QuoteMadeline Thank you very much for all the info George. I guess I am more a hyperactive brain type than one in need of CPAP. I am energetic the next day, so am not suffering that way. Last night I tried the serial diverse imaging first with my seed word & then used their app to see what it offered. I like what they call the cognitive shuffle. Not sure after one try, but it seems moreby GeorgeN - AFIBBERS FORUM
QuoteKen Dang, getting old impacts our physical and aerobic capacity. Nothing new here, but I will continue to push for a 50 year old body, even though mine is 75. I am just trying to keep up with the guy. I get it. I'm typically suggesting the athletes that show up here moderate. I have a subjective limit that I don't cross to stay in afib remission. However I am not afraid to puby GeorgeN - AFIBBERS FORUM
QuoteCarey How many of those people did you observe while they were sleeping? Most people with sleep apnea breath perfectly normally while awake. Depends on how you define "normal." Have a breathing instructor observe them, while awake, and they'd tell you a different story. Most, if not all, are overbreathing. I'm far from an instructor, but can observe it in many.by GeorgeN - AFIBBERS FORUM
QuotecolindoHas anyone had any experience with taping ones mouth shut before sleep. I've done it for years. There are PowerPoint presentations showing apnea patterns in beat to beat heart rate (RR) vs time graphs. I could see these patterns on data captured with my Polar strap. Subsequent to taping at night, these patterns disappeared. The issue is blowing off CO2 because of overbby GeorgeN - AFIBBERS FORUM
Quoteggheld Dr. Weil has long suggested a simple breathing technique for relaxation, sleep and general unwinding. Yes, Weil's approach would be in the "increase parasympathetic tone" category. Basically inhale through nose for count of 4, hold for 7, exhale through the mouth with a "woosh" sound for 8. Interestingly, this article by author James Nestor (book linkedby GeorgeN - GENERAL HEALTH FORUM
QuoteElizabeth But your 20 min. test doesn't equal a person wearing the mask for 8 hrs I do a lot of playing around with breath. I disagree with this. If the SpO2 is going to change, it changes rapidly. When I wear a training mask, as I linked above, I can restrict flow and drop O2 right away. What can happen, depending on the mask, is that CO2 will accumulate, though it will reach aby GeorgeN - GENERAL HEALTH FORUM
"Absolutely. Lower oxygen levels is one result. A 2006 study showed that reduction in blood oxygenation (hypoxia) and/or an elevation in blood C02 (hypercapnia) can create painful headaches for people required to wear masks all day. It should also be noted that people with asthma or hypotension are at a greater risk of stroke, cardiac arrest, or an irregular heartbeat when suffering from hypby GeorgeN - GENERAL HEALTH FORUM
Interesting. Looked up the capnography machine in the video. A bit pricey at $3,500. Using similar tools, Dr. Konstantin Buteyko, measured % Alveolar CO2 in % and mmHg. This was for research for the USSR space program. He developed a simple test he called the "Control Pause" or CP and created a correlation: The CP (aka Body Oxygen) test is very simple. You are breathingby GeorgeN - AFIBBERS FORUM
AF - interpreting your request as for non pharma approaches to BP. I wrote this for the son of a friend who was trying to pass a flight physical to become an airline pilot. He did most of this and did lower his BP so he passed. The examining doc was curious about his pink colored urine - his response - doc I like to eat a lot of beets! From a friend who said this worked well (she's notby GeorgeN - AFIBBERS FORUM
Quick look: Serum CO2 lengthens ERP, and slows conduction This may be why apnea creates a risk for afib (slowed conduction after the apnea). There may be an opportunity to use this to convert episodes without meds (I did this). There may be an opportunity to put afib in remission (speculation) by training the serum CO2 chemoreceptor to accept a much higher steady state level of CO2. There apby GeorgeN - AFIBBERS FORUM
Last night my HR was in the 70’s when I went to bed. Normal would be in the 50’s. This is usually a signal I’m sensitive to something I ate. In this case, it would have to be in the spices as the meal was prepared from scratch and everything else were ingredients commonly eaten. This kept me awake, so I went to the basement so as not to disturb my wife. I was starting to do a meditation whiby GeorgeN - AFIBBERS FORUM
One more thought. I learned to exercise only breathing through my nose. That is, if I feel I have to open my mouth, I back off. It is a great limiter. You will not likely overdo if you do this. You can learn to do high intensity interval training this way. Mercola talks about his experience doing this down the page here < < Patrick McKeown wrote about it < Lots more on Buteyko breaby GeorgeN - AFIBBERS FORUM
Que, I have a friend who has reduced his afib dramatically with an appliance he bought off the internet. Prior to that, he'd controlled his afib with high dose magnesium. His BMI is not high, but he does have a 17 1/2" neck, which is a risk factor. He is also heterozygous for the ApoE 4 gene. My understanding is this gives people an apnea risk even without traditional risk factorsby GeorgeN - AFIBBERS FORUM
Hey Ron, Here is a thought from left field. "I am up to 3000ml on the incentive spirometer" Your deep breathing on the spirometer could be causing you to "overbreathe" and deplete CO2. I'm not saying not to do the exercise, but you may want to follow up with Buteyko type breathing exercises after you practice on the spirometer, to increase CO2. As noted here < ,by GeorgeN - AFIBBERS FORUM
I self diagnosed myself with mild apnea using a tachogram from my Polar monitor per this Power Point presentation: < (Polar tachogram described in more detail here: < ) A longer description of my self diagnosis is here: < Overbreathing during sleep and all the time is an issue with apnea. To deal with this I now pay attention to always breathing through my nose, including during sby GeorgeN - AFIBBERS FORUM
