Looking for links between heart palpitations, certain foods, and/or hormones....
I am a 32 year old healthy female....
I had been on the birth control pill for 12 years (and am off them now completely), then my doctor chenged the pills twice in 6 months. (That pill suddenly began causing umpleasant symptoms... due to hormonal changes???) Within less than a week on the 2nd pill, I developed severe headaches and extreme breast swelling and tenderness. I stopped taking the pill with the doctor's advice and within 3 days, I developed heart palpitations. The first experience was after eating some fried food and having a coca cola. (Yes I know not a gret meal!) My heart rate jumped to the 120's and lasted an hour or so. The next morning, after eating a breakfast bar, it happened again. On and off my heart will start racing... most often after eating food. Carbs seem to push me up around 120 BPM as does red wine.
I woke up one morning and my heart rated was over 120 and took myself to the emergency room. I have had a series of tests done, including EKG, chest x-ray, and Echo cardiogram (and wore a heart monitor for 24 hrs) and all come back fine, in fact DR says my heart is in good condition.
Had a naturalpathic DR run a hormone test and found my DHEA is VERY high along with my dopamine and norepinephrine... while my seratonin levels are very low. Apparently, I have been told hormonal imbalances such as these COULD cause heart palpitations, especially because of the coincidence of having these palpitations start after the birth control incident. (I was told the birth control pill could've caused the imbalance in these hormones as well.)
I have very low energy levels since the onset and have so much trouble waking up in the morning. Many days I feel so groggy like I am still somewhat stuck in sleep. My irritability seems a bit more intense as well...
I have also been told that foods containing nitrates and caffeines can cause palpitations. Though I do question nitrate sensitivity being my problem since bacon (and some other meats) don't affect me poorly.... but somehow carbs do...?
I eliminated carbs, fried food, caffeine, and alcohol for a while and found things were better though there were still incidents of palpitations over 100. (mostly eating protein and veggies)
I have been told that it could also be anxiety related though I must admit, I am in a pretty calm state BEFORE most of these palpitations begin. After the onset of the palpitations I do suffer from anxiety, but who wouldn't when their heart is racing so often?
About a year ago I was diagnosed with GERD and a mild hiatal hernia. I only mention this because it seems some people feel there is a correlation between GERD and heart palpitations... and since often my palps act up after eating.
I am looking for anyone who may have some input on any of this... DR's seem unclear as to the cause, and therefore unclear of a treatment. Right now I am just living with it and using trial and error to see if there are common triggers...the problem seems to be better than it was, but still lingers....
Does anyone have similar problems? Someone please shed some light?
Thank you... I know this post was VERY long but I appreciate any feedback!
I would check magnesium levels for sure... of course the problem is how... RBC testing is unreliable unless you are suffering w/ hypomagnesia, but you may have normomagnesia in which magnesium in the serum is quite normal, but in the cells could be quite deficient. Hair analysis thru a compentent lab such as trace elements is viable, exatest offers a reliable testing method as well.
Magnesium controls much of the sympathetic nervous system in which the adrenals play a key role in this system. low magnesium will cause hyper sensitivity in the adrenal axis... adrenals will respond to most stimuli including any stressor in which something like food allergies could trigger the immune/adrenal response.
Palpitations are generally a sign of mag deficiency. blood pressure is controlled by the adrenal hormone aldosterone and blood sugar regulation or dysregulation is predicated by adrenal response (glucocorticoids).
sodium and potassium are other factors that may be addressed as well. /both these are generally regulated by magensium status. You would like to invest in to a quality magnesium (not oxide) like ultra mag by source naturals, or LEF has a quality magnesium, magnesium chloride could be another option. dark leafy green veg, nuts, seeds and grains are excellent sources. try some green drinks, bananas,
try to avoid sugar, and high fats and Calcium -yes calcium will continue to push magnesium out of the way (unless testing reveals that you are calcium def) ....
I also sense that you are vitamin B2 deficient and vitamin C deficient. Check w/ your doctor on these.
