I am having heart palpitation (fast heart rate) soon after eating from the last 6 months. I have tried low carb diet, small portion of meal but nothings work.
Been to cardiologist and he requested an ECHO (he suspected a murmur) and holter monitor for 72 hours.
I have just received the results today through post. I need someone to interpret the results:
HOLTER MONITOR RESULT:
This confirmed sinus rhythm throughout with a heart rate ranging between 56 bpm and 177 bpm. There were very occasional ventricular and atrial ectopic beats only with no sustained arrhythmia seen. The patient kept a diary with 7 events reported and these corresponded with either sinus rhythm Or atrial Or ventricular ectopic beats.
ECHOCARDIOGRAM RESULT:
"There were no structural abnormalities seen with the left ventricle demonstrating a normal ejection fraction and no valvular abnormalities were present"
Written by
ShaneWarne
To view profiles and participate in discussions please or .
Your heart is mechanically sound and normal. You have some ectopic beats but no AF. Your fastest rate was 177 but sinus (normal ) rhythm. You lowest rate was 58 .
Ectopic beats are ones which occur out of place and can feel as a missed beat. I presume the 177 rate was during exercise? If not then ask why.
Thank you for your reply. Yes It was during exercise.
I believe I get these ectopic beats only after eating something. Do you know what can I do to prevent it. I have tried different diet but nothing is working at the moment.
Every normal person gets up to 200 ectopic beats a day Shane so try not to focus on them and relax. There is a slow deep breathing exercise which can help. Use your stomach not your shoulders and slow your breathing right down to less than six breaths a minute for AT LEAST five minutes, longer if you can. Try smaller meals or graze rather than eating set meals. It may just be that your stomach is swelling and making your heart feel compressed so you are aware of it. After all palpitations just means that you are aware of your heart.
Well a pulse rate of 177 doesn't really sound right, though of course that could have been just for a few seconds. You have written those figures right haven't you and it's not meant to read 77?
A young GP once told me that when in the gym and exercising to his limit, his heart rate could get to 150, but he could only keep it at that rate for a few seconds.
Thank you so much for asking, I am 28 years old healthy and don't have any other problem apart from this spell of palpitation after eating my meal. It happens everyday with each meal. Cardiologist doesn't have any answer as why am I getting these palpitation after eating. He thinks something else is triggering the heart.
Try keeping a diary and recording what you eat, particularly sugar and wheat based food , how much you eat and when . Keep track of your exercise and check that you take in about 2.5/3 litres of water a day,
Try eating for only 8 hours in a day, forcing your body to fast for the remaining 16 hours.
is your BMI measurement and waist half your height ratio OK?
I had this at one time and I know others with AF have had it too. I discovered that I needed to sit for at least an hour after eating a smallish main meal. For lunch I would just have a banana, so that I didn't have to wait before moving about then. I have to say that this condition was cured by having my third ablation. I guess it would have something to do with the heart protesting at a lot of energy going to the stomach to digest the food. The stomach and heart are quite close to each other too.
This is what I would try if I were you: reduce the size of your main meals greatly, snack on a few healthy non salted nuts, or fruit between meals, so that you don't need to eat a large one. Just have a banana at lunch time.
It's a horrible feeling when the heart races isn't!
Good luck. I find that my Af is exercise induced too. Sooo very annoying! I think the best thing you can do is ask to be referred to an Electrophysiologist (EP) who is a cardiologist who specialises in heart rhythms, he may then offer you an ablation. As I've said my third ablation cured me of the eating and having an attack problem.
ARgh, sorry to hear... any issues with a hiatal hernia? As many said, smaller meals, perhaps not heavy either... and sit up straight! If I lean into the table or laptop it is sometimes a trigger. Compression of the vagus nerve. Take care
Hello, I have had success in significantly reducing ectopic beats with Magnesium Taurate -as suggested by Dr Sanjay Gupta. I have also found a link between sugar consumption and ectopic beats - worth experimenting with. Someone on this page in the last few days was talking about everyone having their own sugar threshold and I think there's truth in that too so it might be worth excluding sugar as far as practical to start with and then adding things you'd rather not live without back in and seeing what happens? Good luck.
I have had this problem for over 40 years with a definite link between what goes into my stomach or what doesn't go into my stomach for that matter. But a dose of Gaviscon fixes it every time.
Please consider that you have developed an intolerance to some foods. When we are young, our bodies can handle anything -- but as we age, they can start causing trouble. I went through a rotation diet to test for food intolerances when I was about 50 and found that I am very sensitive to wheat now (and some other things too). But there is such a thing as non-celiac gluten sensitivity. I could tell when I'd eaten something with wheat in it because my heart started to race about 45 minutes after I started eating. Now I try to stay away from wheat as much as possible, and do not get these palpatations after eating. You might consider that this is something you have also. Test yourself simply by eating ZERO wheat for 3 weeks, and then re-introduce it,. see what happens.
There is no formal test, you test yourself. There are several books out that outline what you need to do, also plenty of stuff online about how to do this test properly. The point is to give up everything you think might be a problem, for three full weeks -- eat a very simple diet for 3 weeks -- and then add the suspect foods back slowly one at a time and check for reactions. Do NOT take any of those "tests" that are available online or from your doctor or health food store. They have been proven very inaccurate and often scams. The only way to know for sure if something is bothering you is to eliminate it totally completely for 3 weeks, and then see what happens when you re-introduce it. You may find yourself feeling amazingly better when you do the test and stop eating a bunch of foods -- that's proof that you have sensitivities for sure. But if your joints start hurting again when you re-introduce tomatoes, or you feel like hell after re-introducing wheat, then you have your answer!!
Content on HealthUnlocked does not replace the relationship between you and doctors or other healthcare professionals nor the advice you receive from them.
Never delay seeking advice or dialling emergency services because of something that you have read on HealthUnlocked.
IN AFIB FOR MORE THAN 9 HOURS. For 1st time.
Atrial Fibrillation or not?
A little help and reassurance needed!
Might treat myself - I already have a Kardia
Afib or palpitations?
