Pretty much everything good in your life only happens once you get past your fear. Before COVID, I didn't travel much. Since COVID, my wife and I fly back and forth between California and Texas every month (business expansion into Texas). Also, in Texas, things have been pretty much as if COVID never happened for a year--open, no masks. We should be dead, right? Here's what happened:by JKAF - AFIBBERS FORUM
Worse after the ablation? Sure. I traded weekly AF of 2-4 hours for a couple weeks of bigeminy and trigeminy. Those really suck. Oh, and gastroparesis for about a week after the procedure (you do not want that, trust me). Oh, plus some runs of tachycardia...and some of it happened post-3-months. This is a Natale ablation. Not complaining, just saying that if a doctor is selling an ablation as a &by JKAF - AFIBBERS FORUM
It can be a brutal ride after the ablation, and it can extend past the normal 3 month blanking period. I had a couple of straight weeks of bigeminy (not fun) and then trigeminy/quadgeminy/tachy/afib, as well as a couple of episodes of tachycardia that happened almost a year out. Trading weekly afib for bigeminy didn't seem like a good swap, and I did get scheduled for a second procedure. Howby JKAF - AFIBBERS FORUM
Quoteffl0203t8 58-M-1-2.5 years by Dr Natale. Thanks to people on these forums that convinced me to go see Dr Natale. Especially Carey and Shannon! The first 1.5 years after my ablation I had tachycardia, but now I'm convinced that those days are over for now. Yep, mine was by Natale as well. And yep, weird stuff continued for quite a while after the typical blanking period. I hadby JKAF - AFIBBERS FORUM
54-M-1-3.5yrsby JKAF - AFIBBERS FORUM
Yep, I had some brief tachycardia (at about the same rate) in the blanking period after my Natale ablation. I also had a couple of longer episodes (4 hours, 1 hour), within the first year after ablation. Nothing, nada since then (3 years out now). Don't be surprised if there are some little glitches even after the blanking period. I suspect they will pass.by JKAF - AFIBBERS FORUM
Count me as one who has significantly restricted calcium and takes high dose Vitamin D (10K IU per day) and about 1.2-1.5g of magnesium per day (not a typo) as part of an overall maintenance strategy. Excess calcium is definitely correlated with PACs, which are now pretty much gone, two years after a successful Natale ablation. Last Vitamin D test was around 96. Oddly enough, the only aura migby JKAF - AFIBBERS FORUM
Yep! Though I had the opposite problem: gastroparesis. This was after my Natale index ablation about a year and a half ago. Apparently, vagus nerve stunning can happen with RF ablation, but the good news is that it doesn't seem to last long. My symptoms peaked on the third day, and resolved in about a week. So hang in there, it'll probably go away by itself, and soon. Jasonby JKAF - AFIBBERS FORUM
I will wade in here and voice what may be an unpopular opinion: that searching for triggers is likely a snipe hunt that will turn you into a paranoid, miserable human being. I did it. It kept a log of everything I did and everything I ate. For over two years, I thought I found correlations. But then a few weeks would pass, and the correlations would prove to be false. The cost? Hundreds of houby JKAF - AFIBBERS FORUM
Yep, I'm pretty sure that berberine was what kept me in rhythm for the 9 months or so before my Natale ablation. I started it when my AF began acting up nearly every day. Over the course of a couple of weeks after I started berberine, I noticed that my AF was tapering off, and within a month, I had no more attacks. I really thought that I'd killed the beast. Eventually, however, it cby JKAF - AFIBBERS FORUM
Barb, My intermittent fasting is very simple: I only eat in a 6-8 hour window every day. Which means, basically, I have lunch and dinner. That's technically an 18/6 or 16/8 intermittent fast. Every once in a while, a couple of times a year, I'll do 4-5 days of fasting. A typical day will include no grain products and no dairy, but that's not every day. Hell, I had sushi last nigby JKAF - AFIBBERS FORUM
Yep, I have Kardia strips showing AF at 75-85 BPM. It's certainly possible. This was later in my AF "career," after I began The Protocol in earnest and was supplementing with magnesium and potassium and had made some pretty big lifestyle changes. Since the ablation, nothing.by JKAF - AFIBBERS FORUM
I actually haven't done acupuncture after the ablation, so I don't have a before/after comparison, sorry. With respect to the real question, I've decided to go back to pretty much what I used to do before AF, but I should note that, before AF, I had already switched to a much healthier, more active lifestyle, with organic/whole foods, low-ish carb diet with intermittent fastingby JKAF - AFIBBERS FORUM
I'm a little over 1 year out from my first and only Natale ablation. With respect to caffeine, I had begun drinking coffee before my ablation, because I'd already found a negative correlation between drinking coffee and AF (as in, if I drank coffee, I seemed to have less AF.) I'm currently drinking an average of about 3 standard cups a day from a Jura superautomatic machine, usiby JKAF - AFIBBERS FORUM
Gary, Sorry to hear that. If it doesn't resolve, I wouldn't hesitate to go back to Dr. Natale. They'll absolutely take care of you. All the best, Jasonby JKAF - AFIBBERS FORUM
