Feeling Like Heart is Kicking Me When Sitting

Interestingly enough @funcountess it doesn't seem as bad these past few days? I think it's one of those things where it gets worse the more I obsess about it. It seems like a strong heartbeat whenever it occurs, usually if not always coinciding with breathing. I have found if I sit in a particular way in my chair that it doesn't seem so bad, so I guess I have learned to mitigate it using my own devices for now.

The other consideration is that I have been on Metoprolol for a full week now and have noticed my PACs have been reduced to essentially nothing, and when they do occur they are not as strong. So maybe that has something to do with it? To add, these "kicking" sensations do not seem nefarious, but simply annoying. REALLY annoying, lol. My intent on posting on this forum was to see if there's any other consideration that I am overlooking here with my self-diagnosis (possibly related to a compressed nerve). In any case, I hope to get it looked at whenever I do see a cardiologist. I am not worried by it, but rather just annoyed. I am focused on my weight for now. To be continued. Thank you for checking in!

I wanted to update on this issue. I've been taking Metoprolol Succinate ER 25mg for a few weeks now and the issue seems to be mostly mitigated. It's a subtle issue now unless I really focus on it.

However, even taking the Metoprolol I have noticed that after eating a meal my blood pressure spikes 15 points both systolic and diastolic. I basically have one meal a day that consists of a cheese and turkey sandwich on oat bread along with a serving of redskin potato salad. Sounds sorta funny but I have been eating this every day since March when the pandemic started. It's easy to make and low on resources/time.

It also helps me to focus on losing weight. I will add that I have a serving of cottage cheese later on in the day once I get hungry enough.

I have been doing some research around this and an article titled "What to know about elevated blood pressure after eating" by Medical News Today (cannot share links here) states that blood pressure is actually supposed to drop after eating: "High blood pressure after eating is not healthy. A person’s blood pressure usually drops slightly after they have eaten."

So perhaps this is a concern? I had a physical/blood test last year and everything looked fine. FWIW I noticed the "kicking" back then but it wasn't as bad as from a few months ago. That stated, it doesn't seem like I have diabetes or anything obvious as such that would cause an increase in blood pressure after eating.

Also, I should say that I did notice the "kicking" the most after I ate. So perhaps this is a blood pressure-related issue through and through.

Hello @mdm123

I have been following your posts and I'm impressed with the thought you've put into this perplexing problem. I'm wondering if you've considered consulting with a GI specialist and/or a neurologist?

As someone also from Michigan I would recommend University of Michigan. They have a renowned heart center. Also being a research medical center they have a great background in understanding about unique heart issues. I mention a GI specialist since these symptoms seem to follow a meal. The neurologist might be helpful in sorting out any nerve related problems.

I would be interested in hearing more about this. Will you post again?

Thanks for the support @hopeful33250! It is much appreciated. As for consultations, I have not thought either of those things. That's actually why I wanted to post here in this forum, to possibly get insight and suggestions on either what this could be or what I should do.

Currently I am not entirely excited about making more appointments during a pandemic, but I do have a follow-up with my doctor in January with the Metoprolol and will probably mention it to her to see what she thinks.

Another consideration is that I could possibly and simply be out of shape. I know I didn't have this when I was able to run a lot on the treadmill. However, I overdid things and have been nursing both a hamstring and calf strain, so taking it easy until they start cooperating again. The hamstring is better but the calf is grumpy, even when I am not using it (have a cycler I am using instead). When I was running, my BP was consistently 110/70 and I was off the Metoprolol. I also didn't notice the kicking.

One final tidbit, is that this eating issue could also be related to my workout regimen. I workout and then eat this big meal, so it's sort of a double-whammy. Yesterday it took about 4.5 hours before I scored a 116/70 (down from 125/76). It's a long time but I wonder if my body is simply zapped from being subjected to 80-90 minutes of cardio/training followed by an ordeal of food.

