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702086 tn?1228496286

How to shorten Parox/Atrial/ Fibrilation episodes?

I have suffered from Paroxysmal atrial fibrilation for a number of years. The hospital could not give a cause for it.
My present medication is Flecainide (50mg morning and 100mg evening), plus 150mg aspirin.
This worked ok for the last 2 months but recently my attacks have returned.
The onset of the attacks is almost exclusively in the small hours of the morning ie: between 2am and 5am and usually wake me up then continue for 2 to 3 hours, disrupting my nights sleep! And happen a couple of times a week. I have tried to analyse my lifestyle, diet, stress, alcholol, exercise etc.. to pin down the trigger causes without success.
Does anyone know a way to shorten the attacks once they have begun? When they start it feels like I have an upset windy stomach.
It's the length of time it takes for the episode to end that causes me the most stress, if I knew how to shorten them it would ease my problem.
If anyone has any suggestions I would eternally grateful.
5 Responses
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Avatar universal
Have had the same skipped beats for almost 5 years now. Finally found some relief by taking potassium and magnesium supplements with a glass of SILK soy milk (vanilla). The soymilk has 300mg of potassium to add to the mix. I take three 99mg potassium capsules + one 160mg magnesium capsule with an 8-oz glass of soymilk.

Then I lie down, and within 10 minutes, the skipped heart beats are back to normal. I have also restored sinus rhythm to normal with two AFIB attacks using the same method but increasing the potassium dose to 8 capsules and the soymilk to three 8-oz glasses. I weight only 130 lbs. Larger individual may need more. I am not a doctor so I cannot say what would work for someone else. Depends on their medical condition. I take no medications of any kind, avoid salt, sugar, alcohol.

Maybe I didn't need all that much with the first AFIB I fixed, but as I took them a little at a time and no results after 10 minutes, I just added more, again no results, so I added more until I got to the above dosage.

A year later, I got another AFIB attack and I followed the large dosage above. Again, within 30 minutes, the AFIB converted back to normal.

I've also had all the tests and doctors can find nothing wrong with me.

My first AFIB attack, I panicked, called 911, and the ER guys did everything they could except the paddles to convert me but nothing worked until they noted my blood chemistry showed a somewhat low potassium level. This after 4 hours lying in a hospital bed with IVs all over the place. Within 30 minutes of swallowing the potassium pill, I converted.

The second AFIB attack, a year and a half later, same thing, except I had to ask for the potassium pill as they said I didn't have a deficiency in potassium. Five hours passed while I waited for them to see things my way. After I convinced them to give me the pill, again I converted within 30 minutes.

They told me AFIB always causes a drop in potassium levels. Right. No chance I could just have been low on potassium to begin with and that's what caused the AFIB. That's why I don't call 911 with this anymore. I just take what I said at the beginning of this post. For some reason, I am losing potassium. But doctors don't even want to consider this.
Helpful - 0
Avatar universal
I also have LAF but it does not keep me awake although many times I have it when I  awake . I have been successfull 90% of the time in converting to NSR by doing light exercise. Mine is definitely vagal and a bloated stomach is typical before an event.
                                                          Regards Ian
Helpful - 0
251395 tn?1434494286
Hello...

What wakes me from a sound sleep is the chest pain that accompanies a very rapid, irregular heartrate.   For example, one person writes that he takes 100 mg of flecainide three times at intervals of twenty minutes when he has an A-Fib attack. This often shortens the time of an A-Fib attack.The Pill-In-The-Pocket treatment has proven to help many  reduce the amount of time in A-Fib, to usually a couple of hours as opposed to between 12 to 36 hours. It allows most to recover completely in a lot quicker time, because the heart's rhythm is restored to NSR in a much shorter time.

Most importantly, for me, it also allows me to remain out of hospital...which I try and avoid at all costs! . This is definitely  not something that you should decide to do without the guidance of your Dr. You may want to discuss this with your cardiologist as an option for you.

I hope that you get this under control and resume normal nights sleeping:)
Helpful - 0
612551 tn?1450022175
COMMUNITY LEADER
I read paroxysmal atrial fibrillation is AFib that comes and goes.  I have AFib all the time, chronic, and it doesn't keep me awake.  What am I missing?  My main noticed symptom from AFib is shortness of breath lack of energy.  No, those problems are due to the Metoprolol I take, 100 mg a day, to keep my resting HR below 100...typically in the 80s with medication.

In any case, I don't understand how AFib wakes one up.  
Helpful - 0
378273 tn?1262097621
Gosh, I wish I knew!  I have the same thing and have tried: drinking a glass of water, eating a banana, coughing, holding my breath, running in place, etc. etc.

A doctor, not a cardiologist, recommended "stroking" the carotid arteries. Not "pressing" because that could be dangerous, but stroking.

Didn't work at all.

Mine have lasted all night a few times.

Helpful - 0
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