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Re: I’m back…cautionary tale! - 3 years ago

Yes, I have done the same. I figure out that something might be a trigger, I wait a few days to blunt the tendency, and then try the same thing again. I think I can hear Einstein sighing.

by gloaming - AFIBBERS FORUM

Re: Ablation and the long game - 3 years ago

It doesn't mean between two weeks and two years. Unless an ablation frees the bearer for something like eight to ten years, it can't have been successful in my view. Something that gives relief for an extended period can have an exalted status in a bag of tricks, but I still think it is only a poorly understood trick if it is so often a merely temporary abeyance that lasts a few short

by gloaming - AFIBBERS FORUM

Re: zinc/copper imbalance - 3 years ago

I have found MedCram to be quite useful, although I don't recall Seheult telling his viewers to top up one's copper concomitantly. It was the same for statin prescription; nothing whatsoever about the fact that it also blocks the body's production of CoQ10.

by gloaming - AFIBBERS FORUM

Re: initial appt is 2 months away - 3 years ago

A rate much higher than about 120 means you're at a high risk for clotting in the left atrial appendage, and you SHOULD BE on apixaban or something like it. If you go to the ER, especially with intractable and non-reverting paroxysmal AF, the usual guidance from physicians, including my own EP, is that anything over 24 hours should be fixed. So, if you know you've been in steady A

by gloaming - AFIBBERS FORUM

Re: Flutter showing up as SVT on Zio Patch? - 3 years ago

I'm not familiar with the device in question, but technically flutter is SVT. Any abnormally fast rate above the ventricles is 'supra-ventricular', by definition. If it's too fast, it's in the tachy range. Atrial flutter meets both criteria.

by gloaming - AFIBBERS FORUM

Re: Amiodarone - 3 years ago

Amiodarone needs to commence with a 'loading' dose. In my case, just three weeks ago now, it was 200mg X2, but twice a day. That amounts to 800mg. You may not have taken enough to 'load' your particular system. That's an uneducated guess, so don't go running to your GP/EP waving a copy of this post. As for the length of time before MY AFib corrected itself (a

by gloaming - AFIBBERS FORUM

Re: Question on vagally mediated AFib - 3 years ago

I was cardioverted last September. It didn't work. They upped my dose of metoprolol and sent me home to rest. I do agree that one's posture, one's adrenergic response to mental stressors, even acidy belches, can set me off, and that's the Vagus working. What works for me, mostly, is simply pacing up and down a hallway, or going for a walk. It can't be anything more

by gloaming - AFIBBERS FORUM

Re: How soon for 2nd ablation? - 3 years ago

There's usually nothing wrong with taking Amiodarone for a short diminishing dosage that terminates in a few months or weeks. This is because, despite its eventual toxicity, the drug works really well, across cases, for re-establishing NSR and maintaining it. It's not perfect, as evinced by my small n of one, but I'd happily give it a B+ grade. As for how often, or soon, you c

by gloaming - AFIBBERS FORUM

Re: Good or bad idea to get a cardio Cat Scan? - 3 years ago

If it helps, I have had two MIBI tests. They required the equivalent dose of 500 chest X-rays. I'm still hale and hearty. Or so I think.

by gloaming - AFIBBERS FORUM

Re: How long does it take for Eliquis to leave the body - 3 years ago

Remembering that we are all different, with different metabolic rates and with different livers, the purported half-life of apixaban is approximately 18 hours. Doing some simple math, you can see that it would take at least three days for the residual effects left in your serum to dissipate to the point where you can safely assume it is innocuous. Even so, you ought not to be concerned, or to

by gloaming - AFIBBERS FORUM

Re: Natural antibiotics - 3 years ago

I find that tea tree oil does a good job topically applied to small lesions such as those caused by folliculitis. Often, a single drop smeared on the site and that's all there is about it...for good. Sometimes it is better to attack a problem two ways, so by ingestion AND by topical application.

