Cancer Radiation Treatments & Afib

Hi,

I was diagnosed and treated for breast cancer this summer. Fortunately, it was caught in its early stages. I received 15 rounds of radiation therapy as part of the treatment plan (no chemo, thank goodness). The cancer was in the left breast. I believe the medical professionals (M.D. Anderson) were very skilled and knowledgeable and was rest assured by the radiation oncologist that the external beam did not effect the heart based on images she reviewed. Still, recently, I found myself experiencing a high heart rate, particularly in the morning and returning to normal as the day wears on. I am also taking thyroid medication which last year, while hyperthyroid, led to my Afib. My thyroid is due to be tested again this month. In July, 2023, when my thyroid was tested, it was hypothyroid, at that time. I am not sure if that has changed, hence, my need to be tested again. Some of those hyperthyroid symptoms appear now. But with all of the stress due to the cancer and now "cancer free" I wonder if the radiation might have impacted my heart to trigger Afib or tachycardia. Like many, I am trying to figure out what triggered the irregular heartbeat that was in normal sinus rhythm through the cancer surgery and radiation treatments. I also just received my Covid and flu vaccines and after radiation treatments were complete, the following week I came down with a virus. I was reading past posts about the vaccines and their effect on triggering Afib. It appears the vaccines don't impact Afib episodes. I see the cardiologist in November so until then, I have to figure out what is the trigger to this heart irregularity. I regularly work out as I did last year with my Afib but now I don't know if that, too, has triggered all of this. Perhaps, in sum, it is all due to the stress my body has been through these past few months.

Thank you, in advance, for your input.

I wish you a lifetime of remission.

Regarding your thyroid medicine, my Harvard trained GP also went to UCLA where he got a degree in nutrition. He practices western and holistic medicine.

With me when my thyroid labs were high, he had me try a neck soup. Who knows? Maybe it helped because my labs returned to normal.

I buy chicken and turkey necks and boil or lately make a nice broth using my ninja foodie where in 10 minutes I have a perfect broth. I cool and refrigerate and the next day strain through a nut bag to remove the fat. I pour into Souper cubes-a silicone storage sold by amazon and stack one and two cups frozen soup cubes into my freezer so I can pop one out daily and have my neck soup broth.

My GP feels somehow the poultry’s thyroid leaches to give me naturally the thyroid function I need without drugs.

My mother went the opposite route and took thyroid meds which worsted her afib episodes.

Here is a good recipe article mentioning restoring one’s thyroid function:
[discover.grasslandbeef.com]

Thank you, Susan. It appears like it is worth a try. I read other posts about calcium and how it impacts Afib. I was taking a magnesium that had calcium and that raised a red flag for me. So, I went back to the magnesium I typically take, to which caused no Afib episode.. Due to the change, it made a difference and so far, today, my heart is in normal sinus rhythm. Let's hope that did the trick.