Aside from the epic post I wrote about a month ago about my dad’s death and the possible role atrial fibrillation might have played in his passing, I haven’t posted an update since July. The reason is, for the most part things have been going great so I haven’t had much to write about.
Yesterday marked the official six-month anniversary of my ablation so I thought I would post an update. As luck would have it, I just happen to have a lot to write about!
Bad Habits Are Hard to Break
As I suspected would happen, some of my bad habits have crept up on me. I’ve been eating more than I should and I’ve been eating a lot of junk. Shortly after my ablation I weighed 169 pounds. In the past six months I have gained just about ten pounds as my weight now fluctuates between 177 – 179 pounds. I’m not happy about that so I’m determined to get more disciplined again with my diet. My goal is to be somewhere between 170 – 175 pounds.
I have also gone back to drinking but not nearly as much as I was prior to my ablation. Before my ablation I would have my nightly cocktail (vodka/7-up) and would usually have an additional cocktail on Friday and Saturday. I stopped drinking completely in preparation of my ablation and stayed off all booze during the blanking period.
I didn’t start drinking “regularly” again until about two months ago. Now when I drink I only have a cocktail (sometimes two) on Fridays and Saturdays. I’m not drinking anymore during the week. I only detail this because I think it’s important to know that I still drink even though I have afib. For me alcohol isn’t a trigger for afib so I’ll continue to enjoy alcohol until it becomes a problem.
After literally watching my dad die I have come to the realization that life is too short. It’s bad enough that I have to constantly worry about my atrial fibrillation. I’ll be damned if I’m going to let it prevent me from enjoying an occasional cocktail. I’m not one of those guys that’s going to strive to live a perfect life in hopes that I’ll beat my afib. I’ll make obvious adjustments in my life when absolutely necessary but until then I’m going to enjoy life. Screw afib. I’m having a drink when I want to!
Exercise Activity
Up until about a month ago I was doing my daily 30-minute brisk walks. I haven’t done any weight lifting of any kind since about a month prior to my ablation. I have decided to give up weight lifting completely. I thought I would go back to it but I’ve decided to give it up. I just don’t think it’s smart to put that kind of stress on your heart if you’re an afibber.
I’ve been so busy the past month with various family things that I’ve only been able to get in my 30-minute walks a few days per week – and in the past couple weeks I’ve only gotten them in a couple times per week. Other than that, I haven’t been exerting myself.
My days of being a hardcore workout guy are over and I’m perfectly fine with it. As long as I can get my walks in most days and can control my diet, I’ll be perfectly content.
PVCs, Palpitations, and Fainting Spells
I posted a few months ago that I was having a number of PVCs and possible PACs as well. They have continued off and on since that update. Fortunately, I’ve had more good days than bad – until the past few weeks that is.
About three weeks ago we returned from our family vacation. The vacation was great as all was quiet regarding my heart. But then about a week after we returned I started having some “serious” issues. I was having palpitations so bad on some days that I felt I was having an afib episode. It wasn’t afib, however, as I took a number of AliveCor readings and they always came back perfectly normal. I did see some PVCs in the EKG readings.
In addition to these intense, all-day-long palpitations (that at times felt WORSE than an afib episode), I was also feeling light headed and faint. One particular evening I was out shooting baskets with my daughter and when I jumped up to make a shot and came back down to land on my feet I almost blacked out! I went immediately to my knees and everything around me starting to black out. I was on the verge of totally fainting. That episode totally freaked me out.
For about a week straight I had those intense palpitations and faint feelings. It got to the point where I was afraid to go anywhere because anytime I sat up, stood up, or moved I felt like I was going to faint at any moment. Basically anything I did other than lie down, I had palpitations and was light headed and “faint.” Fortunately, I never came close to fainting other than that night shooting hoops with my daughter, but I always had the feeling I was going to faint at any time.
Naturally I started panicking, which I think just made everything worse, so I reached out to my “afib mentor,” Shannon, of afibbers.org. He calmed me down and assured me all would be well. He also read a bunch of my AliveCor readings and said everything looked fine other than a few PVCs here and there.
