Heart Racing...

[swbailey]

I have been gluten-free since right before Thanksgiving, so I am still learning about all my "other" side effects. I have a question for all of you. I have noticed several times that when I am resting (watching TV. laying on couch, etc) that might heart starts racing. It should be at a resting heart beat. It has only happened a few times, and it has not lasted long but it is unusual. I was wondering if any of you have dealt with the same issue? Thank you!

Wendy

[ravenwoodglass]

I would mention this to your doctor.

[rumbles]

Check with your doctor to make sure it isn't something serious.

I use to have issues with my heart racing when laying down

(usually late evening/night), until I found out that I have a

problem with low stomach acid and started taking supplements

for it.

[mamaw]

Please go straight to your doctor! It could be nothing but again it could be serious. do you have thyroid issues? THis is when I started having a racing heartbeat. From there I went into a thyroid storm & A-Fib. Its better to be safe than sorry ....Now I hav eto take medication to control yet another beast.......

hth mamaw

[Roda]

This is a little off the subject but still relevant to the heart. I initially almost 3 years ago, out of the blue, started having a very rapid heart rate. To make a long story short, I was seen by a cardiologist, had some labs done, an echo (my second, I had problems late in my pregnancies), and a holter monitor. They could find nothing wrong. Was told my resting heart rate was a little fast so took metroprol (? spelling) for about four months. The side effects were horrible. It caused my already normal BP to get really low. I quit taking the meds and my problem seemed to subside and only bothered me once in a while. I was told I had SVT (supraventricular tachycardia). Lately I have been having regular episodes even with the slightest exertion. I get short of breath and my heart beats really fast sometimes even just walking up my basement steps. I do have trouble with my BP being low and have to be careful getting up or I get very light headed. I am thinking about going back to the cardiologist to possible rule out POTS or inquire if it could be related to the celiac or some kind of electrolyte, vitamin, or mineral deficiency. I already know my ferritin is low at 6, my hemaglobin and hematocrit are normal, and my vitamin d was low at 17 ish. I had my TSH and other thyroid levels checked in Dec. and all were good ( I have Hashimoto's). I have had too much thyroid meds before and I don't feel like that. I don't think it is related to the meds. I wonder if it is because of the low ferritin or something else. It makes it really hard to exercise and play with the kids.

Hi! This was a post I put in another topic but seems more fitting with this one. I just went for my 3 month check up with the GI doctor today and had alot of questions for him. I mentioned the problem to him and he and I agree to check with my endocrinologist to get my thyroid levels checked again. I had them done last on Dec. 5. I am thinking I am maybe absorbing more of my meds since going gluten-free. Also I have to admit I was suposed to take my one pill twice a day and before Dec. the evening dose I would forget alot. Since then I have made a real effort to take the eve. dose and have not missed. Could be it too. I don't know. If overmedication does not expain it I am going to go back to the cardiologist. Even the GI doctor said to get it taken care of because it is not good to have your resting heart rate up so high. Last night at work mine got up into the 130's and I was sitting because I was caught up on work. The period three years ago was not explained by my thyroid if anything I was borderline hypo but my thyroid meds were not changed because they did not want to aggrivate my symptoms. Since they had resolved I did not have any real invasive tests done. I do believe I have some quirk with my heart because I had trouble with it at the end of my pregnancy, also not thyroid med related. They just chalked it up to the extra load from the pregnancy. I don't profess to know much except that you should get it checked out.

[AliB]

My husband had this a few times prior to going gluten-free. It was a bit frightening although the Doctor could find nothing wrong. He would get the racing heart and feel faint and dizzy and somewhat breathless for a while. I thought he was going to end up in Hospital more than once.

I have to say that since we have been gluten-free he has not had any more episodes and that is a year now.

I get a similar thing when I have something my digestion is not coping with - I have had it when glutened but soy does it for me too so I tend to avoid that. I have had nights with it where I couldn't sleep for fear of never waking up again!

Is it worth keeping a food diary to see whether there is any pattern? Has it happened at a similar time after eating? Could it be that you are reacting to another food? The 'Big 4' - gluten, casein, soy and corn can all or individually be behind intolerances and/or reactions and some people have such damage that they react to all sorts of different things (it's not surprising - apparently gluten, casein, soy and corn are all used in industry for making glue! Perhaps they gum up our works too!).

Intolerances to other foods can sometimes be masked by the gluten and show up some time after gluten has been removed (I was very casein intolerant - it gives me C but I didn't know because the gluten was giving me D and counteracting it!! That gives me a thought - I wonder if that is why some people with IBS tend to bounce between C and D? Maybe it depends which food has been the dominant one in their diet at the time!

For quite a while I found that I would suddenly get very clammy and feel very faint with strong palpitations for a few minutes around the same time in the late evening, which was pretty frightening. I did wonder if it might be when my food reached a particular point in the digestive tract that was not working properly or was damaged. I have cut out as much as I can of the foods that I react to and it does seem to have much improved.

It was so bad before gluten-free that my Doctor made me wear an ECG watch for 2 weeks but it didn't show anything up. Since going gluten-free and subsequently removing the other problematic foods it eventually stopped and I have had no further problems with that at all for the last 5 or 6 months (my blood pressure has come back down to normal too and I have been able to throw the tablets away ). Perhaps you are getting a similar reaction to something you are ingesting, that just has a brief impact as it hits a particular spot in the tract?

Best to get it checked out, but other intolerance/s may be worth considering if there is no other reason.

[Jenny (AZ via TX)]

I had this when I first started taking my thyroid meds. I had to reduce the dose.

[chatycady]

Go see the Dr. My heart raced and raced all the time for years. Sometimes not too bad, other times I swear everyone around me could here it! (they couldn't of course) My heart became enlarged. I went gluten free and did a major overhaul of my diet. (I follow the specific carb diet) and my heart is back to normal.

Heart problems can be related to celiac. - pernicious anemia, anemia etc. Untreated it can damaged your heart.

Isn't the digestive system really a marvel when you think about it. Every organ can be effected from malabsorption!

[nw0528]

I had this symptom when I was severely anemic (to the point of almost needing transfusions). My heart would race and I would sometimes feel sweaty/dizzy. My doctor said I was having anxiety attacks. I told her I was not. She did bloodwork and came back severely anemic.

Nicole

I have been gluten-free since right before Thanksgiving, so I am still learning about all my "other" side effects. I have a question for all of you. I have noticed several times that when I am resting (watching TV. laying on couch, etc) that might heart starts racing. It should be at a resting heart beat. It has only happened a few times, and it has not lasted long but it is unusual. I was wondering if any of you have dealt with the same issue? Thank you!

Wendy