Heart palpitations.... Is there anything that helps??

[alice111]

Never ending saga of heart palpitations.. Keep thinking I have solved it, or figured out what's causing it... But it always comes back

It's not a rapid heartbeat necessarily, but just this pounding pounding pounding.. The worst is at night trying to sleep, it's impossible!

It doesn't necessarily come with anxiety, but most often comes with being "easily startled" so for example every little sound makes me jump.

Does anyone have anything that helps this?? Tried massive amounts of potassium but no help...

 

[Sushi]

There is a thread on this that you might find interesting. Look here.

 

[Misfit Toy]

@alice111 -I have this too. I don't know what's doing it, but for me I am starting to wonder if it's OI. I am really weak with it. But yes, it's just pounding and pounding. I can feel my body shake from it.

 

[alkt]

i used to get this symptom on an irregular basis the first few times it was scary but it is quite common even in healthy people. i find concentrating on my breathing helps although the length of time it takes to settle varies in my case at least its mostly between 3 and 5 minutes. can seem like forever especially when the beat is irregular. if your symptoms occurs every night you really should see your doctor wearing a 24 hour heart monitor may put your mind at ease.

 

[Dreambirdie]

@alice111 It all depends on the cause.

I have a very sensitive pulse and get various types of palpitations for different reasons. A food allergy can cause my heart to beat uncomfortably faster. In that case I will take charcoal tablets to absorb the allergens. If I am toxic from a chemical exposure that causes what my acupuncturist describes a "wired pulse," which feels not so much fast as hard and booming. For that I will take NAC in fairly large doses.

I can also get easily dehydrated, and that will cause both mild palpitations and PVCs (premature ventricular contractions)... which is why I always make an effort to stay hydrated, especially in the heat and also before bed. I will take a mix of various electrolytes for that.

Sometimes viral and bacterial infections make my pulse feel faster than normal. Sometimes my pulse can be tweeked from adrenals stress. There are so many causes... it always works best if you know what you are dealing with.

When in doubt and looking desperately for relief in the moment, I stick a little acupuncture ear needle in 2 points on the wrist--pericardium 6 and heart 7. (see photos below) Those are excellent for slowing my pulse down. I have used them successfully on many occasions. Massaging them for a minute or so can also be helpful.

Good luck!... and I hope that you find something that works for you.

 

[PennyIA]

I did find that my doctor dismissed my concerns about my heart palpitations because they never sped up too far beyond 'normal' high rate... even though healthy people would experience that rate when they were active and I was experiencing it when I was rested, relaxed and laying down flat from a semi-inclined position ... which shouldn't have caused my heart to race. Finally convinced him that my symptoms of constant diarrhea might cause electrolyte imbalance. .. Got him to run tests that proved I was potassium deficient. Taking potassium eliminated the heart palpitations.

He wouldn't admit that untreated potassium deficiency might have caused the palpitations... but he keeps renewing my refills so, we just drop it.

 

[minkeygirl]

I have it all the time. Not racing heart just feeling it beating much more than normal.

At night I take propranalol, a beta blocker, so I can sleep. I tolerate it during the day.

When I'm fatigued it's much worse.

My BP is fine so it's not that although when my BP is really low, it's not as bad. . I'm not sure if it's OI

I do find potassium helps some times but not consistently.

 

[Stretched]

Never ending saga of heart palpitations.. Keep thinking I have solved it, or figured out what's causing it... But it always comes back

Does anyone have anything that helps this?? Tried massive amounts of potassium but no help...

As you're probably aware, there are a variety of Magnesium and Potassium compounds... . Specifically, K-Citrate and Mag-Taurate settles my tachy-ticker (at bedtime) right away - at least within a couple of nights. Besides the systemic effects they likely also balance the ionization within the stomach, thus enhancing the electrical communications involving the heart and second brain. :thumbdown:

 

[Richard7]

hi alice,

I have been playing around with this issue. I seem to have three related sensations. I get POTS which leads my heart to speed up and is not really an isssue as long as I take enough salt and keep my fluids up.

I get palpitations which seem to be realted to potassium deficiency, I take about 2-3 tsp potassium chloride in .25-.75tsp doses over the day. The large doses are first thing in the morning and last thing at night.

I take the potassium, salt and some magnesium citrate together most of the time.

I also get a type of vibration which is very much like a palpitation but not at the same speed as my pulse, and not just located in my heart. It is mostly in my chest and back, but I can feel it more generally in my shoulders and arms for example.

