Hi Ellen, You are welcome. And good choice to go see Dr. Natale. He did my challenging persistent AFIB case as well and I couldnt be happier that I chose him as well. He is a real pleasure to work with as well and very caring and easy going. You can reach him at his closest office to you in Austin at www.tcaheart.com ask for Barbara. You may have to wait three months or so but that time fliby Shannon - AFIBBERS FORUM
Hi Ellen, I recall some of your posts years ago. Sorry to hear you didn't have a good outcome from your first ablation. My suggestion is that you not let the technology be your priority but to focus your search on the very best and most experienced EP you can possibly arrange for yourself and trust in their skill in using the best cutting edge catheter technology and 3D Mapping systemsby Shannon - AFIBBERS FORUM
Hi Jill, Feel free to send me any PM if you'd like with questions about my experiences with Dr. Natale. Will be happy to answer any that I can. Shannonby Shannon - AFIBBERS FORUM
A baseline dose of 3,000mg of actual Omega 3 a day divided between 2,000 DHA and 1000EPA is a decent level for most people. The body can convert DHA into needed EPA but not the other way around. Thus 2000mg of DHA will also contribute added EPA to whatever amount of EPA you take as well, though there may well be individual variability in how well that conversion process works and I know of noby Shannon - AFIBBERS FORUM
HI researcher, Interesting stats on Cryo numbers not changing much at Cleveland Clinic over the last 4 years. And that the vast majority of those Cryo procedures were used in right-sided ablations is no doubt driven by the fact that the new standard of care over the last few years for SVT ablation is to use Cryo when the SVT trigger area is thought to be close to the A/V node. This is due to tby Shannon - AFIBBERS FORUM
Hi Claudia, With Angiotensin-II blockers there are a few possible advantages over typical BP meds, generally they have less side effects including less energy drain and often less libido drain as well. Plus the very real possibility, if not likelihood, of some fibrosis/scar reduction inside the atrium as a result of these meds. One effect is often increased serum potassium levels as you notedby Shannon - AFIBBERS FORUM
Hi John21 I too have heard a number of very good reports about Dr Schweikert in Akron from Tom C as well as several others. He's a good bet in your general neck of the woods. Shannonby Shannon - AFIBBERS FORUM
Thanks George, Hopefully I wont find an occasion to need to try it for this purpose, but I do get a bit of ginger extract in two herbal formulas I take as part of overall health and immune boosting function so perhaps that will help a bit all around as it is. Shannonby Shannon - AFIBBERS FORUM
Hi Diane, GeorgeN is correct here on the relative stroke risk for the category of lone Afibbers under 65 years old and with a CHADS score under 1. This group is generally considered at no more risk than an otherwise healthy person of the same age without AFIB. It is for these folks that Coumadin is actually contraindicated as per the guidelines of both the American Heart Association and the Euby Shannon - AFIBBERS FORUM
Hi Gordon, Im not sure why you cant send me a private message? As a fall back send Hans an email asking for my email address and phone# and he has my permission to give it to you. Shannonby Shannon - AFIBBERS FORUM
Good to hear Mary, rest up and hopefully you wont have to deal with any more flutter issues! Remember to follow Hans' and Jackie's post ablation supplement protocols for encouraging a quiet heart! Shannonby Shannon - AFIBBERS FORUM
Hi Murray, Good advice for all with regard to keeping a close watch (via echocardiography) of the LA size. And if a person is truly in NSR 24/7 long term, then hopefully there will be little progression in LA size, though there could be other factors involved as well beyond the most obvious driver of LA dilation in arrhythmia. The main issue is confirming indeed that there are no silent or sleeby Shannon - AFIBBERS FORUM
Good to hear Murray! hope it continues to work well for you as your LA slowly reduces in size. Enjoy the NSR! Shannonby Shannon - AFIBBERS FORUM
Hi Bill, It's certainly good that progress is being made in Cryo technology, as expected. But the main thing to keep in mind when reading Dr John blogs, is that for all of the interesting and useful information he sometimes posts, his viewpoint and position usually reflects that of a not so experienced ablationist. Last I heard he had done somewhere around a total of 500 or so ablationby Shannon - AFIBBERS FORUM
HI Jill, yes it a common wish around here that all Docs and EPs would have some direct sense of what it's really like to wrestle with very symptomatic AFIB.. I wouldn't wish that on Attila the Hun, much less a Doc trying to help us, but sometimes some of them can lose site of the forest for the trees by simply not having a personal connection with this misery from their own experiby Shannon - AFIBBERS FORUM
