Atrial Fibrillation Blog

My friend, Dr. Ellen Taliaferro, used to be an emergency room doctor. Today she uses her expertise in dealing with trauma to help people use writing to recover from their illnesses and traumas.

I sent her a message the other day saying that maybe wellness writing can not only cure chronic diseases but perhaps even prevent them in the first place. That came from research I’d just read about from Arizona State University that writing can lower cholesterol and give you a healthier heart. Dr. Taliaferro just wrote about writing as a heart-healthy prevention strategy in her blog.

So if writing can relieve stress and give you a healthier heart, can it help with atrial fibrillation, especially afib triggered by stress? Could be worth a try.

Dr. Taliaferro is doing some workshops on Seeking Wellness Story by Story in beautiful Half Moon Bay, CA in April. If you attend, please let us know if it helps your afib.

Tags: Causes or Triggers, Prevention, Treatment, Women by Mellanie
5 Comments »

Atrial fibrillation is so sneaky. So is afib really stress in disguise? Afib seems to sneak up on you when you least expect it and you wonder “where did that come from?” It’s hard to pin down an atrial fibrillation cause or trigger when it’s different every time.

For some, it’s triggered by alcohol or caffeine. For others, by certain types of foods or food additives. For some, it may come on during exercise or from something as simple as bending over. For still others, eating late or sleeping on the left side triggers it. It varies all across the board.

In medical information you rarely see mention of stress causing afib, but I think that stress is a huge contributor. Of the patients I’ve interviewed, about 3/4 said that stress was a huge component in bringing on their afib episodes.

Stress certainly could be a factor that leads us to indulge in alcohol, caffeine, or certain foods. But is the food the cause, or is the stress the actual root cause?

Here’s a short video clip of what triggered my afib:
Mellanie True Hills talks about what triggered her atrial fibrillation

We know that the numbers of folks having afib is growing exponentially, which is generally chalked up to Baby Boomers hitting their 60s. But I also see so many younger folks struggling with afib and wonder if the stress epidemic that’s due to our 24/7 lifestyles is causing an afib epidemic, too.

What do you think? Does stress trigger afib for you?

­

Tags: Causes or Triggers, Inflammation, Statins, Stress by admin
41 Comments »

Welcome to the Atrial Fibrillation Blog, sponsored by StopAfib.org.

This blog is for talking about living with atrial fibrillation (afib) and ways to deal with it. If your heart has ever felt like a flopping fish, a bag of wiggly worms, or fluttering butterflies, you may have atrial fibrillation, the most common irregular heartbeat. You can find out more about how to tell at StopAfib.org.

If you or a loved one suffers from atrial fibrillation, please join us on a journey of exploration to help us wipe out afib.

Tags: General, Symptoms by admin
1 Comment »