Palpitation, Tachycardia, mineral/electrolyte imbalance?

Hello :)
I am a female 19 y.o and ive been experiencing tachycardia and palpitation for years (also i have GERD, sleep apnea, spasmophilia, insomnia, respiratory problem, just to add information) but in earlier times its not this bad so evidently it got worse unfortunetlly which worries me. Did ECG, ECHO, holter monitor 24 hours, t3 t4 tsh tests but didnt find the cause. Now im on beta blocker (propranolol) for years but didnt really help. It could happen almost all day and i cant do normal activities. I dont know what i should do anymore and its really bad and frustrated me.
I read about mineral defiency, electrolyte imbalance, hormonal imbalance have something to do with it. Because a lot of people said they experienced that and it has helped them.
But how do i know if i have this imbalance situation going on? Which one is high and which one is low and how much should i take? I cant just take all of them (calcium, magnesium, potassium,vit b) because if i ended up getting it too high/imbalance then it will make it worse. And does the electrolye/mineral level change everyday in our body? Ive been on calcium, magnesium and kalium test but the result was in normal range. But i read on some site when i was googling that it could appear normal but doesnt mean you dont have any defiencies. It doesnt always accurate and theres an explanation but i forgot.
Also i read that cayenne pepper and mother tincture would help but the other said the opposite which confused me.
If anyone knows any information related to it please help,
i would truly appreciate it thanks. :D

[sian333]

Hi there.

How fast does your tachycardia get?

[KisekiShiawase]

Well, my condition changes frequently without knowing the reason, sleep quality plays a role too, but when it occurs it can get to 120bpm, and im not be able to do anything and have to force my self to relax eventhough its hard and if i walk or get worried it jumps up  to 170bpm. Even when im in bettter condition, resting heart 80bpm. I still cant run and going upstairs 1 floor can get to 120bpm. So it really bothers me. And from what i feel and check propranolol 10mg reduces 20 bpm more or less. And it takes 30 minutes-1 hour for it to work more or less. 2 times i took 20mg propranolol but i feel difficulty difficulty breathing. Anyway, i hope anyone can answer my questions about mineral/electrolyte imbalance.

[sian333]

Electrolyte imbalances can certainly cause tachycardia and an irregular heart beat.

Have you had your electrolytes checked? A simple blood test can help this out.

I was a little low on Potassium and Sodium when I first started having my arrhythmia. I started having a big banana smoothie a day and that helped quite a bit, but didn't cure anything. It just made the palpatations seem much less intense and more managable.

I do actually find having a bit more salt seems to help with my arrhythmia too, but again it doesn't completely fix it, and strangely I've noticed my BP drops when I have more sodium... in a good way. My BP was a wee bit high sometimes, but was normally due to white coat hypertension.

It was around 130/90 sometimes at the doctors. I've been having more salt lately and went to the doctors yesterday. I was feeling nervous as I always do at the docs, but my BP was 120/80. Text book they said. We chatted for a while and he checked it again. It was 110/80 the second time, despite feeling nervous. So that's a good thing! I'm quite positive the salt is helping with that, which is strange as I thought salt was meant to increase BP.

Anyway...I ramble a lot LOL.

Get some blood work done to rule out electrolyte imbalances. If these tests come back normal, see another cardiologist and maybe mention Inappropriate Sinus Tachycardia or Atrial Tachycardia and ask for his/her opinion.

I wouldn't start popping supplements until you're sure though, because too much of any one mineral can be bad for you, too.

120bpm really isn't very high though...so I wouldn't worry too much. And a resting HR of 80bpm is fine and completely normal, nothing wrong with that. My resting heart rate on beta blockers is 75 - 95bpm, and I still get tachycardia on beta blockers. My HR was 140bpm yesterday when I woke up, doing absolutely nothing.

Have you had a stress test?

The fact that is increases so much with exercise *may* indicate IST or a focal atrial tachy, but it's so hard to tell. You could just be sinus node could just be a bit sensative.

After a few minutes in the stress test, my heart was at 195bpm. I thought this was way too high, but my cardiologist wasn't concerned. I passed the stress test, didn't have any chest pain or symptoms and kept my HR at 195 for 9 minutes or however long the Bruce Protocol goes for, I forget.

So basically, get some blood work...speak to your doctor and maybe look into a second opinion from a cardiologist if the symptoms are bothering you a lot.