Hi Draino, Mid-February is barely more than a month away to get this thing fixed .. that is very POSITIVE indeed!! I know it can be trying and frustrating but you are taking the right steps to get way ahead of the game .. rejoice in that for sure. Shannonby Shannon - AFIBBERS FORUM
Hi Gordon, Thanks for the info, Budesonide typically has less impact on the HPA axis (Hypothalamus-Pituitary-Adrenal-axis) than does Prednisilione, Medrol or Dexamethasone, but when taken at higher than the lowest effective dose and/or is taken for a very long period of time, then adrenal suppression and enhanced catabolic side-effects can indeed happen. This is where doing solid testing anby Shannon - AFIBBERS FORUM
Old Henry, Just because Testosterone doesnt have any well documented causal relationship with AFIB, that doesn't at all invalidate your experience as noted in my post above. In your case, with low enough endogenous levels it may well have contributed in an indirect way toward helping your heart stay quieter. Plus there are many other health benefits as well to restoring a better T level.by Shannon - AFIBBERS FORUM
Hi Mary, I see you are going in tomorrow for the flutter ablation, I didn't realize it was so soon! Best wishes for getting this flutter taking care of for good. Shannonby Shannon - AFIBBERS FORUM
Hi Gordon. What kind of steroid and what daily dosage is your wife taking long term, and for what inflammatory condition, if you wish to discuss it publicly here? If not, you can always PM me if you'd like. A great way to help at least reduce such catabolic effects of long term adrenally-derived anti-inflammatory 'steroid' meds is to insure your wife has a robust levels of aby Shannon - AFIBBERS FORUM
One correction to my statement above that I didn't notice any precipitating triggers or feeling of my atypical left flutter about to start at any time in between my AFIB ablation and before my LAA isolation . On one occasion about a year and a half ago, I had a Jamba Juice that had an extra amount of crushed ice in it and as soon as I took the first sip ... BAM! I was in high speed flutter aby Shannon - AFIBBERS FORUM
Hi Mary, Back again ... The description of your flutter very much sounds like atypical left atrial flutter ... not the totally different and much easier typical right atrial flutter that Tom P and Gordon above reference. This type of flutter characteristically develops after an AFIB ablation. In the effort to ablate and end the AFIB the nature of the burn patterns and what they have to do tby Shannon - AFIBBERS FORUM
Hi Mary, Just saw your post and will get back with more tomorrow when I can. Sorry, but am cooking dinner for me and my wife now and have to run ... take it easy! Shannonby Shannon - AFIBBERS FORUM
Thanks Hans, And a very Happy New Year to you and Judi as well! And this is an interesting and certainly plausible explanation for the welcomed effect you have discovered! I too was often triggered by cold liquids or too cold ice cream etc and a good while ago switched to mostly room temp water. In any event, should I ever have any flippies or that feeling again, I will know what to do andby Shannon - AFIBBERS FORUM
FYI, here is a relatively new product specifically for those of us on blood thinners like Warfarin. I assume it might work to some degree with the new Blood thinners as well as its mostly trying to stop or slow down bleeding at the wound site and not by reversing the anti-coag effect in the blood. I've been carrying a little plastic box with a Wound-Seal packet inside for 5 months now sinby Shannon - AFIBBERS FORUM
Mark, who is very knowledgeable and contributes here from time to time sent me this interesting link on a new study showing the drug Colchicine administered at the time of ablation and during the three month follow up at 0.5mg twice a day had a significant effect in reducing post-ablation AFIB breakthroughs, due in all likelihood to Colchicines known anti-inflammatory action. Colchicine afterby Shannon - AFIBBERS FORUM
You can easily confirm what dose of Vitamin D is optimal and safe for you Jeff, Just test to see Vitamin D levels are too low (far more common) for you, or too high ( much less common), with a combination of a good 25(OH)D3 blood test (the optimal level sweet spot is from 60ng/ml to 80ng/ml .. dont exceed 100ng/ml) along with a full function calcium assimilation panel to insure your calcium leby Shannon - AFIBBERS FORUM
Thanks Hans, For the Norpace tip as a replacement for Flec for vagal afibbers .. and the reminder about New Chapters Ginger Force. Shannonby Shannon - AFIBBERS FORUM
Good news on the ginger front George, How much are you taking and in what form of ginger?? Happy New Year! Shannonby Shannon - AFIBBERS FORUM
Hi Sue,' glad all the suggestion from members of this board you find helpful. It can be a daunting thing trying to sort all of this out and make the right decisions ... most of us have been through the school of hard knocks ourselves and that is why we are happy to try and share our experiences. Regarding Dr. Cesario, he may well be a good EP and on his way to a solid career as an ablatiby Shannon - AFIBBERS FORUM