Stress, overexertion, possible fibrillation/tachycardia. Is this serious?

[gregevgr]

I'm a college student with a history of anxiety. Recently finished a very stressful semester (tons of school work and finals) where anxiety was at peak levels with all the regular symptoms (shaking, lack of sleep, occasional palpitations, general ill feeling, etc.). Before finals I was sick with a bug that was going around school and admittedly because of being tired from being sick and schoolwork, I haven't been exercising at all (I skateboard consistently when I have time and energy). So, I'm finally home to get some rest and relaxation. Last night I had sex, and my orgasm made me feel dizzy, confused, and tired for about an hour. The next day, today, I had a funky atrial fibrillation or tachycardia (I think that's what it was anyway) that kinda frightened me (usually when I've had palpitations where it was a skipped beat but this time it was like a rapid quiver). Is this due to stress and being out of shape? I'm not overweight and I generally eat ok. I've done several EKGs which checked out fine and I'm waiting on the results of a Holter Monitor test, blood test, and urinalysis... The atrial fibrillation only lasted for a few seconds (it felt like the beats per minute were about 200) and had no other symptoms other than the anxiety.

[SvetlanaFromCinci]

Zachs is right about the kind of food that you should consume. It is important when you have the palpitations or the unregular heart beat...to stop coffeine, and alcohol. You need to relax and sleep at least 7 hours a night. That is hard for me to achieve too while in college, but it helps and reduces the anxiety feeling.

[Zachs]

Well, a High Protein diet is probably the best which works really well for me.  Bananas, Chicken, Salmon, Salads, Eggs (2-3 mornings), Almonds, Pistachios, etc., Steak (a few times a week), Lots of Water.  Try to avoid caffeine at all costs. Empty calorie soft drinks are no good either.  Stay away from diet soft drinks to as most of them contain aspartame. Stay away from potato chips, or bagged goodies that contain MSG, or 120+ ingredients.. (if you know what i mean).  MSG really does it in for me when it comes to PVCs, and they tend to bring on long episodes of them. Try avoiding refined sugars, chocolate, sodium dioxide, sodium nitrates, (like in beef jerky/bacon), foods way high in sodium..  I guess I can make the complete list here for you of all the bad stuff. LOL!    You have to go like a month without all these, and then trickle in each bad thing per week, and see if/when the PVCs come back.  This will tell you what certain triggers cause them more often for you, and you then can avoid these things.  But as with how powerful the mind is, we can associate anything with the events of PVCs, and just about cause any guilty act to have them occur again.

Mind over Matter.  But these things do follow a pattern associated with constant bombardment of adrenaline which goes hand in hand with anxiety!  I've have way less episodes of PVCs in the past week than I have in the past year by just throwing in the towel and deciding its time to change my lifestyle!  No more Nicotine, No more Caffeine, No More Dwelling in the negative, No more self-d iagnosing, etc... I've learned so much here on medhelp, reading many books about anxiety, listening to my family's suggestions, etc.  I wish you luck in your journey!  Drop me a line anytime. Zach

[Brooke_38]

Hello...

The key to keeping your electrolytes in check is to eat a well balanced meal. Lots of fruits and vegetables. It is of equal importance to keep yourself well hydrated...lots of water.

I know that being away from home at college, eating right may not always be that easy. My son just came home having finished his 1st semester, I was completely horrified to hear what his eating habits have been like for the past 5 mo! *LOL*

Be careful choosing juices...lots of sugar in most. Make sure to choose those that are 100% juice. Bananas are a great source to keep Potassium levels at a haapy place. Maybe taking a daily multivitamin may prove beneficial as well.

I hope that you find resolution to this and that you can go on to continue your young, healthy life:) Best of luck to you!

[gregevgr]

Thanks for your thoughts. I actually didn't have any symptoms when I had the Holter on, so I'll consider an event monitor when I see the doc. Do you suggest any specific electrolyte intake? I've been trying to drink more juice and eat more nuts and bananas recently for the potassium benefits...

[gregevgr]

Thanks for the support. While I wait on the test results, I'm gonna try to change my diet around, get some rest, and start getting back on track with exercise. I'm a bit of a hypochondriac myself, so it's good to hear from someone who's been through something similar. I actually have had acid reflux in the past and I've had some of those same symptoms recently, so I'll ask my doctor about that as well. About diet... have you found any specific diet that has been effective or in general should I just try to adhere to the food pyramid and getting suggested nutritional values?

[Brooke_38]

Hello...

All the things you mentioned: Anxiety, lack of sleep, palpitations and stress...are like an open invitation to be disrupting in every aspect of your health (the hearts electrical conduction especially)

Another precipitator of electrical problems could be related to you being sick before finals. You probably were dehydrated which then threw off your electrolyte levels, this can definitely stir things up.

Atrial Fib in young people is not that common. What you probably experienced was some form of a Re-Entrant SVT. You had the holter which is good...do you recall having any symptoms while you had it on? You may want to consider asking your Dr for an event monitor if the holter is inconclusive.

[Zachs]

Hey Greg.

I've had flutters before orgasm, and while in a heightened state of passionate kissing with my wife, which I shrug off.  I deal with weird heart beats, PVCs PACs, and runs of tachycardia that scare the dog poop outta me.  I have severe health anxiety which has really plagued me for the past 6 months to almost a year now.  I'm 32 years old now and have notice weird heart beats since I was 20 years old, right after I got married. I am a firm believer that stress and poor diet is the #1 triggers for strange heart rhythms. Throw alcohol on top of it, and depending on the bodies state of health at that time, someone could feel the flutters for 15-20 minutes.  I've had 1 episode of this, about 3 years ago and ended up in the ER. Of course everything was fine, they diagnosed me with acid reflux and anxiety and sent me on my way.

I'd say you're on the right track and collecting piece of mind with being on the monitor and the fluid work ups.  I wish you luck on your journey to finding piece of mind with these annoying things.  You've come to the right place to vent your mind and seek others out there with similar symptoms.  Zach