Vitamin help

Hi I have persistent afib for the last 9 months and while it's slow to get treatment I'm supplementing with vitamins but there is so many.
Could someone please tell me what I should buy from the vitamin shop here please.
Thanks spencer

Hello Spencer - welcome to our forum. There are many factors to consider when supplementing so this response asks some questions and directs you to some of the past posts and recommendations for trying various supplements.

However, we typically say that "we are experiments of one and what works well for some, may not for others" so the more you can tell us about personal stats, including current health status beyond afib, medications, age, fitness, lifestyle habits including alcohol consumption, typical diet including if you cook your meals or eat out or packaged foods, it all comes into play when trying to assess what might be useful for you. Ideally, you'd be working with a practitioner who includes nutritional assessment and advice but as a start, here are some of the considerations.

Most commonly, your electrolytes or minerals that support the heart's electrical system are key players. Typically, afibbers are found to be deficient in magnesium. Some take supplemental calcium or eat a high-calcium diet and that helps interfere with magnesium function. Same with potassium. That's critical for helping to stabilizing arrhythmia but if a person has a high sodium dietary intake, then potassium can't work as it should. There are other nutrients involved as well and a core of them is covered in the report titled "The Strategy" which is in the process of being updated to include other helpful aids.

The caveat for supplementing with magnesium and potassium is that the patient should have healthy kidney function and if you are taking meds for other health conditions, there may be contraindications for other supplements as well.

If you can give us a more complete profile sketch, it will help us help you.

Go to this link and find the posts on magnesium, potassium, The Strategy, and also start reading the other reports for background. [www.afibbers.org]

I'll be looking for your response.
Best to you,
Jackie

Hi Jackie thanks for the response
I'm 37 years of age before developing afib I had a vo2 max of 63 so was fit and a competitive runner training once to twice a day .
My body max index is now 22 the Beta blockers put on a little weight. I do still go to the gym but mostly weights as I have been told not to run much as it contributed to my afib.
They can't find anything other than the afib wrong with me but I have had pins and needles in my hands on and off for the last 7 years when I sleep.
I think I have had afib on and off brought on with alcohol for 10 years although they never found anything wrong with me.
I take apixaban 5mg bisoprolol 2.5mg.
Ecg shows afib at 79 bpm blood pressure 110/80 normal tft sodium 140 potassium 4.1 urea 6.1 creatinine 72
I tend to eat seed type granola with fruits for breakfast fish and rice then fruits maybe bread and in the evening a meat with salad or veg with pasta or potatoes.
I have never drunk tea or coffee or milk I drink alcohol maybe two beers every couple of weeks now.
I have given up all junk food and caffeine (coke) and also aspartame.
I have never found anything I eat make any difference. I used to binge drink in my 20s that brung it on and in the end running did .
Apart from alcohol and excessive exercise nothing else has really effected it.
I had a cardioversion that lasted 5 minutes and waiting for abulation.
Thanks spencer

Hi Spencer,

Though electrolytes, specifically magnesium can help afib, they are very unlikely to convert someone who is in persistent afib, especially since your cardioversion lasted a very short time.

Excessive endurance exercise is a common path to afib, it was for me. Limiting it is useful.

From an ablation perspective, yours is likely a "complex" case, meaning just ablating the pulmonary veins will likely not be a cure. Our advice is to go to a top tier ablator, if possible. Where do you live?

The neuropathy in your hands is concerning - likely completely unrelated to afib. Could be many factors: see causes here <[www.mayoclinic.org]

George

Hi George I live in England and have been to see a dr Oliver segal who I found to be one of the best in the uk he has said I thinks I will need at least three abulation with a 50% chance of them working due to the persistent afib and being a endurance athlete. I'm currently waiting on the NHS but it is very slow indeed in fact they have lost my information twice so far when I do get on the official waiting list it will be around 4 more months.
I am tempted to go privert but at £20k a operation and 50% chance of success I'm not sure I can justify it.
I'm also looking into priceing going to have it done in France.

Spencer - Thanks for your detailed response. As George comments and unfortunately, the excessive endurance exercise can cause damage to heart tissue.

It's been found that endurance athletes have significant magnesium deficiency and while supplementing is not likely to reverse your afib, your heart still needs it as do other tissues in your body... so you could follow the magnesium dosing protocols listed in the Strategy while you are waiting and deciding about an ablation.

There was a previous post or two about which electrophysiologists in England are known to be better to see for complicated cases such as yours, and definitely... if Bordeaux is a consideration for you, that would also be an excellent choice.

On the numbness in your hands... How long have you been using apixaban? Perhaps there is a correlation. I mention this because I have tingling in feet after using that drug for 3 years.

Read more here: [search.yahoo.com]

Jackie

Thanks Jackie
The pins and needles is something I have had for years and as with the afib was only present with alcohol before.
I'm still unsure what I should be doing with exercise at the moment I jog and walk about 4K about four times a week.
I don't want to do so much it does damage but want to keep my heart from getting weak.
When I first found out I had afib I stopped all exercise for about two months as I know I had contributed to having it but I found the less I did the harder it was to do anything so I started a little again much less and slower.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 06/10/2017 05:08PM by Spencer.

I'd be a little worried about your Doctors comment about at least 3 ablations with a 50% chance of success. Bordeaux have two of the best Ablation specialists in the world but England also has someone who is world class i.e Dr Sabine Ernst in London. She has the experience and expertise as well as state-of-art equipment that I'm sure Dr Segal doesn't have. Check her out on Google.

I concur with Sam. Bordeaux team is spectacular. I also concur that Dr. Ernst is excellent. She's at Royal Brompton. At the very least I'd get a second opinion from Dr. Ernst. I'd chat about needing LAA or left atrial appendage work to solve your problem with any team you are dealing with. As a layperson, your case speaks to this involvement.

I looked into Sabine Ernest first but unfortunately she only really takes a research role theses days and isn't really hands on with ablations.
I was offered her boss as a lead consultant at the royal Brompton but it's a big team and there is nothing to say he would do the ablation and not some student doing there first one as this is how the NHS works. Dr segal was part of this team before he left to be the lead consultant at the all new barts health heart center. As I have met him he has said he would make sure he does the ablation himself.
Unfortunately both hospitals are currently rated is inadequate by the NHS unless you go down there privert sector.
I have also read on here other English people having trouble with Bordeaux.
I was told today that I'm on the waiting list and it will be four months but I could swap hospitals or go privert at this point.

[www.heartrhythmspecialists.org]
Handy link for anyone in the uk looking for specialists