Tuesday, July 28, 2009

It's Always Something...

I haven't been posting regularly like I should because I've been busy at work.

Things are still going well except for two things.

First, a minor issue: I ate at a mexican restaurant for lunch, and went off the path. Sometimes you must have a treat, and today's treat was not too terrible. I had a chicken taco salad (no sour cream) plus lots of salsa and chips. Also, I had an unsweetened tea to drink. I will hit my marks the rest of the week, and drink tons of water. Hopefully the sodium won't kill my weigh in.

Now the scary part: My heart has been racing today. I can feel it beating in my chest. I guess it's called palpitations. I went to the doc. (My bp was up, temp normal, and pulse normal) She said that my heart sounds fine, and I told her about reducing my sodium, and I told her about losing 19 pounds last week. They took blood, and she thinks that it's an imbalance of electrolytes. She recommends that I drink a powerade every day because of my reduced sodium and sweating during exercise. So I will try that and wait for the test results, which will be Monday. By the way, I found a no calorie, low sodium powerade, which I'm very pleased about.

I read about what causes palpitations, and I have three areas that could be causing this: caffeine consumption, not consuming enough sodium or potassium, and too much thyroid being produced. We'll find out from the blood work whats causing this, and yes, I will worry about this until Monday, of course, unless the palpitations stop.

Have you ever had palpitations? What was the cause? What was done to stop them?

I'll post the results as soon as I know something.

If you are considering reducing your sodium intake, please consult with your physician.

I'm learning that I have to be careful with how I do this weight loss thing.

Have a great Wednesday!


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14 comments:

  1. Wow! I hope the powerade helps! I would also cut out caffine! I had two strokes and I have heart flutters (tacocardia) and the first things the Dr's said was to cut out caffine. I went cold turkey and have not had it sense!

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  2. Good luck Stephen.
    Sometimes I think that making healthy lifestyle changes is much more important than numbers on the scales.
    Last year I had palpitations & an abnormally high heart rate (170bpm resting heart rate). All the tests were done & there was nothing abnormal with the 'ol ticker, so I was put on a course of beta blockers for several months. I'm off them now. I think in my case work stress had alot to do with it.
    Once again, I hope everything is ok with the test results - take care.

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  3. so interesting that you posted this. there can be so many reasons for this (including plain old anxiety!). however, i have had issue with palpitations due to my thyroid pill dosage. whenever i go up in my dosage, i get palpitations. its the worst when youre trying to sleep and you really are tired, but that heart is thumping. anyway, the palps could be due to a number of reasons, but when you get your thyroid dosage, it based on what your levels are, as well as your height and weight. considering you lost almost 100 lbs, maybe you should get your levels checked. how your thyroid was acting 100 lbs ago is prob a lot different than how its acting now. just a thought! but please explore the other possibilities. palps suck.

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  4. Hi Stephen,
    I had palpitations as well due to my thryoid.
    But did you say you lost 19 lbs LAST WEEK?
    I think that's it myself. That is so much weight to lose your body is probably working hard to adjust to that.
    It's probably nothing to worry about till Monday.
    Worrying may cause a *fight or flight* response which would get your adrenaline going which may cause more physical symptoms.
    Try to relax and believe it's benign symptoms.
    Good Luck.
    Think calming thoughts :D

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  5. I wondered where you were. I DID NOT KNOW YOU LOST 19 POUNDS LAST WEEK! That's incredible! I'm anxious to hear what the test results bring.

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  6. I love following your progress - however, I don't know about losing 19 pounds in a week. It is super that you are seeing your doctor regularly though.

    I am really proud of you and your hard work.

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  7. I love Powerade Zero. my wife has had the "heart beating out of the chest" feelings before and the doc always tells her it's the caffiene she consumes. Everything else checks out fine. Is it possible to be allergic to caffiene? i wonder.
    I hope they go away!!!!

    My best always
    Sean

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  8. Thanks for sharing with us. I know it's hard to wait,I don't know why Drs do that to us. You will find out soon

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  9. I certainly hope that clears up. Yes, Mexican is hard to do on a diet. The chips are probably the worst thing in there - nothing but deep fried corn flour. I usually opt for grilled chicken, or chicken fajitas with tons and tons of salsa.

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  10. Waiting for test results can be stressful. Try to relax by doing things that make you happy and take your mind of your worries.
    Cutting down on caffeine is good advice. My daughter wound up in the emergency room with heart palpitations after drinking a lot of Mountain Dew. She was fine after she cut down on the caffeine.

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  11. I love caffeine but it may be a trigger for variations in heart rate for certain people. 19 pounds is a lot and considering it was largely fluid you may have some electrolyte issues. NO CALORIE Power Aid is good. CHIPS are deep fried, salty, carbohyrates. Most Salsa has salt to make it tasty and addictive. Focus on fluids before, during, and after exercise. Try a packet of Emergen-C in your water. This has valuable electrolytes.
    Stick with only the best coffee for your morning pick me up to avoid processed chemicals. Starbucks Sumatran is very good. The exercise will make you stronger, both heart and muscles.
    ---Tom

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  12. Hey man, my best with the heart issues. I suspect the palpitations will stop with an increase of electrolytes.

    Thanks for mentioning this, because I really liked what you said about sodium and so adopted the lower average daily intake for a person with high blood pressure. Thankfully, I haven't been drinking any caffiene, but after reading this post yesterday I looked at what I've been eating and it HAS been low in potassium, so Ive read about what I need to eat/drink to get the elements necessary to keep electrolytes in balance.

    When I was reading stuff about electrolytes, etc, I did read that blood pressure mediciations are often diuretics, and diuretics often bring your electroylytes to a dangerously low level. Coffee of course is a diuretic too. SO, dont know if that's applicable, but thought I would mention it because I know you're taking something for your blood pressure (im not, but thats simply because I dont have insurance unfortunately) and wanted to make sure you are as healthy as can be. You gotta be in good health and spirits for Talladega for hells sake! :) Anyway, be well man, all the best!

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  13. Well first thing is, KUDOS for noticing and going directly to the doc! You don't mess with those things!

    The electrolytes sounds like the most logical. You're body is not used to dropping so much weight at once, nobody's is, so it may have really gotten a bit of a jolt.

    I drink the Power Zero a LOT! I do it because I work out (walking in the water or running in the water, then upper body in the water) and come out dying of thirst, obviously because of water loss and therefore electrolytes needed.

    BP meds do often have diuretics in them also, if you're on any (especially with HCL in it, which is the diuretic part). They actually can cause your potassium levels to plummet, mine have, and potassium runs your heart. The potassium plummet comes from literally urinating it all out of you. So def have the blood work done, as it could also have to do with your potassium levels.

    First and foremost listen to the doc, do what he/she says, not what anyone on here says! The doc went 8+ years to learn your body, nobody here did, no matter how smart they think they are!

    Stay in good health young man! You keep inspiring me! I want pics of YOU and Talladega!

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  14. I was thinking about this for a while... I had two episodes of increased heart rate/
    palpitations at age 16 and then again at 24. It scared the shit out of me, and there was never a reason found... I had the full run of tests...

    It is fucking scary, but with a good dose of caution you can get through this. I know the typical thought would be "one more thing to get you motivated"... I know that is fucking bullshit. Fear is not a lifechanging motivator, and I hope you can find some peace with yourself and REALLY get through this. You have invested time, effort, and tears (real or figurative)- so hold on to that!

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