K2

[Robinsnest72]

I am reducing from 25mg of prednisone and am now at 3&1/2-4. Was taking 250 mg of magnesium and vitamin K2. Had a personal problem so stopped the magnesium to see if it would help and for the last three evenings have had heart palpitations. K2 is not a popular vitamin in Canada so it is hard to speak with a pharmacist about it. I now discover it can cause heart palpitations so I am stopping it. See what is next. I have not been reading much lately as I feel the site has become a frightening place to go. Too much on Covid 19. Really, we just need to turn the tv on. This is to be about PMR

[Hidden]

Hi, for a minute I thought you were going to say you were going to climb the mountain K2!

Are you on any other meds? I know certain blood thinners shouldn't be taken, but that's usually the k1 group. I presume you are taking vacuum if you are taking K2 as the latter is to help calcium disperse through the system rather than into the cardio vascular system.

Have you ever experienced this symptom before? I know I get palpatations if I am constantly feeling stressed and this can occur for me more frequently at night, often if I wake at 2 or 3am...when the psychological bed bugs bite.

That said it is always wise to get these things checked. Not easy at the moment but a chat with your Dr is possible. Make a note of when it happens and how long it lasts for and what activity or events are occurring. You can also write down any other symptoms. Then when you speak to the Dr you have a script to talk to him/her.

In the meantime if you get chest pains, left arm, jaw or neck pain then dial emergency services. That's a warning I would have to give everyone.

I hope it leaves you alone from now on. The main thing I try to do is relax, lay down and breathe deeply and slowly and tell yourself it will all, hopefully, be ok.🌻

[SnazzyD]

As has been said, it would be good to get medical opinion. However, when you say palpitations do you mean a fluttery feeling or a hop, skip and a jump. Stress, and there’s plenty to stoke that fire, can really play havoc on the heart rhythm and people often describe feeling it most when they are relaxing. Stopping the magnesium for a few days may be a coincidence.

[Robinsnest72 in reply to SnazzyD]

It is my heartbeat out of rhythm. I have had a cardiac ablation not to correct the rhythm but that was many years ago. All has been well so I am putting the blame on magnesium and vitamin K2. Will see what next few days bring. I have super ventricular tacacardia. Thanks for your reply.

[maria40 in reply to Robinsnest72]

I too have SVT and have recently started taking K2 with Vitamin D and have had no noticeable increase in palpitations. For the first few days of this strange new situation in which we are all living I did get several episodes which I put down to stress and concern. I have been taking the K2 for two months so I don't thin k there is a direct correlation. I don't know about magnesium. Sleep is very important to me in keeping off the SVT episodes and I would try to be sure you are sleeping well and trying to relax by communicating with people as much as you can.

Do you take any medication for your SVT? I am on Bisoprolol 2.5mg.

[Robinsnest72 in reply to maria40]

Thank you for your reply. Nice to hear from someone who has SVT. No. I do not take any medication as I had a cardiac ablation done over 20 years ago. I agree with you about getting sleep but it has been weird. It happens after supper when I sit down. I have been reducing on pred and am down to 3&1/2 . I had a terrible episode when on a high dose. The stress is dreadful right now as we have a developmentally challenged daughter who also has Parkinson’s. She comes home every weekend and over he last three weeks has not been able to come and we are not allowed in her home. You are obviously not taking magnesium. I went on it to help with the leg cramps on the high dose of pred and felt I maybe do not need it any more. I will ride this out for a week and then may introduce K2 again. I really felt it helped with some of the inflammation. Do you take any other vitamins?

[maria40 in reply to Robinsnest72]

Yes, I take Vitamin D high dose and seaweed derived calcium as I can't take the usual AdCal because of kidney stones. I was due to have a calcium and VitD blood test when all this began but I'm not going to brave hospital or GP surgery at the moment . I also take Omega 3 but order them online which is taking forever at the moment so I'll probably run out of them .

I'm so sorry you're not able to see your daughter, that must be so difficult - can you get regular updates on how she is? Is Skype or Facetime a possibility?

[Robinsnest72 in reply to maria40]

Yes, she is capable of phoning but her speech has deteriorated from the Parkinson’s so is difficult to understand at times. She lives just a few miles away so my husband goes every day the weather is suitable and takes her for a walk using social distancing. Because I Have autoimmune disorder I choose to keep my distance. She loves popcorn so I make several bags and send it up. Life has changed for everyone over night. There is four apartments and two people in each with 24 hour care. If our daughter gets this she will not survive it as she has breathing issues at the best of times.It is so sad as our people just do not understand what is going on. She thought she would be going for groceries today and looking forward to a bowling tournament. Not going to happen

[maria40 in reply to Robinsnest72]

I'm so sorry for your situation it must contribute to your likelihood of having an SVT episode. I'm a little anxious today as my daughter has just phoned to say my ten year old grandson has a bad cough so they are isolating again . They've just emerged from seven days because a student of hers had symptoms, perhaps the advice from some medics that fourteen days is better is correct. Sorry, I know this is off topic but these worries do affect our health.

