I have had tremendous success with magnesium. I take 400 mg a day. If I felel a start of the skipping, I take a magnesium, and it calms it down. I've only been taking it for two months, so it's too soon to tell, but it seems to help.

Why take magnesium supplements when there are foods that are high in it - e.g., sunflower seeds, nuts, fruits, veggies, etc = all the very foods that we SHOULD be eating? It should be easy to tally up to 400mg or more per day by choosing these foods wisely.

In 2009 I started taking between 600 and 900mg per day (along with eating foods high in magnesium). It does absolutely NOTHING to stop my a-fib. There are lots of other good reasons to take it which is why I continue.

Its a tough call about cancelling an ablation. I know before my first ablation I had a quieter phase and started to second guess my decision to ablate (that seems to happen to a lot of people). I stuck it out and although the ablation failed Im glad I had it otherwise I would be kicking myself thinking if only. If your EP expressed a high possibility of success in your case I would carefully weigh a decision to cancel.

I hope this helps,
atp (across the pond)

Iam, good call. Dont look back. Stay tuned for good news. I fired my Cardio and canceled my ablation also.

Magnesium did zilch for me. The one thing I've learned about afib is that you'll drive yourself crazy trying to find causation for your afib in your daily routine. Afib comes and goes whenever it wants. Sometimes because of what you do, sometimes because of what you didn't do, sometimes in spite of what you did, but most of the time, regardless of what you did. You're a younger guy, I would think long and hard about cancelling the ablation. It'll be more effective now than it will later.

Decisions, decisions. None of them easy . I too am a big proponent of Magnesium but as you see there are varying opinions on everything. I have taken 400mg every night for several years now , I never miss, if I flip flop I take and extra one and I havent had an episode in a VERY long time , the length I dont say for supersitition but trust me its been LONG . I am also a lover of Flecainide. I lost a lot of weight. I exercise so I cant say exactly what brings my good fortune at this time but I will say that back in the days when I needed to find SOMETHING the Magnesium seemed to do really good things for me. Best Wishes......

Duder, good point, afib is one nasty condition and can make an appearance when we least expect it. I should add that it was not just Mag alone. I would love to pinpoint what exactly helped me to get AF under control, but Ive tried and continue on so many supplements now, I cant be sure. However, Mag along with a serious dose of good Vit C, seemed to be the 2 that will always be in my cabinet. The Mag worked well, but I still went out of NSR. We all need to find the right combo to keep us out of afib, including ablation. I do jest when I say I canceled, it was never scheduled and would never recommend or discourage anyones personal decision either way, Good day.

"Miracle" is a strong word.

I totally agree that *miracle* is a perhaps too strong word. Its all about what helps us, its all about what we think helps us and its all about doing what keeps us healthy. I had my yearly Heart Guy check up yesterday and he was delighted with absolutely everything, my new exercise regime, my blood numbers, my huge weight loss and my BP 116/68 on no meds and Im sure all of that contributes as much to my good run as anything else , and yep, I know it is never really gone but for now I believe it is and I am counting not just the days I am now counting the years that I have not had to deal with *it* Best to everyone , there is almost always something that at least helps......

For those of you who take Mag supplements, what type do you take? I was just in Whole Foods and was overwhelmed by the different types of Magnesium.

Dave,

I had a very similar experience in April 2013. I had an ablation scheduled for June and I ended up cancelling it because things calmed right down.
At the time I attributed it to diet and supplements, including magnesium, but about 4-5 months later it fired up again and nothing I could do nutritionally could stop it so I went on daily dose Propafenone. That worked for 14 months until I started getting side effects.
When I stopped taking it 3 months ago I booked an ablation (for next Monday!) and initially things calmed down again. In the last 2-3 weeks, however it's been as bad or worse than ever.
My point is that magnesium and other supplements are an important element and should likely be continued even after ablation. I don't know that they provide the longer term treatment that ablation does, however. At least not for me.
Then again, ask me next week what I think.
Monty

I dont worry too much about brand of Magnesium......I take Magnesium Citrate for a number of reasons but mostly because it is the most easily utilized and absorbed, it helps with sleep, regularity and leg cramps if you have them, I take 400mg every night before bed, never miss and back in the day when I had issues frequently I sometimes took a second one in the morning but not for a long time now. It is possible to take too much so you have to read a little about the dose and how your own personal diet habits fit in .

Great, thanks...and good to have a nurse in the forum...congrats on your retirement. :)

Read this:

http://www.livingwithatrialfibrillation.com/magnesium-afib/

Thanks- great link!