grounding sheets - afib ?

Im desperate for sleep. Grounding sheets are one thing I have not tried. I wondered if anyone ever had or heard of them affecting heart beats/ initiating afib. I know they are allowed for people with pacemakers and are not 'electrical'.

In my opinion they're voodoo.

Try adding thiamine, helps the body convert food into energy and produce melatonin, the sleep hormone. You’ll have the best sleep of your life.

Have you tried:

[www.jamiesonvitamins.com]

Also, their 'stress ease' formula, minus the melatonin, has thiamine - 35 mg.

Tried them. Did nothing for me in terms of rest/sleep. Did not influence my heart rhythm that I could tell. CBD gummies work for some folks. You need to find a reputable retailer that is knowledgeable if you go that route. Some forms of magnesium help.

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Carey
In my opinion they're voodoo.

LOL

Also crystals you put under your pillow

LOL People laugh at these new age ideas while taking toxic pharmaceuticals by the hand full. I go to a acupuncturist who has some great ideas and many ancient Chinese medicines that can and do help me. I walk outside bare foot every chance I get it may help my health or not but it sure feels good. Cheers

I'm selective what I laugh at. I don't laugh at acupuncture, and many ancient medicines and treatments. But I do laugh at "treatments" that are fundamentally unsound, and grounding is high on that list. When I take pharmaceuticals, I know exactly what's in them, how much, and what its benefits and risks are. The contrast isn't irrational.

The grounding theory goes that mankind evolved being in contact with the ground almost all the time, and that since we're rarely grounded in modern life, this throws the heart's electrical system out of whack. Well, there are at least two problems with that theory. First, Electricity goes from a source to a ground. The ground for the heart isn't earth; it's ions inside and outside heart cells with opposite charges. The electricity goes no further than that besides some barely detectable residual charge that can be measured on the skin with ECGs. And note that measuring it at the most distant point -- your feet -- is nearly impossible. So where do you suppose this "grounding" is happening?

The second problem, and the more important one in my mind, is that afib has been known since ancient times. You know, when everyone was frequently walking around on bare feet and sleeping on the ground? Ditto with people who live in tropical climates (I grew up in one). Those people are barefoot whenever possible because it's cooler, and they get afib just like everyone else.

Anyone who seriously believes grounding will work should get on Amazon and order a grounding wrist strap. You can buy one for about $5.

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johnnyS
Try adding thiamine, helps the body convert food into energy and produce melatonin, the sleep hormone. You’ll have the best sleep of your life.

Thanks. two of you mentioned thiamine. I have tried "all the things" but thiamine isn't one of them.

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gloaming
Have you tried:

[www.jamiesonvitamins.com]

Also, their 'stress ease' formula, minus the melatonin, has thiamine - 35 mg.

Thanks. I have tried the melatonin but, and it was awhile ago, I think it triggered afib. I even have 0.3 mg tablets recommended by my cardiologist who uses them... sometimes less is more theory. I had not really thought of thiamine though and will look into that. thanks

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sldabrowski
Tried them. Did nothing for me in terms of rest/sleep. Did not influence my heart rhythm that I could tell. CBD gummies work for some folks. You need to find a reputable retailer that is knowledgeable if you go that route. Some forms of magnesium help.

Thanks. Wow the last week has been rough an I was about to write how I take Mg and realized.. I have been forgetting it. I have three different forms and toggle between them. I have considered CBD or even THC but some folks on here experienced more afib when they did that so I have been reticent. A friend used THC medicinally for a completely different reason so I am a huge supporter. Still I just said to my husband, I'm gonna go get some gummies if I don't get some sleep soon..

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calvin
LOL People laugh at these new age ideas while taking toxic pharmaceuticals by the hand full. I go to a acupuncturist who has some great ideas and many ancient Chinese medicines that can and do help me. I walk outside bare foot every chance I get it may help my health or not but it sure feels good. Cheers

Calvin and Carey- thanks for the thoughts. I hear both of you. We actually spent 2 hours at house church last night talking about alternative medicine of all things. And the upshot was to 1) Ask why does this work? (if people say it works) and 2) ask for studies. Not everything will have a study of course. And some things like elderberry or vitamin C for a cold won't hurt you. That's kind of why I posted here and googling as well. My Physical Therapist uses grounding sheets herself even while sitting on the stool doing therapy. I have not looked for studies yet. I'm loathe to spend more money on things that don't work...

