Rapid regular rate out of the blue

I was laying on my stomach, watching tv, when it seemed like fibs were starting up again - irregular pulse, flicker in heart, etc. So now, a few minutes later, I'm sitting here with a 132m heartbeat that is regular. Not the usual afib irregularity. What on earth is going on?

Nancy, can you tell which side of your heart is acting up? The reason I ask is that when I'm in AF, I can feel it on my left side. It feels like it is in my breast outside of my rib cage. When I'm in NSR, it feels contained inside my ribs. When I get ectopics I can feel which side is acting up (again it feels outside).

I'm assuming if it is regular, but it feels like it is coming from your right side, it could be flutter.

lisa
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So much of medicine is looking solely down the wrong end of the gun barrel, and that is really a pity for all of us---Shannon

Not really I was just feeling my pulse (right wrist & left neck) as I usually do.

In the past I studied Acupressure with a view to including it in my Physiotherapy Clinic but found it of very limited benefit.

However - I recently tried Heart 7 to see it it would help the fast beats I got regularly immediately after waking up in the night. I didn't expect any benefit so was amazed when it worked almost immediately.. After using it for a few nights I find I am getting gradually fewer episodes - another unexpected result.

Give it a go using the technique shown on this video and working on both wrists for 5-10 seconds each.

Opps - link didn't work. Google acupressure point 7 - YouTube for a video on how to do it.

The only way to really tell what is going on is to have an EKG - that will tell you the location of the focus or foci that are the origin of the tachy. The good news is that the origin is likely a single focus (rather than many, as in afib) that is irritated - and gives warning that you may want to try to continue to cool things down more than you have been. Be sure and try a very basic diet that eliminates any food sensitivities. Gluten, tomato products, virtually all prepared foods - you can always start adding back later to see what may trigger arrhythmias. I used to get short runs of tachy and had many PVC's when I ate tomato products - stopping that fixed those issues. CoQ10 was also a huge PVC trigger for me. So, to trouble-shoot these origins, one MUST start out with the most basic diet and supplements - or you will never find the source of your dietary problems ( should diet or supplements be the cause in your case). Patience is key.

Nancy, you are in aflutter, which sometimes follows the onset of afib, you may go back to afib again, which is what happened to me when I was in that situation, you will most likely experience frequent urination as well, a sure sign of tachardia or aflutter.

Yes, it did finally turn into afib (lucky me...). Of course now it is TODAY that I'm wearing a heart monitor and not a single fib since I put it on.

As for diet, being in afib most of the week has put me off of eating much of anything. Cottage cheese and small teaspoons of peanut butter and tons and tons of water is all I've been eating.

Hi Nancy,

Sorry to hear of your distressing week. All I could think is to suggest you check the sodium content of your cottage cheese and peanut butter if you haven't done so. Depending on the brand of each, one serve of cottage cheese and a tablespoon of peanut butter could contain nearly half your daily sodium intake, if you are aiming for the 1000mg a day recommended here.

Hope you can join some dots as to what is going on for you

Kind Regards,

Justine

Justin, and that's about all I've had. Typical diet for the past week:
1 teaspoon of PB for breakfast
1 cup cottage cheese for lunch
1 tbl of PB for dinner
And as much water as I can down.

Your diet is ruining your heart's ability to recover!

Cottage cheese and peanut butter have way too much salt - your salt to potassium ratio is likely a big part of your problem. I won't eat either one - except for small amounts of low-salt natural peanut butter, but then my potassium intake by diet is high - at least 4:1.

If you are having trouble preparing food and eating - at least just try something a little better - like plain quaker whole oats (not the flavored kind - too much salt) with carnation "breakfast essentials" mixed in - you'll get a pretty good mix of magnesium, potassium and other nutrients with a much lesser amount of salt. I don't even use milk with mine but also have half a banana with it - and my multi-year morning bouts with ectopics have disappeared. Don't use the chocolate flavor tho'.

Boil water, put in oats, turn off heat, cooks in 5 minutes, add water, add "breakfast essentials", mix, eat.

LOL, you can do it. 2 cups of quaker oats is nearly a day's worth of magnesium btw....


The flutter and the afib are both a result of irritated foci that initiate heart muscle contraction - out of sync - the flutter will naturally progress to afib (and often present itself concurrently) because the number of foci that are misfiring continues to increase ...your high salt diet is preventing the cells from getting the proper nutrients to allow them to function correctly.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 04/11/2012 10:06AM by Tom B.

Yeah, not enough potassium. I've eaten both of those 2 foods most days for years, but with other foods as well. Need to get that potassium back in there.

I experience very similar symptoms when I permit my Potassium to go low; I maintain Potassium using Potassium Glucontate powder (1tsp=500mg approx) and with low sodium V8 (16 oz beer cup = 1g Potassium approx). I try to maintain my dietary Potassium intake at around 4-5g. daily this way and generally find that my 'tachy' of 100 or so BPM appears when I get lazy about my Potassium but that a mass intake of Potassium (a large cup of LS V8 with a couple of teaspoonfuls of Potassium Gluconate powder well mixed in) generally gets rid of the high pulse, pVCs, PACs, etc. in short order.

Had some major dental surgery on Tuesday and have not been able to consume as much of that LSV8 as i should due to the wounds and pain; my diet is shot to hell as well. Still, no issues thus far. I maintain my supplementation and meds. Interesting.

Lousy sleep due to pain and swelling as well. Go figure.

When my rapid heart beat comes it is without warning and out of the blue, as yours.

Murray L

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Tikosyn uptake Dec 2011 500ug b.i.d. NSR since!
Herein lies opinion, not professional advice, which all are well advised to seek.

And of course the other possibility is that with drinking all that water, you can flush your system of sodium and everything else, which can also give you afib. You chemistry is clearly out of balance.

There is NO reason to drink more than 6-8 8oz glasses of water a day unless you are very active and losing water through sweating or heavy respiration. The more water you drink, the less sodium in your system, which makes you more thirsty so you drink more and wind up in a vicious cycle.

Nancy - if you must eat cottage cheese then check the Ricotta style as there is significantly less sodium and you can also buy organic peanut butter or almond butter that has no sodium added. Since you are observing a non-fungal diet, then please don't add the oatmeal or it will set you back. I agree that too much water without adding electrolytes or using a natural 'green' drink is apt to be counterproductive.

Jackie

The cottage cheese I eat is no salt, and the peanut butter natural, so there is that. And now that I've had my tests and visits to every doctor in the system, we discover that probably what was throwing everything off is that my lungs weren't giving me enough air (I was feeling breathless & blaming it on the afib, instead of realizing it was causing it). Diagnosed with RAD (reactive airway disease) and pneumonia.

Two 1/2 days on meds for that and no afib (knock wood). So it could all be I was looking in the wrong direction. There is so much to look out for with this stuff. I'd like to thank everyone for their thoughts!!

Nancy