by gloaming - GENERAL HEALTH FORUM

Re: oxidative stress and afib - 3 years ago

Intermittent fasting (IF in the 'food world') and watching carb intake have done the best by me. I lost 11kg in three months by reducing the insulin response, partly by reducing carbs to under 100gm/day, but also by fasting for up to 24 hours. The idea is to teach your body 'fat adaptation through autolysis', or literally teaching your body to begin to use its own adipose de

by gloaming - AFIBBERS FORUM

Re: 3 months and two days - 3 years ago

You won't be invited back for further diagnostics and more intervention earlier than several months post initial ablation. You'll still need the blood panel and maybe a CT scan again so that your innards can be demonstrably good, or at least that no substantial changes have taken place, such as a tumor or whatever. I don't know the medical system's rules or protocols, but you

by gloaming - AFIBBERS FORUM

Re: A fib and flutter beginning 9 days after ablation - 3 years ago

I don't know that it is 'common', but I know someone close to me who learned he had atrial flutter only when it was revealed during a checkup. He was ablated within six days, and seemed fine. He wore a Holter Monitor about six weeks later and there it was....back. I haven't seen him since his second attempt about two weeks ago (I should ask). So, as individuals, we'l

by gloaming - AFIBBERS FORUM

Re: To watchman or not - 3 years ago

QuotePixie This is such a great group. I am sure I will embarrass myself with this question, but here it goes! I just bought a Philips Sonicare toothbrush. I am reading the instructions and it says, “ if you have a pacemaker or other implanted device, contact your physician or the device manufacturer prior to use”. So, here I am taking everything literally. How does a watchman, which is imp

by gloaming - AFIBBERS FORUM

Re: Good or bad idea to get a cardio Cat Scan? - 3 years ago

Anxiety will produce unwanted side effects, so anything you can do to calm yourself, to be optimistic, and to let the various diagnoses, in the order they are prescribed by the experts looking after your best interests, take place and to reveal what they might, is the best prescription for you right now. I had all the conceivable tests, including MIBI (twice now, with no apparent problems exce

by gloaming - AFIBBERS FORUM

Re: Post PF Ablation Woes and Hello! - 3 years ago

I also had a setback one week past radio frequency pulmonary vein ostia ablation. Am now on Amiodarone for six weeks. My monitor showed AF but also VTac. Nurse assured me that the machine doesn't know the difference, so to ignore the indication of VTac. ????!?!? Amiodarone is indeed toxic, but only after a long time, years. Use it now to get your heart to start healing. The helpline

by gloaming - AFIBBERS FORUM

Re: end of "blanking" - 3 years ago

Barbara (my own squeeze's name, incidentally), the heart is quite sensitive to activity related to the vagus nerve. It is also sensitive to epinephrine (adrenalin) and to arousals from both sleep and intrusive thoughts. If you are waking during the night with ectopic beats, it is quite likely to be related to any of the following: GERD dreams apneic events or prolonged flow limita

by gloaming - AFIBBERS FORUM

Re: Should one temporarily increase Eliquis from 2.5 to 5 during covid? - 3 years ago

You should not be contagious after five days from fever break or after the onset of symptoms. However, you could be contagious prior to symptoms turning up, and that's where most of us make mistakes in protecting ourselves and those we want to safeguard from illness.

by gloaming - AFIBBERS FORUM

Re: end of "blanking" - 3 years ago

I am currently on 5mg of apixaban, my unchanged dose since being diagnosed with paroxysmal AF and severe sleep apnea five years ago. I think it's a moderately low dose. It wouldn't hurt to double up. If you google the problem and the recommended dosage, it does suggest 5mg X2. Will you get a scrip renewed if you ask for one before your current scrip is meant to run out?

