Skipped Heartbeats after Exercise

[Melonpony]

I also forgot to mention that I started paying very close attention to my diet. I'm not suggesting you absolutely have a bad diet, but I know when I became sedentary and anxious I didn't really pay that much attention to it. It's not so much about what you do eat, but more about what you omit. So now I make sure I eat 10 or more portions of fruit and vegetables a day, preferably organic.

I discovered that when you have anxiety and you are stressed, that your body chews through nutrients very quickly. Recommended daily levels really aren't appropriate and we are designed to eat far more veg than we actually do most of the time.

This is an indirect link to how your heart is functioning, but my kids are off school right now and I've noticed that because we are often out eating fast food that I just feel sluggish and reluctant to do anything the more I eat. To combat this I purchased a blender and have started having green shakes, which really helps.

If you are exercising more, that puts a stress on your body...albeit a stress with an overall net gain! You need to make sure you have enough nutrients in your system to recover. It's also slightly possible that the HIIT sessions are leaving you low on electrolytes and there is a significant and direct connection between that and heart function. Perhaps taking a dilute solution of electrolyte powder would help alleviate some of the symptoms you are experiencing too.

Thank you for that. I have noticed that coconut water after the HIIT sessions was somewhat helpful, so that could definitely indicate an electrolyte issue.

My diet is off and on. Over the past few years, I was eating a lot of fast food and junk food. Prior to that, I ate very healthy (mostly organic home cooked). I am starting to transition back to healthier, whole foods eating.

10 fruits and vegetables a day is an amazing goal!

It will be easier for me to eat better once I have the routine, I think. I am also going to start taking vitamins again. Vit D, Omega 3, and B12. I purchased them a few weeks ago, and need to get them back into my schedule. I felt a lot better a few years ago, when I was taking them. I also have magnesium citrate, which is supposed to help with palpitations.

Do you take any supplements to help with your health?

Sent from my SM-G955U using Tapatalk

[ankietyjoe]

I have used a wide variety of supplements over the last couple of years, but I find the vitamin supplements to be mostly useless, although Vit D might be the one exception if you don't get a lot of sun (and being a hermit in the UK.......). I do take magnesium, although at this stage I couldn't tell if it actually helped or if it's working as a placebo. I also take high strength Omega 3's. In top of that I take a dose of organic wheatgrass juice powder every day as a top up to my fruit and veg.

I try and keep junk food down to a minimum and it's rare that I have it more than once a week. I use the excuse that the kids like it.....

Other than that I tend to cook whole foods, as much organic as possible. Some foodstuffs I can't do that as the cost is prohibitive, especially meats. I will not compromise on eggs though, they're always organic.

More recently I started juicing and blending veg as a top up to what I eat as well. I actually prefer juicing, but that is a pain in the butt to clean up every day, and surprisingly expensive to do for 2-3 people a day (my partner has them too, and even my oldest who is 10 wanted to get in on the action), but blending is fine too. I usually have a mixture of organic banana, kale, spinach, kiwi, apple cider vinegar and then non organic berries (they are so expensive organic) and sometimes avocado. One of these every day is an easy 5 portions of fruit and veg.

I started to use a free app/website called Cronometer (similar to myfitness) which allows you to record meals and it gives you a detailed breakdown of vitamin and mineral macros. It's not something I get anal about, but it's interesting to see just how hard it is to eat enough potassium, for example.

I honestly think that what you eat has just as much impact on anxiety and all the disorders that come along with it as medication and/or therapy and/or meditation etc.

Anyway, sorry for rambling but your story was such a carbon copy to mine that I wanted to go into detail about how I overcame it. I know you can too

[Melonpony]

Thank you for the detail, Ajoe! I wholeheartedly agree with you on diet affecting anxiety. Another curve ball I happen to have is anemia. I have a blood disorder called thalassenia minor, which means I'm a carrier for the genetic disorder that requires monthly blood transfusions. The only side effect is chronic anemia that is not helped by iron supplements due to the specific issue (my body doesnt make enough red blood cells). This means I need to eat iron-rich foods to help with the anemia, although it will always be low.

