Help wanted (Score so far related)

[Jersey Girl]

Gosh. That sounds like a complete and utter rollercoaster ride. My nervous system was off just reading this but that is so exciting that you found like a secret button to help you relax. Would you mind sharing the video that helped with this? I find it nigh on impossible to relax. Even right now I'm laying in bed but my leg muscles are rigid.

Have you managed to do anything for yourself these past few weeks?

Xx

Yeah see I told it exactly like as it's been and the past week or so, it's gotten to fever pitch in my head.

Here is the link again for you:

Vagus Nerve Activation | 10 Minute Daily Routines
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zUx5kLF ... 9G&index=2

Probably the best thing I did for myself recently was get my hair cut. I can't even remember when I got it cut last because all this crap I go through in my head obscures everything else because it's always playing in the background of my mind and it distracts me. I do practice mindfulness and slow living as much as possible. I put those soy wax melter things or a simmer pot on when I cook and clean. I use pretty lighting--mini lights, candles, all winter. (I love doing sensory stuff). I do a daily Bible devotion that's for women every day to feed my spiritual self. This past week...the anxiety took over. The worst of it was the racing thoughts that I couldn't shut off.

Last night I decided to really put the brakes on whatever time I spend on the internet. I'm not going to watch or read the news more than one time a day because all of it is crap and intended to keep you stressed out and checking in. Clicks = money. I get upset reading about Ukraine and Israel. I think about those people in Gaza who can't even get aid and then wonder how on earth anyone could put them through that. Off the charts empath as if you didn't know that already. Not to mention all the shootings that are now occurring in the world. Political stuff. I need to shut it off and just pray about those things. If you look around here, I've hardly posted at all compared to the past. I'm actively trying to reduce the "noise" I get in my head from being online.

Just be in the moment with real life things, you know?

[Imwashingmypirate]

Gosh. That sounds like a complete and utter rollercoaster ride. My nervous system was off just reading this but that is so exciting that you found like a secret button to help you relax. Would you mind sharing the video that helped with this? I find it nigh on impossible to relax. Even right now I'm laying in bed but my leg muscles are rigid.

Have you managed to do anything for yourself these past few weeks?

Xx

Yeah see I told it exactly like as it's been and the past week or so, it's gotten to fever pitch in my head.

Here is the link again for you:

Vagus Nerve Activation | 10 Minute Daily Routines
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zUx5kLF ... 9G&index=2

Probably the best thing I did for myself recently was get my hair cut. I can't even remember when I got it cut last because all this crap I go through in my head obscures everything else because it's always playing in the background of my mind and it distracts me. I do practice mindfulness and slow living as much as possible. I put those soy wax melter things or a simmer pot on when I cook and clean. I use pretty lighting--mini lights, candles, all winter. (I love doing sensory stuff). I do a daily Bible devotion that's for women every day to feed my spiritual self. This past week...the anxiety took over. The worst of it was the racing thoughts that I couldn't shut off.

Last night I decided to really put the brakes on whatever time I spend on the internet. I'm not going to watch or read the news more than one time a day because all of it is crap and intended to keep you stressed out and checking in. Clicks = money. I get upset reading about Ukraine and Israel. I think about those people in Gaza who can't even get aid and then wonder how on earth anyone could put them through that. Off the charts empath as if you didn't know that already. Not to mention all the shootings that are now occurring in the world. Political stuff. I need to shut it off and just pray about those things. If you look around here, I've hardly posted at all compared to the past. I'm actively trying to reduce the "noise" I get in my head from being online.

Just be in the moment with real life things, you know?

Thank you. A hair cut can really lift the spirits. Do you know what set you off? Is it the news. I don't even watch the news once a week. I have enough anxiety and am powerless to what they say and half the time I wonder what's real and what isn't? Has the war with Russia and Ukraine ended?

I did notice you are quite quiet. In fact not much is happening around here at all. Which I've found surprising. This place used to be busy.

Clary sage is supposed to be good for relaxing. I sometimes put some in the bath. Maybe I just like the smell lol. I rearrange furniture when I'm struggling lol.

I totally get you. I feel sorry for kids these days and I see it with my own kids. We didn't have these worries and the things they know. My kids get crazy when they've had screen time. It's like they go into autopilot and lose themselves and then when they are peeled away they don't know how to function and get upset. I do think about just turning the internet off sometimes.

[Jersey Girl]

What set me off...probably all of the above. The 24 hour news cycle, easy 24 hour access to internet entertainment, information, instruction, all the crap, then I am sure the kicker was family unrest and doing all the holiday preparation things which I do almost every single thing for.

This is going to sound boastful but I assure you that it's not. I have the rarest personality type on the planet. I'm a human sponge that absorbs everyone's emotions and wants to see people be well and do well. I'm sure you've seen signs of that over the years. That doesn't mean "Gee, aren't I so special". It means that I feel like people don't often understand me because they don't really know anyone else like me. I'm like 3% of the population. I'm not exaggerating. I don't even know anyone else like me.

I know myself all too well. So when I see hardship or conflict, I internalize it, empathize with it, and try to reach out and help relieve suffering even if it just means letting folks talk things out. And when you add to that the fact that I'm feeling poorly, it's a mess.

