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You are here: Home / My Afib Journey / Week 10: May 14, 2015 – Post Catheter Ablation Recovery Update

Week 10: May 14, 2015 – Post Catheter Ablation Recovery Update

Travis Van Slooten |May 14, 2015 | 15 Comments

5-14-15-ekg

This will be my shortest post ablation update so far as it was a very quiet week. I didn’t have any afib episodes or heart palpitations.

My weight climbed a couple pounds as I now weigh 171 pounds. That minor increase is likely just a shift in my water weight, however. I could probably jump on the scale tomorrow and weigh 169 or 170 pounds. I’m happy where my weight is at right now so hopefully I can maintain it for a long time!

I did have an opportunity to exchange emails with Dr. Carolyn Dean about the muscle twitching issues I discussed in last week’s update. Be sure to read that post as I updated it with the information Dr. Dean gave me.

I theorized that because I’ve been taking such high amounts of magnesium (750 – 900 mg per day), and I only get about 500 mg of calcium in my diet, things might be out of whack. I might need to balance the magnesium with more calcium. Dr. Dean agreed that taking a small dose of daily calcium might help so I’ll be giving that a try.

As a result of this muscle twitching, I’m in the process of adjusting all of my supplements. Once I figure things out and I get a nice balance of supplements going and the muscle twitching has stopped, I’ll post exactly what I’m taking. And if I can’t figure it out, I may just stop taking my supplements all together for a while and see what happens.

I also had my annual physical this past week. I passed with flying colors and all my blood work came back perfectly normal. My doctor did say he heard a single pvc when listening to my heart but that those are completely normal (which of course they are but can be annoying for some). I was surprised to hear I had a pvc because I couldn’t feel anything. If I’m having occasional pvc’s I don’t feel them at all.

I’ve received a few emails over the past couple weeks from readers asking if I have resumed drinking at all. I’ve been meaning to talk about this in my last couple updates but have forgotten to comment on the issue.

If you’re a regular reader of this blog, you know my favorite drink is a vodka/7-up. Up until a month prior to my ablation I had a nightly cocktail. Some people have a cup of coffee or Coke every day, my vice has always been my nightly vodka/7-up cocktail – literally one (any only one) every night. I would usually sneak in a second on Fridays and Saturdays:)

For about the past three weeks I have had one drink each week. One week I had a margarita (I love tequila as much as I love vodka) and the other two weeks I had a vodka/7-up. So to answer the question, yes, I am drinking again but not nearly as much as I used to. At most I’ll have a couple cocktails a week and this is probably all I’ll have moving forward.

Even when my afib was spiraling out of control I continued to have a nightly cocktail. Drinking has never affected my afib – at least not directly. For some afibbers, alcohol is an immediate afib trigger. That was never the case for me. In fact, in the nine years that I have had afib, I have never had an episode during or immediately after drinking. I have had episodes, however, the day after a heavy night of drinking.

Well that was my week. Like I said, it was pretty quiet. I hope it stays this way for a long time!


Click Here for All of My Post Catheter Ablation Updates
Click Here for My Catheter Ablation Experience

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  1. jerry
    Sep 23, 2016

    Has anyone read afib is not a heart problem by Dr. Joel Wallach?

    Reply
    • Travis ( Age: 44 / Male / Years with AFIB: 9 )
      Sep 24, 2016

      Jerry:

      I’ve never heard of him or the book but just doing a quick search on him I’d probably avoid anything he’s “selling.” He doesn’t sound too legitimate.

      Travis

      Reply
  2. M. Creron
    Aug 15, 2016

    Pure Wenxin Keli has been shown to suppress Atrial Fibrillation (Afib) is almost every person with Afib. It has been used by the Chinese for thousands of years. About 100,000 people in China are suppressing their Afib with pure Wenxin Keli. There are virtually no side effects. It is natural. It tastes great.

    Reply
    • Travis ( Age: 43 / Male / Years with AFIB: 9 )
      Aug 18, 2016

      M. Creron:

      Thanks for your comments. I’ve never heard of Wenxin Keli before so I’ll have to look into it. Do you have any other information you can share about it?