Dr. Natale and the 7-Day Holter Monitor to the Rescue
While Shannon helped calm me down, I wanted to make sure I was o.k. so I called Dr. Natale’s office. After explaining my symptoms to his nurse, she consulted with Dr. Natale. He thought it made sense to have a 7-day Holter monitor sent to me again so we could see what was going on. If you recall, I had to wear this same monitor shortly after my blanking period.
The monitor arrived Thursday afternoon on September 3rd. I decided to wait until Friday morning to put the monitor on. Wouldn’t you know it, I’ve had the monitor on now for almost three days and I haven’t had a single heart palpitation! It’s like when your car isn’t working right but when you take it in they can’t find anything wrong with it because it runs perfectly. How frustrating!
I have four more days with the monitor so we’ll see what happens. With my luck everything will be perfectly quiet and then the minute I send the monitor back I’ll be having palpitations and fainting spells again…lol.
Psychosomatic Symptoms Due to Stress, Worry & Anxiety
After numerous back and forth emails and texts with Shannon, I think a lot of these palpitations and symptoms are psychosomatic. It all adds up. When I was on vacation I was totally fine. Why? Because I wasn’t worrying about anything. I was relaxing.
Then I return from vacation and shortly after I start having all kinds of symptoms – only for them to completely disappear after I put the monitor on. As I told Shannon, the monitor is likely a mental security blanket for me. A total sense of calm did come over me when I hooked the monitor up.
Worrying and anxiety runs rampant in my family. My grandmother was a nervous wreck and suffered from severe anxiety all her life. Her daughter, my mom, also has anxiety. Her brother has anxiety too. Lucky me – I have anxiety and afib in my blood line!
I was never a nervous person nor did I ever suffer from anxiety until Father’s Day in 2006 – the day I had my first afib episode and had to be carted to the hospital in an ambulance. I was able to keep my anxiety at bay for the most part despite my afib but it got progressively worse as we started having kids and my afib slowly started getting worse over the years.
I guess without even realizing it I have become my grandmother – a nervous Nelly and anxiety freak! If I’m honest with myself I guess I do worry a lot about my afib and my health in general. Watching my dad literally die before my eyes from heart failure certainly hasn’t helped.
I think my dad’s death has had more of an impact on my mental state than I realized. I suppose subconsciously I’m scared to death about my own heart health and worry a great deal about my future. And like Shannon told me, after you go through something traumatic or tragic in life, sometimes there can be a delay in the mind and body in response to those events. Maybe now I’m just finally starting to process my dad’s death and so mentally and physically I’m responding by having palpitations and everything else!
A Possible “Cure”: Meditation, Yoga & Therapy
Shannon is a big believer in meditation and yoga for general health but he especially recommends it for afibbers. There are studies that show the positive effects yoga has on the management of atrial fibrillation. He’s been encouraging me to take up both meditation and yoga. They are now officially on my bucket list. Over the coming weeks I will be looking for classes (online or offline) on how to meditate and how to do yoga as I’ve never done either one before.
I’m also considering seeing a shrink. I think it would be beneficial to talk to someone to help sort out things in life and to help me get a more positive perspective on things. After all, I’m six months post my ablation and aside from these recent palpitations, I’ve had nothing but solid NSR. I should be jumping for joy and enjoying life and taking advantage of every moment I have in NSR. Instead, I just find myself worrying when my next attack will be and when I’ll need a second ablation.
Well, my friends, that is the current state of things. I’ll be sure to post an update after my 7-day heart monitoring is over and I get the results from Dr. Natale’s office. I have a funny feeling they’ll have nothing to tell me other than I’ve had nothing but solid NSR with a few PVCs here and there.
That would be great if that happens but I just hope that my symptoms don’t come roaring back the minute I send the monitor back! We shall see what happens. One day at a time, I guess.
Click Here for All of My Post Catheter Ablation Updates
Click Here for My Catheter Ablation Experience
Travis, sincere condolences for the loss of your Dad. That is way too young to pass.