I have read that Gerd could be caused by a magnesium deficiency. Also sounds like the problems you are having with carbs is due to a "slow metabolizer" profile.
Thanks for your response.
I had blood tests done along with the hormone tests and they came back perfectly fine. I had more blood tests at the emergency room and everything was perfect except my potassium being low. A week later I had another blood test and everything was perfect again. Are you saying I could be magnesium deficent without it showing up on a blood panel? If so, that would be something to look into.
I have also started taking a B-complex about a week ago since my energy level is soooo low....
I am also seriously thinking about having a food allergy test. I know there are theories that you pulse will quicken when you eat something you are allergic or sensitive to.
Thanks again!
Thanks for your response. I had blood tests done along with the hormone tests and they came back perfectly fine. I had more blood tests at the emergency room and everything was perfect except my potassium being low. A week later I had another blood test and everything was perfect again.
Serum tests arefairly unreliable in assessing true cellular stores of minerals. Serum levels can vary from day to day (dietary factors) ... the body always looks to maintain "homeostatis" and will do this by pulling minerals out of storage into the blood in order to keep this equilibrium. That is why hair analysis or using exatest can provide some better view of the actual mineral stores.
Are you saying I could be magnesium deficent without it showing up on a blood panel? If so, that would be something to look into.
Yes, a normal magnesium level in serum would be called "normomagnesia" while cellular could be woefully inadequate. Magnesium is a gate keeper of many cellular functions that are quite important, regulation of potassium is one of those. You can google magnesium and Mildred Seelig (md) for some excellent papers on magnesium research. Of course there are many other resources available on magnesium research. But keep in mind that it is vitally important and often overlooked. When I looked last, Medline or PubMed which catalogs all medical journals had over 40,000 articles on magnesium and cardiovascular health. Seelig has a paper addressing this very issue. Use the right form for you. I would also consider supplementing w/ potassium - use a quality form as well. Check with doctor of course.
I have also started taking a B-complex about a week ago since my energy level is soooo low....
I use Country Life co-enzymated form, co=enzymated forms are more bio available making it easier for the body to metabolize. B vitamins can be tricky in that each person may have a particular need for one of the b complex family, for instance I have a more pronounced need for b2, b6 and pantothenic acid. I would start with the country life formula, Iherb has a very reasonable price on it, I would try to experiment with the other individual forms if necessary. Oftentimes it is just a trial and error method.
I am also seriously thinking about having a food allergy test. I know there are theories that you pulse will quicken when you eat something you are allergic or sensitive to.
I think it may be easier to try the pulse testing first. If you can come up with a major offending food, you can establish a "reaction" thus you can compare other offenders to this.
some of the more common allergens would be corn (high fructose corn sugar) wheat, dairy and probalby something that is more problematic would be food additives and preservatives things like mono and diglycerides, msg, hydrolyzed proteins and don't forget the aspartame.
Thanks again! You are welcome! Post again if you have other questions!
I am currently on the Merina IUD and have developed sinus tachycardia. I am now starting to question the idea of a severe hormonal imbalance and am getting the thing removed in another couple of days. I just red this morning that red wine can get the rate up because of the histamine in it. Guess I have to give that one up and see if it helps.
I wish I had answers. All I can say is that I know what it feels like. I'm calm before it starts, but awfully unsettled afterwards. I'm about to turn 35, so we're close to the same age.
Hi I have palpitations also since I was 26 years old ...I noticed first when I was pregnant with my last child more than 11 years ago.
I was put on betablockers,my ultrasounds came back negative.
I feel worst after eating and sometimes after going to the bathroom.
Every single Dr. I visited try to treat my palpitations with betablockers wich tipically are prescribed to patients with high blood pressure, in my case I have low blood pressure.
I finally decide to leave with it ...I have bad days but I have lots of good days "normal days".
Recently I found a chinese accupuncturist ...it really helps me it's been months since I had a palpitation ..try you have nothing to loose!
