Heart Palpitations - Editor's Choice

Hello!

I just want to report an incident that happened to me recently that may be good for others to know. I was trying to increase my potassium intake since I've had little or no appetite since my husband died. I ordered some powdered potassium chloride, and after taking the recommended amount for five days my heart went nuts! I suddenly had an irregular, racing heartbeat with discomfort across the top of my chest! I was concerned enough to take myself to drive half an hour to the nearest emergency room where I was put on a machine that apparently monitored my heartbeat for all to see. Nothing was done by the staff to fix the problem. I laid there and laid there until I was really bored.

The only thing happening around me was the occasional visit by a nurse, and sometimes I'd hear a group of nurses and what have you laughing, like down a hallway. It seemed I laid there for at least 2 hours and finally was so sick of it, ha, ha, that I suddenly got the notion to see what would happen if I did some slow, deep breathing. I took only a few of those deep breaths, check my pulse and it was normal!!

Then, one of the emergency staff came over, and, looking at the monitor, said, well, I see we're back to a regular heartbeat! I told the woman what I had done and was met with silence. Days later, while at a doctor's office, the same thing happened. I said I felt I had corrected my heart rhythm with deep breathing, and the doctor just got a very skeptical look on his face and didn't say anything. Ha, ha, but, it's really unfortunate that we have this divide, like our political divide. I wish MDs had a more rounded education.

Since that episode, I am noticing an occasional palpitation that would go away on its own, but I can stop it faster by breathing deeply. Interesting how all these various parts of us are connected, the brain-gut connection, brain-heart connection. I think there's a brain-breath connection, too.

Here's a bit from a website called "premier heart and vascular.com":

"Can breathing exercises stop palpitations? Deep breathing that causes your abdomen to rise and fall can calm a racing heart. Make sure to breathe slowly and deeply, inhaling through your nose and exhaling either through your nose or mouth. Repeat this deep breathing pattern until your symptoms go away, and your heart is beating normally. Sep 5,2019"

p.s. I'm 78.

Anyone who has suffered from PVCs and done any kind of research will discover thousands of sufferers claim a link between Acid Reflux and PVCs. Of course the medical community denies the possibility of this stating the only connection is that Reflux causes stress and stress causes PVCs.

My PVCs began hard and heavy during a stressful time of my life. Ironically, I was having acid reflux issues at the same time. I decided to take a course of Prevacid to counter the reflux and noticed that my PVCs began to improve. I just assumed the PVCs were winding down because the stress was. Be advised that I have "silent" Reflux, which means I don't usually experience symptoms even though I do have the reflux. I also don't take meds unless I have to.

So, as my Reflux felt better, I chose to stop the Prevacid. Shortly thereafter, the PVCs came back with a vengeance. So I began to experiment. I would start a round of antacids and then take a break for a while. Always on the breaks the PVCs became worse. Not wanting to take Prevacid the rest of my life, I started drinking baking soda every night before bed. This simple trick substantially improved my PVCs. Basically taking them from unbearable to manageable. I have done this for 2 years now.

Okay, recently I began taking ginger supplements. I noticed at that my PVCs were so rare, I felt normal again. I did not at the time make the connection with the ginger. However, about a week after I stopped the ginger, my PVCs started coming back. Again I bought more ginger and again noticed improvement within days.

I finally put everything together. I believe my PVCs are directly linked to my acid reflux. A trunkline nerve runs down your GI tract to the heart. It is called the vagus nerve. When your acid reflux acts up your GI tract becomes inflamed. It is my opinion that this inflammation aggravates the vagus nerve and thus leads the heart to misfire.

I do not believe I am cured of PVCs as they show up occasionally. However, God has given me my normal life back.

The protocol I use is as follows:

Baking Soda: 1/2 teaspoon mixed with 1 ounce of water at bedtime.

Ginger: 1100mg tablet daily.

In addition to a host of other health problems (chronic fatigue, SIBO) I have also suffered heart palpitations. I have no idea why they started, but what has worked for me was to keep a food diary. I think some people, for whatever reason, develop a sensitivity to certain foods in the diet. For me, specifically, honey and jalapenos pose a problem. What tipped me off was a family member who also suffers from palpitations and arrhythmia (he sees a cardiologist and was formally diagnosed). So he was very interested when he read about some varieties of honey being linked to arrhythmia. So I noticed that I too frequently have palpitations when I have honey. Anyway, it's worth seeing if you can draw any links between the palpitations and what you are eating when you experience them.

I had heart palpitations, and took a homeopathic preparation, on the 1st dose, the palpitations stopped in less than a minute...mag/phos was the name of the preparation.