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AFib....sudden worseningby

Posted , 13 users are following.

ian0847
ian0847

I am over 60, overweight, and have Rheumatoid Arthritis (without the Rh factor). I also have highish BP but it is controlled.

i have suffered intermittent bouts of AF for about 16 months - seemingly brought on by terrible wind (burping and flatulence) during my regular severe indigestion attacks.

The AF bouts consisted of irregular pulse and slightly raised heart rate. My resting pulse usually went from its normal 58 to 64-66. The bouts lasted from 12-20 hours and quite often started during the night while sleeping. The bouts gave me some difficulty with intense exercising but didn't really get in the way too much and I was able to carry on life as normal.

The bouts started off being two monthly then moved to being every three or four weeks. Recently I have had a couple in a fortnight.

Six days ago I started a bout at around 3am, but this time it has continued unabated despite my various attempts to break it. 

In addition my resting pulse has climbed to 76, and I have quite a bit of difficulty exercising as I quickly get short of breath. I have had to modify my activities to cope.

I have been to my GP who had an ECG carried out immediately and advised me that I have Paroxysmal AF. I have a Cardiologist appointment next week to investigate further.

What puzzles me is why the condition - which was previously no more than a nuisance - has become much more severe so suddenly - and why I can't get my heart to kick back into Synus rhythm like it did before.

Anyone had similar experiences - or able to throw any light on this change?

 

0 likes, 31 replies

31 Replies

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  • diannec
    diannec ian0847

    Posted

    Think it just changes from time to time and may be something you have eaten or drunk. I also have PAF however I am asymptomatic so for most part am totally unaware of it happening, which I know to some may souls good but my heart has been known to reach 190 during pre op checks for other procedures, which I find a little amusing ( you have to laugh) as the medics are panicking and i can't feel it as long as I don't look at the monitor i can cope with it and am normally having a vonversation with them without breathlessness. I know I sound a little flippant but it's the only way I cope witj it as when it's as fast as mine can be the only other thing I could be is scared
  • frank61666
    frank61666 ian0847

    Posted

    Just a guess based on what you said - but it appears that you have a food intolerance that is getting worse and that might not be to a specific food, but to certain components in certains foods like histamine.  As I have pposted several times before - see if benedryl before going to bed blocks the Afib from occurring. I use 50 mg to do the trick - and it always works for me.

    Histamine in the gut, (you can google that) does indeed cause flatulance and even afib, but starts with stomach issues becfore escalating to afib.

    • ian0847
      ian0847 frank61666

      Posted

      Many thanks. I shall try that when this episode (hopefully) ends.
    • frank61666
      frank61666 ian0847

      Posted

      Okay Ian - I did not go into this but here it goes....

      I stop my afib within 60 minutes, often 30 minutes after I take 50 mg benedryl.  It takes benedryl 30 minutes to get into the circulation, etc. to do its thing but I feel the effect quickly relative to how quickly others might feel them. The benedryl blocks it - the afib -  from ever occurring if it is brought onby food triggers.  Docotrs know squat about this - or they cannot make money from it so they do not recommend it.....

      Another thing that has worked for me, but I learned through a chat forum, like this - if I get into that night-time afib, I can take a dose of 'Calm magnesium:" in warm/hot water and the afib ends within 30-60 minutes.  I am not sure how this is workng, but I assume that the magnesium deficiency is the reason I was in afib to begin with, and in warm water it calms down the electrolyte imbalance to bring things back to sinus mode, i.e., normal.

      Frank

    • Kingjerry42
      Kingjerry42 ian0847

      Posted

      Very, very interesting about Benadryl. First time I'm hearing about it. If it works for you - that is wonderful .

      As for Magnesium, I've been taking it for years and I have even combined it with Potasium. These minerals are very effective. However, if one is already on powerful heart drugs which want to drive your Heart and Blood Vessels in a particular direction, one needs to get off these super controlling heart drugs OR CUT DOWN GREATLY your milligram intake.

      No amount of minerals can nullify the effect of these Super Controlling Heart drugs. One must be off them or the milligrams substantially reduced. BYhey are just too powerful & controlling.

    • Greebo64
      Greebo64 frank61666

      Posted

      Frank what is the Benedryl you take certitizine or loratadine ?

