Tachycardia after eating

[Nicolina87]

I have been experiencing tachycardia, usually around 108, after eating breakfast for the past few weeks. I am currently on Toprol 12.5 mg once a day, and this is still happening.Usually I can deal with it, but yesterday after a large meal it went from about 85 to 125. I am no 100% sure how fast it wa going. After about an hour I started to feel normal again, and it went down to 108, then slowly went down over the next hour. The fast heart rate did not come on suddenly, it built up slowly over about 20 minutes. I have been checked previously by a cardiologist and I have slight, mild Mitral Valve Prolapse. I have had 3 EKG's, and ECG and worn a holter monitor for 48 hours. So my question is whether or not this reaction could be due to a food intolerance? Or eating too much at once? I'm just curious as to why this is happening even while I'm on a beta blocker. Thanks! :-)

[Jerry_NJ]

Well for starters, 12.5 mg is a very low dose.  Still, when do you take your Toprol?  If you take it in the evening, then you may see very little "slow down" from Toprol by the time breakfast rolls around.  You also mention "yesterday" was that breakfast or another meal?

What is your normal (past and present) resting HR?  Keep in mind a rest HR of 80 isn't an alarmingly high rate, 60 may be better, but still no big problem, I believe, to have one at 80.  Is it a regular rhythm, or does the time between beats seem to "jump" around?

You'll have to decide about eating too much, or too fast.  There's nothing you've said that would give a clue other than your HR.  I suppose eating could cause the HR to increase to help digest food, I never check my HR when eating, or said another way, I've never taken any particular note of my HR when eating verses when not eating.  I'm not a good reference for you most likely as I suffer from AFib, and with 100 mg of Toprol SR my resting HR typically runs around 80, sometimes visits the 60s but only briefly.

[marshaldillon]

Alot of blood is diverted to the stomach after you eat. This will cause the heart rate to elevate. God thought of everything when he put us together!

[SassyLassie]

Food allergies and intolerance can most definately cause an elevated rate. I have food sensitivities and my heart goes faster when I eat those foods. That is one way some docs test for allergies if your heart rate goes 10 points above the normal resting rate, it can mean an allergy or sensitivity.

Also, our digestive system has to work harder and this can cause a slight elevation. That is natural as we digest.

[Free1Day]

That happens to me whenever I am naughty!

Naughty with food that is!

For an example my favorite Sour Dough Bread with Butter, Garlic SALT spread over the oven toasted piece and add Cheddar, Swiss and Provolone cheese to finish off the melting  and merging of all those delicious ingredients. (wow I just drooled over my laptop! I better get the doc to look into that!)

It doesn't take a rocket scientist to figure out where my BP and HR goes after eating that meal. I think Pluto was the record breaker. Beta Blockers have a hard time holding back the Fort when a ton of Salt or Seasonings loads up in the blood stream.

Check the ingredients of your meals and see if it's contrary to your Health Goals at this point in time.

Hope this helps!

[twinbee]

Having tachycardia after eating is not uncommon. I know of several people who have a-fib attacks after eating a big meal. This type of a-fib is called vagal a-fib. I've read posts from people who have this problem on another forum state that eating slowly and smaller meals does help.

[soldy]

Hi,
You just described allergy to some food ingredient you had for breakfast.Try it again by consuming one  type of food at time.Get one of Omron type unit and have  a fun.Keep precise record  of blood pressure and heart rate

[Nicolina87]

Hey thanks for the post! My RHR before starting the toprol jumped from 85  to about 105-115 (depending on how agitated I was). After staring on the 12.5 it went down to about 75. I get some PVC's every day, but nothing serious, the beat is otherwise normal. Usually I take the toprol at 1pm, so maybe it's decreasing in my system in the morning. The day all this happened, the meal I was talking about was lunch. I had only had some fruit for breakfast, and so I really dug in for that meal. :-) It was probable that and the combination that the toprol was low in my system. It was still pretty uncomfortable and frightening. Thanks for your help. :)