher

thank you very much for your answer!
Seems I have made a good choice then: I am getting my ablation with Kuck's team in Hamburg.

Best
Ben

Ben,

"- Will I have to take blood thinner after my ablation even though I havent done so so far (nobody really suggested that to me - besides the ASS 100..)? "

Unlikely. Your case sounds like "lone' afib. You are young active and healthy. The stroke risk is highly correlated with comorbidities. See <[en.wikipedia.org] Your likely score is 0. For those in the states - ASS 100 is 100mg aspirin.

Alcohol is a known trigger. In some cases any alcohol in others when it is drunk to excess, which is known as Holiday Heart Syndrome <[en.wikipedia.org]

Even after your ablation, the advice would be to be moderate in exercise, especially endurance activities. Training for and competing in these activities especially. I've never had an ablation and have been fortunate to control my afib well with magnesium, potassium and taurine for nearly 11 years. However, I know that chronic fitness brought me to this party. I very much enjoy many outdoor activities hence my question to myself is "how much is too much?" From a "normal" person's perspective, I'm still very active, much more so than most. I do make choices - for example I can alpine ski the steeps off piste 9,000m-15,000m vertical/day nonstop at 3,700m elevation. I will however avoid skinning up or hiking up 300-400m and then skiing down as the skinning up is a taxing endurance activity. I still kayak, hike, backpack, rock climb, casual bike ride & etc. I don't race in anything. Hopefully you see the difference. Also give yourself a good 3 months to recover after the ablation before pushing yourself.

By the way, there have been posters much younger than you here over the years.

George



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 06/11/2015 11:48AM by GeorgeN.

Ben the EP I consulted with in Calgary, but did not use, told me that an ablation was the best choice for me as a first line of defence. Part of his remark was made with respect to having sinus bradycardia and a very low heart rate. Antiarythmic drugs do not favor this condition as they can lower the heart rate even further.
Ron

I am 45 and just had an ablation. One EP preferred to have me go on medication but I decided to have an ablation instead and I feel that was the right decision. From my understanding the longer that your heart is in AFib the more damage is done. Scarring occurs to the heart muscle, your ejection fraction decreases and other changes occur to your heart. I did a lot of thinking about this and opted to have an ablation from an Expert surgeon. Dr. Natale in my case. I would urge you to be very selective in who performs your procedure. Ask around and really look hard to make sure that this person is quite skilled and very experienced. Good EPs have done thousands of ablations. Make sure that you right the right person.

Best of luck

Just based on what you listed, as it may be incomplete, I see the first advice from your Cardiologist as the best alternative. Do neither the drugs or an Ablation. Just live with the AFIB (use a rate control drug during episodes if necessary), and keep track of what is causing them. (Trigger Avoidance). Also try the supplementation routine suggested on this site (primarily Mg,Taurine, and K+). Other people similar to you have gotten at least some benefit from Mg supplementation.

Aspirin use is no longer recommended for Lone AFIB patients with infrequent episodes. This has been discussed at length here in the past, but If your episodes are that infrequent, and terminate spontaneously within hours, than there is minimal or no risk of stroke, assuming that you indeed have true LAF, and there is nothing else going on. I would look into what is causing the chest pains, shortness of breath. That may mean the is something else wrong. What is your average Heart Rate while having AFIB? I think you are grossly overestimating the damage done by these infrequent episodes that you are having.

An analogy:

Just because you got drunk once a month, would that mean you are an Alcoholic, and needed to get Hospital treatment?



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 06/12/2015 07:36AM by The Anti-Fib.

Thank you all for your remarks and opinions. As I understood it from my conversation with the EP, people with episodes every month are, at least according to him, somewhat in between the two groups "live with the AFIB" and "do something about it". In the end, it seems to be a question of how much impact the AFib has on the individual's life quality and whether she or he is willing to take the risks that come along with a catheter ablation.

