Greetings, I am a 43 year old Female that is overweight but up until recently no health issues. I am out of shape and have been off and on phentermine over the last 2.5 years. Most recently my doctor placed me on Belviq which made me weak and I went to the ER. The ER doctor told me my symptoms of dizziness, weakness and lack of concentration were symptoms of the Belviq. As a result I decided to go back to my original weight loss doctor who said I should go on Phenterimine for 30 days and transition to Qysimia after which had a lower dose of the phentermine drug. None of the prescribing doctors warned me of side effects of the weight loss medication. Additionally, I will say that during this period I was doing an alkaline fast, so no meat, only certain vegetables, lots of water and herbs, etc. I have the Samsung Galaxy Note, and realized a few week back it has all these health and fitness trackers. Anyway I began checking my HR with the Samsung HR monitor it was consistently in the 80s initially which I assumed was ok. Then one night last week, I was having trouble breathing it just felt like it was hard to breathe and I had to consciously tell my body to do it. My entire body was freezing, which I thought was a symptom of the Phentermine( it had happened in the past I had freezing cold hands).
So I check the HR on the phone and its 46 bpm. This kind of scared me because it seemed very low. I immediately drank several glasses of water, took an aspirin did jumping jacks anything to get the HR up. I have a BP machine so I checked that to see if my HR was low on that device as well, it had elevated a little to 51 bpm, ( I think because of my jumping around) but started to drop again. What annoyed me at first is that I literally had just left the ER that afternoon because the night before I was having unusualy coldness throughout my entire body and my right leg was extremely tight. They checked me for clots and said my blood work was ok. My BP is normally in the 115/79 range but that day in the ER it was 99/79 but they didn't think it was bad, it went back up to 117 at some point. I am scheduled to see a Cardiologist on Tuesday, but I keep having these bouts of low HR primarily in the evening in the 40bpm and low 50bpm then maybe because of anxiety or moving around, it will jump up to 90bpm or 105 bpm and drop down again all within a few minutes of light or no activity. During the daylight hours my heart rate is generally consistent in the 80s. I am very worried as in the past when I complained about chest issues, I was always told my EKG's were fantastic, and that my BP is extremely good, so I just thought I was ok. The scariest part is that the sudden drop in HR makes me dizzy and I get some sort of headache (right behind one or both eyes) not overly intense but noticeable, and chest pressure, cold extremities breathing heavy, sometimes mild nausea. Then it goes back up again and I then feel my heart pounding I imagine because I am scared and the rate is high. It is very taxing.
I have long suspected that I may have a Thyroid issue or Lyme, but the tests have always come back negative. Although I am told that tests for both conditions can be unreliable. Also I should state that I have stopped taking the Phentermine as well and started eating my regular diet again which does include meat and other stuff since I also had a prior history with anemia as well.
I realize this post may be long and disjointed but I appreciate the opportunity to discuss my concerns. I have not been diagnosed with anything yet, but are arrhythmias the only thing would cause such sudden drops in heart rates? For those who have those sudden heart rate drops or increases, how do you cope with it?
Thank you for any replies.
Slow heart rate
Why!! Chest pain/discomfort, severely painful palps/ectopics, racing heart, breathlessness.!!!
Arrhythmias cause heart rate to drop in the 20's...cause for concern?
New to svt and can’t sleep
