Cpap and Afib question

Bob38 · Post by **Bob38** » Mon Mar 03, 2014 2:14 pm

Hey Cpapers

A little over year ago last (sept 11th2012) I had a severe Afib attack out of the blue. It was my first and didnt know what was going on. It was so severe that the emergency room tried three different times to stop it with medication, but to no avail. They life-flighted me to Tulsa (70 miles away) where I recovered and they put me on arythmia meds. Three weeks later I had a pituitary tumor removed before it got too big and realy screwed up my life. Anyway, I had a succesfull cathiter heart ablation this past November 12th and was taken of the heart arythmia meds completely. I still experience the Afib but they are just noticeble and happen about once a day. Last month I had a sleep study done due to my wife constantly complaining about my snoring and my lack of breathing during my sleep. So I did it because I Love her and wanted for her to have a restful night. The results of the sleep study revealed that I have sleep apnea and was perscribed a cpap machine. After being on the cpap machine I FEEL GREAT! I had no idea how bad I felt and didnt know how theraputic it was. I now wake up ready to concur the world...at least after I pee that is. I owe my wife big time!

Anyway, I was wondering if anyone else has had a heart ablation and how long did it take for the Afib to completly go away? I know it varies. And do you think your Sleep Apnea contributed to you having Afib?

RobertS975 · Post by **RobertS975** » Mon Mar 03, 2014 2:25 pm

The certain percentage of patients will need a repeat attempt at ablation. If you still have atrial fibrillation, then unfortunately the ablation failed.

purple · Post by **purple** » Mon Mar 03, 2014 3:03 pm

While it sounds very unlikely. I raises the point, as I did in this thread, viewtopic.php?f=1&t=96095&p=890001#p890001

That you might have parathyroid tumors. The doc in Tampa told my sister that about five years after a Thyroid Ablation (killed the Thyroid with drugs) Parathryoid Tumors do show up.

The website I in the post I mentioned has good description of this is diagnosed and problems which come from Parathyroid Tumors. Once again the doc in Tampa says that a lot of doctors miss Parathyroid tumors as a diagnosis.

Some of the nutritional folks claim that increasing some vitamin minerals can stop some types of Afib.

Julie · Post by **Julie** » Mon Mar 03, 2014 4:15 pm

Cpap can make a big difference to Afib and you might just get lucky in not having any worse of a problem in future than you do now.

Bob38 · Post by **Bob38** » Mon Mar 03, 2014 6:19 pm

The surgeon told me that these small flutters will eventually go away. This after the scars from the ablation heals. However if I do have to go back and get it done, I will without a second thought.

Too tall · Post by **Too tall** » Mon Mar 03, 2014 6:21 pm

Hi Bob,
I had AFIB and had the Catheter Ablation. It takes a full 3 months for the scare tissue to form and block the electrical signals. But don't despair as it's also very common to have to do a touch up (redo). But the chance of success goes to about 80 to 90% on the second ablation. If you have Apnea, your chances of success are 30% according to the Dr. This is why they always order a sleep test prior to the ablation. If you doctor didn't do this, I'd be suspicious of his ability. Their is pretty strong evidence that AFIB can be caused by Sleep Apnea.

HoseCrusher · Post by **HoseCrusher** » Mon Mar 03, 2014 6:45 pm

When you suffer from sleep disorders your body produces "fight or flight" chemicals with every occurrence. The body is capable of handling small amounts of these chemicals but cardiovascular damage results from steady exposure. One of the cardiovascular damage modalities is afib.

Years back I had severe afib, and had a catheter oblation. It didn't work. It seems that I have rogue nodes in close proximity to my sinus node and if the blast all of them away I will end up on a pacemaker.

I "discovered" that by paying close attention to the vitamin D levels and taking supplemental magnesium I have basically completely controlled my afib and am developing a long history of normal sinus rhythm.

A few years into this process my cardiologist asked me if I stopped breathing when I slept. I said yes because my wife would often wake me up saying that I had stopped breathing. He set me up for a sleep study and we discovered that I had sleep disorders.

Over the years I have added xPAP therapy to my diet changes and along with the supplemental magnesium and keeping an eye on my vitamin D levels I have been very successful in my efforts in spite of the failed catheter oblation. I frequently monitor my sleep with a pulse oximeter and run the results by my cardiologist. He has been very pleased with my results, as am I.

Too tall · Post by **Too tall** » Mon Mar 03, 2014 10:51 pm

HoseCrusher wrote:When you suffer from sleep disorders your body produces "fight or flight" chemicals with every occurrence. The body is capable of handling small amounts of these chemicals but cardiovascular damage results from steady exposure. One of the cardiovascular damage modalities is afib.

Years back I had severe afib, and had a catheter oblation. It didn't work. It seems that I have rogue nodes in close proximity to my sinus node and if the blast all of them away I will end up on a pacemaker.

I "discovered" that by paying close attention to the vitamin D levels and taking supplemental magnesium I have basically completely controlled my afib and am developing a long history of normal sinus rhythm.

A few years into this process my cardiologist asked me if I stopped breathing when I slept. I said yes because my wife would often wake me up saying that I had stopped breathing. He set me up for a sleep study and we discovered that I had sleep disorders.

Over the years I have added xPAP therapy to my diet changes and along with the supplemental magnesium and keeping an eye on my vitamin D levels I have been very successful in my efforts in spite of the failed catheter oblation. I frequently monitor my sleep with a pulse oximeter and run the results by my cardiologist. He has been very pleased with my results, as am I.

Hi,
That's very interesting. What does your O2 levels drop to? I guess the xpap helps maintain high levels? I also sleep with a pulse oximeter with an alarm when I can't take the CPAP. I can maintain pretty high levels on my sides, not on my back. Do you take a blood thinner? rate control drugs etc??

Thanks,
Too Tall

HoseCrusher · Post by **HoseCrusher** » Mon Mar 03, 2014 11:48 pm

With xPAP my O2 levels stay at 96% or higher. Prior to that they would occasionally drop to 88-89%.

As long as I maintain normal sinus rhythm no blood thinners or rate control drugs are needed.

I have frequent check ups with my cardiologist and am on strict orders to call him should I ever get into afib again.

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