Can POTS cause heart palpitations (at night) ?

[Bansaw]

A couple of years ago, and just recently, I've experienced irregular heartbeat and a racing heart rate.
This happens at night when I wake up and need to go to the bathroom.

If I don't get up very slowly and do everything in slow motion, when I lay down again, my heart goes irregular.
Last night my irregular heartbeat turned into a 130 bpm racing one for 5 mins which scared me.

The heart palpitations happened a couple of years ago, but I got my blood sugar under better control, and it seemed to help somehow. Maybe blood sugar levels and POTS and heart palpitations are related(?)

Anyway, just looking for some comments on this and if anyone has experienced this too, and perhaps some things that could help.

 

[Jyoti]

I am not sure if this will be at all helpful, but I will offer it and see....

A few years ago I saw someone at the Center for Complex Diseases and she noticed that in an earlier sleep study my oxygen saturation dropped a number of times over the course of the night into the low 90s. Not low enough to be diagnosed as sleep apnea, but low enough--in her estimation--to cause my body to react with a surge of adrenaline that then woke me.

Already revved, I'd get up abruptly to go pee and set myself up for fairly exciting tachycardia. In my situation, this doctor recommended that I focus on sleeping with my neck in slight extension and it did seem to help a good deal. I am not at all sure that has any value beyond my own circumstances, but perhaps there is a tiny bit or two in there that resonates, @Bansaw.

 

[Bansaw]

I am not sure if this will be at all helpful, but I will offer it and see....

Thanks for replying.
Can I ask what you mean by "neck in slight extension"? Is this you lying flat and stretching your neck out?
I find if I am lying flat, one nostril gets blocked and I wake up with breathing issues. The past year I've been sleeping at a slight angle and this has been remedied. Just wondering what you meant by neck in slight extension"

 

[Jyoti]

Great that you figured out how to increase air flow through nose while you sleep. It is totally amazing AND a bit overwhelming how many things need to be aligned for these poor bodies to work as intended. Don't know what you've got till it's gone.

I tend to want to curl up on my side when I sleep--tucking my chin to my chest--basically, flexion. The doctor I mentioned surmised that this position in combination with the pathology in my neck (CCI, AAI plus loads of osteophytes) might be narrowing my airway enough to cause the low oxygen saturation.

So...when I go to bed, I make sure that my neck is not curled to my chest. Either in a neutral position or slightly tilted backward if I am on my side. I then (hahaha) INTEND to keep it that way while I sleep and mostly then, I do. And the shocking wakings have diminished a lot.

 

[LINE]

Jyoti brings up a good point, that is oxygen levels. You can buy an Oximeter for cheap - ($20) and they are super easy to use.

Have you checked your electrolyte levels; I am thinking of magnesium in particular.

 

[Bansaw]

Jyoti brings up a good point, that is oxygen levels. You can buy an Oximeter for cheap - ($20) and they are super easy to use.

Have you checked your electrolyte levels; I am thinking of magnesium in particular.

Thanks, I do have an oxygen meter. I put it on my finger just a minute or two after the "event". It was reading 98%.
I have just been through Covid a few weeks ago; I still have symptoms like cough, fatigue and loss of taste. Perhaps Covid depleted magnesium or other things(?)

 

[LINE]

Nutrients play such a vital role for keeping me buoyant.

 

[GlassHouse]

Yes POTS absolutely does continue at night. Dr. Alan Pocinki has studied this. He treats me for this with beta blockers and I measure my heart rate using a WHOOP device (and I’ve also had 6 sleep studies).

 

[YippeeKi YOW !!]

@Bansaw
Among the many other unlimited joys of this crappy little chronic crowbar of an illness, I developed constant, non-stop anxiety attacks, and seriously bad tachycardia and heart palps, along with chest tightness and chest and head pressure. It was misery.

After dicking around with a whole lot of crap that did nothing, and doing what research my severely impaired focus, cognitive abilities, and energy permitted at irregular intervals, I settled on magnesium. And after trying several different kinds, I decided that magnesium glycinate was the way to go.

And when large doses of that did nothing, in desperation I tried dosing the mag in small amounts at tight intervals, 50 mgs with about 250 mgs of Vit C every 30-45 mins when I was at my worst, then with wider intervals as I got better.

It may be worth a try. It definitely worked for me when nothing else did .....

 

[YippeeKi YOW !!]

Maybe blood sugar levels and POTS and heart palpitations are related(?)

I dont know about the relationship to POTs, but blood sugar levels respond to magnesium and in fact cant be well-maintained in its absence. So I assume, based on personal experience, heart palps, ditto.

 

[LINE]

@Bansaw
Among the many other unlimited joys of this crappy little chronic crowbar of an illness, I developed constant, non-stop anxiety attacks, and seriously bad tachycardia and heart palps, along with chest tightness and chest and head pressure. It was misery.

After dicking around with a whole lot of crap that did nothing, and doing what research my severely impaired focus, cognitive abilities, and energy permitted at irregular intervals, I settled on magnesium. And after trying several different kinds, I decided that magnesium glycinate was the way to go.

And when large doses of that did nothing, in desperation I tried dosing the mag in small amounts at tight intervals, 50 mgs with about 250 mgs of Vit C every 30-45 mins when I was at my worst, then with wider intervals as I got better.