It sounds as tho this ablation is working out well for you. I think that PVCs tho irritating, are basically harmless and a good trade off for AF. Me and you have talked a bit in the past before your surgery on lifestyle choices before and after. Isnt it just human nature after we have gotten control of a condition to allow the vices back in? I admit to some of that also. I believe the last post to you was me seeking out a Kinesiologist and working on my neck posture to lessen the impact of the vagus nerve on AF. I believe this has been instrumental in controlling not only my Afib, but also my PVCs. I must also give credit to my ND for adding a couple of supplements which I also rely on daily for my continued NSR, last time in Fib was Dec 2014. I had 4 episodes in 2014 and none this year. Along with those 4, I endured PVCs of roughly 25 per day. SInce the neck adjusting and adding a few supplements to my list, I can count the PVCs Ive had per month on one hand. And they arent as strong, feel them start but basically one skip and done. Ive also added coffee, wine, with all the stress to little or no adverse effect. I also have had all my amalgams replaced and working on removing metal poisoning. Recent tests have verified a marked improvement in several areas including Mag and low Homocysteine levels.
I think you can beat the PVCs with a few supplements and possibly treating the vagus nerve. As we discussed a year ago, ablation isnt a replacement to a healthy lifestyle and allow us to ignore alternatives we may need. I do like that my ND is open to certain conventional treatments along with natural as we realize the end results are most desired of good health and longevity. If youre interested in what I consider to be successful in controlling AF and PVCs, let me know. Regards, James.
James curious have you also had an ablation? How frequent was your afib prior? Was yours an undetermined root trigger/cause? What supplements do you take? I take 400mg Glycinate and 1000mg of Taurine as well as Vega 1 for BCAAs and omegas….last episode was August 2014 coming from 3 episodes per year lasting 8-10 hours before self resolving,I also lost 20 pounds in this time frame.
Ryan, greetings. Not ablated and tho not opposed, but not in my short term plans. As for a cause, isnt that the million dollar question, but its looking for and more like an old whiplash injury impacting my Vagus nerve. I would also suspect some chemical toxicity, however so difficult to identify and treat. I like the Glycinate and Taurine but not much for any all in one supps. Prefer to have control of specific issues. I was a lightweight afibber, 1-2 a year, with the most last year of 4, and none so far this year. Thats awesome you have yours under control. Keep up the good work. Self converting is always rewarding and cheaper.
James:
Hey James! It’s been a while. I’m so glad to hear you’re doing so well. That’s awesome!
I would LOVE to know what you’re doing to control your afib and the PVCs. Feel free to reply here with as much detail as you care to share. Otherwise you can reach me privately via email but either way I’m dying to know your secret.
My ectopy has gotten even worse since my six month update. I’ll be writing an updated post soon. I’m having about 4 PVCs per MINUTE and a couple PACs as well. The doctors aren’t worried about it though because they said it doesn’t become an issue until you get to around 20,000 PVCs per day. Even at 4 per minute I’m “only” having about 5,760 per day. Of course that assumes I’m having 4 every minute. I could be having more or less each minute but either way I’m well under the 20,000 threshold.
What really sucks is my PVCs are really noticeable so it’s almost as bad as having afib. In fact, if I had to describe the feeling, it feels like a mild afib episode that literally never ends. About a month ago I got relief when I would lie down but now I get no relief. The only time I feel “good” is when I’m doing my brisk walks on the treadmill, which I do every day. Otherwise I have that awful fish flopping feeling in my chest all day and night long. Any tips you can provide to help put these PVCs to rest would be greatly appreciated!
Travis
Travis just curious so like Magnesium, Taurine, Coq10, and potassium combo of supps do not have any impact on improvement of the PVCs?
Travis, that is a crap ton of PVCs. My theory on ablations, and please don’t think I’m being critical here, is they are just another band aid from Allopaths. Obviously, the charge or instigator is still sending the signal to our heart, however the tissue it was effecting is now gone. That’s the good news. PVCs or PACs are the bad news. So off to the table again for the PVC ablation. It’s like having a break light blinking fast on a car and smashing the bulb, problem solved, but current is still sent from source and now you have no brake lights.
