[orgels_revenge]

I cured my fibrillation by supplementing potassium. I work a physically demanding job and am an amateur athlete. For years my heart had been missing beats and beating erratically, especially at night or after drinking coffee. It was really scary. The effects of potassium are amazing, immediately lowering blood pressure and curing my fluttering heart 100%. I’m surprised more people don’t know about this. I think it would cure a lot of athlete’s heart problems. They are probably depleted of potassium from sweating, etc. Blood tests don’t really give a good indication of cellular potassium, which is ~25x higher than extracellular potassium and can vary more dramatically. And most people don’t get enough potassium anyway, and they are scared to supplement because potassium is in lethal injections. But taking 1/8 gram of potassium bicarbonate 1-2x per week (or less often after the initial 1-2 month phase) has been one of the best things I’ve done for my health. Another great one was supplementing chelated magnesium, because Mg oxide in most multivitamins is not very bioavailable.

[jbverschoor]

Interesting.. I have fluttering. I assumed my potassium intake is a lot lower than before (less potatos for example...). How do you get you potassium?

[orgels_revenge]

I get it through a tiny spoon (1/8-1/4 gram every few days or once per week) of potassium bicarbonate, which also acts as an antacid after meals. I have also tried potassium citrate. Dietarily, men should be getting 3-4 g per day, which is probably more than most receive.

I work as a medical technologist and have published peer-reviewed research on potassium sensing in the renal system.

[jjtheblunt]

a pertinent section in wikipedia regarding how to get potassium...

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Banana#Potassium

[UncleOxidant]

cream of tartar is very rich in potassium.

[supercanuck]

Bananas.

[sleightofmind]

Disclaimer: I am anything but a medical professional, and I fully expect to be corrected on some things I write here. No offense will be taken.

You may very well have had AFib as confirmed by a cardiologist, so don't take this comment as attempting to say you did not have AFib. It's important for those reading this to note that flutter does not equal AFib, at least not in many (most?) cases. Afib is characterized by the absence of regularly occurring P-waves, and yes, one will often feel fluttering.

The fluttering I experienced was caused by a heart beat beginning too soon, causing a noticeable pause between beats. (EDIT/ADD: The premature beat also feels like it came too quickly. One will sometimes feel their breath catch when this happens.) It's probably the most common type of flutter. At worst, this occurred many times per minute, but never seemed to affect me when trying to improve my fitness.

I had fluttering for more than 30 years before being diagnosed with chronic AFib. It (the fluttering) had approximately zero affect on my ability to do hard work, or exercise vigorously for hours. Chronic AFib on the other hand, has been debilitating. Chronic AFib refers to continuous AFib present for more than two years, that is, one's heart is never in normal sinus rhythm. Average life expectancy for someone like me, who was diagnosed about mid-sixties, is about 10-years. The loss of energy and endurance is significant.

Paroxysmal (intermittent/episodic) AFib is more common and can often(?) be cured by ablation and medication. Ablate and pace (pacemaker) is another approach.

Ablation for chronic AFib is sometimes attempted in cases where open-heart surgery is sometimes required for another purpose, as ablation is required both inside and outside of the heart and pulmonary vessels to be effective for chronic AFib. Ablation via catheterization is rarely effective in chronic AFib. However, a company named Atricure is experimenting with a catheter-like approach that utilizes three(?) catheters to ablate both inside and outside the heart and pulmonary vessels. They claim improvement in about 67-percent of their attempts, if memory serves. It's an understatement to say it's a rather involved procedure.

For those with chronic AFib, the treatment is often just anticoagulants and rate-control meds, e.g. metoprolol.

(EDIT/ADD: For those with paroxysmal AFib, treatment often consists of rate control, anti-coagulants, and anti-arrhythmic meds. Sometimes cardio-version is required to restore normal sinus rhythm.)

Anyway, I'm not an expert, just a layman with a dog in this fight. Hope a cardiologist chimes in.

[orgels_revenge]

Yes, true. I don’t think I had AFib now that you mention it. I had a fluttering very similar to what you described. I never received a diagnosis, but I thought I’d share my home remedy on this thread, even if it wasn’t exactly on point. Thanks for your great comment. Perhaps try, or talk to a doctor about trying, some extra potassium in your diet. I wonder if potassium supplementation beginning 30 years ago might have diminished the severity of your current AFib.