A Simple Question ... Maybe

[ChadCA]

A simple question

[RNJ]

Reading the archives of this forum have been very informative but,as with most people, my case has some uniquness to address. My husband is 50 years old, has always been thin, has normal cholesterol and blodd pressure. He was diagnosed with microvalve prolapse as a child but it has never caused him any particular problems until recently. About 6 months ago he called me at work thinking he was having a heart attack. We went to the hopsital--his doctor was away-but the attending physician gave him an EKG. He said he had an arrythmia, and that his heart appeared to actually skip a beat during the brief EKG. The blood test indicated that he had not had a heart attack. A stress test was rec.but as he has no ins. he elected against it and went on about his daily routine. We are fish-eating vegetarians. His one bad habit is coffee. 3 or 4 cups a day, but he cannot be convince to give it up. Today after he got out of the shower he came into the living room and sat down saying he was experiencing the same racing of his heart as the day he had called me at work. He also felt dizzy. He has also been complaining about a constant pain in the upper left quadrant of his abdomen. He says he wakes up tired and feels like he hasn't been breathing at night. Sorry this is so long, but more info is beter, right? RNJ

[trrtrix]

Most excellent question. Everyone is different. For me, when I read about it then went through my pantry and fridge, virtually everything I was buying had these additives, including energy bars, veggie burgers, frozen organic Amy's Kitchen dinners, and my beloved soy milk. I thought I was going to have to eat grass and twigs.

The only real drastic change I've made is eliminating the 2-4 energy bars a day I was eating. I spend more time in the kitchen, and ALOT of time in the store reading labels. Some soy milk brands, veggie burgers etc have the additives, but others don't. Pretty much anything you add boiling water to and get a meal is out. Too bad for me.

My best recommendation is to go on line and read about MSG (specifically glutamine), read the labels of what you eat, and see if it helps you. Interestingly, in the literature, magnesium supplements have been shown to block the effects of glutamine (MSG). Many in this forum have had benefit from magnesium.....hmmmmmm.

My intake was impressive, while appearing to be a healthy diet, and eliminatining it has completely cured me. I even drink red wine and caffinated coffee again without a problem. How it effects others I don't know, and will mine return, we'll see.

Good luck!

[I'mallheart]

what should we eat then, please make a outline for us to follow  it looks good
thank

[trrtrix]

I am a physician, in her 40's, living the protoytpic healthy California lifestyle, with specific attention to a healthy diet. After reading someone else's post about MSG, I looked into it. MSG is prevelent in all canned foods, frozen foods, tofu products and esp in energy bars like Balance and Power bars. It is used to increase the protein content of foods. It is generally NOT listed as MSG, but usually 'yeast extract', soy protein isolate, hydrolyzed vegetable protein, natural flavoring, and in the case of energy bars, sodium or calcium caseinate. These are just a few of ingredients in foods with MSG.

I have completely eliminated these from my diet with resulting complete resolution of my impressive number of PVC/PAC's. To test it, I had a glass of soy milk (containing 'natural flavors') with return of my excercised induced fluttering.

I urge you to look at your diet.

[whelans5]

I had an echocardiogram 2 years ago and due for another around May.  My doc said to come back in March and he would schedule another one.  The bicuspid aortic valve was found in the echo and so was the regurg.  My problem is no one will tell me anything about the results except, "You're fine".  

I had a stress test and got PAC's while on the treadmill.  If there were something more serious, like blockage or something else, they would have noticed it then wouldn't they?

[bama jane]

It is interesting to see there are so many comments to this post. It is my understanding and experience that multiple pac's can lead to atrial tachycardia, but I am told that isn't lethal either. Does anyone notice these things causing palpatations
at times?  eating, reaching over my head, bending over, clothes that are confining around the waist, stomach growling, and heavy lifting.  I wonder if it has anything to do with changes in blood pressure.  I am not a big person 5'5" 106 pounds and my blood pressure gets low at times 78 over 48 sometimes even lower, I am on low dose beta blocker, the low blood pressure does not affect me too much just cold all the time in sunny California. Also there are heart suport groups in most places. I go to one monthly and it has helped me to realize that as bad as my situaion seems to me at times, there are so many people that have gone through much worse with their hearts and are still with us and finding ways to cope. That helps me a lot when my arrhythmia gets bad. I think having a good understanding doctor makes all the difference in the world. Mine always says there is no magic bullet for this, and I am sure if there were one this doc would find it.