I take about 15 supplements a day, however those pertaining to AF are maybe 5. I will list those. Also, I self treat my neck quite easily. Heat, not ice, as hot as you can stand for 1 to 3 hours a day depending on need. First time was 3 days straight for around 10 hours total. I know this may sound extreme, but for me it worked better than a Chiro. Trouble with Chiros is they adjust our neck side to side. I once had a Chiro throw me into Afib. The issue is little or no curve in our spine at neck region which I believe was pinching my vagus nerve.
Kines showed me some exercises to get the curve back in my spine and suggested heat every day. Basically lay on your back with head hanging over the edge of your bed. Start slowly, 5-10 min 3 times a day and work up to 20 min 5 times a day until you feel relief. Of course this was me, may or may not work for others. Vagus runs from head stem to stomach, so I started at the top and this seemed to work.
In conjunction with this, Mag Gyl helps immensely. Some days/nights as much as 800 mg depending on how I feel. Here’s what I believe to be the most helpful, as listed in order of rank.
James:
Thanks for sharing your protocol. A lot of readers here will find this info invaluable! I’m taking a lot of the supplements you’ve listed except alpha lipoic acid, niacin, and the hawthorn berry. Although I’m staring hawthorn berry today so we’ll see how it goes.
Ryan:
Yes, I’m either taking all the supplements you’ve listed or have taken them in the past. Nothing seems to make a difference. It sucks!
Travis
Travis, this is my first time on your site. I seemed to have developed a fib after my liver transplant 2 years ago. I had liver cancer and hemophilia. Anyway, I take ridmol 4 times a day and metropolol 2 times a day. I also take prograf for antirejection and lipitor. I also take prilosec, multivitamin, calcium,baby aspirin, magnesium,fish oil. I am probably 75 lbs overweight and dont exercise enough. The afibseems to be happening almost every day. I have a great cardiologist, but I am starting to get worn down. The doctor is going to double my ridmol. This may be a crazy question,but the person who donated his liver died from a stroke. I am wondering if I could have inherited his heart problems. God bless him for giving me his liver and praise the Lord that I am still alive. Thank you, Richard.
Travis,
I’ve been following your blog since before my ablation at the beginning of April. My six-month anniversary in a few weeks. I also tend to be a worrier. Many of the doctors don’t understand the anxiety that AFib can cause…especially in those that tend to be anxious. With the paroxysmal afib we never know when it is going to hit and that was a great source of anxiety.
I just found out that my 80-something uncle has AFib. Never felt it and still doesn’t. He is very calm and easygoing so it doesn’t bother him at all.
I’m in decent shape with a normal resting heart rate in the 50s and 60s. Last visit to cardiologist…heart rate went up to 123. I walk toward the clinic and my heart takes off. Before the ablation when I was on the Sotalol it was in the low 40s, even at the doctor’s. Off of that med now, so at least I know I can get my heart rate up!
I tried yoga for a while. Got bored of it. Tried tai-chi (zzzzzzzz). I find that exercise such as hiking in nature, walking and bicycle riding are great stress and anxiety relievers.
Gregg:
Thanks for being a supporter of this blog! And congrats on your ablation! It’s always nice to hear a success story. You didn’t mention it but are you completely off drugs now?
I have yoga and meditation on my list of To Do’s but I’ll be honest I’ve been dragging my feet on pursuing them. Knowing me I’ll procrastinate until next year:( Like you, my best (and most enjoyable) way of relieving stress is so be active. My outlet is walking on the treadmill at a very brisk rate (just shy of a slow jog) and doing any work around the yard.
I wish you continued success with your post ablation and keep in touch!
Travis
thanks for keeping us updated
Charlene
thanks for the update ..
Charlene
Excellent post Travis, its unreal how much of me I see in your posts in terms of worry and never really being permanently settled with an answer given for something because our brains always leave room for doubt, or what if, or yeah but I read this or that, and always just place ourselves in a mental state were never 100% convinced of.
I am 37 so basically where you were what 5 years ago and I haven’t had an episode now in over a year but nor did you in your earlier phases of afib so I worry about “when” and “how” it will become worse and a whole slew of other things all combined into one. Deep rooted anxiety and worry creates that perpetual negative thinking, and for me honestly I always have “something” that I am worrying about and its usually health related.