I do find the AFib to have quite a big impact on my life. I am highly sympomatic meaning that when I do have an episode there is nothing much to do for me other than to wait until it's over. I can try to stop the episode but working or doing enjoyable things is just out of question then. Also, I do notice that I now avoid many things which used to be great fun for me - and I am not talking about alcohol. I am afraid an episode might start on an important day, before an important business meeting or when I am on a trip with no hospital nearby. I am not a fanatic runner of any kind, but I really enjoyed my frequent morning runs - something I cut down in the last months afraid to kick off another episode. If things get worse (one of the last episodes lasted for 6 hours) these impacts on my life quality will worsen too, I fear. "Just live with it" therefore is not an attractive option for me.

I did find the supplementation routine quite helpful and it certainly had an impact on the frequency of my episodes, which was almost 2 times per months before starting the supplementation and now is, as mentioned, around 1 time per month.

At the same time I certainly do worry about the ablation and its potential complications, as many other people in this forum already did. But I consider the negative impact a life-long AFib burden can have on my life an my heart to outweigh those risks.

Thank you all,
Ben

ps: My heart rate in NSR is low and has always been low (around 50) and does not get higher than around 90-100 in AFib.

Hi Ben,

In my opinion, it is reckless to go for an ablation at your age without ensuring you have done all possible to avoid it.

Have you ensured that your vitamin D is DEFINITELY at a level of 70 ng/mL (~170 nmol/L)???? You need a blood test for that, and unless you spend a lot of time shirtless in the sun, or are taking around 5,000 iu of vitamin D per day, it is CERTAIN that it is not.

Have you ensured that your calcium intake is only 300 mg per day??? You need to consult the USDA food database to check what you are consuming. Some effort is needed to reduce calcium to that level.

Unless you have achieved BOTH those things, both at the same time, you have not done anything near all that can be done, no matter what other supplements you have tried.

Steve

Hi Steve

thank you for these two advices. I am taking 20,000 IE per week and stay low in calcium, even though this also can have detrimental effects on my bones. None of both measures had an appreciable effect on my AFib. I don't consider myself reckless, to be honest, as I am living with AFib for one year now and did many things to get rid of it with very limited success - however, I am open for any other ideas..

One could also argue, I assume, that it is reckless to let this disease develop from paroxysmal to persistent, couldn't one? But this is certainly a matter of perspective.

Best,
Ben

Ben Ja:

I agree with Steve, it appears premature to just go for the Ablation this early on. Maybe your instinct are telling you right, but I don't see it based on the info presented. It's not likely that the AFIB will just all the sudden go Persistent. If your AFIB goes for more than a day or so, you could get a Electrocardioversion, to get back into NSR. You wouldn't have to just sit their in AFIB for several months waiting to get an Ablation.

Are you taking any HR control drugs at the onset of an episode? The symptoms are porportional to how high your AFIB HR is. The 90-100 that you mentioned, is that by EKG, of Pulse check or how did you get that number? If it is by Pulse-check, then your actual HR is probably about 20 or so beats higher in actuality, as some of the real small beats are not felt when your in AFIB. If you can get your AFIB HR down around 70-75, then you will have less symptoms, and also protect your Heart from the possibility of Tachardia-induced Cardio-Myopathy.

Also you said that you have taken the Supplements. How serious did you get with the Mg? Did you take it to "bowel tolerance"? Did you try drinking "Waller Water" (Mg Water)? How about checking for Sleep Apnea? That can be a factor? It's alot of work to reasonably exhaust the obvious Natural methods of treating the issue. In addition the Ablation won't stop the PAC's if you get alot of those, so long run, you will benefit from at least trying to treat it Naturally

Lastly, at your young age, it is extremely unlikely, that just 1 Ablation will cure you permanently. Being so young your Ablation burn lines in your Heart will heal over faster than that of older people.

.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 06/17/2015 02:51AM by The Anti-Fib.