      Travis

      Reply
      • Joe
        Aug 28, 2016

        Here’s a website I found for Wenxin Keli:

        http://www.wenxinkeli.com/wenxin-keli.html

        Reply
    • Joe
      Aug 27, 2016

      Where can I buy this?

      Reply
      • Travis ( Age: 43 / Male / Years with AFIB: 9 )
        Aug 28, 2016

        Joe:

        I have no idea where you can purchase it. I would just Google it. I’m sure you’ll find something. I don’t endorse this product in any way shape or form. For all I know it could be complete snake oil:) I ask all of the readers of this blog to do their own research!

        Travis

        Reply
        • Joe
          Aug 28, 2016

          Hi Travis,

          Thank you for your response.

          I found some articles that I like to share regarding Wenxin Keli:

          http://www.heartrhythmjournal.com/article/S1547-5271(11)01365-8/abstract#/article/S1547-5271(11)01365-8/fulltext?mobileUi=1

          http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3867920/

          http://www.hindawi.com/journals/ecam/2015/101904/

          Reply
  3. Joe
    May 18, 2015

    I found this interesting. “Safe” exercise levels for men and women with afib.

    http://www.empr.com/medical-news/safe-exercise-levels-atrial-fibrillation-vary-by-gender/article/415093/

    Reply
    • Travis ( Age: 43 / Male / Years with AFIB: 9 )
      Aug 18, 2016

      Joe:

      Excellent article. Thanks for sharing! Just to recap the main points of the study referenced in that article:

      “Among women, the risk of an AF episode was reduced by 24% for those who engaged in moderate exercise, and by 15% with vigorous exercise. In men, moderate exercise reduced the risk of an AF episode by 19%, but vigorous exercise raised the risk by 90%.”

      The team defined moderate exercise as 15–30 minutes of walking five times a week, or an activity such as yoga. Vigorous exercise was defined as activities such as running, swimming, bicycling, and jogging.

      Travis

      Reply
  4. Ray ( Age: 55 / male / Years with AFIB: two months )
    May 15, 2015

    HI I have just been diagnosed with afib 2 or 3 months ago . Since finding out I have so far gone through one cardioversion and one catheter ablation . The doctor now has me on eliquis , metoprol and diltiazem. I have been reading up on a Chinese tea called wenxin keli . I am thinking of trying it ,but I am, getting no support from my doctor despite me providing him with many medical studies on its effectiveness. Has anyone heard of anyone trying this product Thanks Ray

    Reply
    • Travis ( Age: 42 / Male / Years with AFIB: 9 Years )
      May 16, 2015

      Ray:

      Sorry to hear about your struggles. It sounds like you had a catheter ablation pretty quick – within 2-3 months of finding out you have afib. That’s pretty rare. Most people (myself included) tend to wait a long time (too long in most cases) before having an ablation. You’re way ahead of the game. If I had to do it all over, I would have had my ablation done immediately as well.

      At any rate, I have never heard of wenxin keli. Care to explain what exactly it does? You commented that it is “very effective”…very effective at doing what?

      Travis

      Reply
    • jerry
      Sep 25, 2016

      Ray time to switch Dr’s they are not trained to your way of thinking in this country

      Reply
  5. Joe
    May 15, 2015

    From what I read the metabolites of alcohol are the stimulants for afib. There is usually a delay of 12-24hrs between alcohol consumption and afib symptoms. The best way to keep vit/min in balance is to get them through eating healthy foods. How is your diet?

    Reply
    • Travis ( Age: 42 / Male / Years with AFIB: 9 Years )
      May 15, 2015

      Joe:

      My diet was an absolute train wreck before I decided to shed some weight. I easily consumed 4,000+ calories per day and all of it was fast food and junk food. But get this, the minute I started eating better and stopped all the junk food and fast food (and consequently lost all my weight), my afib spiraled out of control. My afib was actually better when I was “unhealthy” fat and drinking a lot. Go figure.

      Today my diet is o.k. The main thing I focus on now is keeping my calories around 2,000 per day. I still don’t eat vegetables or fruit that much. I’m sure health nuts would look at my diet and cry foul, but it’s a lot better than it was!

      Travis

      Reply

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