- Overview of A-Fib
- Causes of A-Fib
- Find the Right Doctor for You
- Treatments for A-Fib
- Q & A: Coping with A-Fib
- Personal A-Fib Stories of Hope
- Directory Doctors/Facilities
- Patient Resources & Links
- Our A-Fib Support Volunteers
- 2023 AF Symposium: Reports
- A-Fib Videos & Animations
- Bibliography
- Glossary of Terms
- Free Offers & Downloads
- How to Search for Articles
Doctors & patients are saying about 'A-Fib.com'...
"A-Fib.com is a great web site for patients, that is unequaled by anything else out there."
Dr. Douglas L. Packer, MD, FHRS, Mayo Clinic, Rochester, MN
"Jill and I put you and your work in our prayers every night. What you do to help people through this [A-Fib] process is really incredible."
Jill and Steve Douglas, East Troy, WI
“I really appreciate all the information on your website as it allows me to be a better informed patient and to know what questions to ask my EP.
Faye Spencer, Boise, ID, April 2017
“I think your site has helped a lot of patients.”Dr. Hugh G. Calkins, MD Johns Hopkins,
Baltimore, MD

Doctors & patients are saying about 'Beat Your A-Fib'...
"If I had [your book] 10 years ago, it would have saved me 8 years of hell.”
Roy Salmon, Patient, A-Fib Free,
Adelaide, Australia
"This book is incredibly complete and easy-to-understand for anybody. I certainly recommend it for patients who want to know more about atrial fibrillation than what they will learn from doctors...."
Pierre Jaïs, M.D. Professor of Cardiology, Haut-Lévêque Hospital, Bordeaux, France
"Dear Steve, I saw a patient this morning with your book [in hand] and highlights throughout. She loves it and finds it very useful to help her in dealing with atrial fibrillation."
Dr. Wilber Su,
Cavanaugh Heart Center, Phoenix, AZ
"...masterful. You managed to combine an encyclopedic compilation of information with the simplicity of presentation that enhances the delivery of the information to the reader. This is not an easy thing to do, but you have been very, very successful at it."
Ira David Levin, heart patient,
Rome, Italy
"Within the pages of Beat Your A-Fib, Dr. Steve Ryan, PhD, provides a comprehensive guide for persons seeking to find a cure for their Atrial Fibrillation."
Walter Kerwin, MD, Cedars-Sinai Medical Center, Los Angeles, CA
A-Fib Patient Stories: Listed by Subject

Are you interested in reading ‘Lessons Learned’ from other A-Fib patients in your age group? Or from patients with your symptoms? Or patients who’ve had a PVI or a mini-maze surgery? These are a few of the categories you’ll find on this page.
To help you find a story by subject matter, we cross-referenced stories by five major Themes/Topics. Each category has several sub-categories. (A story may appear in more than one category). Click on the story number to jump directly to that patient story. Note: the higher the number the more recent the story.
You can also search our website by entering a keyword using the ‘Search’ box (in the upper right of any page), e.g. PVA.
By Cause:
♥ Holiday heart: 69, 55, 43;
♥ Binge drinking: 67, 51, 5;
♥ Genetics/Heredity: 96, 85, 83, 81, 68, 63, 39, 22, 13;
By Risk Factor:
♥ Heart attack/other: 77, 65, 53, 47, 31;
♥ Stroke/TIA/risks of clots: 77, 69, 67, 46, 18;
By Symptom:
♥ Anxiety, fear, stress and guilt: 100, 98, 93, 81, 75, 74, 73, 72, 70, 69, 68, 66, 59, 56, 55, 54, 52, 33, 32, 26;
♥ Fainting/Dizziness: 93, 90, 73, 72, 69, 66, 63, 52, 49, 42, 28, 20, 14, 1;
♥ Fatigue: 76, 15, 4, 2;
♥ Sleep apnea/sleep disturbance: 96, 94, 93, 67, 52, 44, 35;
♥ Other: 95, 92, 67, 43, 41;
♥ PVCs/PACs: 102, 100, 93
By Age/Select Groups:
♥ Diagnosed when under 30 years old: 98, 92, 56, 55, 54;
♥ Successful treatment at 70 years or older: 101, 100, 97, 85, 67, 59, 57, 39, 34, 32, 31, 30, 20;
♥ Years with A-Fib:
• Two years or less: 91, 90, 81, 80, 63;
• Ten to twenty-five years: 102, 99, 95, 79, 72, 68, 64, 30, 21, 3;
• Thirty to forty years: 100, 66, 48, 42, 39, 32, 22;
By Treatment:
♥ Mineral Deficiency/Supplements:
• Magnesium: 93, 75, 64, 13, 7, 5, 3;
• Branched Chain Amino Acids (BCAAs): 10, 9;
• Natural Cures/Diet: 73, 71, 68, 66, 8;
♥ Cardioversion: 100, 96, 95, 94, 91, 90, 87, 85, 81, 80, 74, 67, 59, 51, 47, 46, 43, 42, 40, 37, 26, 16;
♥ Drug Therapy: 101, 99, 94, 79, 71, 70, 69, 68, 67, 64, 58, 48, 45, 35, 30, 19, 16, 11;
• Successful drug therapy: 70
• Pill-In-Pocket: 101, 95, 78, 64, 60, 25, 24, 2;
• Side effects: 95, 79, 78, 77, 74, 72, 71, 63, 12, 1;
♥ Surgeries:
• Cox Maze/Mini-Maze: 102, 40, 18;
• Failed Mini-Maze: 102, 40;
• LAA closure: Watchman device: 85, 48; AtriClip: 77, 57;
• Pacemaker: 77, 71, 50, 48,
• ICD: 31, 28;
• Complications-post treatment: 102,
♥ Catheter Ablations
• Pulmonary Vein Isolation: 101, 98, 96, 95, 94, 91, 90, 89, 87, 80, 79, 78, 77, 76, 75, 74, 72, 71, 69, 65, 64, 61, 60, 59, 56, 54, 51, 50, 49, 47, 43, 42, 38, 33, 32, 31, 30, 29, 27, 26, 25, 24, 23, 22, 21, 20, 19, 15, 14, 11, 6, 4, 3, 2, 1;
• Multiple PVIs: 101, 100, 99, 96, 95, 86, 78, 77, 74, 55, 34, 5, 3, 2, 1;
• Failed PVI: 101, 99, 95, 40, 39, 38, 36, 3, 2;
• Cryoablation: 97, 93, 86, 81, 78, 75, 74, 64, 63, 58, 53, 44, 17;
• AV Node Ablation with Pacemaker: 57;
♥ Natural Therapies and Holistic Treatments
• Yoga: 94, 59, 27
• Chiropractic: 81, 59, 9
• Acupressure/Acupuncture: 94, 68, 59, 9
• Meditation: 68, 59, 17
• Naturopathy: 95, 73
• Nutrition/Diet: 73, 71, 59, 31, 17
• Natural Remedies: 66