As it is I take a wee bit of Xanax and that isn't working anymore and I don't want to increase. I just got an hour sleep and did not want to just lie in bed so I wrote my docs and asked if Trazadone was a possibility. I think I couldn't take it when I was on dofetlidide but I am wondering if it was something on the ECG. I'm ready to try another drug- unless a big part was the fact that I have been forgetting my Magnesium. Wow that would be terrific if that was the reason...It wasn't fantastic when I was remembering it nightly but it was sure better than this.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 08/14/2024 04:55AM by bettylou4488.

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sldabrowski
Tried them. Did nothing for me in terms of rest/sleep. Did not influence my heart rhythm that I could tell. CBD gummies work for some folks. You need to find a reputable retailer that is knowledgeable if you go that route. Some forms of magnesium help.

Cbdmd.com
Recommend by Dr Natale.

It didn’t help my sleep but probably I didn’t take enough. I was told to work up to 30mg a night…that’s three gummies.

My concern was if I got used to them and then boarded an international flight, I could be breaking a law once I landed.

The best thing for sleep is a tired body. No doubt, exercise of any kind helps me sleep. The norm is 8 hrs. 10:30-6:30 is the routine. A bad night is 7 hrs. and that is typically on a day I don't do anything physical. I speculate that grounding my golf club over 150 times a week promotes sleep, or maybe it's the swinging and walking that is the benefit.

If you PM me - I will send you the one I tried if you are interested. It is sitting in a drawer. You are welcome to have it.

I really do like the idea of physical exertion. I have been active since just three months prior to my first ablation, a little less so just in terms of level of exertion and how far I go when I do get outdoors since. I get out for a walk most days and I try to make the most of it. There is a bluff overlooking the ocean nearby, about four km away by route, and there is a steep set of stairs up the first level comprising 150 steps, a short landing where I can recover, and then another path with steps rising another 150. I can work that as hard as I want, and then continue the effort as far as I wish if I break into a jog thereafter. My HR tops out at 145 by the time I have reached the landing and am moving toward the second set. At 72, the total comes to 72 + 145 = 217, just shy of my theoretical maximum safe heart rate.

When I have had an active day, say doing that and also the lawns when I get home all hot and sweaty, bedtime is most welcome with lots of yawning and a desire to nest. I get better sleeps, on average, when I have had that kind of a day.

So, I echo what Ken has said. Not eating late, having a quiet evening, no screen time after about 2100, and being active during the day is a great recipe for most people who would like a proper rest.

Hi Bettylou... Sorry about your sleep issues. Your comment about forgetting magnesium at bedtime reminded me of my sleep issues many years ago. After a trying various 'methods'... I had read about the benefits of taking magnesium at bedtime. As I recall, it took some time, but eventually, it did help me get to sleep but it wasn't totally 'restorative'.

Also, I had attended a presentation by Naturopathic Physician, Michael N. Murray, ND. and he talked about a product called PharmaGaba for sleep issues...or even during a stressful day. I tried that with very welcome success. (available at iHerb.com)

At bedtime, I still use a dose of magnesium glycinate powder (prox 150 mg), and the Pharma-gaba tablet - which I either take whole or cut in half if I'm very relaxed - on nights when I might be too 'wired' to fall asleep quickly. Typically, I stay asleep the whole night and do not feel 'groggy' in the morning.

Best to you,
Jackie

While I'd agree that grounding sheets should have no impact on the heart's electrical system, it's conceivable that they could affect sleep. (I think that was the original question.) The mechanism I'd propose is dissipation of slight static electricity that may build up from motion in bed. Thinking wool socks rubbing on silk sheets, or, certain synthetic(?) clothing items that crackle with static when they're moved/removed. Might such static build might be enough to cause skin discomfort? Though they're probably voodoo, it wouldn't hurt to try.

Isn't grounding supposed to affect the Zeta potential (vague memory) and that in turn reduces platelets aggregation If that has any other affects i have no idea but would love to see some science on it.

