Palpatiations

[jmrogers31]

I have been on a strict gluten free diet for 6 months. I have only gotten gluttened once or twice that entire time and have a new condition that is worrying me. For about the last month or two about once or twice a day I feel a boom in my chest like my heart takes a really strong heartbeat. This is not accompanied with any pain or discomfort in my chest, I can exercise and feel fine, I don't feel short of breath or anything like that. I had a doctor listen to my heartbeat and she said that my heart does a quickbeat, pauses, and the comes back with a strong beat. I only feel it once or twice a day but it may be happening more often. Anyone else have this? I am 31 years old and at a healthy weight with good blood pressure and low cholesterol and never in my life had an irregular heartbeat. Everytime it happens it makes me anxious and that isn't good considering anxiety was my biggest issue that resolved on a gluten free diet.

[mamaw]

Go to a cardio doc & get it checked out. Also maybe a thyroid panel...(bloodwork)...

[captaincrab55]

  On 1/3/2012 at 10:03 PM, mamaw said:

Go to a cardio doc & get it checked out. Also maybe a thyroid panel...(bloodwork)...

I'll second that.... Stress Test on the Tread Mill with some Meds pumped into you and they can get good idea of what's wrong... They may take some fancy pictures too... They located my problem, I was taking the wrong BP Med...

[pricklypear1971]

How are your vitamin levels?

I had/have a very similar thing...got better going gluten-free. Disappeared when I added d3 and iron (which I was deficient in).

It has been bugging me the last few weeks; however, I am pretty sure I got glutened do EVERYTHING is weird right now.

Hormones fluctuating also makes mine flip flop.. Yeah, I'm female but guys have hormones too!

[YoloGx]

Are you eating or drinking things with excitoxins in them? That could just do it. Things like most soy (strongly fermented kind is fine), nutrasweet etc., MSG and its variants (hydrolyzed vegetable protein etc.), carageenan. They make the food taste better but fire up your mitochondria too much and eventually kill them off. This can mess with your nerves big time, in general as well as the brain and the heart. You think you are eating so well when in reality you are really messing with your health big time.

Corn can mess with your nervous system too. And of course sugar is a big no no for the heart as well as a whole lot of other functions, including the brain.

Eating a lot of fat can be a problem, as well of course as too little. Balance in everything, eh? I am starting to eat a more macrobiotic diet due to problems with fat digestion. Having more cultured sour foods you make at home goes a long ways towards counteracting some of these problems: live yogurt, live sauerkraut etc.

Taking dandelion root capsules or tea with or just before or after your meal will increase the effectiveness of your digestion and short circuit many problems with cholesterol accumulation in the gall bladder and heart. Though you don't show high cholesterol readings it could still accumulate and cause a problem. I say this since it is what happened to me. Having damaged cillia can do things the docs don't take into account--like poor fat metabolization. Often doctors don't catch things ahead of time. Using lemons or apple cider vinegar (the live kind with the mother in it is best) in some water or directly on your food can also help with this immensely.

Finding some source of Omega 3's also helps the heart as well as everything else.

Supplements I found that help with heart health: hawthorn (regulates the heart however it is "off"), reishi mushrooms have amazing properties including regulating the heart (assuming mushrooms are OK for you--aren't for me due to salicylate sensitivity), co-enzyme B vitamins (they are more absorbable than the usual B vitamins--they go directly into the blood stream if taken on an empty stomach). Both the hawthorn and the B vitamins stopped my palpitations in their tracks. I still take the co-enzyme B vitamins as well as the nattokinase I mention later here. Now that I am completely off all trace gluten (including not sharing my oven with gluten eaters) the heart palpitations have completely stopped.

Many here cannot absorb B vitamins very well due to damage to the villi. Ditto with vitamins E and D3 and minerals. Taking a general trace mineral combination as well as magnesium citrate, calcium (I take E-zorb since its far more absorpable than anything else), zinc and silica (for the collagen production--not exactly for the heart but I still think it helps. Certainly does for connective tissue) really helps the heart as well as the nervous system and the muscles and tendons, bones etc.