It seems to be related to low methylfolate. It pops up in the morning, every morning, and when I have gone more than 4hrs between doses.

Though I think it also fits in with b6 and b12, as well as these are related, and it is sometimes the methylfolate does not seem enough and I have a strong desire for other b vitamins.

I am doing something in between richvank and freddd's protocols at the moment. I note that you are following yasko's protocol so you might want to play around with the b9 as well.

 

[alice111]

Thanks guys!
@minkeygirl does the propranolol help with the pounding even if it's not rapid?

 

[alice111]

@Stretched what dose do u take take mag taurate and k?

 

[alice111]

@Richard7 I will keep an eye on the methyllfolate! I never thought of that, thanks!
As for the potassium you said the tblsp dose but how many mg is that?

 

[alice111]

Also I don't know if this makes a difference but sometimes this also comes with overheating, and a really uncomfortable pulse in my neck.

My chest, head and neck all feel super hot to touch, but the rest of my body is ice cold

Last thing, it feels much better to sit up, laying down makes the pounding way worse. But fatigue, and obviously sleep requires me to lie down.. is this a pots thing?

 

[Kitsune]

I am very prone to palpitations myself, though these days instead of a short period of heavy pounding, it's a milder form that can stick around for as long as a week at a time - which is awful, because it still makes me feel very sick. I try to remind myself that symptoms are the body's way of telling us something is wrong.

The usual culprits for me seem to be dehydration, anemia (relieved by iron pills), sugar, chemical food additives such as msg and aspartame, and stress. I take 800mg of magnesium citrate (Solgar) in divided doses throughout the day, which also helps; low magnesium is a well-known cause of heart problems.

The palps have been a persistent problem with me lately despite all this, and as others have suggested here, I think low potassium may well be a problem - I wouldn't have thought of that, though I ought to have remembered that electrolyte imbalance can also wreak havoc with the heart. I will buy some from the health food shop later; in the meantime, have eaten a banana

 

[justy]

My palpitations are of the heart skipping a beat then pounding fast to 'make up for it'. I was told by NHS GP and cardiologist for the past 20 years that it was just 'benign' some people get them... just had an echocardiogram with my M.E doctor and he has diagnosed mitral valve prolapse with mild regurgitation - he says this will cause the skipped and extra beats - nothing to do for it except try beta blockers but as I have asthma these are out.

 

[Richard7]

@Richard7 I will keep an eye on the methyllfolate! I never thought of that, thanks!
As for the potassium you said the tblsp dose but how many mg is that?

not tablespoon: teaspoon.

.25 tsp potassium chloride is .73g or 730mg potassium if you preffer.


This works for me but I may well be twice your size. I think freddd's reccomendation is about 300mg every two hours, but that level really does not work for me.

 

[Richard7]

I don't know about the lying down versus sitting up thing, but when I was reading about POTS I know some people were sleeping with the head end of the bed elevated.

The warmth is interesting too, I do get odd periods of warmth. Odd in part because I am usually really cold, but I have not correlated them with palpitations or vibrations. I had not even thought to look.

Justy,

I know that Cheney has reported odd heartbeats in some CFS patients. From memory they are the result of choosing a lower energy method for beating, with a part of the cycle where blood heads the wrong way.

 

[Apple]

Hey @alice111 - I also used to get (and sometimes still do) the palpitations that you're describing at nighttime. Poundy and almost like my heart is being squeezed but no actual tachycardia.. also better when I sit up! I bought an electric bed (super cheap on ebay and kept my own mattress!) which helps prop me up to sleep without actually being sat up (I also have severe GERD).

Have you had a cardiac work-up to rule out any problems?

I take magnesium and i'm not sure if it's helped reduce the frequency, but it might be worth a try? I take 500-1000mg of magnesium citrate.

Good luck finding something

 

[minkeygirl]

@alice111 absolutely! I get the 10 mgs so I can adjust the dosage. If I can't sleep I'll take maybe 20 mgs. If an hour later it's still w problem I'll take more which is well within the dosage

I also found when I took it is important. I used to take it about 1/2 before I was planning to go to sleep but now I wait about 1/2 hour after I've tried to sleep. Somehow relaxing helps.

Oh and I don't have GERD or any heart issues. This is one of the weird unexplained things we get with this damn disease.

 

[panckage]

I've heard stimulants, such as caffeine, contribute to this