by gloaming - AFIBBERS FORUM

Re: Vitamin C reducing frequency of AF episodes? - 3 years ago

I have heard this about magnesium, abstaining from caffeine and/or alcohol,....there's a long list. I think too much of this is simply anecdotal, and that it's a matter of the 'post hoc' fallacy. A rich and simple diet ought to provide the essential nutrients in sufficient quantities to maintain health. As my physician chuckles, the rest just makes for very expensive urine

by gloaming - AFIBBERS FORUM

Re: PACs after ablation - 3 years ago

I'm having PVC, but no PAC, at least not that I can sense, and i used to know when I was in AF. I am two weeks out of surgery, but was hospitalized with tachycardia a week ago. So, I haven't done very well. However, I have been out walking twice the past week and the heart has been stable, Amiodarone and I are on a holiday together until Sep 13th. My heart has 'good' and

by gloaming - AFIBBERS FORUM

Re: Amiodarone - 3 years ago

My EP told me before my CA two weeks ago that he had not seen any flutter in my records. This contradicted what his resident said who approached me and coached me a bit before the EP showed up. The EP said that once flutter starts, it has a very strong tendency to stay in flutter, and I clearly don't have that. So, he said, we won't be looking for it or treating it as if it exists in

by gloaming - AFIBBERS FORUM

Re: What to do? - 3 years ago

To me, it was the awful sensations, and that means quality of life. I thought I'd never agree to Amiodarone, but here I am on a six week regimen before Holter Monitor. My fervent hope is that both the ablation and the Amiodarone do what they promise, but only time will tell. In my case, though, HR was often 160 and up. i couldn't sustain that, and thankfully my ablation happened just

by gloaming - AFIBBERS FORUM

Re: Blood oxygen level during the sleep and AFib - 3 years ago

I taped starting on Night the Second on PAP. First night was a nightmare, but the kind RT offered two potential cures: a chin strap or taping. I decided taping was more positive. NexCare 'water resistant' tape has worked reliably for me since 2018. Just need to clean the mouth, apply with firm presses over the lips, and leave a small folded-over tab on one end of the tape for easy g

by gloaming - AFIBBERS FORUM

Re: Sleep apnea and Afib - 3 years ago

It's probably unwise to forge a path based on one article, but all the medical world seems to believe that AF induced by OSA is not going to be mitigated or treated unless the OSA is managed. In fact, untreated OSA leads to cardiac arrest, weight gain, metabolic syndrome, and diabetes. This is because of the adrenergic response which, in turn, elicits two deleterious effects: elevated level

by gloaming - AFIBBERS FORUM

Re: Blood oxygen level during the sleep and AFib - 3 years ago

Everyone is different, but if you have apnea, and your PO2 goes much below 88, you are not being treated well. You might need a bipap or ASV. But fibrillation can be brought on by anxiety, including fixating on the data your various machines and wearables keep insisting you should hearken to. AF IS, absolutely, brought on by hearts that repeatedly have to race to get you oxygenated because th

by gloaming - AFIBBERS FORUM

Re: So Much Medicine - 3 years ago

Quotesusan.d I’m worst. My IWatch alarm chimes from 6am to 1am. My wife wisely insisted I turn my watch off (Sumsung Galaxy 2). I listened, everyone within earshot gasped, and I was much better for not looking every five minutes post ablation to see what was going on.

by gloaming - AFIBBERS FORUM

Re: Recovery - 3 years ago

Everyone is different, so any one piece of advice, no matter how well-intentioned it may be, is as likely to be wrong as right....for you. Use your instincts. I was doing okay up until noon the next day, and then over the next week my heart developed tachycardia in addition to fibrillation. My rates rose to 180. I cycled in and out, ended up in hospital, was have been on Amiodarone since la

by gloaming - AFIBBERS FORUM

Re: I need to share - 3 years ago

Just a comment that one's kidneys strips salts from what we ingest and discards them into the urine fluid. All the magnesium compounds, which is all they are, are salts. If you strip away the salts, what's left? And it's the same for the three magnesium variations being mentioned in the conversation above. Magnesium citrate, widely and cheaply had at any decent druggist, is as g

by gloaming - AFIBBERS FORUM