So I've been a mess.

[Jersey Girl]

I totally get you. I feel sorry for kids these days and I see it with my own kids. We didn't have these worries and the things they know. My kids get crazy when they've had screen time. It's like they go into autopilot and lose themselves and then when they are peeled away they don't know how to function and get upset. I do think about just turning the internet off sometimes.

Online activity is addictive. I know in the old days we used to talk about being "board junkies" and we weren't that far off. There is SO much information, education, entertainment, inspiration that it's hard to look away from. It's there 24 hours a day. And you are right. Children are not exempt from this either. It's all too much and striking a balance is key. You're exactly right about screen time. If we don't discipline ourselves it's too much stimulation for children and adults alike.

It's easy to put our head in the screen and ignore things we're avoiding or simply take a break from.

So that's part of the reason you don't see me posting here as much. I need to strike a better balance. It's not that I've neglected real life it's just that I need to dedicate myself more to mindfulness and slow living. Really being in the moment without a screen or phone around. Just be with whatever I'm doing and not rush through it. Essentially reversing the process and lessen internet stimulation and...temptation to "look".

If that makes sense. In winter here, it's a little difficult to go outdoors. I did ask for a Happy Light for Christmas and got one! It's supposed to help with seasonal affective disorder. I don't really have that but I know I can benefit from more sunlight especially for regulating my circadian rhythm.

Do I sound like the biggest psych geek on the planet?

[msnobody]

I’m glad you found something that helps, Jersey. I figured out with my mother’s experience, I don’t ever want to have afib. She never said anything about feeling it, but I would think it is an unnerving feeling.

[Jersey Girl]

I’m glad you found something that helps, Jersey. I figured out with my mother’s experience, I don’t ever want to have afib. She never said anything about feeling it, but I would think it is an unnerving feeling.

From all I have learned, people experience it differently. There's different types of AFIB. Some folks don't even feel it. I have paroxysmal AFIB with RVR. That RVR is an absolute beast to contend with. It doesn't scare me. I actually get used to it probably because I know how it's going to go. Can't cardiovert at home using vagal manuevers then next stop is the ER and it's over with.

Afib/RVR is exhausting.
Vagal maneuvers are exhausting.

The best of my experiences end with propofol and electrical cardioversion.

The worst of my experiences were two doses of adenosine in one session with the very first episode. When a paramedic gives you a count of 3 and then starts pushing adenosine into your IV to a count of 10 and says over and over again..."Stay with me, Jersey. Stay with me, Jersey" and you feel like your soul is legit leaving through your head?

Yeah that is some scary stuff right there. Did that TWICE. First time I ever rode in an ambulance instead of following one.

Joe Biden has paroxysmal afib. There's no way he gets RVR. I think that now the only med he uses is baby aspirin each day. Imagine that.

[Dr. Shades]

I went into Afib/RVR and couldn't get myself back into NSR so off to the ER. . . I got myself back into NSR in 45 minutes.

"NSR" = "Normal Sinus Rhythm?"

[Jersey Girl]

I went into Afib/RVR and couldn't get myself back into NSR so off to the ER. . . I got myself back into NSR in 45 minutes.

"NSR" = "Normal Sinus Rhythm?"

Yes.

[msnobody]

Has anyone ever mentioned trying an ablation? Not so sure it is as effective on chronic a fib, though.

[Jersey Girl]

Has anyone ever mentioned trying an ablation? Not so sure it is as effective on chronic a fib, though.

I'm not surprised you asked about ablation. Sounds good, right? Probably not for me. I'll explain.

When I first started researching ablation I noticed a pattern. Patients (more often than not) would have one ablation, then another, then another and sometimes a 4th. After the 3rd (or the rare 4th) the next step was a pacemaker. I attribute that to the heart's ability to remodel itself. So you have a few screwy sinus nodes and zap them. The heart remodels and you can get more newly grown screwy sinus nodes.

My problem isn't electrical which is the ONLY form of afib that docs here in the US are familiar with. It's vagally mediated. How can you tell mine is vagally mediated? It only happens after I've eaten so that involves the stomach/digestive system. All the ablations in the world aren't going to fix this for me. And ablation won't fix my stomach or the real culprit...my vagus nerve.

In fact, ablation could make things significantly worse for me by damage to the vagus nerve:

Effect of Atrial Fibrillation Ablation on Gastric Motility
https://www.ahajournals.org/doi/10.1161 ... 114.002508

That research paper is dated what, 2014? It makes a connection between the ablation, damage to vagus nerve, and damage to gastric functioning. But it still doesn't look like it's aware of the gastric/cardiac syndrome part. Probably because it wasn't aware of it.

If you look up what I have on pub med, last I looked there was ONE research paper (fairly current) on it.

If you look up what I have on the UK version of pub med, there are TONS of papers on it.

I sent that one paper to my cardio folks before an appointment so they could read and understand it from a medical standpoint and quite frankly, so they knew I wasn't accessing crackpots from the UK. He walked into the next appointment with it in his hand.

And he thanked me.

That's when he explained the different approaches to research opportunities between the US and the UK.