Ben,

I am currently 37, and was 35 when I was diagnosed with afib. For me stress was the precipitating factor. At the peak of my afib attacks I was having them a couple of times a week for 2-4 hours a whack.

I think because I have changed my diet, practice relaxation techniques, supplement (magnesium) and have reduced my overall stress, my afib's are spacing themselves apart. I am currently at 10.5 weeks since my last afib, and the only time I get flutters is when I have indigestion for the most part.

Like you, when I initially was diagnosed I looked very quickly at getting an ablation, but the reason I waited is because we are so young, I was curious how ablated hearts fare over the long term. Ideally you and I will still be here 40-50 years from now, and I didn't to find out that ablated hearts "give out" after x number of years.

I'll be honest, even while my afib has been gone for months, it does stink to watch what I eat, not drink, and to still wonder if it's coming back, but there's a fair number of people who get ablations who still have issues, so who knows. I guess it just is what it is.

I think you should do whatever you feel is best, as it is your body. Currently, I am taking nothing at all for afib, no drugs, no blood thinners. I think if my afib kicks up again, I will experiment with flec, and soon after that probably choose ablation.

One thing to remmeber is this is an area of very active research, so even delaying surgery for 4-5 years might give us stronger overall outcomes.

Good luck, and PM/email me direct if you want to chat further. It has been very hard for me to find "younger" afibbers, and I know how frustrating all of this is!

Stay strong brother!

-Eric

Eric - good to see your report and that you are managing well by diet and lifestyle changes. It's important to remember that while it's annoying at a younger age to have to be mindful of 'eating clean' because of Afib... the lesson learned is that your body is telling you something about what you choose to do or put in it.

Some years ago, we called Afib our "canary in the coal mine" ... a warning that something in our biochemistry was adversely affected by our diet and lifestyle choices. I always felt we were fortunate in that regard because it is relatively "easy" to fix.....whereas others might end up with severe ailments such as cancer or other degenerative diseases that don't respond to restoring electrolytes or eliminating reactions from food toxins or unhealthy food choices.

The younger we start being very selective about giving our body the proper nutrients and avoiding toxic exposures to chemicals, additives and other substances not considered essential fuels for the body, the longer we can enjoy living as a healthy individual. Once one falls into the trap of seeing multiple doctors for multiple conditions and taking multiple drugs, you are caught in that downhill spiral which is not only expensive but typically unsuccessful at restoring health.

I wish you success in maintaining your NSR through mindful healthy choices.

Jackie

Eric - it is great that you have improved your healthy living habits. However, I think you are underestimating the risk of living with AF at a young age. The two biggest risks are strokes over all time frames and developing heart failure over the long term. I mentioned my son's two friends and the decision process was fairly simple (they already have healthy habits as far as eating well and exercising, minus the occasional energy drinks for studying/midterms/finals), do the risk of living with the diseases outweigh the risks of procedural complications at 95% cure rate for SVT and 80%+ cure rate for AF? Not even close, ablation wins hands down. Ablation complication rates goes up with age and success rate goes down with progression. Where do I get those cure rates - well established in SVT for a number of years now. AF data is from CCF using old technology and less understanding about trigger locations than today. At high volume expert centers, AF ablation success rates are pushing 90% now. CABANA trial will no doubt show that ablation will be first line therapy for paroxysmal AF when results are released in 2 years given the ineffectiveness of current medications.

Cleveland Clinic charts on 5 year follow up study post AF ablations. Note that this was done with what would be old technology by today's standards. Also, you are not going to get close to the same results at your "average" hospital. So do your homework and be picky about who does the procedure. That applies to both SVT and AF.

[circep.ahajournals.org]

and full paper is linked below

[circep.ahajournals.org]

Thanks Jackie!

researcher,

Are you saying that if a person is not in afib, or has afib 2-4 times a year for a total afib load of lets say 16-40 hours a year, that it would be more prudent to get an ablation then to wait until symptoms progress? I'm not sure I agree with that (but I could be convinced otherwise).