Keep us posted : ]

[shavedsporty]

This is my first post after suffering for 11 years from palpitations and svt's. I would like to know if my electrolytes are off at the moment? My episodes are very frequent at the moment especially when first going to sleep. I have recently joined a gym and dont know if that has made it worse? I also dont know if anxiety is causing it? I have had a banana today so see if that helps lol!
I am scared about this cardiomyopathy, how do you know if you have it?  

[shavedsporty]

Forgot to say I am a 39 year old male from the uk! Hello to you guys! :)

[r9c]

Hi,i do have palpitation for nearly a year with daily lightheadness and chest discomfort at timea when i went to the A&E the docs said ecg were just sinua tachy and nothing seema to be wrong as i had an echo last year together with stress test,24 hr holter and tilt table test which the cardio couldnt find any causes for my palpitation and dizziness and he think it might be anxiety related but i am not really sure it is casue at the moment i do noy feel that stress or so.doctors did a lot of thyroid test and even saw an endo which he doseny think its the tyhroid problem causing the palpitations and i had alot of enzyme blood test on calcium potassium on every 2-3 months when i went to the a&e for palpitations and they dont think its any mineral or electores problem so i dont think enzymes on cardiac or thyroid does change alot in a short time

[sian333]

The only way you can tell if you have an electrolyte imbalance is by having a blood test.

You need an echo or an ECG to pin point if you have cardiomyopathy. Have you seen a cardiologist?

Do you take beta blockers for the SVT?

@r9c: If all your blood tests are coming back normal, then it's most likely either anxiety, Inappropriate Sinus Tachycardia, or another arrhythmia that hasn't been caught on tape, such as PAT. Or it could be another endocrine issue, have you had a 24 urine test checking cortisol levels etc? Use the method of exclusion.

Seek a second opinion...

Sometimes we have to push for a proper diagnosis. It's true that only you can know if something is up with your body. If something doesn't feel right, don't simply give up after seeing one doctor...

[r9c]

Hi,yeah i have tought of seeking a 2nd cardio soon,i have seen at least 3 different cardiologist in the main general hospital and all of them dosent thinks its a cardiac related,for those dizziness and chest discomfort symptoms etc.so everytime i went to the A&E they would just perform a standard ECG and if it comes out normal including the blood test they would just let me go and saying symptoms are stress anxiety related.So the other choice is to seek a 2nd opinion at a private hospital in my area where they are specialised in cardiology.I did a urine test before which i think came back normal including TSH and T3 or T4 levels which was told normal but last month seen an endo which he mentioned the 1st TSH blood test i had shows a little over active thyroid but it says its still in a normal range,really confused me at that time but they did another thyroid test 3 months later the result came back normal.

[KisekiShiawase]

Hello everyone! Glad to see you guys replying and sharing your story and information, hope more people will post here too and share information or story :)
Reading people story with similiar condition as mine sometimes makes me feel that im not alone, although honestly at the same time i feel bad too and surprised me that theres so many people who has tachycardia, palpitation for years and hasnt been cured and the cause was unknown, tried so many things but failed and even the people who exercise frequently and eat healthy still get it. Which got me thinking it seems so hard to get rid of and it gets me down and feel hopeless sometimes.

Anyway,

to sian333: Ive had a bloodtest for kalium, magnesium and calcium and the result was in normal range. Does that mean i dont need to take magnesium, calcium supplement anymore? But when i was googling, some websites said kalium and magnesium bloodtest arent accurate, which confused me. ive never had a stress test, does it important?

i got 180bpm a couple of times last year when i was in bad condition, i was lying down and force myself to stay calm but i felt panic which why it got worse too i guess. Also sometimes when my HR was 90 i still uncomfortable when palpitation occurs (heart pounds heart even though not fast) but mine was usually both palpitation (heart pounds heart and tachycardia (fast) Anyway how long usually does your tachycardia occurs? Did you feel breathless when your heart rate gets to 195? And feels like your head heavy? Because thats what i felt when my heart goes above 140. I usually feel this kind of 'rush' all over my body when it happens too and feel worry, i dont know if other people feel it too, which makes me wonder.

to: r9c and shavedsporty

just wondering, whats your heart rate when tachy/palp occurs? Anyway, other cause that can also triggers racing heart or makes it worse is GERD, do you think maybe you have it?

[sian333]

Hi there!

My HR has gotten to and above 200bpm before. It only lasted for a few minutes, but it felt A LOT longer than that. I had tunnel vision and everything went hazy around me. I could barely get oxygen into my lungs.