Good luck
Hi Maria, I have never read a description of another person's symptoms that so closely matches mine. Especially the red wine and carbs causing a raise in heart rate. What in the world could that be? I have had it most of my adult life (I'm 44) and never quite understood it. My aunt has it, so I always just wrote it off as being hereditary. The reason I was poking around on the internet and found your post is because for the past couple of days I have had these bothersome heart palpitations. I have had palps before, but they were maybe once a month if that. These are happening once a day and last for anywhere from a few minutes to 20 minutes, on and off. Then they go away until the next day. They started after I had missed my cholesterol medicine for 3 days and then started it again (I got stuck out of state and ran out of my medicine). At the same time this happened, I also got my period. I have been weepy, depressed, and tired, and then these palpitations. I am going to go to the doctor, but from what I've found, it looks like it could all be from a hormone imbalance stemming from my period, but made worse by the medicine fluctuation, and a ton of stress at work the past month. My skin is also breaking out. What happened that you ended up being diagnosed with GERD? The past few weeks, I have begun waking up with pain between my shoulder blades. I checked into that, and found out that it is a symptom of GERD, which I haven't been diagnosed with yet. Maybe it's all connected to the hormone imbalance. Anyway, I just wanted to vent a little - it helps keep my stress level down as I worry about all of these things that are going on in my body.
I am posting this to spread the word and help others that are in the same predicament. I originally posted this on another forum question regarding hormone imbalance etc. I hope this brings you the same relief it did my wife.
I want to give a little insight to the expensive ongoing "hormone replacement therapy" that many doctors are suggesting to patients. As we all know many peoples situations are different. However I have found that the following items 4-ENDOCRINE HEALTH™ and THYADINE by TriMedica have extremely positive affects.
No i am not a representative of the company nor have any stake in its success or failure. This information was giving to me by a Biochemist for my wife. For years she had difficulty losing weight, felt tired and fatigued all the time, foggy in the head, and just didn't feel like herself.
Literally in 2 weeks after taking both of the products, of course with her daily More Than A Multiple vitamins, her symptoms began to subside and she felt much better. Her doctor had recommended Hormone replacement therapy and that was when i phoned my friend that happens to be a biochemist. These two items are what he suggested that she try BEFORE starting any hormone replacement system. Of course her doctor NEVER recommended these nor knew anything about them and suggested against any "herbal" remedy. However he was completely wrong. It has been a year and a half and blood test show no more problems and she feels great.
Hello,
My name is Yoli. I'm 41 and I want you to know that you're not alone. I developed heart palpitations three years ago about the same time I was diagnosed with uterine fibroids. The fibroids grew at an alarming rate and I was soon experiencing what felt like very strong, skipped heartbeats a week before my cycles. I have had a battery of tests done alot like you did. I had an EKG, ECO CARDIO, wore a halter monitor, had a stress test, blood work...all came back normal. I was happy that my heart was healthy, but anxious as to why my heart kept skipping beats. I became my own doctor and started doing web research, which is where I found the correlation between hormonal imbalance and heart palpitations. I discovered that I might also be in periamenopause(an early onset of menopausal symptoms), but I am still waiting for confirmation from my doctor. I recently had a Uterine Fibroid Embolization to shrink my fibroids. Since the surgery, I have experienced skipped periods and horrible mood swings. Needless to say, the palpitations are still intense...but at least now I have a good idea of why. I just had more blood work done to check my hormones and will get my results next week. Until then, my cardiologist suggested I drink alot of soy milk during my episodes. She said the estrogen in the milk might help, since uterine fibroids are known to feed off of estrogen. I really like 'Silk's chocolate soy. I also started walking 30 minutes a day. Do I see a change? Well, slightly. But as I get more info from my doctor, I will let you know. Until then, hang in there and try to relax. Take deep breaths when the palpitations start. Breath in your nose and out of your mouth.
God Bless,Yoli:-)
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