I assume you have afib as well, so you know that strokes and heart failure rates go up the longer you are in afib, but if you are rarely in afib, and never for more then a day, I don't understand how you'd be at more risk if you're in NSR 99.99% of the year.

Again, I could be wrong about this, so let me know if I am. Also, do you have any studies on people who've had ablations for > 40 years? That's also what I am curious about.

Thanks for responding, it is very helpful. So much of afib research seems opaque, so every suggestion helps!

-Eric

Researcher:

How long has it been since these 2 young men got Ablations? Let's see where there at 5 years down the road before we call it a good decision. I've been quietly informed by several Dr.'s including 2 EP's that those stats are not at all reliable. Alot of propaganda to meet the needs of profit driven corporate Medical system. As for the risk of Stroke, in Ben and Erich case, the risk would be minimal, as they don't appear to be in AFIB long enough for a clot to form. Same with the Heart Failure concerns, 2 hours of AFIB every month will not cause Heart Failure.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 06/19/2015 01:51PM by The Anti-Fib.

I checked my calendar, I've had three events this year for a total of 11 hours of afib. About 4 hours per incident.

The risk of stroke caused by Afib is certainly a consideration at any age. However, the stroke factor depends primarily on blood viscosity which I like to call, ‘thick, sticky blood”… as mentioned in several posts on that topic, unless, of course there is compromised heart function, in which case it would not be diagnosed as “Lone” Atrial Fibrillation.
[www.afibbers.org]

When the heart is in afib, blood clearance out of the heart chambers is slowed or impaired and if blood is thick and viscous (hyperviscosity) or (thick, sticky blood) the result equates to the classic analogy of…. “Churn cream and you get butter; churn blood and you get a clot.”

Regardless of age, blood viscosity is obviously an extremely important awareness factor and includes monitoring by various test methods…controlling silent inflammation… diet… and natural preventive aids which help keep blood viscosity low and in a safe range…especially if one has Afib, but not exclusive to Afibbers.

Ablations don’t change the blood viscosity. It’s better for everyone and especially Afibbers to understand the importance of 1) monitoring blood viscosity and 2) awareness about dietary influence that promote hyperviscosity and 3) natural supplements that help eliminate silent inflammation that contributes to hyperviscosity and others that discourage blood platelet aggregation (clumping) such as magnesium and Omega 3 Essential Fatty Acids or fish oil.

This is the problem with what is frequently called “corporate medicine”… the lack of useful preventive testing as a routine to help insure that young people aren’t walking around with factors such as the thick, sticky blood that put them at risk.

I wasn’t young when I had my first afib event (age 59)… and one of the first things I read was the importance knowing about and managing blood viscosity. I didn’t hear it from the cardiologist other than to say… warfarin/Coumadin might be something I’d have to go on. Since I struggled for 8 years with increasing incidence and longer duration of Afib, I was very concerned about the blood viscosity issue. I did extensive research on the use of the enzyme, nattokinase, to help manage the blood viscosity. This put me in touch with the leading US researcher at the time back then (still is) who brought nattokinase to the US population as a preventive supplement, Ralph O. Holsworth, DO… who was a medical physician with the US military at the time. He was most generous in sharing research, papers and his clinical experience with patients who had hyperviscosity issues. He his shared his hand’s-on approach to help me ensure my blood viscosity was in a safe range. Many of my events lasted 24 to 27 hours but I had confidence in the enzyme nattokinase approach….along with optimal magnesium, Omega 3’s, ginkgo biloba and more. (now we know about Grounding or Earthing to help discourage platelet aggregation).

At 103 days after my 2003 Natale ablation, I had breakthrough arrhythmia after I was off heart meds and warfarin but went right back on my Nattokinase and other viscosity preventives. I was Electrocardioverted at 39 hours and the following week, I had a spiral CT scan of the heart as was required for my post-ablation checkup which was noted as satisfactory. About 2 months later, when I received a copy of the CT scan report, it noted that there was a clot in my LAA. I called the EP nurse to comment about it and say it looks as if I fell through the cracks since no one called to warn me, but the good news is… I’m still alive and apparently dissolved the clot with my Nattokinase and other goodies. !!!