      I have taken them for some years now due to allergies, but only take them when i get an allergic reaction.

      I found that when first taking Warfarin after my first ablation, the Warfarin really had an effect on my gut, terrible indegetion & reflux, since i have been off warfarin my stomach has been good.

      Ian0847.. looking at your post above you say you have heart rate at around 60/70 beats per minute.obviously thats at rest..if so thats normal & quite even low...nowt to worry about there.

      my heart beat at Rest is between 85 & 90 beat perminute.

      When i go into AF it reaches 170 ish & even higher

    • frank61666
      frank61666 Greebo64

      Posted

      The benedryl I take here in the USA is the chemical diphenhydramine. Benedryl (diphenhydramine) is a 1st generation antihistamine drug and it seems to block histamine binding to all 4 histamine cellular receptors, H1, H2, H3 and H4.

      The 2 antihistamine drugs you mentioned are second generation (i.e., more sophisticated) and they apparently target H1 receptors. So, there is a good chance they will not work in histamine-induced afib scenarios originating in the small intestines.

      H1 receptors are in the nose, etc. whereas H2 are in the stomach and I don't know where the others are but the intolerance I am experiencing could be due to an unknown receptor. So the broad-based diphenhydramine for me is the best way to go.

      Frank

    • Greebo64
      Greebo64 frank61666

      Posted

      Frank in the UK they are called sleepeze or nytol original..so it seems over hear they are sold more for insomnia, having said that all the anthistamines i have had tried make me sleepy & sometimes leave me feeling really crap, so i always try to take them just before going to bed as the antihistamine effect lasts up to 24 hours.

      But all this talk on here about what works & what doesnt is a mine field

      my af for instance is not affected by coffee or alcohol, but some others are affected by these.

      I do think with me it has something to do with my many allergies & also the acid i can produce , as i have mentioned before i only ever get AF in the Evening [but not Necessarily when i am laid down] never had an AF attack during the day.

    • frank61666
      frank61666 Greebo64

      Posted

      Yeah - many in USA use benedryl to sleep (my mother used to use that get us kids to sleep on Christmas Eve - and that was back in the '50's).

      But - it still has many uses that go beyond simply sleep.

      I am slowly finding several questions for members of this forum who suffer in PAF - one of which is, and this may relate to you: do you get afib at night or in the evening if you completely skip dinner?

      Frank

    • ian0847
      ian0847 Greebo64

      Posted

      Thanks for your reply.

      As you say my numbers are quite low. 

      The problems I have are (a) my "at rest" pulse has jumped 18 (to 76) in this 

      latest episode (b) When I exert myself I become breathless as the pulse climbs to 120 (c) that's because although the numbers aren't high, the rhythm is all over the place due to the faulty "electrics" as shown in the ECG, and finally (d) this is the first episode which has lasted more than 24 hours (7 days and running!)

      i am am not sure if Benedryl is going to be effective now my arrythmia has been going this long.

      i am certainly grateful to have avoided, so far, the heartrates you mention. 

      All the best

    • frank61666
      frank61666 ian0847

      Posted

      I'm not sure if benedryl would ever help you; I have asked if anyone else had good results trying that to stop their afib episode and no one answered, so it might just be me that has been helped.

      However, if it is histamine causing your episode(s) - you might look at what you have been comsuming over the last 7 days to tell if you are constantly exposing yourself to triggers, without being fully aware.

      For histamine, there is definitely as threshhold below which there is no event, but above which the event kicks into high gear. Histamine is always there but it is the level that seems to be important.  I would guess some people are high histamine carriers and a small tweak is all it takes to set things off. That is true especially as we get a bit older.

      Of course, most might not have any connection with histamine at all. Who knows? But it is a simple theory to investigate, on a case-by-case basis.

      Frank

    • Greebo64
      Greebo64 ian0847

      Posted

      When i go into AF, i really know about it, the first thing i do to confirm it is put my Electronic Blood Pressue on & when in AF it does not give a reading simply because it cant pick up a stable heart beat, so i get an ERROR message on the display..

      So when you are in  AF if you are trying to get a heart rate or blood pressue reading on a machine if it  gives a reading at all it will be incorrect .

