Weird Arrhythmia Question

[shudson]

Hi,

I am not sure where to turn so here I am after much looking on Google. Nice to meet all of you!

My name is Stephanie, and I am 38 years young. I do not have a history of anything, but I am not an extremely active person. I would say I am in good health.

Well, last Saturday after eating way too many Cheese puffs (I know stupid, eh?), I developed a really strange arrhythmia. I have had that feeling before that my heart skipped a beat but rarely. This is way different!

The arrhythmia causes a flutter in my chest every few minutes, and it is still there. I went to the ER Sunday on my doctor's advice, and they ran a bunch of tests on me and told me it was unexplained and sent me home. I did find out it was an atrial fibrillation, and that it was regular on the EKG. But the blood work came back clean, and believe me, they did a lot of it.

He sent me home saying that it was probably always there.... Ok, I am tired of being brushed off with "It is in my head". I am hyper-sensitive to my body, and this is not something that has always been there.

I do have a follow-up with my doctor on Thursday, but this is irritating. It takes my breath away quite often but not every time. Quite frankly, it scares me.

Anyone have any thoughts at why this is happening and how I can make it stop?

Thanks!

[Detours211]

I forgot to mention in my last post that calcium levels should never be high so you should follow up with a doctor about that and if he doesnt listen, go to someone else.  I can't begin to tell you the trouble i've had with doctors.  They all think I have anxiety.  I'm like "Then why can't I walk from here to the mailbox without feeling like i"m going to pass out?"

Doctors are very frustrating which is why I'm glad to have found all of you!  

[Detours211]

All - I find this VERY interesting.  And I can COMPLETELY understand as I'm going through something similar.

I've been having lightheadedness and an increased heart rate, along with rapid weight loss.

Well, here's the kicker - I had two rounds of blood tests and each time my calcium came back slighly high (hypercalcemia).  It wasn't Largely high, just high (10.3 and 10.8)  The normal range ends at 10.2

I have also been feeling weird sort of chest spasms like you describe.  I eat terribly.  I had pepperoni this weekend and I had some fried food this week already along with CHEESE so maybe we are having issues with cheese?

I hope you will tell us a bit more about your situation and how you're feeling. Also, were your Vitamin D levels low?  Mine were.  

If any of you have anything to share on this, please do.  I have another cardiology appt on Thursday.  (Already had one Holter and one echo - both supposedly normal but I'm not so sure they are so normal.).

Eager to hear back.  

[jennyfi1234]

Interesting! I never knew that about calcium. I will have to look it up sometime.

[is_something_wrong]

Are you sure it's hyperkalemia and not hypercalcemia?

The reason I ask, is because cheese contains high amounts of calcium, and hypercalcemia have the possibility of causing atrial arrhythmias. So can hyperkalemia, by the way, but it's hypokalemia (low K+) that is the worst arrhythmia trigger.. if I understand it right

[jennyfi1234]

sorry, but I just looked up hyperkalemia--
Can too much salt cause it? I didnt see anything about salt, so I wonder what about the cheese puffs would mess you up. I really thought it was all the salt I ate that messed me up that next day, but I didnt get tested so I dont even know if it was the same thing. It actually sounds like notthing to play with though, so if it can be caused by too many cheese puffs, we better eat moderately. :)

[jennyfi1234]

ha ha thats funny---sorry, i dont mean it bad---glad you are ok! One day I had eaten a bag of thos stupid things too, only it was the cheese crunches, and the next day my heart went into tachy, I really think it was related--too much salt or something---
:)

[shudson]

Thanks =) The good news is the doctor called me because he read all of my blood work and said I am or have hyperkalemia. Yeah, kind of embarrassing to admit I ate SO many cheese puffs I caused a pretty nasty electrolyte imbalance. LOL

[jennyfi1234]

Dont feel bad. I swear I think heart sensations are soooo crazy to understand and treat. I mean the thing is, they have to capture it at that very second, and weird stuff like electrical issues and even chest spasms etc... all come and go. The doctors even admit its all tricky. Dont give up, keep going after the doctors till they figure it out. :)

[shudson]

Hi,

Thanks for answering.

Yes, the man in the ER hooked me up to a machine and told me he thought it was odd it wasn't the one that started with V. I did do some reading when I got home, and the a-fib doesn't fit what I feel at all.

I see my own doctor on Thursday so he hasn't been able to tell me anything. Though he was at the hospital when I was in the ER and apparently told my treating doctor that I seemed fine so send me home and he would see me this week.

My heart rate does not increase or decrease. The EKG could see the flutter and he said it was, "Regular as far as an a-fib can be considered regular."

I am thinking it is benign, but they still aren't stopping so they do worry me.

They had my blood in about 6 vials when they toted it away. One of the vials was apparently a blood clot test. He told me all the tests looked fine. He also said two of the tests would have to wait because they would take a bit longer do get the results and they would forward those to my doctor. One of those was a thyroid test. When I heard blood clot test, I started taking baby aspirin, but he didn't tell me it was necessary.

When I came on here, I wasn't thinking I was dying or in an emergency. If I thought that, I would be in the ER not here. I was looking for a bit of advice on what caused this and how I could make them stop because it is going on 3 days and it is really weird to have your chest feel this way when it isn't a common occurrence.

The post may seem weird or off... but I am telling everyone exactly what I was told in the ER. It doesn't make sense, and doesn't fit the a-fib symptoms I read. Another reason I am here. "IF" I was diagnosed? I simply stated what I was told. Not something that is usually a word in my vocabulary or an experience in my life. Sorry.

[is_something_wrong]

Yes.

As I wrote:

"If you have confirmed the diagnosis atrial fibrillation (in short runs, or permanent), treatment is probably necessary."

This should be done by a doctor though, not just an assumption we make.

[jennyfi1234]

Just curious. IF she was diagnosed with a-fib, isnt her doctor suppose to put her on asprin or a blood thinner?

[is_something_wrong]

Hi Stephanie, and thanks for joining our community!

Atrial fibrillation doesn't manifest with a regular heart rate. It may appear in bursts, but it will usually cause a grossly irregular heart rate. If you are in permanent atrial fibrillation, you may have the occational bursts of high heart rate, but it's just a pattern in the irregularity. The heart rate is rarely normal and regular with a-fib, and it would be easy to see on any EKG.

Short runs of atrial tachycardia (rapid heart rate) is fairly common and can be triggered by almost anything, and it's not necessarily a sign of heart disease. In fact, few arrhythmias are, and atrial arrhythmias that aren't sustained (such as PACs, short atrial tachycardia) are considered a normal variant. I have them myself. Really annoying but not dangerous. Blood tests are usually normal, but some abnormalities can explain arrhythmias (such as mineral disturbances and hyper/hypothyreoid).

If you eat a lot of easy digestable carbs, sugar and for that matter cheese puffs, you will get so-called reactive hypoglycemia. Your body creates a lot of insuline to reduce your blood sugar, and you will get a drop in the blood sugar levels, which causes adrenaline surges and possibly arrhythmias. It can be an explaination, but it's not necessarily the explaination.

If you have confirmed the diagnosis atrial fibrillation (in short runs, or permanent), treatment is probably necessary. How did you find out it was atrial fibrillation? Is it confirmed by your doctor? If not, your description doesn't match atrial fibrillation (se explaination above). Is your fluttery sensation confirmed by checking the pulse? (is your heart rate rapid when you feel flutters?) If not, such fluttery sensations are common without having something to do with your heart. Chest spasms, esophagal spasms, tremor, and a lot of other benign phenomena can cause the feeling.

I hope this was at least a little helpful :)

Good luck to you, and keep us updated!