So, that experience reinforced all that I had learned from Dr. Holsworth and the teachings of the late Ken Kensey, MD, in his books The Origin of Atherosclerosis: What Really Initiates the Inflammatory Process, and The Blood Thinner Cure: A Revolutionary Seven-Step Lifestyle Plan for Stopping Heart Disease and Stroke.

Eventually, in 2005, I offered reports on Nattokinase in Conference Room Sessions 39 and 40…
SESSION 39: Nattokinase - Interim Survey (March 10 - April 25, 2005)
[www.afibbers.org]

Townsend Letter also published an excellent report that all afibbers should read on this topic…
Measuring Blood Viscosity to Improve Patient Outcomes
by Pushpa Larsen, ND, and Ralph Holsworth, DO
[www.townsendletter.com]

New readers here should read these reports.

Jackie

Jackie,

Thank you, this is very interesting. The one concerning thing from my lab report was my 'sticky blood' factor. My cholesterol overall is low, but my HDL/LDL ratio isn't great and my LDL are tiny and plentiful. Fixing this is what I am working on now. Part of the issue isthat I am half african-american so I may have rolled some bad genetic dice on that, but I am still going to fix it as naturally as possible.

your burden is low so you can ask your doctor whether it is OK for you to take an aspirin during episodes, it will give you some protection but not for about the first 20 minutes. I take 80 mg daily for many years now because of heart disease passed down from my father's side of the family tree. My father in law has had AF for 20+ yrs now. He is 93 and takes warfarin. His AF is permanent and mostly asymptomatic.

Regarding the 2 boys. The one with AF was ablated in Nov. 2014 and the one with SVT was ablated in Feb. this year Imagine what happens if they have an episode while surfing. There is absolutely no question that ablation was their best option instead of "managment" by medication at their age. The second one had his episode on a surf trip with me and my son in January when we surfed Maui. Surfing is not a passive sport where you can decide to stop, you are constantly paddling and people drown when they have heart issues while surfing. Of course, their alternative is not to surf anymore and that's not going to happen. Again it is a personal decision that many struggle with. There are a lot of factors about life style changes vs continuation, burden, access to skilled experts/high-volume centers, etc .... It is working out well for the boys and they seem very relieved when I saw them last time. And they are surfing again without anxiety - always looking for the big swell.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 06/20/2015 12:51AM by researcher.

TAF - those are valid questions regarding the profit motive of medical device companies. It is scary to see so many end up with pacemakers when their disease get mismanaged. Big money to be made all around. More big money to be made (prior to ACA but jury is still out on that) when a case is really screwed up. We still occasionally see a question about doctors suggesting pacemakers as the fix for AF and even the simpler arrhythmias. Procedures done well saves money and improves quality of life. It is not for all and my 93 yr old father in law is living example. He only had about 5 years to live according to his oncologist after prostate cancer surgery back when he was 67.

Eric - The small particles are the culprits and there are measures to take with managing control over those. The important tests deal with the particle density and size and are not so much concerned with overall cholesterol, per se.

Remember that while it's important to recognize the potential of genetic heritage, the science now amongst the forward thinking researchers and physicians is to manage or prevent the "expression" of genetic tendencies. Previous posts on this topic have mentioned the familiar quote by Bruce Lipton, PhD...regarding the science of Epigenetics.... "We no longer have to be held hostage to our genes (or our DNA) " which should be a focus for you.

Spend some time with a Google search on Dr. Lipton's work on this topic. If you need help, let me know.

Meanwhile, you can focus on having all of the tests in that list that determine where you stand with blood viscosity and remember that diet does make a difference. Even if you were eventually to have an ablation, you'll still need to be very knowledgeable on this topic because unless you are in the care of a Functional Medicine practitioner, it's unlikely you'll have these tests ordered routinely.

