Heart Palpitations

Cocosilk

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Messages
818
Type of diabetes
Gestational
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Insulin
No, probably not. For me they didn't start till I was in my late 20es, which is quite common, I believe. I can get them when I'm relaxing in a chair or when I'm out for a brisk walk. They don't seem to have anything to do with level of activity, and they're quite unpredictable. Sometimes I don't have any for months, and then suddenly I'll get them several times in a week. I learned that I survived every time, so stopped worrying.
I never knew what they were till I was admitted to hospital for PE, and was on a heart monitor. From my hospital bed I was having a peaceful chat to my husband on the phone, when I felt an 'attack' coming on. I barely had time to mention it to my husband before 4 very worried looking nurses surrounded my bed, and I told him 'sorry, have to go now'. Long and dramatic story, and I did my best to calm down the poor nurses. In the end I was given 'adenoid', and my heart behaved itself again, but that's how I was diagnosed at age 54.

Low iron can cause them too.
I had an iron infusion while pregnant about 4.5 months ago. I wonder how long that lasts..
 

Cocosilk

Well-Known Member
Messages
818
Type of diabetes
Gestational
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Insulin
No, probably not. For me they didn't start till I was in my late 20es, which is quite common, I believe. I can get them when I'm relaxing in a chair or when I'm out for a brisk walk. They don't seem to have anything to do with level of activity, and they're quite unpredictable. Sometimes I don't have any for months, and then suddenly I'll get them several times in a week. I learned that I survived every time, so stopped worrying.
I never knew what they were till I was admitted to hospital for PE, and was on a heart monitor. From my hospital bed I was having a peaceful chat to my husband on the phone, when I felt an 'attack' coming on. I barely had time to mention it to my husband before 4 very worried looking nurses surrounded my bed, and I told him 'sorry, have to go now'. Long and dramatic story, and I did my best to calm down the poor nurses. In the end I was given 'adenoid', and my heart behaved itself again, but that's how I was diagnosed at age 54.
Oh that sounds scary! I guess I need to find a doctor who won't just write it off as anxiety and ask for some tests..
 

Pasha

Expert
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8,558
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Did that actually help you?

Thats a question I can never answer, who do I compare myself with now, physiologically I am no longer the same person

After the procedure one cardiologist assured me that I will never have any more problems or "events" But I did just a few days ago. I assumed that maybe I was a bit dehydrated, drank far too much Turkish coffee I measured my blood pressure and pulse and lay down to see if things got better. During this time I monitored BP and pulse rate.
Took over two hours for the pulse and blood pressure to returned to normal.
Read plenty re the atrial ablation procedure and understood that there is no clear cut answer re just how effective it is. Also many questions still need to be answered.
 

PenguinMum

Expert
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6,782
Type of diabetes
Type 2
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Diet only
Ihave no wish to derail the thread but hey @ickihun how are you? How did it all go? I thought about you and said a little prayer.
 

Cocosilk

Well-Known Member
Messages
818
Type of diabetes
Gestational
Treatment type
Insulin
After reading this article

https://www.google.com/amp/s/www.self.com/story/when-to-worry-heart-palpitations/amp

I want to chalk them up to stress but I probably will ask a doctor to let me have tests anyway.

I'm having them regularly at the moment but I usually feel a surge of adrenalin with them and none of the serious symptoms listed in that article.
I'm also sometimes only getting 3 - 4 hours sleep a night having 3 kids under 5yo and this week it's been my just turned 3yo who has given us a scare when we had to call an ambulance when he developed breathing difficulties and we back and forth to the emergency room for the next 3 days before they finally admitted him. We'd had to give him about 20 puffs of ventolin in an hour before they took us seriously and even then it was only because a pediatric doctor happened to see him and wanted to keep him in for observation. He deteriorated a bit more and developed a fever and vomited a couple of times.
Then they started talking about pneumonia... It wasn't that luckily but he does have inflammation on one lung still and was discharged after 2 nights, on his 3rd birthday, and he's still not right and on quite a regime of ventolin.. so that might also explain my stress and extra heart palpitations :p

Lucky my 8 week old is a fairly "easy" baby. In fact, he's such a sweetheart and grateful little soul that hanging out with him relaxes me at the moment.
But adjusting to life with 3 of them and having my husband go back to work for the first time since the birth has also been a bit overwhelming. It may just be stress!
 
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briped

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Messages
947
Type of diabetes
Type 2
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Non-insulin injectable medication (incretin mimetics)
After the procedure one cardiologist assured me that I will never have any more problems or "events" But I did just a few days ago.
Thanks. Interesting and good to know :)
 

Ryhia

Well-Known Member
Messages
3,124
Type of diabetes
Type 2 (in remission!)
Treatment type
Diet only
How much caffeine do you think you need to have to affect you like that? I know I'm sensitive to caffeine so i usually try to cap my consumption at either one (sometimes strong) coffee or two teas, and before lunch preferably because it will keep me awake. Maybe I should quit completely for a period of time and see if anything changes. Thanks for the suggestion and for sharing your experience!

Can't tell you how much caffeine you would need to affect you. With me I was having about 8 cups of tea or coffee a day to keep myself hydrated. Doc reckoned there is about 3% in a cup of decaf. However, I also think other factors came into play. I was on a very strict 800 cal as day diet at the time and on top of that I was exercising as well. (I did some very stupid things when I was first diagnosed - still do for that matter.) I think I put my body into distress, doc reckoned I had gone into starvation mode.

