I just had an appointment with a VA electrophisiologist and I asked to be taken off of Amiodarone which I believe interferes with my thyroid hormones. I asked instead to be given a prescription for Dronedarone. He agreed that my gripe about Amiodarone was probably valid but counseled that Dronedarone was not very effective as an anti arrhythmic. He wrote me a prescription for Dronedarone but sugby Josiah - AFIBBERS FORUM
I'm 84 years old and have been on blood thinners for 12 years. Originally on Warfarin but for the past three years on Eliquis. I've had a minor stroke and a couple of TIAs during this time. I'd be scared to go a day without it in my blood stream.by Josiah - AFIBBERS FORUM
Thank you Jackie and Elizabeth for your cautionary replies. I just posted again indicating that I do appreciate how much I should be avoiding Amiodarone.by Josiah - AFIBBERS FORUM
Amiodarone has been effective in keeping me in NSR but a recent deep dive uncovered some serious effects that Amiodarone has on my other health problem; hypothyroidism. I suspect that Amiodarone has significantly increased my reverse T3 way above normal leaving me with all the symptoms of hypothyroidism despite a normal free T3 lab result. Anyone know anything about this? The anti-arrhythmicby Josiah - AFIBBERS FORUM
I'm sorry I should have posted this to the AFIB forum. I will do that.by Josiah - GENERAL HEALTH FORUM
Amiodarone has been effective in keeping me in NSR but a recent deep dive uncovered some serious effects that Amiodarone has on my other health problem; hypothyroidism. I suspect that Amiodarone has significantly increased my reverse T3 way above normal leaving me with all the symptoms of hypothyroidism despite a normal free T3 lab result. Anyone know anything about this? The anti-arrhythmic dby Josiah - GENERAL HEALTH FORUM
Thank you both for your cautionary replies. My problem is further complicated by having a problem converting T4 into T3. For some reason unless I'm on Cytomel my Reverse T3 is seriously elevated.by Josiah - AFIBBERS FORUM
I suffer from hypothyroidism and I take only synthetic T3 Cytomel (liothyronine sodium) because I have trouble converting T4 to T3. I have been gradually upping my dose to bring my FT3 into the upper half of the normal range when I had a serious AFIB break through even though amiodarone has for two years kept me in NSR. I'm wondering if there might be a connection.by Josiah - AFIBBERS FORUM
I have been taking Amiodarone with very good results for about four years. Recently I suffered a break out of AFIB which lasted a long time and I speculated the reason might be that for years I have been self medicating my hypothyroidism with just the hormone T3. I thought it might be prudent to switch to the less active hormone NDT. The first thyroid panel since this change showed all my hormoneby Josiah - AFIBBERS FORUM
It has been some time since I have posted on this board and I'm pleased to say that the reason is that I have been in constant NSR. My last episode occurred while I was on the operating table have a routine pacemaker battery replacement. It was a long lasting episode and the VA admitted me until they could get me back in NSR. They blamed the episode on the fact that my TSH (Thyroid Stimulatiby Josiah - AFIBBERS FORUM
Could someone please point me to a current list of the world's best ablation electrophysiologists. Thanksby Josiah - AFIBBERS FORUM
I've been communicating with a woman who claims to have Afib. She is also hypothyroid and instead of taking synthetic T4 or NDT she takes a form of pure synthetic T3 (there are valid reasons for this) Anyhow she claims that the higher the dose of T3 she takes the less apt she is to have Afib symptoms. I offer this anecdote only because I don't recall hearing anything like this before...by Josiah - AFIBBERS FORUM
I admit that I don't have any direct knowledge of the VA protocols...just my personal experience, And that experience included at least three occasions about a decade ago when the VA ER did nothing more than administer rate control drugs to bring my heart rate below 100 b/m despite the fact that my INR indicated adequate anticoagulation. At about that time I recall there was a very influentiby Josiah - AFIBBERS FORUM
As a generally satisfied user of VA's medical services, the one area I felt they let me down on was trying to convert me when I was having a prolonged afib episode. Thirty years ago when I had my first afib episode the VA did use a rhythm controlling drug to convert me, But starting some time about ten years ago they would only administer a rate controlling drug and send me home still in afiby Josiah - AFIBBERS FORUM
As a service connected disabled veteran, the VA has been my exclusive healthcare provider. I imagine the VA would provide me with an ablation, but the conventional wisdom from this forum is that I should seek out a premier EP and Dr. Robert Schweikert in Akron has such a reputation, Dr. Schweikert doesn't list Medicare among the insurances he accepts and so I assume I'm going to have toby Josiah - AFIBBERS FORUM
Thank you very much Doreen.by Josiah - AFIBBERS FORUM
After being something of a poster boy for successfully controlling AF with supplements, several long episodes recently have got me thinking of plan B.by Josiah - AFIBBERS FORUM
I recently read that Dr. Datis Kharrazian had mentioned that gargling throughout the day can stimulate the vagus nerve and help to get things working properly again.by Josiah - AFIBBERS FORUM
After fourteen hours of AF, I drove into the VA Hospital (50 miles). At the hospital I checked my pulse before going in and it was squirrely, went in and was treated very promptly. Lo and behold I'd converted in the five minutes they were hooking up the EKG. Really weird, but I didn't complainby Josiah - AFIBBERS FORUM
Thanks for the quick reply on a holiday. I'm having the my first prolonged AF episode after many years of reasonably constant NSR and I'm spending most of the day in bed.by Josiah - AFIBBERS FORUM
I can't remember which is the preferred side to lie on in order to avoid AF?by Josiah - AFIBBERS FORUM
Thanks a lot George. So if I understand you, your commitment to ketogenic is primarily for blood sugar control, but having the E4 variant of the ApoE gene precludes a lot of animal fats.by Josiah - AFIBBERS FORUM
Pretty much 24/7 NSR has left me with little motive to visit this site which is in stark contrast to my situation several years ago when I followed Afibbers almost religiously. I had a series of outbreaks 8 months ago but they were nothing like the 48 hour episodes I use to endure. My regimen is pretty much the standard trio of supplements plus a bunch of others often talked about by Jackie.by Josiah - AFIBBERS FORUM
Have there been any reports suggesting a possible connection between an Eliquis regimen and GERD/reflux?by Josiah - AFIBBERS FORUM
I echo Bill's comment. Thanks Jackieby Josiah - AFIBBERS FORUM
Because I'm homozygous for the MAO gene, I been told I'm probably at risk for not properly breaking down histamines, and indeed I have many of the symptoms that result from excess levels of histamine in the blood. I just encountered the following reference which I've only looked at cursorily, but its easy to see that arrhythmias are included in the list of histamine-mediated symptby Josiah - AFIBBERS FORUM
I'm sorry Jackie and Shannon that after raising this issue I haven't held up my end of the debate. I'm dealing with some family matters that have forced me to take my eye off the ball so to speak. I will try get back in the game (I don't know why I'm into sports metaphors) ASAP.by Josiah - AFIBBERS FORUM
Jackie, I know that you place considerable importance in the acid-alkaline theory which suggests that it is in our best interest to make sure we eat more alkaline foods than acid foods, so that we end up with an overall alkaline load on our body. There is however controversy about the validity of this theory and a practitioner who I have come to respect, Chris Kresser has written about why heby Josiah - AFIBBERS FORUM
Nothing very surprising here. Except that I would have thought that, this being so, the active members of the Afibbers group would be more skewed in the direction of women, instead there seem to be more men in the group.by Josiah - AFIBBERS FORUM