Irregular Heartbeat- Help?

[SubjectProphet]

So, recently I've felt like I might have a problem in my heart's beating rythm. Basically, I feel like I have several extra beats every minute. Kind of like this: thump thump.... thump thump.... thump thump THUMP THUMP..... thump thump......

 

The extra beat is strong, and makes my stomach upset. I looked up the symptoms, but I don't have any of them. No dizzyness, weakness, etc., and apperantly if I don't have any other symptoms, it's nothing and can be ignored. But I still am curious.

 

 

So, what can an irregular heatbeat that speeds the heartrate up do to you, and what's a treatment.

[bben46]

I have an irregular heartbeat. Mine is called Persistent Atrial Fibrillation, but there are several variations. In mine, the heart (atria) beats way too fast. This causes turbulence in the blood and less blood to flow and can lead to dizziness or nausea. The worst side effect is the higher probibility of stroke due to the increased chance of a blood clot forming in the atria of the heart.

 

There is also a temporary atrial fibrillation that happens only occasionally. And is much less serious.

 

There are several medications to slow things down, none of which seem to work for me. The doc will also prescribe a blood thinner such as Coumadin (AKA Warfrin, a rat poison :rolleyes:) which will limit what you can or cannot eat and needs to be checked constantly to keep your blood at the proper consistency and to be sure you don't have any internal bleeding.

 

The same symptoms can be precipitated by a panic attack - (fast irregular heartbeat) And the treatment is completely different.

[RitualBlack]

You should go to the hospital immediately. Heart problems run in my family and though I personally have not had to deal with it yet (except at birth), I do have a decent understanding of the problem. If you heart truly is beating at irregular intervals and don't go in soon to have it dealt with they probably will have to use the paddles and shock your heart to get it running properly again in extreme cases if medication isn't helping. It can get very serious and like I said earlier, just go into a doctor. The risk is really not worth it.

[SubjectProphet]

LOL, I know for a fact that an irregular heartbeat isn't that terrible. I've already seen my doctor about it (just got back to my barrack from it) and he said it may be from the stress and panic of being over here. Apperantly I only need to go to the hospital if it continues a month after going back. So, 8 months and I'll see.

[RitualBlack]

Oh, my family has a history with heart problems. I am not going to go into great detail about it but a member of my family has been into the hospital several times to get their heart beating properly again when the medication isn't doing its job. The heart cant keep going when its well over 150bpm for extended periods of time and that is when the shock is needed. It is very serious when this happens, not really a laughing matter.

 

Good to know that this isn't the case for you though.

[tetradite]

LOL, I know for a fact that an irregular heartbeat isn't that terrible. I've already seen my doctor about it (just got back to my barrack from it) and he said it may be from the stress and panic of being over here. Apperantly I only need to go to the hospital if it continues a month after going back. So, 8 months and I'll see.

 

Uncool, seriously uncool.

 

It may not have been your intention, but I think you have belittled those who took your first post seriously, and they responded with very appropriate advice and concern.

 

I also have experience of this condition in the family through actual heart problems AND through stress - even if it is through stress if it goes on for as long as 8 months (especially if it is continuous) it is likely to cause damage to your heart.

 

BeyondTom is absolutely right, this is not something to laugh at.

 

Not at all.

[SubjectProphet]

I'm in Aghan, so stress is a factor. I'm always scared for my life, don't know if I'll survive tomorrow or die tonight, but I'm not laughing or anything, I am taking this VERY seriously. My family has a small history of heart problems. I posted here trying to see what to do, I only said that the doctor said that I should wait 8 months, a month after I get back. However the doctors here are battle medics, so they aren't smart unless it comes to you have been shot or are bleeding out.

 

I can't help stress here, I'll never control it. I've tried meds and everything, but nothing will EVER help me.

 

 

Hopefully the new medics that come in will be able to help.

[tetradite]

...and I do not wish to add to your stress by making you worry about things beyond your control.

 

Stress meds are fairly useless in the best circumstances, but the stress in your situation is a valid response and the meds are designed to work for people who have stress responses to invalid stimuli. I don't envy you.

 

I'm glad you said what you did about the battle medics, it's about what I thought might be the case but I'm not in any position to state that assumption.

 

I do sincerely hope it's nothing serious, and is just the stress right now. But either way, see a "real" doc at the first possible opportunity.

[brokenergy]

See a doctor

[OverDarkness]

Hello All Irregular and fast heartbeat/panic attack sufferers,

I have suffered from fast heartbeats/panic attacks for many years now. I have eventually resolved all of my problems. I suffered from fast heart beats at night, every night, where I would wake up in the morning with heart stress problems, I suffered from panic attacks all day and all night, I suffered from irregular heart beats all day and all night. The difficulty I have is in communicating how I solved my problems in a way in which it is readily understood. I am going to be extremely economical with my words here on this forum. First of all, please appreciate that I have suffered with these problems for around 10 years continuously! Please consult with your doctor to make sure you do not have a known medical problem first. I am not giving advice. I am only expressing what worked for me.

