Racing Heart

[cleskowitz]

I know this question has been asked but it has not been adequately answered. I am 7 days in and have noticed my heart is racing, particularly at night when I am trying to wind down.  I have been eating pretty clean prior to going on the program so I am not in a deep detox. I have been doing really well and am healthy (had a physical, blood work before I started coincidentally) I almost feel like I am on the verge of an anxiety attack. Who can speak to this? Thanks!

[ShannonM816]

I've merged the two topics you've started, please don't cross post the same question in multiple topics, it makes the forums harder to navigate.

 

I'm sorry you haven't been able to find the answers you want. None of the moderators here are physicians, we cannot advise you specifically what to do in your case.  This might be the kind of thing best discussed with your doctor.

[cleskowitz]

It was an accident ShannonM816

[Karen]

Are you taking any medication? Sometimes diet changes result in less of a need for meds. If you're taking something, you may want to talk to your doctor about seeing if it's still needed or if your dose needs to be adjusted.

[MeadowLily]

Have you ever had an anxiety attack before?

Could be thyroid but you'll have to check it out with your physician.

 

hyperthyroidism. Very frequently, their symptoms involve the heart. The most common symptoms are a feeling of palpitations and a sensation of a racing heart beat. These symptoms are due to a physiologic effect of thyroid hormone on the heart.

[jmcbn]

What's your caffeine intake like?

[cleskowitz]

Thank you Karen, MeadowLily and jmcbn. I appreciate the reply! I am not on any meds, my thyroid numbers were checked and are normal but I am getting a neck ultrasound. I do occasionally suffer from anxiety but it usually stems from something identifiable.  I do drink reg coffee and was thinking about switching to decaf.( It may be affecting me more than usual but even though hours had gone by.)   I was more curious if anyone else had suffered from this and what they were told/did about it. Was it something normal for some people? I am sensing no. 

[MeadowLily]

If you occasionally suffer from anxiety...it's worth checking into.  You say you're getting a neck ultrasound...good.  I hope the medical pros can help you identify what's going on.  

 

You are correct, the Whole 30 doesn't bring on anxiety attacks or racing hearts.  The 3 compliant meals consist of best food choices...similar to how people used to eat before all of the fast food joints and convenience foods took over the world. 

 

Eating Whole 30 is a triumphant return to healthy living.

[Munkers]

For me, a racing heartbeat is an indication that I've inadvertently consumed something I'm not supposed to. The usual culprit is gluten.

 

Beware of "normal" thyroid numbers. If you have Hashimoto's there is evidence that your thyroid moves between underproducing and overproducing so your panels can appear normal at the time of the blood draw, but they may not stay in that range all the time. An uptick in thyroid hormones can cause similar symptoms.

[rachelml]

This racing heart used to happen to me all the time, especially at night like you explained. It happened because I was eating something that I could not tolerate (for me it was coconut or sugar). After cutting these out, this rarely happens!! Start right down everything you eat... and then mark down when your hear starts racing--I am sure you find a correlation 

[TinaC]

I have had this caused by two different things and thought I would give you an overview in case it helps you!

 

I have had the same symptoms come and go my whole life.  I believe it is a histamine intolerance symptom. For me it is exacerbated by stress, so I make sure I eat a lower histamine diet whenever I am having a lot of stress, and then when things are better the higher histamine foods don't seem to bother me. 

 

Recently I began also having some stomach issues (one reason I am Whole 30'ing it now!) and was experiencing the racing heart symptoms again, particularly after I ate, but sometimes out of the blue also. It seemed different than the histamine intolerance symptoms and did not abate with a lower histamine diet.  My doc felt my stomach bloating might be pressing on an already compressed vagus nerve, which can also cause that. So I began doing exercises that are supposed to help vagus nerve compression and voila, the heart racing abruptly stopped. ALthough my stomach bloating is much better since starting the program, even just changing position or putting manual pressure on my stomach pushing it down stopped the symptoms cold.

[praxisproject]

I experienced the medical wonder that is "gluten induced ataxia" when doing the gluten challenge for celiac diagnosis and recommend a review of any possible sneaky grains (spices cut with wheat, foreign products not labelled for your country, innocent sounding ingredients like malt) or diary.

 

Not enough starches can also tip hormonal and other balances towards anxiety and depression, so eat some extra sweet potato (or pumpkin or other root veggies) and see how you feel.

 

If you notice a starch/anxiety pendulum, you may also want to monitor your blood sugar, and up your starch intake, especially at night where you need that starch to last you through to morning.

If you can't eat enough at dinner, add starch to all your meals. Fat helps slow down the "burn rate" so it lasts longer overnight.

[Olomov]

Hello,

im wondering if anyone else has been experiencing this since the last post? I’m on day 7 and have been having this at night for the last 3 nights. It only happens at night and It doesn’t feel like it is caused by anxiety, although I’m having some anxiety now since I’ve noticed this. My caffeine intake is 1-2 cups in the morning , haven’t had any other caffeine throughout the day. 

Any help is appreciated! Thanks!