In any case, yes I will be sure to update this thread when I learn more. Thanks again for the interest and support. 👍

Hey all, I wanted to check in with this issue. To start, I am feeling a little sheepish here as it seems my little condition was due to some self-infliction. I mentioned that I had cut caffeine out at one point to see if that would reduce the sensations, and that didn't seem to help. Well, I decided to give that another go but this time in a more sustained effort, just to see. Whereas the first time, I had only cut 3-4 days, this time I did 3-4 weeks. It seemed to do the trick. That is, I do not suffer the kind of kicking that I used to now that I cut back on the caffeine back to about 100-150mg a day. I am ashamed to admit how much I was doing before, but let's just say it was way over the maximum suggested amount of 400mg daily.

I will say that I still get the kicking sensations from time to time now, but they are extremely subtle and I am not sure I would notice it if I hadn't been trained with the "full" dosage effect, if that makes sense. I am almost willing to say that if I cut out caffeine altogether that it might go away entirely, but I still also sort of worry if there is something else at play here.

So, that's the "good" news... the bad news is that I saw my primary physician yesterday and I was hoping to have a good blood pressure reading, but alas I had no such luck. I had cut the caffeine, and have lost 5lbs in the past 2 weeks now that this nagging hamstring issue I've had has finally healed and I can FINALLY run again. At home, my readings have actually been really good: 112-118/67-72 in the mornings but I can get them as high as 125-130/75-78 during the day. Still, not terrible, especially the lower number. My heart rate has been scoring between 45-55 as well.

I even had a while to collect myself in the waiting room, so I was sure my reading would be better, but nope. The bad news in the office was 153/87 with rate of 68. With the elevated rate especially, I am pretty certain that there is a case of nerves here, or officially whitecoat hypertension. I also want to say there's also a related case of social anxiety as I am never social these days and mostly "in my head" while WFH, so when I am actually social I am woefully "out of shape" and it translates into these readings. My physician wasn't having any of it and was pretty focused on introducing more medication. Luckily, I talked myself into another 3-month stay as I want to see what that blasted machine says at my target weight of 185 (15lbs away now).

As an aside, there was something that was said during my session yesterday that sort of got my attention. My physician said that the recommended reading for blood pressure is now 120/60. Which was a first for me. Can anyone back this up? I know that hypertension was dialed back to 135, but I haven't heard anything about 120/60 which is making me raise an eyebrow.

Finally, there appears to have been a mixup with my cardiologist. I was thinking they were going to call a referral but apparently since I have seen him already in a prior consult, I can make the call myself. I haven't been too enthused about making any more appointments than absolutely necessary during this pandemic, even if they are via telephone (telemedic I think they are called?). There is still the condition of eating and having an elevated BP for hours after such, but the readings never get high enough where I am really worried.

So that's the latest in my world here. I am basically fully healed now and taking it easy in getting back on the treadmill and losing weight again. Going to give it another 3 months and then take it from there. My readings at home are pretty good but getting them read at the clinic continues to be a nightmare. As a parting thought, I am thinking of seeing if I can get a 72-hour leased blood pressure monitor and get some readings there before getting talked into any more medications. We'll cross that bridge when we get to it, however. My primary interest is in seeing what that mean clinic machine says at my target weight after 3 months of training.

In any case, I will update here with any new information. I appreciate the well-wishes and interest in my case here. Your support is very much appreciated!

Get a new doctor!!!!

Sounds crazy.
120/60 is NOT good.
Diastolic too low.

My PCP and cardiologist both are happy when my diastolic is in the 60’s. It has been in the 50’s but I was dragging through the day with no energy. If you have a blockage of any size and A-fib then the slower heart rate is to prevent stroke among other things. I function well with diastolic in lower 60’s. We recently cut back on the Metoprolol a little at a time until my energy level was acceptable. Metoprolol plus Eliquis have worked well for me.

@mdm123 I have never heard that about the lower number. All my doctor's say mine is good and it's usually around 120's over 70-80s. But it sounds like you like running and it wouldn't surprise me to see it that low. I've heard that before from.a.friend who was a marathon runner also his heart rate was also low like 50s.
Have a Blessed Day
Dana