Another thought, assuming the high heart rate is real. Let your nose be your governor. Learn to breath through your nose all the time, including when sprinting. I know this sounds impossible, but it is possible. It is paradoxical - you need CO2 to utilized oxygen effectively. This is because of the Bohr effect. When you hyperventilate, you reduce your serum CO2 level and hemoglobin will biby GeorgeN - AFIBBERS FORUM
McHale, As to sleep apnea, a possible simple solution is sleeping with a piece of paper medical tape over your mouth vertically (from chin vertically over lips at a bit of a diagonal) to keep it closed. The idea is that when you breathe with your mouth open, you can over breathe & reduce the CO2 level in your blood. This can lead to the pauses that are apnea. Since the nose is more restricby GeorgeN - AFIBBERS FORUM
Mike, Slowly increase your dose of mag to bowel tolerance levels, then reduce slightly. This may change over time. As to sleep apnea, a simple solution is sleeping with a piece of paper medical tape over your mouth vertically (from chin vertically over lips at a bit of a diagonal) to keep it closed. The idea is that when you breathe with your mouth open, you can overbreathe & reduce the Cby GeorgeN - AFIBBERS FORUM
A few breathing links: Here's some more info on Butekyo breathing: <; <; Also: This book, written by a Buteyko teacher, addresses both apnea & CPAP machines: "Freedom from Insomnia: The Natural Way to Solve Sleep Problems by Alexander Stalmatski." The Buteyko concept is that overbreathing drives serum CO2 levels too low & causes the apnea (& other issues, lby GeorgeN - AFIBBERS FORUM
This will be a suggestion from an unusual direction: If you think you have an apnea problem, you may want to look into Buteyko breath training. See my post here: <; This book, written by a Buteyko teacher, addresses both apnea & CPAP machines: "Freedom from Insomnia: The Natural Way to Solve Sleep Problems by Alexander Stalmatski." The Buteyko concept is that overbreathingby GeorgeN - AFIBBERS FORUM
Hi Dave, For the "off the wall" suggestion of the day: In "Freedom From Insomnia", author Alexander Stalmatski suggests sleeping with surgical tape (vertically) across the lips to keep the mouth closed & breathing through the nose. Stalmatski is a proponent of the Buteyko breathing. There is information about the Buteyko technique posted here in the archives. Brieflyby GeorgeN - AFIBBERS FORUM
E. B.- I presume the breathing website is: The guy who puts out this website was playing around with a Freeze Framer device (now emWavePC). I own a Freeze Framer & could never see an afib benefit when I was in a 2.5 month long episode - but that doesn't mean you won't. Also is an argument that you're increasing serum CO2 (a good thing). See info on Buteyko breathing <;by GeorgeN - AFIBBERS FORUM
Hi Nick, This guy played around with the FreezeFramer (now emwave) & determined that 6 breaths/minute were optimum. See: Also is an argument that you're increasing serum CO2 (a good thing). See info on Buteyko breathing <; also the RespErate device which arguably does the same thing: Georgeby GeorgeN - AFIBBERS FORUM
Hi PC, It is stimulating to read your thoughtful posts again. An interesting aside is that Buteyko breathing - which Jackie has previously posted on - aims to increase serum CO2 levels thereby lowering serum pH. The purported benefit is a relaxing effect on smooth muscles and therefore such things as reduced asthma symptoms. The Buteyko approach has been taught to some athletes. With the statby GeorgeN - AFIBBERS FORUM
Hi Dick, In this May post <;, you mention John Douillard's book. In addition to Hans' suggestion about beta-blockers, I suggest using Douillard's breathing technique when you train. Though Douillard doesn't mention Buteyko breathing. His technique is essentially a method to increase serum CO2 levels. Because of the Bohr effect, the hemoglobin/O2 bond is reduced as CO2by GeorgeN - AFIBBERS FORUM
George, I have an older model - the FreezeFramer (as does Hans & others). When I first got it, over 4 years ago, I was in chronic afib 24/7. I had no luck using it to convert to NSR. Subsequently I've used it as a pulse monitor though I prefer my Polar as with the FF you are always hooked up to the computer. Steve Elliott played around a lot with the FF and found the key was a breaby GeorgeN - AFIBBERS FORUM
For those who think they may have an apnea problem, you may want to look into Buteyko breath training. See my recent post here: <; This book, written by a Buteyko teacher, addresses both apnea & CPAP machines: "Freedom from Insomnia: The Natural Way to Solve Sleep Problems by Alexander Stalmatski." The Buteyko concept is that overbreathing drives serum CO2 levels too low &amby GeorgeN - AFIBBERS FORUM
You may wish to learn about the Buteyko breathing method. Buteyko basically observed that people that overbreathed reduced the CO2 concentration in their blood too low. This causes all kinds of problems. <; <; <; <; <; <; Buteko's test is here: The following was provided to Jackie by Carol Baglia a Buteyko trainer & certified respiratory therapist ========by GeorgeN - AFIBBERS FORUM
There are Buteyko books on Amazon & sometimes tapes are sold on Ebay. I picked up an Aussie Buteyko tape on Ebay. The Buteyko people will say you need an instructor, can't learn it from a book. I can't say what an instructor would impart to you differently other than perhaps more motivation. Buteyko is not easy and requires regular practice. However I learned a lot from the tapby GeorgeN - AFIBBERS FORUM
Mark, Two areas I recall are: 1) atrial stretch which one of our previously prolific posters, PC (an MD) wrote about and 2) exercise enlarges the heart and a larger heart has a higher probability of having atrial wavelets become reentrant (i.e. afib). That being said, I don't think that anyone is advocating doing nothing - just moderating a bit and not pushing at the extreme end of it. Foby GeorgeN - AFIBBERS FORUM