If I were you, I would have a stress test. It's important to see a cardiologist.

My head does feel heavy when it happens, and I also have a very forceful heart beat. It's like someone is always punching me from inside. My shirt always moves with my heart beat, and I get the body rush you're talking about too.

Make sure you see a cardiologist. You could have an arrhythmia.

[CrohnieToo]

Ha! The cardiologist I saw was really into his precious nuclear stress tests. Never showed a dibblety-darn thing. Those short EKG strips are a joke for many of us. They were always clear. The lowly doppler echocardiogram my family doctor ordered revealed some pulmonary hypertension. Which made sense since I have Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease (COPD). a 30 day Event Monitor (glorified Holter monitor) revealed that there was a problem. So now I'm starting Coumadin. The cardiologist wants me on Rythmol but its not a particularly "nice" drug UNLESS you REALLY need it and at this point I'm opting for round the clock 02 and the Coumadin and see what that does for me.

Kiseki, are you treating your sleep apnea? Do you use a CPAP faithfully EVERY time you sleep? Do you know your pressure setting? Is your CPAP fully data capable so that you can check your AHI and Leak rate?

GERD can cause respiratory problems. And respiratory problems can cause heart problems. Do you know what your respiratory problem is? Allergies? Asthma? COPD? Have you had a full in-booth pulmonary function test? Are you on any pulmonary meds? Albuterol? ProAir HFA, etc? Some of these drugs can cause arrhythmias.

[KisekiShiawase]

Mine usually last long, could be 1 hour or more. Yes, it feels like punching like jumping inside like a drum. And the rush and heavy head is weird, i thought its only me, maybe its the circulation of the blood or something i think. Anyway, my hands and feet usually get cold and sweaty when i get racing heart, also when its really bad, like when i got around or above 170 i notice my lips are cold, does someone experience that too or is it just me? I did went to 3 cardiologists but they just said i have tachycardia and didnt really explain it and gave me beta blocker, and when i read about PAC, PAT, SVT, PSVT AF, WPW, etc, i get surprised that there are so many types of different diseases related to my syptoms (symptoms), which got me puzzled which one i am. Anyway, sometimes when i was sleeping i got awakened and found my heart pounding hard and fast, i get scared but have to calm my self and it lasts for 10 minutes or more. But last year that never happened to me before, which worries me.

[KisekiShiawase]

No, i dont treat that, Ive been on a sleep lab once but they didnt detect it since it happens randomly like i got awakened finding myself that i stopped breathing. But it doesnt happen often, pretty rare and i hope its dissapeared wont come back. I dont know what causes my respiratory problem, been searching for it, did chest x-ray when i want to try hyperbaric oxygen therapy and the doctor said my lung seems fine, but during my hyperbaric oxygen therapy i feel very breathless and it was a really bad experience, but the other people felt ok. The cardiologist said its not my heart and sent me to a gastroenterologis. I went to the gastroenterologis and the doctor just gave me drugs. Anyway, im not really sure if my gastro problem that bad. I often feel lots of gas in my stomach and heart racing after meal. (but when my breathing problem doesnt occur, lots of times i didnt feel difficulty breathing when having lots of gas in my stomach) I get difficulty breathing even when my hearts not racing, and the worst when it happens it could get all day (it usually happens when i dont get good quality of sleep but a couple of times happens for unknown reason)  And what i mean by all day is, as in, from when i was sleeping untill waking up then untill go back to sleep again and try to sleep and it happens even when not after eating meal too. My breathing problem feels worse when i was in relax position, so when i move around a little it get better a little while but when i try to relax again especially when i was trying to sleep it got worse, so sometimes i keep move around a little to catch my breath. I thought, could it be muscle problem maybe? I know i should go to a doctor to get this checked but i feel kind of lost, no clue what test i should get and doctor i should see to find the cause.

[CrohnieToo]

Are you in the USA or another country?

They are only recently beginning to recognize - and treat - UARS (Upper Airway Resistance Syndrome). You might think of it as a precursor to full blown OAS (Obstructive Sleep Apnea).

Silent reflux is a form of GERD and it can affect pulmonary function. If you've been Dx'd w/GERD or reflux you really should take the medication as scripted. OSA and GERD often go hand in hand and both need to be appropriately treated.

[KisekiShiawase]

No not in USA, another country.
Anyway, i didnt know that GERD can affect oulmonary function, thanks for the input.