Gary, Yeah, definitely find out what it is, because (in my case), bigeminy/trigeminy had some of the same physical feeling of AF--specifically, the feeling of pressure in the chest, difficulty in catching my breath, and significantly reduced exercise capacity. Unlike AF, though, it felt more like a slow heartbeat (bigeminy) or double beat (trigeminy.) In addition, when coming out of bigeminy/tby JKAF - AFIBBERS FORUM
Gary, are you sure it's AF or something else? I had long, long bouts of bigeminy and trigeminy (10+ days) during the blanking period, including one that started almost exactly 3 months out from the date of the ablation. The bigeminy and trigeminy resolved by itself and it's been nothing but NSR for over 8 months now. Yesterday was the anniversary of my ablation with Dr. Natale. And,by JKAF - AFIBBERS FORUM
I had an ablation with Dr. Natale in Austin exactly 1 year ago tomorrow. Before I went in, I was having AF episodes 1-2 times per week (1-3 hours long each). Nothing at all since. Zip. Zero. Nada. I DID have some weirdness during the blanking period, and shortly thereafter, but it was in the form of bigeminy or trigeminy, not AF. Nothing like that for 8 months now, though. Dr. Natale is 100%by JKAF - AFIBBERS FORUM
Hey all, I just wanted to update you on my results, 6 months after my index ablation with Dr. Natale. To make a long story short, all is well! No skips, blips, ectopics, bigeminy, trigeminy, or AF! Thank you to Shannon, Jackie, and George for their encouragement and wisdom during the blanking period. My result is significant, because I had more than the usual problems during the blanking peby JKAF - AFIBBERS FORUM
Berberine, like iodine, didn't have any side effects, nor did I notice any other subjective effects. This was at a dosage of 500mg 3 times per day, with meals. The only effect was a fall-off of AF, beginning the week I started berberine (I was highly symptomatic at the time, having AF more than once every week.) After about a month, the AF went away, and stayed away, for about 6 months. Thenby JKAF - AFIBBERS FORUM
I've done the high-dose iodine treatment. (Definition of high dose: 10-20mg per day via Lugols for 6 months.) No side effects, no "bromine detox." I thought it might have been effective, but I'd also started taking berberine at the same time, which I now believe is what held off the AF for 6 months before it came back. Echoing Jackie about getting your thyroid checked. I mby JKAF - AFIBBERS FORUM
I had the same exact problem. Whenever my heart rate dropped (and it did, less cyclically than yours), the PACs, and the AF, would start. Episodes would self-convert in 2-3 hours. I tried to chase this down over about 2 years, including having my cortisol levels checked, supplementing with DHEA to counter the aldosterone, extending out to encompass pregnenelone and progesterone supplementatioby JKAF - AFIBBERS FORUM
Travis, My original HS-CRP tests were ordered by my integrative physician. Any MD should be able to order the test. I've also ordered my own through places like DirectLabs and RequestATest. Mine went from 0.6 to 0.2 with supplementation and diet (prior to ablation.) I'll check it again once I'm well past the blanking period. All the best, Jasonby JKAF - AFIBBERS FORUM
Hey all, Just a quick update: I'm back in NSR, at least at rest. Things still get a little out of hand with strenuous exercise (trigeminy, bigeminy), but that also appears to be slowly abating. Hopefully I'll be able to post soon that even if you have some bizarre stuff happen during the blanking period, all will be well. All the best, Jasonby JKAF - AFIBBERS FORUM
George, I've been following your saga for some time, and it's been very helpful to me in my decision to go with an ablation. It sounds like our weight and diet are not especially different (on a macronutrient level, anyway), and my experience when fasting is also similar in terms of where my blood sugar and ketones were heading (I've only done up to 4 days, many days I do 18by JKAF - AFIBBERS FORUM
Just a quick update: still in bigeminy. Also had a run of tachycardia last night (140BPM) and some trigeminy after exercise today. All of these are new for me. Never had any of that pre-ablation. Fingers crossed it will pass.by JKAF - AFIBBERS FORUM
Very cool! Thank you all for the input. I'll discontinue the potassium and up the magnesium for a while and see how it goes. To be clear, I'm not disappointed in the ablation route, and if a touchup is required, I'm totally fine with that. I've convinced myself that there are no easy answers on the natural/alternative side. I'll keep you apprised of what happens. Cuby JKAF - AFIBBERS FORUM
QuoteJackie To those who know about Wenxin Keli... what can you tell us about quality control assurances and assays that the product is free from environmental contaminants in soil etc that are so prevalent in that which comes from China? Warnings not to use China products are plentiful... as (apparently) consumers can't rely that these are screened or regulated. If the raw material is imby JKAF - AFIBBERS FORUM
QuoteJKAF Jackie, Thanks for the response, and will definitely try cutting back on the K. I can also increase magnesium, as I am not at bowel tolerance (I have great bowel tolerance for taurate and malate, less so for glycinate. With respect to other questions: 1. I've had an Exatest, I did it early in the AF process. I was solidly in the normal range for all electrolytes. 2. Iby JKAF - AFIBBERS FORUM