I have thought I had MS or stomach cancer before or some neurological disease cause of nerves in my face twitching or feeling numb…point is anxiety even when you feel calm is still rooted in your core and impacts your body physically and mentally. Its a really hard cycle to break and when I was told “you have afib”, it really gave my brain a negative health issue to obsess over. No matter how hard I try I cannot break the cycle for some reason of health and fear of death in general.
I have read books on psychosomatic symptoms and have exhibited them all my life in one form or another and always thought including with my afib before I knew it was afib it was all physical manifestations caused by emotional and mental stress. One book that was good was called “How to stop worry about your health, and live”, I believe that’s what it was called and then I lost the book but it was really good. Another one you should look at that has been around since like the 70’s is one called “Hope and Help for your Nerves” by Claire Weekes…this my friend is a bible of help for me in defusing my irrational thinking. Even though its not about “afib” or about “MS”, it really helps me re-tune if you will my thinking and reactions to these thoughts, it helps me see much clearer how irrational I can be at times in my own head.
Anyway a bit of a rant but your are on to something that I have known for a many years with myself despite it taking me many years to come to this realization there is some comfort in knowing that a lot of it is as they say “psychosomatic” related. The problem I find is when a real health issue does arise you then start to wonder if there was some justification for your worry all along…and the cycle continues…despite being told Im healthy even with afib, my brain has locked in on this condition to the point of an obsession. I know if I ever did get something more serious, afib would be nothing more than a minor inconvenience and this new health issue would become the obsession consuming my worry and time.
I often hear or read “stop worrying and live, everyday is a gift” and I whole-heartedly agree, I guess I just have to figure out how to apply it and not let every year pass by wondering when it will finally happen for me, unfortunately I think its how I am hardwired by genetics and it will be good days and bad days fighting the same fight the rest of my life possibly, the key for me right now is to find more of the good ones than bad.
Ryan:
Hey Ryan! Great to hear from you again. I think we were split at birth or something because we sound identical! I was laughing at your comment about MS because a while back when I blogged about the nonstop twitching I was experiencing, I was convinced I had MS. My wife picked up my phone one day and opened my web browser and saw an article about MS. She looked at me funny and asked, “Why are you reading about MS?” When I told her I thought I might have it she rolled her eyes and said I was crazy…lol. By the way, my twitching went away shortly after I stopped taking Zolpidem (Ambien generic). Turns out I didn’t have MS after all:)
Thanks for the tips on the books. I’ll definitely check them out.
I totally understand where you’re coming from because I go through the same cycle of worry and fear. I blame this squarely on the afib. I was NEVER a worrier or anxious person until I got afib. I’ve been a mental mess ever since. In a sense I should probably be thankful that afib is all I have to deal with. There are others in life that have it so much worse. Imagine battling cancer or a debilitating condition like MS or Parkinson’s. Or imagine being paralyzed for life.
Bottom line, I know I’m extremely fortunate and should just be happy and enjoy life but my brain simply won’t let me. It just wants to focus on my afib and the “inevitable” health conditions I’m going to face. It drives me crazy at times.
Take care and be well, my friend.
Travis
+1 on Claire Weeks book. I also have read “How to stop worrying and start living” by Dale Carnegie. Excelent book.
Another book that I recommend is “Full catastrophe living” by John kabat-zinn. He teaches some meditation techniques (mindfulness meditation) and also yoga (firsts steps).
Christian
Travis, just an idea, why don’t you take the monitor off, and only start wearing it for a week when you have an episode so you can capture it, I’m sure you can give Dr Natale staff a reasonable excuse or a white lie, for keeping the monitor for a longer time, just don’t be timid and do it, after all you’ve been through, you deserve to get to the bottom of it, this way you don’t have to worry again and guess if you don’t capture the episode now, you’ve paid so much money and suffered enough, they must accommodate you.
saad
Hey Saad! Actually what I’m going to do is hang on to the monitor for a few weeks AFTER this 7-day monitoring period is over. Then if my symptoms return I’ll call Dr. Natale’s office and ask them if I can wear it again for another 7 days. They even told me that if I need to wear it longer than 7 days that was fine. I’ll keep you posted!
Travis
Copyright 2023 – Living with Atrial Fibrillation