Hi Bettylou.

I was a regular visitor and contributor to afibbers.com from mid 2006 until at least 2010, a period of time when I had 5 ablations. One ablation in India and 4 in Bordeaux so I have been around the block when it comes to AFib. That said the topic is about earthing the body so here's my take on Earth/Grounding mats and make it a quick as possible without going into details initially but will add any info should anyone ask.

I have made my own grounding mat at a cost of approx 29 HKD (3USD) plus 4 others i.e. one each for my wife and 20 year old son and two other mats for two friends aged 35 to 40.

Results: The two friends reported they immediately slept like logs on the first night they used them when they both did not really sleep well
normally very impressed. Note, I did not make any claims for the mats helping them sleep.
My wife aged 53 who would wake up if a mosquito sneezed in the bedroom, sleeps like a log every night since she started using the
earthing mat. One other point is she goes to the toilet EVERY day now which she has never done in her entire life.
Over two months ago my wife collapsed at the bus stop and spent two days in hospital.
She no sooner got home than she started getting blurred sight in her right eye so continuous back and forth to hospital for a few weeks
as she had a build up of pressure in both her eyes which were only very very slightly improving over her weekly appointments at the
hospital. At her last appointment last Wednesday, just over one week after starting to use the earthing mat, the doctors were very
surprised that the inflammation on her eyes optic nerves which caused the blurring had totally disappeared. Earthing No1 job is to
remove inflammation from the body but I know better than explain this principle in an hospital setting.
My wife will now go for lazer eye treatment in a week which will help her eyes to drain more successfully to keep eye pressure at bay.
I must report that I have noticed nothing from using my earthing mat and neither as my son said anything but he uses the mat every day
sat at his computer a do I and his Mum. Note, I have been using a simple earthing wire and plug for maybe two years after watching a
video on the subject
I will forward the short video that will comprehensibly prove that earthing mats remove electric charges from the body instantly.....when I
find it. It make sense that the discharging electrical charges should not be there if they disappear when connected to earth via the mat.
Barry G.

Video for Grounding / Earthing.

Google ...........Measuring Body Voltage the benefit of Grounding Earthing - YouTube. mp4

The number 1 guy who should take credit for this 'discovery' is a guy from Montana who was a 'Linesman' installing the high wire electrical installations across the USA. His name is Clint Ober a nicer guy you couldn't meet and well worth checking out his story.

Barry G.

Interesting Berry ! How did you make your grounding mat/what materials?
Personal experiences are very useful for forming lines of investigations rather than just dismissing them.
Seem to recall from a video Sinatra (cardiologist) who thought that grounding was all bulltish. He put blood under a microscope prior and after grounding and found that the platelets didn't clump after grounding like the did prior. Something must be happening.

Wish someone else would confirm or deny that experiment. Obviously nobody in the industry will fund something like that when no $$$$ can be made.

Wow thanks Barry. I am a little behind here having been on vacation but will go google that video. I sound a lot like your wife in the sleep department. My husband calls me a high maintenance sleeper LOL!

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Barry G.
Video for Grounding / Earthing.

Google ...........Measuring Body Voltage the benefit of Grounding Earthing - YouTube. mp4

The number 1 guy who should take credit for this 'discovery' is a guy from Montana who was a 'Linesman' installing the high wire electrical installations across the USA. His name is Clint Ober a nicer guy you couldn't meet and well worth checking out his story.

Barry G.

I was wonding same on how to make them.

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Joe
Interesting Berry ! How did you make your grounding mat/what materials?
Personal experiences are very useful for forming lines of investigations rather than just dismissing them.
Seem to recall from a video Sinatra (cardiologist) who thought that grounding was all bulltish. He put blood under a microscope prior and after grounding and found that the platelets didn't clump after grounding like the did prior. Something must be happening.

Wish someone else would confirm or deny that experiment. Obviously nobody in the industry will fund something like that when no $$$$ can be made.

Hi Joe and Bettylou.

I was beginning to wonder how, out of more than 50 posts after my initial post no-one appeared interested in what to me is a fantastic discovery in the health world so thanks for asking about the Earthing/Grounding issue.

