Heart Palpitations

Posted by mikeyp @mikeyp, Nov 25, 2016

Hi Everyone, whew, where do I start ? I've been to 6 cardiologists, ( 2 were electrophysiologists ) over the last 11 months and basically I have them all scratching their heads on why I get REALLY bad heart palps, and I mean BAD ones to where it feels like someone punched you in the chest an hour ago, that's how it feels if you can imagine having that happen to you and then I get light-headed and disorientated to where I just want to sit and not talk or move for an hour or more until I get back to normal, usually this takes a few hours. Yes I get them THAT bad. I'm hoping that this group can help me because I'm at the end of my rope. One electrophysiologist said what I described to him was " impossible " to be happening, I'm really starting to wonder if I was born on another planet, I can't be the only person in the world with the heart palps that I have.

Mine basically come in two stages, I feel a pressure on the left side of my heart and then a strong thump in the heart itself, this happens within 2 seconds and then it's gone until the next time, no it doesn't happen all day, mine come as fast as they go but when them come it's like a Mike Tyson punch. I usually get these about once or twice a day. I've done every test imaginable, Nuclear Stress Test, Treadmill Stress Test, 2 heart & neck angiograms, 2 twenty four hour Holter Monitors, Echocardiogram, and numerous EKG's and blood tests and every single test comes back absolutely normal, so ( as one cardiologist put it ) " If we can't diagnose what's wrong we can't treat it " That makes sense but I'm still going through this with no new info, no meds, no nothing, I have the same knowledge that I have of whats wrong with me that I did when this all started 11 months ago and that is NOTHING at all, no more knowledge, no meds, nothing.

Here's more info on me, I " had " CLL, Chronic Lymphocytic Leukemia, (13q14 deletion ) they caught it fast and treated it with FCR chemo and within 3 months ( not 6 months which is standard ) I was in full remission, if you don't understand what this means I'll just put it this way, if you HAD to get leukemia then this is the one you want to get, it's the most common and most treatable out of all the leukemia's and as much as oncologists " can't " say that I'm cured from this they pretty much say ( in your ear ) that you're cured. Now with that said, every Dr, Oncologist and Cardioligist all agree that this is not the cause of my palps, could it be from the chemo ? Yes possibly but I was diagnosed with CLL in April 2016, the palps started in December 2015 and I did the chemo in May 2016 so you see it doesn't match up.

The ONLY relief I get from the palps is when I take Magnesium Citrate, I tried Magnesium Taurate ( which they say is more for the heart ) but I've noticed that the Citrate works a lot better. Ok so you're saying why are you on here then, just take the Mag.Citrate right ? Well there's a problem, when you take Mag.Citrate on a regular basis you literally have to run to the restroom like 10 to 15 times a day, and when I say run I mean RUN !!!!! From what my last cardiologist said " They give Mag Citrate to people who are about to have a colonoscopy to clean them out " and trust me I believe him. So my question is does anyone know what else I can do to alleviate these palps without running to the restroom all day long ? My quality of life has sunk, I either have palps so bad that I can't enjoy life or I'm running to the restroom every half hour, I don't know which one is worse. I've also tried taking potassium and CoQ10, neither works or am I not taking the right dosage ?

Lastly, does anyone have any knowledge of the " Vagus Nerve " ? It's a nerve that pretty much connects your heart to other parts of the body and I'm thinking when the bad palps hit me it's " short circuiting " the Vagus Nerve and that's what makes me light headed. Any help would be greatly appreciated folks. I'm thinking that with the right supplements I can live with this, but what are the right ones and the right dosage ?

Thanks

Mikey P

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@elizamail

<br><br><br><br>HI<br> <br>My heart palpitations were not as bad as your by the sound, and I guess you<br>have been told about caffeine.<br> <br>Once I gave up caffeine my heart palpitations stopped.<br> <br>Caffeine is in a lot of products, not only in coffee, tea but also soda<br>drinks.<br> <br>Hope this help a little<br> <br>Cheers

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Hi Eliza,

I only drink spring water or cranberry juice so no caffeine for me, but thanks for helping, the only thing that works for me is Magnesium Citrate, but it has side effects, you have to use the restroom all day long so I'm trying to find the happy medium.

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@jigglejaws94

Oh, I hate it when the doctors can't figure out what is wrong. Story of my life. So I'm assuming that these episodes did not occur while you were on the Holter monitor? or did they occur and just not show anything significant?

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That is weird. I guess I had assumed that you did not have any episodes while wearing the Holter and I was going to suggest that you request placement of a Reveal LINQ internal cardiac monitor -- like I have. They can monitor your heart rhythm for up to 3 years with it.