It may be worth a try. It definitely worked for me when nothing else did .....

Good report!

 

[YippeeKi YOW !!]

also like the mag/glycinate mag/lysinate blend.

I'll take a peek at it, but I've found that I get best results keeping things as simple and linear as possible.

What's the additional benefit of adding mag lysinate over plain mag glycinate?

 

[LINE]

I'll take a peek at it, but I've found that I get best results keeping things as simple and linear as possible.

What's the additional benefit of adding mag lysinate over plain mag glycinate?

I am not sure there is a benefit - but use Doctors Best High Absorption Magnesium which has both forms. I think you are smart to stick with just glycinate.

 

[LINE]

@Bansaw
Among the many other unlimited joys of this crappy little chronic crowbar of an illness, I developed constant, non-stop anxiety attacks, and seriously bad tachycardia and heart palps, along with chest tightness and chest and head pressure. It was misery.

After dicking around with a whole lot of crap that did nothing, and doing what research my severely impaired focus, cognitive abilities, and energy permitted at irregular intervals, I settled on magnesium. And after trying several different kinds, I decided that magnesium glycinate was the way to go.

And when large doses of that did nothing, in desperation I tried dosing the mag in small amounts at tight intervals, 50 mgs with about 250 mgs of Vit C every 30-45 mins when I was at my worst, then with wider intervals as I got better.

It may be worth a try. It definitely worked for me when nothing else did .....

I forgot to mention that continual dosing of Vitamin C (as you are doing) has always been helpful in times of crisis. One the hour, every hour (or there abouts) is a great way to dose Vitamin C. I use Quali C which has some notes of trust in terms of quality.

 

[YippeeKi YOW !!]

Good report! Glycinate is always a good choice

Its pretty much the only choice, and I was surprized that you didnt specify that form in your post when you recommended mag. Citrate absorbs poorly and will keep you annealed to your bathroom like linoleum on a 1950s kitchen floor, ditto oxide, which is a very small molecule and races thru your stomach and small intestine to immediately create havoc in your colon.

Malate, threonate, and orotate are all over-priced, especially threonate, and overrated, and sometimes have unpredictable, odd little side-effects. Gluconate is gentle, but if I'm remembering correctly, doesnt absorb well. Lactate is gentle on the system and reasonably well-absorbed, but doesnt avoid the bowel issues most forms of magnesium are famous for, altho it's better than most other forms, except for glycinate.

Sulfate is out of the question unless you want to soak in a tub and hope you absorb it well. Or at all. Taurate is much prized by athletes for its ability to regulate blood pressure and keep blood sugr levels under control. Also usually overpriced.

For my money, the only form of mag that's safe, effective, and won't leave you begging for digestive mercy is glycinate. And I tried just about every one of them except threonate.

 

[YippeeKi YOW !!]

I think you are smart to stick with just glycinate.

I agree with you.

I've learned the hard way, as I suspect you may have as well, that the simpler, the better, if only because you can easily pick out what's doing what to which, and why, doncha' know ...

 

[YippeeKi YOW !!]

I forgot to mention that continual dosing of Vitamin C (as you are doing) has always been helpful in times of crisis.

Damn !!! Where was all this information when I was desperately trying find a answer that didn't kill me or make me worse? I had to do significant research and endless experimentation to come up with my low-dose, close intervals system of dosing with mag gly, Vit C, and melatonin every 3 to 4 doses.

I added VIt C because of it's not often recognized role in modulating neurotransmitters, and neuro synthesis and release in the brain. It also helps block the NMDA receptors that mag also works on blocking, which reduces glutamate and therefore excessive glutamate reactions, which would include heart palpitations and irregular heart beat..

 

[YippeeKi YOW !!]

I forgot to mention that continual dosing of Vitamin C (as you are doing) has always been helpful in times of crisis. One the hour, every hour (or there abouts) is a great way to dose Vitamin C.

As an afterthought, you should calibrate the amount you take to your personal bowel tolerance, cause Vit C is famous for things you dont want more of.

I found that 250-300 mgs was the max for me, and I'm pretty sure I was burning thru C at a fierce rate at that time.

So take whatever dose you want to, but at the first sign of diarrhea, back it off until you find your optimal maximum ... think of it as a kind of .... adventure

 

[Strawberry]

Another thing to look into, amongst the other valuable insights posted here, is chemicals. I had severe heart palpitations for decades, to the point of going to the hospital. But I found that I drastically reduced the palpitations with reducing chemicals and food coloring. While the hospital said it was “anxiety, as women don’t get heart disease.” Note that Snyde comment is not sex oriented….. But considering many of us are canaries…

 

[Booble]

I think POTS enhances the racing heart thing.
I recently had the heart racing too and still am having lingering wake up in the middle of the night or when I wake up on the morning it begins to race. It takes awhile for the adrenals to settle down after your first bout with it.
What has helped me most? Forcing myself to stop looking at my heart rate with my pulse oximeter. I'm allowed to feel my neck for a few beats but that's it. (And no timing them.) Also reading that someone's doctor told them that their heart could literally beat at 200 beats per minute for days and nothing bad would happen.