I will try to make this as simple and short as possible but I am not very good at that.:-)

I initially tried to buy one here in Hong Kong but unbelievably I couldn't find one in the big electrical stores but could easily buy one online so I decided I would make one myself as its very, very simple to do.

To make an earthing mat like mine which I use when I am on the computer (barefoot) you need 4 things only i.e.........
1) An electrical plug with an earthing pin typical of UK standards.
2) A length of electrical wire typical of the wire you would connect to any domestic plug such as a plug for a vacuum cleaner, say 2 metres/2 yards long, determined by how far the nearest electrical wall socket is from the mat.
3) a roll of 2 inch (50mm) aluminum tape
4) A sheet of aluminum approx 600mm x 300mm (2 foot by 1 foot)

a) Open the plug to expose the Earth pin and its connection point.
b) At one end of the wire cut back the wire's protective coating to expose the copper wire to fit into the Earth point in the plug then screw back the backing plate of the plug.
c) At the other end of the wire cut back the protective coating a minimum of 3 inches/75mm to expose the copper wire then spread the copper strands into a fan type shape.
d) Now we start on the aluminium bit. Here in Hong Kong the vast amount of homes do not have super-duper large all singing all dancing kitchens and most have what a westerner would consider a camp fire type gas cooking 'hob' with just two burners. To stop any splashings of food etc etc onto the walls (think Chinese WOK cooking) you can buy for 29HKD (approx 3 or 4USD) an aluminum 'curtain' for want of a better word. This curtain is say 1.2mtr (48 inches long) by 500mm (20 inches wide) when opened up out of the packaging. The very light aluminum is stiffened with swaging groves much like the stainless steel top of the kitchen sink.
e) I cut the aluminium sheet - household scissors can do this easily - into two pieces then I take one piece and fold it in half, this is now the final size of the mat
f) Open the mat and in one corner of the mat insert the fanned out copper wire, close the mat and then staple (paper stapler is what I used) through the mat quite a few times trapping the copper wire inside the folded mat.
g) Staple all around the edges of the mat to close it completely.
h) Make sure all the staples are not sticking up then tape around the edges several times with the aluminum tape.
i) Finally to help keep the wire secured to the mat I insert some super glue at the point the wire enters the folded mat.

Please dont be discouraged by the length of the procedure, in the spoken word it would take 30 seconds and you would know how to make one there and then.
The mat will need regular retaping as cracks appear around the edges depending how well you treat it.
P.S Yes Joe there are many videos showing the blood cells of ungrounded people clumping up with sluggish blood flow and yet within 10 mins or so of grounding the blood cells separate from the clumping of each other and start flow individually and freely, i.e. the cells are in their natural state.
Barry G.

Thanks Barry! Yes intimidating. I will read it again though. (Engineering background so I should have the skillz LOL!)

Hi again Bettylou.

For a bit of fun and tongue in cheek humour and certainly no offence intended. :-)

Apologies if you found the procedure intimidating but I think taken step by step it is very easy to make the earthing mat however I will try again without any details which might confuse the issue. You will need to have basic knowledge of electrical stuff and cooking.
Get one electrical plug that has an earth point. Get one piece of electrical wire and fix one end to the earth point in the plug. Get an aluminium baking tray from the kitchen and fix the other end of the wire to the baking tray with some sticky paper. Push the plug into the wall socket then place your feet into the baking tray. Voila!

Barry G.

Thank you Barry! Will look for the alu parts. But i will switch a resistor into it just in case someone messes with the wiring and creates an earth fault.

Hi again Joe.

I am not very well up on the electrical front - I am a mechanical guy - and the addition of a resistor would be a good safety factor I believe but I have been earthing myself on and off for over 2 years by simply running an earth wire from a plug inserted in the wall socket and wrapping the other end - insulation removed- around a brass electrical fitting which slips over a finger like a wedding ring. Without the hassle :-)
One thing I must confirm is that the 2 inch aluminium tape mentioned in the 'procedure' must be the adhesive backed type.
A simple piece of aluminum sheet would be just as good as the aluminum cooking splash guard that I used but it was easier to buy the splash guard from the Do It Yourself Store near where I live. I am retired with plenty of time to tinker about.