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@martishka

Hi Mikeyp,
You say that the doctors cannot find anything wrong even though you have had several tests. I have a question about the two
24 hour Holter monitors that you had. I am assuming that when you were wearing the monitors you did not experience an "episode"
and that your heart was in normal sinus rhythm. I am wondering why you don't try a two week monitor or month long monitor. I have had both
since my electrophysiologist could not "see" the problem I was describing since I didn't experience it in the 24 hour period that I was
wearing the Holter Monitor. I had SVT all my life and in my 50's I developed AF. I am now free of any rate or rhythm problems after a successful PVA (pulmonary vein ablation). I also had a standing order for an EKG so I could walk into a lab or hospital and have an EKG when I was experiencing symptoms. It sounds like your EKG showed no rhythm or rate disturbances. If you get these episodes once or twice a day, I am assuming that when you wore the monitor you could hit the "episode button" and then record your symptoms. Did this happen the two times you wore the monitor? If you were symptom free during those two times, it would seem to make sense to ask for a monitor that you can wear for a week or two to ensure that you can document the problem. What do you think?
Martishka

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Even better -- an internal cardiac monitor implant. Reveal LINQ.

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@martishka

Hi Mikeyp,
You say that the doctors cannot find anything wrong even though you have had several tests. I have a question about the two
24 hour Holter monitors that you had. I am assuming that when you were wearing the monitors you did not experience an "episode"
and that your heart was in normal sinus rhythm. I am wondering why you don't try a two week monitor or month long monitor. I have had both
since my electrophysiologist could not "see" the problem I was describing since I didn't experience it in the 24 hour period that I was
wearing the Holter Monitor. I had SVT all my life and in my 50's I developed AF. I am now free of any rate or rhythm problems after a successful PVA (pulmonary vein ablation). I also had a standing order for an EKG so I could walk into a lab or hospital and have an EKG when I was experiencing symptoms. It sounds like your EKG showed no rhythm or rate disturbances. If you get these episodes once or twice a day, I am assuming that when you wore the monitor you could hit the "episode button" and then record your symptoms. Did this happen the two times you wore the monitor? If you were symptom free during those two times, it would seem to make sense to ask for a monitor that you can wear for a week or two to ensure that you can document the problem. What do you think?
Martishka

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Have you tried any of the other forms of magnesium that have less gastrointestinal side effect such as magnesium glycinate?

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see mayo clinic. see atrial fibriliatgion too. (AFIB).

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@mikeyp, your magnesium deficiency suggests that you might have a kidney problem -- or a dysfunctional hormone generator such as thyroid or adrenal gland. You might consider asking a nephrologist and an endocrinologist for their diagnoses. My problem was resolved in that way; I had potassium deficiency that cardiologists, internists, and another nephrologist decided was "essential" and of unknown cause or importance. My second nephrologist cared about finding both primary and secondary causes and enlisted an endocrinologist in the search. Together, they found an inherited kidney dysfunction (Liddle Syndrome) that let the potassium get away but gave lab results of a fake ("pseudo") hormone condition. My mystery and yours seem familiar, and I hope you find the answer soon.

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Mikey. I would recommend contacting the nearest Mayo cardiologist dept and set up an appointment. I have a very rare heart condition. They will not stop until they know exactly what the problem is. Will be praying for you❤️

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@jigglejaws94

Oh, I hate it when the doctors can't figure out what is wrong. Story of my life. So I'm assuming that these episodes did not occur while you were on the Holter monitor? or did they occur and just not show anything significant?

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Yes this is weird, that's the first thought I had also, you see the readout and the palpitation right there in black & white but you say it's normal. One of my cardiologist mentioned about an implant procedure like you're talking about but I said to him if you guys say the palps you see on the Holter monitor are " normal " ( because this happened twice already ) then why would you see anything in a different way with an implant ? You said I was normal with the 2 monitors, so to me this implant is a waste of time.

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@martishka

Hi Mikeyp,
You say that the doctors cannot find anything wrong even though you have had several tests. I have a question about the two
24 hour Holter monitors that you had. I am assuming that when you were wearing the monitors you did not experience an "episode"
and that your heart was in normal sinus rhythm. I am wondering why you don't try a two week monitor or month long monitor. I have had both
since my electrophysiologist could not "see" the problem I was describing since I didn't experience it in the 24 hour period that I was
wearing the Holter Monitor. I had SVT all my life and in my 50's I developed AF. I am now free of any rate or rhythm problems after a successful PVA (pulmonary vein ablation). I also had a standing order for an EKG so I could walk into a lab or hospital and have an EKG when I was experiencing symptoms. It sounds like your EKG showed no rhythm or rate disturbances. If you get these episodes once or twice a day, I am assuming that when you wore the monitor you could hit the "episode button" and then record your symptoms. Did this happen the two times you wore the monitor? If you were symptom free during those two times, it would seem to make sense to ask for a monitor that you can wear for a week or two to ensure that you can document the problem. What do you think?
Martishka

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No I haven't tried that, I will though, thanks

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@ujeeniack

see mayo clinic. see atrial fibriliatgion too. (AFIB).

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Thanks, my Dr.'s say I don't have AFIB

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