 

This is how I solved all of my problems by trial and error.

 

1. I found by trial and error that there was a direct relationship between what I ate and drank and the severity and continuance of my panic attacks/fast/irregular heart beats. When I removed alcohol, caffeine, nicotine, sugar or any ingredient which I consumed which had sugar in it, like tomato ketchup.

 

Certain drinks also caused problems, these were pure Pineapple juice and pure orange juice, carbonated water.

 

I also discovered that vitamins such as vitamin B complex and vitamin D also caused severe problems.

 

Other items the forbidden foods list included, Wheat Grass, Honey, Maple Syrup, L-Arginine and Milk Thistle.

 

In my opinion, you will have to eliminate all these things together if you want to get control of your anxiety, panic attacks, irregular/fast heart beat problems.

 

If the above works for you, you may notice as I did that it takes 3 months for all the aforementioned forbidden list to work itself out of your system.

 

I noticed that I had extreme "Power surges" at night. These power surges led immediately to panic attacks. I found that these power surges were incontrovertibly linked to eating any of the above. Sometimes, they were so severe I had out of body experiences. When I stopped consuming the above, I found that the massive power surges no longer had any effect on provoking a panic attack, no matter how severe it was!

 

2. By accident I found that when I relaxed my stomach muscles, I could not only control my anxiety, panic attacks and feelings of dread immediately, but it gave me something tangible that I could do to see immediate results.

 

I found that by relaxing my stomach muscles my panic attacks and fast/racing heart beats would calm down immediately. If I woke up with a panic attack, I found that by relaxing my stomach muscles, it would dissipate very fast. I soon realised that there was a direct link between how I stressed my stomach muscles and my palpitations/panic attacks, irregular heart beats.

 

I practiced hard to relax my stomach muscles continuously throughout the day until I could do it all day. It is very, very hard to do, especially at all times. I still find myself unconsciously tightening my stomach muscles even though I am now well practiced with it. Learning to walk with my stomach muscles relaxed, with my belly hanging out all day and every where takes incredible amounts of concentration.

 

 

3. I found that my panic attacks subsided to nothing over three months. The problem was, I was still having fast, racing and uncontrollable heart beats every night. I found that I solved the problem by doing this:

 

I slept sitting upright as much as possible, with my back propped up with pillows! This always calmed my heart down near enough immediately. Unfortunately, the prospect of sleeping always upright was not a pleasant one.

 

Before I found the solution to this problem, I noticed I would always feel airey and light headed at night. Sometimes, this would be accompanied with feelings of euphoria or dread. I discovered that there was a direct link between what I ate and the experiences of "extreme changes in blood pressure".

 

"Whenever I tried to sleep lying down, my heart would immediately start racing fast again. "

 

Knowing that this was a blood pressure regulation problem, I realised and understood that I would have to continue sleeping this way until my body corrects itself. When I started sleeping upright, it was the first time I had real untroubled sleep at night.

 

After a few difficult weeks sleeping this way, my blood pressure regulation problems returned, with the self-same feelings of dread or aireyness. This also came with power surges and feigned panic attacks! I understood this to mean that my body was telling me that sleeping upright was not good anymore. I eased my sleeping position down one notch. Good sleep was restored, until it happened again a week later. I repeated the matter of reducing my sleeping position down gradually, by one notch. This gave me immediate relief. I continued repeating this until I was lying flat. This probably took me about a month to do. When I was eventually lying flat I then found that all negative feelings and experiences disappeared. I would sometimes wake at night to check that my heart was not racing without me being aware of it. I continued to check on myself in this way for 6 weeks. There were no problems again. I still have not had any problems.

 

Other factors which contributed to my full recovery from all of the above:

a. Drinking plenty of still mineral water, especially at night(very important).

b. Eating only fresh and raw foods during the day, but eating cooked meals in the evening, maintaining my due diligence.

c. Avoiding the aforementioned stimulants, caffeine, sugar, alcohol and nicotine.

d. Going to bed early and making sure that I was in bed by 9.30pm. This part is the whole pillar or foundation on ensuring my full recovery. I found that there was a direct link between my sleeping habits, stress, anxiety, panic attacks, irregular heart beats and racing palpitations.

 

In other words, I found that all the problems I had, were caused by one simple thing, regular, late and abusively consistent late nights. All the other things mentioned above just aggravated the problems. In other words, my body needed rest.

 

I have found that after a huge trials, tribulations and struggles with all the aforementioned matters, I am a much better, rested and content person.

I find that I have more energy now than what I did before. In fact, I found that I am much stronger physically and fitter than many people half my age - I am 48 - who are in the gym every week.

 

I have written a self help PDF file on how to recover from all the above. If any of you want to read it just make a request and I will send it to you by email. I hope what I have written helps all who reads.