[Robinsnest72 in reply to maria40]

I can relate to your worry over your grandson. Where do you live? I am in Ontario Canada. We were schooled on the news to see Prince Charles was out of isolation. We have loads of people go South for the winter and they are called Snowbirds. They were told by our Prime Minister to get back to Canada in March 23. They are to quarantine for 14 days and not to even go to the grocery store. They have now introduced huge fines as some of them just don’t get it, I live in cottage country and the city people are now coming here. Think I have got off topic.Mayors are furious!

[PMRpro Ambassador in reply to Robinsnest72]

Here the people with second homes have been told to go home - you can't hide here, they KNOW... It was becoming a problem in the UK and people were asked not to go to their second homes because the areas that are popular are generally rural with a poor healthcare structure anyway which won't cope if they bring the virus with them - they struggle anyway even out of tourist season.

[Robinsnest72 in reply to PMRpro]

Exactly the same here. Our Mayor wanted tourists and she got them! Our village has 300 people and our hospital about 5 miles away has 1800 people in their town. Our hospital would not cope! No food in the grocery stores as the Snowbirds are back. Today they are telling everyone over the age of 70 to stay home and get someone else to get your groceries.I was going to brave it but now thinking of calling my son

[Blearyeyed in reply to Robinsnest72]

As it has been 20 years since your Ablation I would recommend that you spoke to the GP about this matter. An Ablation does sometimes need repeating or some people have further heart issues

As many of us have said the change occuring with Magnesium could be a coincidence as you made the change in drugs around the same time as considerable daily stress.

It could also be a coincidence that this has happened as a physical tachycardia change while you were changing your Magnesium dose. You need to look at your symptoms carefully each day .

If you choose to face it out , please do use the advice to reduce it slowly or reduce both supplements at once slowly over a few days to reduce the withdrawal effects on your heart. If the symptoms persist or get worse you should call a Doctor for further advice.

[Robinsnest72 in reply to SnazzyD]

I meant I had the ablation to correct the rhythm. Take the word not out ha ha

[Yellowbluebell]

I am really sorry you have felt the forum was a scary place recently. When this all kicked off we didnt want to have to deal with any covid issues on the forum but we were getting repeat questions every few minutes so a decision was taken bewtween us and the admin team that there would be a separate thread for covid and that we would give an update daily where people could chat and that any other mention of it on the main forum would have replies stopped. Unfortunately certain members have decided that they should be allowed to do as they please and as a consequence covid stuff has appeared on the main forum. We are working with admin to stop this happening and i can only ask tou to bear with us whilst we sort this out. YBB

[Blearyeyed]

The sudden reduction in Magnesium but continuing K2 and subsequent withdrawal could also cause the increase in heart palpitations.

I have Sinus Node Reentrant Tachycardia , POTS / Dysautonomia and Hypotension , obviously different , but I know many people with Cardiac issues , like myself are also suggested to take Magnesium to reduce palpitations but obviously with regular monitoring from the GP. Your individual needs have caused a change but if you need to reduce Magnesium it may help not to stop abruptly to stop the swing in symptoms.

The current Negative Stress involved in the Covid Crisis and big changes in my daily activity and interaction with others has completely disorganised my routine. My routine at the moment has been pretty finely tuned to try and control my symptoms while I am still undergoing evaluation of which treatment can work for me before deciding on Ablation.

The increase in Stress of all sorts has caused me a big increase in my Tachycardia and Palpitations and I have had to increase my Heart Medication and try and return to my routine as much as possible to cope with this Crisis. It could be possible that the Stress is also affecting you and that the change in palpitations from Stress may have coincided with the Supplement change making the reaction to Magnesium withdrawal much worse.

Have you considered reducing your dose of Magnesium / K2 over a few days instead to be able to judge if it could be withdrawal or that your palpitations are being made worse by not having it.

Unfortunately , the current Health Crisis means that you cannot have a normal appointment or monitoring blood tests to check if you need the Magnesium or your levels are too high. So maybe a slow reduction over a few days ( unless your Doctor's advice has been to stop it immediately) and then measuring your response to it plus an increase in rest and relaxation / breathing techniques will help you now to prevent further symptoms that need GP assistance.

After a week of being off both supplements keep monitoring your symptoms .lf you find they are still getting worse and the reason for coming off Magnesium was for a temporary Health Issue you could always try a smaller dose and see if it helps or you need to stop again. If you symptoms get worse and cannot be controlled don't hesitate to call your GP or Medical Assistance Phone Line for advice and assistance.

Have you been given any Breathing Techniques by your Cardio to help reduce a Tachycardia episode?

Have you tried sipping cold water during an attack ?

This can be very helpful , it distracts the autonomic nervous system as it deals with drinking and the change in body temperature helping to reduce the palpitations.

It may not work for you , but it is an easy technique to try .

[AdoptMeow]

Magnesium is an essential mineral for heart functions and calcium uptake to form bone.

[PMRpro Ambassador]

The magnesium was possibly keeping the palpitations at bay - I use little magnesium "shots" when a tachycardia episode starts and can usually stop them developing if I am quick enough. That is the first approach in hospital here. The other thing that will increase mine is lowering the pred dose - it is definitely closely linked to the inflammation. I recently lowered the pred for a PET scan and the arrythmia episodes were more frequent and worse than for a long time, confirming our suspicions.