What I should have also said and what other people have already said to you is that you need to get any arrhythmia checked out. When I was having palpitations, they were pretty obvious as I could feel my heart pounding, I was also getting fluttering, chest pain and shortness of breath also no energy whatsoever so quite bad and much worse than any previous episode. When I had my first diabetic screening they were also picked up by the DN screening nurse checking my pulse. She thought it was Atrial Fibrillation and referred me to my GP who set up the 72 hour ECG. Fortunately it turned out to be Ectopic. If it had been A Fib I was told I would need to go on blood thinners because of the risk of stroke but even with Ectopic, if I had not found out what the cause was, my doctor would have recommended beta blockers, in fact he did prescribe some but told me it was up to me whether I took them as we had discovered what the issue was. Even if yours turns out to be related to anxiety, the symptoms are very real and should be addressed.

In respect of trying to do without caffeine just remember to expect some very unpleasant withdrawal symptoms.

Keep well. C.
 

Ryhia

Well-Known Member
Messages
3,124
Type of diabetes
Type 2 (in remission!)
Treatment type
Diet only
After reading this article

https://www.google.com/amp/s/www.self.com/story/when-to-worry-heart-palpitations/amp

I want to chalk them up to stress but I probably will ask a doctor to let me have tests anyway.

I'm having them regularly at the moment but I usually feel a surge of adrenalin with them and none of the serious symptoms listed in that article.
I'm also sometimes only getting 3 - 4 hours sleep a night having 3 kids under 5yo and this week it's been my just turned 3yo who has given us a scare when we had to call an ambulance when he developed breathing difficulties and we back and forth to the emergency room for the next 3 days before they finally admitted him. We'd had to give him about 20 puffs of ventolin in an hour before they took us seriously and even then it was only because a pediatric doctor happened to see him and wanted to keep him in for observation. He deteriorated a bit more and developed a fever and vomited a couple of times.
Then they started talking about pneumonia... It wasn't that luckily but he does have inflammation on one lung still and was discharged after 2 nights, on his 3rd birthday, and he's still not right and on quite a regime of ventolin.. so that might also explain my stress and extra heart palpitations :p

Lucky my 8 week old is a fairly "easy" baby. In fact, he's such a sweetheart and grateful little soul that hanging out with him relaxes me at the moment.
But adjusting to life with 3 of them and having my husband go back to work for the first time since the birth has also been a bit overwhelming. It may just be stress!

Just read your post, its little wonder you are stressed you are probably worn out as well. I only had two kids but they were very close together and neither of them slept properly until they went to school, one of them was also on Ventolin so I can understand where you are coming from. Hope you have extended family around to offer you support
 

Cocosilk

Well-Known Member
Messages
818
Type of diabetes
Gestational
Treatment type
Insulin
Just read your post, its little wonder you are stressed you are probably worn out as well. I only had two kids but they were very close together and neither of them slept properly until they went to school, one of them was also on Ventolin so I can understand where you are coming from. Hope you have extended family around to offer you support

Yeah, I don't have any family around. I met my husband too late in life and 3 of the 4 grandparents have already passed and the remaining one, my 81yo father, while great entertainment over skype lives a few thousand kilometers away in another part of the country and neither we, nor he can easily travel.
So it's pretty much just my predicament. I had a 3rd child really for the other two to have an extra sibling in life since as older parents (almost mid 40s) we might not be around as long as we'd all like.

I'll just have to find a way to survive it. A bit more TV than is ideal probably.
 

Cocosilk

Well-Known Member
Messages
818
Type of diabetes
Gestational
Treatment type
Insulin
Most folks get a Holter monitor test which records any palpitations which may occur during the time worn, usually one day, or three if palpitations are less frequent. Analysis of the recordings can ofter pinpoint the cause and enable a suitable remedy to be implemented
Dr Phinney on youtube , Nutritional Ketosis, Ketoadaption explains that low insulin levels as may occur on low carb diets can lead to increased salt loss and the need to increase intake of sodium, potassium and magnesium salts.
Low magnesium and potassium levels in the body can lead to irregularities in heartbeat. see mayoclinic.org on this.
I think you were spot on here. I think I have been dehydrated for a while now...
This morning I woke up really dry in the mouth, could taste ketones too. I decided to eat a banana, some yoghurt and take electrolytes and I went back to eating a bit of my husband's sourdough rye bread.
I still had palpitations again this evening so I took even more electrolytes.
I tested my urine this morning and this evening and there were some distinct changes in urine ph, moving away from acidic to more neutral and specific gravity becoming darker, which can also show that I was more dehydrated before.
I was just confused because I thought my urine would be a darker yellow if I'd been really dehydrated but it's been the opposite, very light to almost clear, so I may have been drinking a lot of water but flushing out the electrolytes... I have to get a Potassium supplement too. I have only been taking Magnesium and Vit D.
Since drinking the electolytes again this evening, the palpitations seemed to have settled down a lot.
 

ickihun

Master
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13,698
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Type 2
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Not sure if I said but cardiologist increased my betablocker and ever since no more palpitations.
However, I still get chest pain. It cannot be digestion as I'm on heavy GERD medication and I never miss it. It must be heart disease for me. No palpatations thank god.
 

Cocosilk

Well-Known Member
Messages
818
Type of diabetes
Gestational
Treatment type
Insulin
Not sure if I said but cardiologist increased my betablocker and ever since no more palpitations.
However, I still get chest pain. It cannot be digestion as I'm on heavy GERD medication and I never miss it. It must be heart disease for me. No palpatations thank god.
I haven't ruled out heart disease for myself of course but I'm hoping dehydration is the thing here this time.
Are you eating a ketogenic diet to try and reverse heart disease? The Optimal Ketogenic Living Facebook page has lot of info. Also Patrick Theut apparently reversed his own heart disease with diet and supplements. Worth a try!