Jackie

TAF - following up on discussion with regards to device implants. I noticed at Cardiostim (happening now in Milan) an entire session devoted to removing devices that doctors decided were either unnecessary or ineffective. There is less incentive to waste money under the single payer system that many European countries have. Regarding your doctors that say stats are not reliable. I would love to hear their opinion on the effectiveness of medications and their complications, with the understanding that they get a cut of the drug revenue.

Researcher:

That is a good point about the differences in Healthcare in the US vs Europe.

I have heard that about drug Rx kickbacks, not sure at all how widespread it is, and I think it's technically illegal.
The 2 main Dr's that told me that, weren't really pushing drugs. The Dr. that had the worst opinion of Ablations did sat that Amiodarone's side effects were overblown, and that it was still the most effective AAM. That was just based on the results of the patients in his own practice, and I don't think that much of a kickback would be received for a older drug like that. To be fair to the argument, He did put the option of a device on the table, and a kickback is very possible there.

A kickback from an Ablation referral is probably higher than that from a Drug Rx. Also the EP's that do Ablations told me that the other surgical options like the Mini-Maze or the TT 5-Box Maze were not as successfull as claimed.

Anyway glad I found this site, and did none of above, in NSR for 16 months now, on nothing after being in Persistent AFIB for 4 years.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 06/22/2015 05:33PM by The Anti-Fib.

Anti Afib - here's some interesting reading

[ethicalnag.org]

For more, follow Marcia Angell, MD, former editor of NEJM for two decades …and her book, The Truth About the Drug Companies: How They Deceive Us and What to Do About It;

More: The Whistleblower: Confessions of a Healthcare Hitman by Peter Rost, MD; The Big Fix: How the Pharmaceutical Industry Rips Off American Consumers by Katherine Greider; and The $800 Million Pill: The Truth Behind the Cost of New Drugs by Merrill Goozner.

See also: Monday, May 03, 2010
Boston Review — Marcia Angell: Big Pharma, Bad Medicine [pharmagossip.blogspot.com]

[ppjg.me]

Dear Erich,

thank you very much for your post - you really put it very well and what you wrote are thoughts very familiar to me: being in our younger years, should we maybe wait for better technologies, safer outcomes, better survey studies and meanwhile try to fight AFib by "natural means" (bearing in mind that taking supplements each and every day is also something not 100 % natural)? Or should we take advantage of our otherwise healthy hearts and young vessels and go for an ablation? I don't think there is just "one right thing to do" - I rather believe that each and every single case needs an individual perspective.

You also were quite honest and wrote how hard it is to control what you eat, what you drink, what you do, especially if you are in an age in which everybody (including yourself) expects you to fully function, to be flexible and to be robust. I feel the same way. It is easier said and done to quit all of those triggers when you are 60 but it is a life challenge if you are asked to do it with 30. And I will be honest as well: I am not willing to live my life trying to controll uncontrollable things like stress, anger, fear and (in some occassions) nutrition in the hope to avoid the next attack. I am certainly williing to change some of my habits, to live healthy and to take care of my body - but not by giving up what I love to do. Researcher's example of the two boys not willing to give up surfing is perfect - I totally understand these boys and I am sure that they did the right thing.

Thank you all for your good advices and your kind words. I am glad I found this site and this forum.

Best, Ben

TAF - See slide 24 in the slides below. I purposely picked Ohio State since AF patients going in get to choose all the different options available.

[ccme.osu.edu]

It is good that you are achieving NSR without ablation or drugs. Best wishes that your good luck continues.

No problem Ben, I am happy you were able to come back and read my post.

Yeah, I agree with you 100%, in my case my "stressful" situation had an end, which has ended. Once I get back home I will start working out again and see how that goes, but if things flare up in any significant way, I will probably go your way as well.

-Eric