It will be interesting to hear how you go on with your experiment.

Barry G.

I'm concerned about the safety of the advice being given here. As Joe pointed out, a ground fault in the home's wiring could present a serious risk, and without a licensed electrician's approval, connecting your bed to the home's electrical system isn't something I would do or advise anyone else to do. Might work fine in 100 homes and kill someone in 1 home.

Barry G said: "Push the plug into the wall socket then place your feet into the baking tray. Voila!"

Toasted toes? I think I will stay with the more traditional therapies as needed.

Hi Joe.

Regarding your mention of Dr. Sinatra initially claiming Earthing was BS and you would be interested in knowing more about his conclusion.

I have Giga Bytes on every subject under the sun so I checked my archives and the first one I came up with was this video......

Google .....The Earthing Movie: The Remarkable Science of Grounding (full documentary)

On the video Dr Steven Sinatra appears 3 or 4 times throughout the video and is now full on into the science of Earthing/ Grounding along with a few appearances of Dr, Mercola and quite a lot of video time given to Clint Ober and top medical people. There is also a section in the video showing blood platelets before and after grounding which you mentioned and which is ok but there are many worse cases of clumping blood palettes out on the internet but then de-clumping and flowing individually once the body is grounded.

Maybe this needs to be looked into regarding Afib.

Very interesting stuff.

Barry G.

You lost me at Dr. Mercola.

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Barry G.
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Thanks for all the info Barry. A friend has a grounding sheet she just uses to sit on. (She is a physical therapist I work with). I may borrow hers before I attempt to make one. Interesting stuff.

Best of luck Betty.

Barry G.

Hi again Bettylou.

Not sure how sitting on the earthing mat will work, it is highly recommended for the skin to have direct contact with the mat when possible. None natural fabrics would probably isolate you rather than connect you.

Barry G.

Thanks for that info update Barry!
That's where i most likely watched/listened to it as well. Without looking deeply into it, my take is, what's the downside of doing it (earthing).
As for Mercola - i prefer to look at the arguments presented rather than the person presenting it

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Barry G.
Hi again Bettylou.

Not sure how sitting on the earthing mat will work, it is highly recommended for the skin to have direct contact with the mat when possible. None natural fabrics would probably isolate you rather than connect you.

Barry G.

Thanks. Point taken. One thing I have been thinking about is that half our house is on a slab- so I am on concrete and it does have tile over it but I bet standing in the kitchen cooking gets me something...

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Joe
Thanks for that info update Barry!
That's where i most likely watched/listened to it as well. Without looking deeply into it, my take is, what's the downside of doing it (earthing).
As for Mercola - i prefer to look at the arguments presented rather than the person presenting it

I like that last sentence.. I was watching something the other day and I said to my husband "I can't believe they are saying thus and such". And they actually weren't. They were talking about complete different but because of who it was talking I had a bias on what they were saying. (I won't go into details.. it was a political thing..LOL. )

Hi Joe,

yes why not try earthing as like you say whats the downside and its free.

BTW I concur with your take on Dr Mercola who I came across in the early years of my Afib journey.

Barry G.

Hi Bettylou.

I am just a regular guy on this earthing so just have a basic view on how it works. The best way of earthing is walking on wet grass such as in a country park or maybe walking in the sea along the sea shore. I have seen videos with people mentioning walking/standing on concrete and I got the impression that there may well be a chance of earthing especially if the concrete was wet. I assume the concrete would have to be composed of natural sand, cement and gravel (small stones). The problem I see is with the tiled floor on the concrete, not sure how conductive the glazing on the tiles would be. This of course could be checked out by using a multi meter with someone familiar with multi meters.

I am fully convinced afibbers could be helped by earthing themselves if only indirectly such as sleeping better and reducing bodily inflammation.

Final note, I have been Afib free since my last ablation in Bordeaux in 2010. I am 75 going on 25 though I might not look it. ;-)

Barry G.

Hey Barry G. you really have given me a lot of info here! I didn't realize that about earthing. Makes me wish I had stuck my feet in the sand when I was up north a few weeks ago ("Up North" = cottage/Great Lakes in Michigan).