      When i am not in AF & feeling normal, my heart rate at rest is average,around 86 to 90 ish per minute at Rest.

      Frank

      I have never skipped an evening meal, but has i have mentioned previously, some nights after my evening i do feel the occasional missed or extra beats..

      I have only gone into AF "at Rest" 3 times & always in the evening..but i have had many episodes of AF at night when doing anything that really get me breathless [if you know what i mean]

      what a pain it is when that happens ! now i am avoiding all that kind exercise..

    • Greebo64
      Greebo64 frank61666

      Posted

      Talking of Skiping Dinner, no i have never gone without my evening meal, but i do now think my AF has got something to do with food or having a full stomach in the evening, its always been in the evening when i have had AF

      I have never had AF first thing in the morning, no matter what kind of exercises i do, or any other time during the day, but i do not have large meals in the morning or during the day.

    • Afibpain
      Afibpain frank61666

      Posted

      Frank thank you for the advice. I have been drinking pediolyte and find it helps. Have you ever heard of that?
    • frank61666
      frank61666 Afibpain

      Posted

      Oh sure - its used a lot here in the USA to prevent dehydration in children with diarhhea. I have been told by a few ER nurse friends here that many afib cases can be avoided by drinking lots of water, especially after a meal. Evidently stomach chyme forces partially digested food up from the stomach irritating the vagus nerve to kick off afib.  Water dilutes the chyme moving to the intestines quicker than without water. Lying down with a stomach filloed with chyme is a sure trigger. Pediolyte helps dilute the chyme and it adds extra electrolytes.
    • Afibpain
      Afibpain frank61666

      Posted

      Thank you for the information as I did not know that. This is all new and still learning the triggers.
    • Afibpain
      Afibpain Greebo64

      Posted

      I have not tried Benadryl but intend to due so as better to be groggy from that than metropolol. My resting is not stable at night and can go from 59 to 121 to 90, so must be in silent AFIB. Other hurts and no doubt and most always wakes me up. Digestive issues seem to go hand in hand. ANY ideas why.
    • george52085
      george52085 frank61666

      Posted

      I don't know if this thread is still active, but I have found the same effect with Benadryl. I seem to be having irregular heartbeats after having any dairy products, and if I take liquid Benadryl it subsides in about 30 minutes to 60 minutes...I tried some goats milk yesterday afternoon...within 20 minutes my normal pulse (of 68-72) was at 100, and I took the Benadryl and within an hour it was back to 75. .... but here's the odd thing, I took Benadryl at midnight to help me sleep and at 5:30 am woke up with a bad case of Afib...I took one of my formerly prescribed Deltiazems but they are time released, 180 mg.... for some reason I hesitated on the Benadryl....once it got to 135 on my accurate pulse meter, I had my wife drive me to the hospital ER. They confirmed I was in Afib with an EKG, in hospital it rose to 185... They soon gave me intravenous Diltiazem ( calcium channel blocker ) and about 40 minutes later it was back to 80 bpm but still in Afib. A few minutes went by and it went back to normal rhythm....I'm now undecided about the Benadryl ... has anyone else come across any good supporting evidence for it stopping Afib? ... Because I was fairly confident Benadryl was going to be my "go to" because I DO NOT like the tiring effects of the medications. And I am on a magnesium supplement that gives 1000 mg per day....have my Rbc-Magnesium checked every two weeks, and it ranges between 5.1 down to 4.2.... when it gets down close to 4.0 is when I seem to getvtgese Afib episodes...I've been a health fanatic my whole life of 56 years, never any drugs, never smoked anything, no alcohol....this is very frustrating .... If anyone has any research on the Benadryl effect, please post...Thank you for any responses...

    • george52085
      george52085 frank61666

      Posted

      I think you've hit on it with the reference to the vagus nerve & the stomach pressure....anytime I've had an Afib episode it was preceded by a case of indigestion....frustrating because i rarely eat gassy foods, but it seems to be a food intolerance issue.....

       

    • frank61666
      frank61666 george52085

      Posted

      Hi George - Look up FODMAP - those foods seem to be a cause of food intolerances for many people.  Maybe you can see things in there relevant to you.

      Frank

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