Be certain to eat yellow or orange vegetables to get enough vitamin A. The beta carotene is better for us than the retinol since retinol fights with vitamin D and reduces its effectiveness.

Eating natto or taking nattokinase and/or bromelain/papain (or eat pineapple and papaya) etc. (fibronylitic agents) can also help big time to reduce platelate aggregation as well as scar tissue anywhere in the body (read damaged villi as well as the heart and blood vessels). The natto/nattokinase is particularly effective, though I doubt you need such big guns at this time.

Bea

[Macbre]

I have palpations on a regular basis and that is one of my main symptoms when I'm glutened. However, I started taking a womans vitamin about 3 weeks ago and I have to say that my palpations have lessened. I'm starting to think that I had a vitamin deficiency. The palpations are worse around my monthly cycle so I know hormones do play a part in them. My anxiety has also improved since starting the vitamins.

I've had all the heart test run and everything has come back normal. I used to get stressed out and develope terrible anxiety thinking something was wrong with me, but now I try to ignore it and don't let it bother me. I'm hoping these new vitamins are the answer and that I don't have to deal with the palpations anymore.

[jmrogers31]

Thanks for the responses everyone. I did have some blood work done and I was deficient in Vitamin D, Iron, and my inflammation levels were elevated. My cholesterol was 144, but my good cholesterol (HDL?) was low. Since then I have been taking a multivitamin and the palpatations stopped for a while only to come back. Maybe my multivitamin has gluten? Or maybe it isn't effective? I don't know it just worries me. I will add a fish oil supplement as well and see if that helps. If no luck I will go to a cardiologist.

[YoloGx]

  On 1/4/2012 at 12:40 AM, jmrogers31 said:

Thanks for the responses everyone. I did have some blood work done and I was deficient in Vitamin D, Iron, and my inflammation levels were elevated. My cholesterol was 144, but my good cholesterol (HDL?) was low. Since then I have been taking a multivitamin and the palpatations stopped for a while only to come back. Maybe my multivitamin has gluten? Or maybe it isn't effective? I don't know it just worries me. I will add a fish oil supplement as well and see if that helps. If no luck I will go to a cardiologist.

Not to discourage you, but I doubt the cardiologist will help you with prevention issues. He or she will probably say you are fine and send you on your way. A naturopath might be a better choice.

You definitely should make sure your vitamins and other supplements are entirely gluten free, as well as avoiding trace gluten from other sources.

It is also possible that you may need something(s) extra like the reishi or the hawthorn for instance to regulate your heart. The AMA is not into that sort of thing, however in my own experience I have found such things to work quite well.

The "bad" cholesterol indicates problems likely from how your body deals with fat. Try out some of the suggestions I made like taking live apple cider vinegar or lemon regularly as well as dandelion root and pineapple for instance, and you may discover your problem goes away.

[1974girl]

I totally know what you are having as I play a doctor on the internet. LOL But seriously, look up PVCs. Premature Ventricular Contractions. I have had heart surgery for them. Now, don't freak out. I had them every other beat 5 years ago at age 32. They acted up for about a month and the doc fixed me! Most people have them but not everyone feels them. My cardiologist described them as a group of cells (mine were about 1/5 of an inch long)that get together and decide to beat to their own drum. He had to go in and zap them. I am totally better now. What you decribed is normal and my doctor will not even consider an ablation until you are having them about 10,000 a day. Every other beat or every 3rd beat would be something to worry about. My dad has 1,000 a day and the same doctor will not touch him. One or two a day is fine! Caffeine can cause that much! Caffeine and stress can make them worse. I had about 80 a day in college and about the same during my first pregnancy. They did nothing. Then at 32, they decided to go nuts. If it makes you feel better, go wear a heart monitor. Yours are so sporadic that an EKG will probably not catch them. If you have a whole lot, they can put you on beta blockers but they made me really tired. My dad even quit taking them because of that. But, I think what you are feeling is normal but not everyone feels them.