[matnels]

I couldn't help but post on this topic! I to was diagnosed with GERD approximately two years ago. They though the chest tightness along with chest pain was the cause of GERD. I was prescribed 60mg of Kapidex or now known as Dexilant to treat GERD. However, one night after heavy drinking from my buddies bachelor party I developed a feeling that my heart was beating abnormally fast. I put the symptoms aside for nearly a year and a half. The problems only seemed to stem from drinking and seemed as if they were getting worse every time I drank. So meanwhile I just continued to ignore the symptoms for nearly a year and a half. It wasn't until I had what I call a *MAJOR ATTACK* which landed me in the ER with a heart rate over 200 did they finally diagnose my problem of SVT. It wasn't until that point that we were able to capture it on EKG. None of the so called "Vagle maneuvers" had work in lowering my heart rate so they had to introduce Adenosine. Let me tell you this stuff is the worst feeling in the world. You can literally feel your heart slow WAY down. After this point I was put on Metroprolol for five days but during those five days I did not get off the couch once. My blood pressure was so low I felt like passing out every time I tried to do anything. This is what led me to decide to get my first Cardiac Ablation done, which was completed two days ago. Since the ablation I felt fine heart wise with just a couple of skipped beats which was felt last night for the first time. A little scary at first but much more tolerable than a full blown SVT attack. My cardiologist said they would subside within one months time. However, as I was being discharged from the hospital yesterday I was having pain in my groin at the site of the insertion. This kind of was worrisome for my cardiologist so he ordered a Ultra Sound of the area. It showed that I had a very small blood clot starting to form so they put me on Lovenox injections twice a day for ten days to make sure the clot did not grow. Now let me stress this point that my cardiologist said that I was one of unlucky 5% of individuals who have a complication. 95% of individuals have the surgery with no complications at all. My cardiologist further admitted that out of thousands of procedures hes done I am the very first to develop a blood clot. That just goes to show this procedure is very safe and has a very successful rate of good outcomes. If asked would I do it again I would definitely do it again.

Main point to this is that the symptoms of GERD are very alike the symptoms of SVT. However, you must capture the SVT attack on EKG in order to be officially diagnosed with the condition. It took nearly a year and a half in order for me to get mine on EKG. I now question if I even have GERD or was it the entire time SVT. We will find out in the coming weeks as my heart continues to heal. One more thing I would like to touch on is that when they do an ablation the number of times they ablate after your procedure may seem like a lot, however, the tip on the catheter that does the burning is only a millimeter in length. So its not uncommon to have 10-50 ablation sites. My surgery two days ago I had 15 ablation sites right around the Sinus Node. In fact the cardiologist had to come out and get further consent to mess with the sinus node from my family which lucky my family knew what I wanted and was comfortable with giving that permission otherwise I would have had to be waken up from the sedatives. If anyone has any further questions feel free to ask. I will not lie to you one bit I will tell you exactly how it happened to me and I will be straight up honest to whether it hurt, would I do it again, etc.

Good Luck to everyone and remember SVT is very treatable even though it sometimes seems like its the end of your life.

[matnels]

Your symptoms sound identical to what I had. You should ask your cardiologist to put you on a 7 day holter monitor. You can go about your day in a normal fashion and then when you begin to feel the symptoms coming on you can push the button on the monitor. If you forget a lot of the monitors are continuous these days meaning they are constantly recording your heart rhythm. Although I would contact your doctor before doing this I would do something that would normally bring out your symptoms so that the holter monitor can capture it. BUT IF YOU DO THIS MAKE SURE YOUR DOCTOR KNOWS ABOUT IT!! Like i said in my previous post the only thing that brought my episodes on was drinking until I had the massive episode which then the episodes came on if I did anything physical.

[KisekiShiawase]

Hey, thanks for replying here :)

Ive had a holter monitor 24 hours but i guess the tachycardia and palpitation should occur when i wear it but it didnt, i mean, it did happen but not in a bad condition. But its kinda hard to capture it, because my condition changes frequently. Thats why i bought Omron HCG-801 portable handheld ecg/ekg monitor. But i dont know if its accurate, some says its different than the ekg/ecg monitor at the hospital and holter monitor. Besides i used (capture) it for only a few minutes. Should it be record it for a long time during the racing heart happen (the whole time) or is it okay to record it only a few minutes? I wonder. I know the symptoms of GERD and tachycardia and palpitation are alike thats what makes it confusable.
Anyway, keep us posted :)