This is a long story, but if you would be willing to follow it through to the end and offer any advice, I'd greatly appreciate it.
I'm a nineteen-year-old female, and have been a lacto-ovo vegetarian since the age of ten. I'm what you could describe as a "garbage vegetarian," more likely to eat corn chips and hummus for dinner than a proper meal. I used to drink at least two cups of coffee each day, but have since reduced my intake substantially, and have switched mostly to decaf. I'm not an athlete, but walk everywhere, and am in reasonably good shape. Onto the story...
In July of last year, I was rushed to the emergency room with a resting heart rate of 150 beats per minute. I was given an EKG, bloodwork, and a chest x-ray. The bloodwork showed low potassium and slight anemia, the chest x-ray was normal, and the doctor diagnosed me with sinus tachycardia. I was told that it was probably episodic, that it would eventually go away, and sent home to wait it out.
Not only did it not go away (my heart races every moment of every day), but it became such a source of anxiety to me that I began having panic attacks, and became profoundly depressed. It frustrated and frightened me that my symptoms hadn't gone away, and that nobody could tell me conclusively what was causing them. The fear that I was perhaps being misdiagnosed only exascerbated my anxiety. I made an appointment with a physician's assistant who diagnosed me with depression, prescribed me with Zoloft and Valium, and told me to see a therapist. He also referred me to a cardiologist, who gave me a 48-hour halter monitor to wear. The results showed no clinical abnormalities. He performed a second EKG, and it, too, was normal.
The Zoloft didn't improve my state of mind one bit, and the Valium only made me feel sluggish. Additionally, I noticed that my tachycardia didn't worsen only when I was anxious, but when I was physically active. If I ran, walked quickly, or even stood up abruptly, my heart rate would skyrocket.
At night, it would beat so hard that I could feel it. Sometimes I would hear ringing in my ears. It scared me so badly that I couldn't sleep at night.
For awhile, I had accepted that this was just something I'd have to learn to adapt to. Then, in October of this year, I began having even more strange symptoms, seemingly unrelated to my heart problems. Sitting in class one day, my face began to feel numb. Suddenly, I was numb all over. The feeling came over me instantaneously, like a wave. Every inch of my skin, from my face to the tips of my toes, felt numb. "Numb" isn't even the right word for it, because I could feel when I was being touched; it was more like my entire body was wrapped in something, and I was being touched through it.
I asked a classmate to drive me to the ER. They did bloodwork, an arterial blood gas test, and an EKG. All came back normal. I was diagnosed with acute hyperventilation syndrome, told it was probably nothing serious, and sent home. But the numbness didn't go away, and over a period of the next two weeks, it only became worse.
By this time, I was becoming extremely fed up, so I asked my aunt for help. She isn't a nutritionist, but is very well-versed in personal nutrition. She consulted some books, and told me that I had classic symptoms of B-vitamin and magnesium deficiencies (including a craving for avocados and chocolate, graying hair, tremors in the hands, and "brain fog"). I began supplementing with magnesium/calcium/potassium, as well as organic blackstrap molasses for iron (for my anemia), and a whole food-derived multivitamin. I've experimented with different brands of supplements, and different forms (liquid, tablet) and found that the whole foods are the most bioavailable, and make me feel the best. Since taking magnesium, I've noticed that my anxiety has decreased significantly, that the numbness has mostly dissipated, and that I have more energy.
I saw another doctor and told him that magnesium had helped me feel better. He agreed that if it was improving how I felt, that I should probably keep taking it. I told him about my other symptoms, and he did not advise seeing a neurologist. Instead, he referred me back to a cardiologist, who performed a cardiac ultrasound. He said he suspected I may have a mitral valve prolapse. I'm still waiting for the results.
None of my symptoms have gone away completely. The numbness will still recur at strange times, like just after waking up. Sometimes it will encompass my whole body, other times it will be isolated to just my face, or just my hands, or my arms and chest. It doesn't happen with enough regularity for me to have noticed a pattern of behavior that may be causing it. My heart is still fast, but it doesn't pound the way it used to, and I don't become short of breath.
I'm going back to the doctor within the next few days for the results of my ultrasound. When I do, I'm going to request a mineral test, to find out what my levels are and whether I'm deficient in anything else. It troubled me that my doctors never suggested this in the first place.
I was just interested to know whether anybody else has had similar experiences, whether you've had success with dietary changes or the use of vitamin supplements, and whether you ever received a conclusive answer from a doctor as to what could be causing it.
Thanks in advance for any possible help, and for reading this long, rambly post.