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Atrial Fibrillation or POTS?

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Posted 5/6/2020 3:07 AM (GMT 0)
Hello everyone,

I’ve been feeling wonderful for the past 19 weeks since I got pregnant. My LLMD said some people are lucky and pregnancy hormones help them feel wonderful.

anyways last month on the full moon I had a atrial fibrillation episode where my top half of my heart suddenly began beating 197 bpm and the bottom felt very normal. it was literally pounding out of my chest and I laid down immediately. it subsided on its own in 5 minutes. My LLMD put me on a heart blend tonic tincture for safety reasons after that.

I had pretty much gotten off of all my “stuff” except magnesium, b vit, d vit, vit c, and prenatals and fish oil. and I had been taking a boat load of stuff for years.

well after a few weeks I started skipping my heart tonic cuz I felt fine.

full moon is tomorrow right? and I had what I thought was another episode today. I had felt so energized today I overdid it housecleaning and stuff & had an episode. it felt not as violent as atrial fib and I realized the bottom part of my heart was actually the part having severe palps and the top was regular pulse, with occasional palps and worsening higher HR upon standing.

it was after hours so I contacted emergency # of my dr and he said sounds like NOT atrial fib but more like a combo of lymphatic/pregnancy/POTS/full moon. he recommended I do some grounding and take it really easy. and if it didn’t get better to contact the clinic & my midwives.

funny about the grounding ~ when my episode was at its worst all I could say to my husband was “I want to go lay in the grass!” which sounded insane but that’s honestly what I needed. after laying in the yard for an hour the irregular beats are still there but much calmer.

it is now almost 4 hours later and I am STILL having the bottom of my heart flopping around (just at a slower more regular pace) and I am in bed hydrating.

PLEASE any tips at ALL are appreciated.

I do not want to go to ER due to COVID and lack of knowledge of Lyme there.
Posted 5/6/2020 5:34 AM (GMT 0)
I dont know much, im a guy. Afib sounds serious, not to mention with pregnancy. It would be good to talk to a doctor, even if tele-med?

I had some covid like illness in january and started having heart palpitations. For me, electrolyte tabs helped some, but taking a thorne multivitamin helped more, plus a a month or two.

Edit to add: also do you know your vitamin d level since you supplement?



Doors12

Post Edited (doors12) : 5/5/2020 11:38:25 PM (GMT-6)

Posted 5/6/2020 1:59 PM (GMT 0)
Thanks for the reply,
no I actually don’t know my current vit D level. it was always low so we just always supplement. I’ve had chronic lyme for 10 years but went into remission with pregnancy. It was like a switch turned off and i’ve had no symptoms since getting pregnant. I’ve always had low D that whole time. Actually I just had a panel done for midwives I bet it’s on there... and the midwives & my dr said everything was normal on that panel. idk if they tested for D.

I’m sorry you had covid like illness... my mom & I both did as well. she has lyme too. it was like a one day stomach bug for us, accompanied with a few days of utter exhaustion and dry cough. and a viral type ache.

I can’t take electrolytes because I am crazy sensitive to potassium. I usually have wild heart palpitations if I OD on potassium. I appreciate the ideas!!
Posted 5/6/2020 8:48 PM (GMT 0)
I had a similar experience to what you are describing. I do have a history of POTS, and I had been taking a lot of Alka-Seltzer Gold (lots of sodium and potassium) for a herx. My heart rate jumped to 155 out of nowhere and took a few days (in the hospital) to normalize. The doctors shrugged, and the head of cardiology told me some nonsense verbatim from the POTS Wikipedia page. I soon saw a legitimate POTS specialist (which are very rare!) and she suggested high amounts of salt as well as compression stockings, as well as adequate (not too much!) water intake. Given that the circulatory system expands by 40% in pregnancy, POTS flares are understandable, and flukes as things adjust can happen. I would chalk it up to that, but maybe wear compression stockings (I like the ones that just cover the calves) and get plenty of rest for now.

Any autonomic nervous system issues (such as POTS and improper signaling to the heart) might be helped with neurological support: tapping, DNRS, meditation, lion's mane, CBD, etc.

COVID-19 also has left people with POTS, as well as other neurological and cardiac irregularities. My niece and sister both developed POTS afterward.

Earthing is very cool! I don't doubt that it could help.

I also felt amazing during pregnancy, but the depletion that sets in after the birth can be brutal. Make sure to take excellent care of yourself and accept all possible help!
Posted 5/7/2020 2:09 AM (GMT 0)
Saraeli! Thank you for the info.

Yes, so far I have been unable to find a POTS specialist. Thankfully my LLMD is very knowledgeable about it.

Thank you for recommending compression socks! i’ve never thought about that but I think they will really help! I am so excited to try them. (the things we get excited about...)

Tapping & CBD *do* help ~ but I’ve never tried lions mane. Do you mean the mushroom?

I too have heard so much about COVID affecting people in strange ways, but not specifically re:POTS. That’s crazy!!

I’m also thankful for the postpartum tip. Any more concerning pregnancy I am so grateful for. I plan on my mom & I making my freezer meals for at least a month, and my church is going to supply fresh meals for at least two weeks. I have no work obligations as I’m a stay at home wife, and my sister in law is planning on coming for a week or so of the month after when local help dies down. I know I will need all the help I can get!
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