[pricklypear1971]

  On 1/4/2012 at 12:40 AM, jmrogers31 said:

Thanks for the responses everyone. I did have some blood work done and I was deficient in Vitamin D, Iron, and my inflammation levels were elevated. My cholesterol was 144, but my good cholesterol (HDL?) was low. Since then I have been taking a multivitamin and the palpatations stopped for a while only to come back. Maybe my multivitamin has gluten? Or maybe it isn't effective? I don't know it just worries me. I will add a fish oil supplement as well and see if that helps. If no luck I will go to a cardiologist.

If you ate low in D and iron you need more than a multi.

Daily I take 2000 d3, and 4x the rda of iron....and that was rx'ed by my ND. Plus a multi, plus flax seed oil, plus cal/mag.

[jmrogers31]

Thanks again everyone. Yolo, my cousin is a licensed herbalist so I will talk to him about the stuff you mentioned in your post and see if he can get me a formula. pricklypear, I bought a gluten free supplement with omega-3 and vitamin D. I do need to look into a magnesium supplement as well I think. 1974girl, after also being an internet doctor and researching PVCs that does sound like exactly what I am having and they don't seem dangerous, just annoying for most people. I am surprised a lot of people don't notice them because mine feel like a big boom that would be impossible not to notice. I am going to really clean up my diet and follow the good advice of shopping the perimeter of the store only and avoiding the aisles. Only frest fruit, veggies, meat, and eggs for me for a while. I should eat that way anyways but I always get out of my diet between Thanksgiving and Christmas.

[Aly1]

I am having palpitations this week, associated with a glutening. I've had palpitations for years, and saw a doctor for them. The truth is, most palpitations are nothing to worry about - it's the odd case where they are linked to a serious condition. With me they did a 24-hr holter monitor test on me and ended up telling me I was fine. The only reason they tested was that I was pregnant at the time and occasionally had sharp chest pains, so they didn't want to mess around. Like I said, turns out I was fine. So don't get anxious over them, they are very common. Go the food route and see if it's being caused by something you're eating - it turned out to be the case for me.

[jmrogers31]

An update. It seems like corn, caffeine, and sugar trigger them for me. I have been avoilding all three for awhile and had no issues. Then, we had a babysitter on Saturday so my wife and I went out for dinner. After dinner we stopped for dessert and I had a vanilla shake which I made sure was gluten free. About 2 hours later I had several big booms in my chest and my heart rate was really out of whack for a while. I looked at my wife and said I guess I am done with ice cream too. I am a little bummed because I really don't like sweets that much but would like to be able to have them once in a while. I was never this sensitive to foods before going gluten free. In the two days since I have been eating well and had no issues.

[AVR1962]

  On 1/17/2012 at 2:18 PM, jmrogers31 said:

An update. It seems like corn, caffeine, and sugar trigger them for me. I have been avoilding all three for awhile and had no issues. Then, we had a babysitter on Saturday so my wife and I went out for dinner. After dinner we stopped for dessert and I had a vanilla shake which I made sure was gluten free. About 2 hours later I had several big booms in my chest and my heart rate was really out of whack for a while. I looked at my wife and said I guess I am done with ice cream too. I am a little bummed because I really don't like sweets that much but would like to be able to have them once in a while. I was never this sensitive to foods before going gluten free. In the two days since I have been eating well and had no issues.

Give it time. Your body may just need more time to heal. Glad you discovered what was giving you issues. I had several foods I could not eat in the beginning and as time as gone by I have been able to allow them back in and have been fine with them. I too had palpitations which I linked to my need for vit supplementation.

[plumbago]

Just finding this discussion now. Glad to see 1974 girl's response because that does seem to be it. I had the same thing, not all the time but enough to be worrisome. I got a lot of tests and they couldn't really find much except modest ventricular ectopy which may be the same thing as PVC. Also, I have cut way back on the caffeine which has helped a lot, as has going gluten-free as of two years ago.

Thank you 1974girl, for your perspective!

Plumbago

[1974girl]

Thank you 1974girl, for your perspective!

You are totally welcome! Since the original post, my father's 1,000 PVCs a day have totally gone away after he stopped drinking caffeinated drinks (coffee was the #1 for him).