I am going to look at the green smoothie option you are doing. I could definitely do that, and I bet it would help a lot with my intake, like it does for you.

I've got to get over this fear cycle I'm trapped in right now. I have had palpitations all day Friday, yesterday, Sunday, and am sitting here on Monday morning fearing they'll be back. I did a HIIT work out on Friday, which I should not have done. That caused palps, and then I believe the rest of them this weekend were caused by the anxiety loop they created in me. I'm not going to go back to HIIT until I do my walking and yoga regime like you did.

I also think I am going to go back to my former therapist that helped me with my health anxiety last year. She went on a break for 6 months, but will be back in October. Did you do any CBT therapy or anything else talk?

Sent from my SM-G955U using Tapatalk

[ankietyjoe]

Oh sorry to hear about the anaemia disorder, that's certainly something to keep on top of for sure.

I had CBT about 12 years ago when my anxiety first started and it helped a lot. I more or less got rid of it until about 2012 when we had an intensely stressful 2 year legal battle because a lawyer misread the lease on the property I bought and was living in. Ended up costing me about £70k to resolve, and at the same time my partner almost died giving birth to our youngest in 2014 and has a severe form of PTSD now, so all the anxiety came back.

What fixed it for me is meditation. I became so angry during the legal battle that it started damaging me from the inside out, like one of those things you just can't let go of you know? I had to do something, and meditation was perfect for this. I'm now about 95% anxiety free. The last hurdle for me was exercise, but I went swimming with the kids today so it must be working!

I would imagine the green smoothies would help you consume more iron than you'd ever realistically be able to eat too. I often make an Indian lentil dhal too, which would also be really good for that (as well as being very nutritious in itself).

[Melonpony]

Oh sorry to hear about the anaemia disorder, that's certainly something to keep on top of for sure.

I had CBT about 12 years ago when my anxiety first started and it helped a lot. I more or less got rid of it until about 2012 when we had an intensely stressful 2 year legal battle because a lawyer misread the lease on the property I bought and was living in. Ended up costing me about £70k to resolve, and at the same time my partner almost died giving birth to our youngest in 2014 and has a severe form of PTSD now, so all the anxiety came back.

What fixed it for me is meditation. I became so angry during the legal battle that it started damaging me from the inside out, like one of those things you just can't let go of you know? I had to do something, and meditation was perfect for this. I'm now about 95% anxiety free. The last hurdle for me was exercise, but I went swimming with the kids today so it must be working!

I would imagine the green smoothies would help you consume more iron than you'd ever realistically be able to eat too. I often make an Indian lentil dhal too, which would also be really good for that (as well as being very nutritious in itself).

Wow Ajoe - I can see why your anxiety came back with the legal battle and your partner almost dying. That sounds extremely traumatic. I am sorry you had to go through that kind of pain.

I have been going to therapy for a few years. My last therapist changed my life, but then she left her practice in March. I started working with another therapist in the same office, and she is helpful, but she doesn't know me, or my issues as well as my previous one. I am going to start seeing the former one again once she comes back next month. I think this will be very helpful.

It is so reassuring to hear your story, and how far you have come. Now that I have decided to begin exercise again-after so long- the chest tightness, fast heartbeat, and now the newest symptom of skipped beats has me back at what feels like Square One. It does help that you had the same symptoms, and that your palpitations stopped once you got back into shape.

Did you also get chest tightness etc?

Sent from my SM-G955U using Tapatalk

[ankietyjoe]

I used to get all sorts of chest sensations, including tightness. My heart issues were only part of the overall anxiety and included almost everything on the standard anxiety checklist at one point or another.

One thing I did notice is that the more anxious I was, the more stomach issues I'd have. This was mostly GERD/reflux. This alone can be responsible for all sorts of chest sensations, especially pain in various forms and locations.