Diet Not eating enough - heart arrhythmias

[Dcole461]

Hi all!

Ive been feeling absolutely terrible these past 2 months or so and I think I've discovered the issue. I haven't been eating enough. Not really intentionally but the result is the same. Ever since covid happened, I haven't been eating out and haven't really increased what I eat at home to offset the loss in calories and nutrients.

I used to be able to walk to and from work everyday plus walk a lot on my days off since it's summer. Now I can barely get out of bed. I have terrifying heart palpitations and arrhythmias which have started getting better as Ive been eating more. And I've been to the ER and they said there are no red flags with my heart. But I desperately need some reassurance. Has anyone else had irregular heartbeats and palpitations from not eating enough? Did they go away once you recovered? I have a physical next week but the anxiety is driving me crazy.

Thanks for your help!

 

[mr peabody]

Hi all!

Ive been feeling absolutely terrible these past 2 months or so and I think I've discovered the issue. I haven't been eating enough. Not really intentionally but the result is the same. Ever since covid happened, I haven't been eating out and haven't really increased what I eat at home to offset the loss in calories and nutrients.

I used to be able to walk to and from work everyday plus walk a lot on my days off since it's summer. Now I can barely get out of bed. I have terrifying heart palpitations and arrhythmias which have started getting better as Ive been eating more. And I've been to the ER and they said there are no red flags with my heart. But I desperately need some reassurance. Has anyone else had irregular heartbeats and palpitations from not eating enough? Did they go away once you recovered? I have a physical next week but the anxiety is driving me crazy.

Thanks for your help!

I'm not a doctor, but you need to look at the obvious. Definitely add calories - ice cream, milk shakes, your favorite deserts and candies etc - and boost your potassium level by eating bananas daily for awhile. Oranges are a good source. High carb foods will help - pastas, breads, cereals and potatoes. Limit fried foods until you're feeling much better.

 

[MsDiz]

I’ve an eating disorder and have suffered lots of heart issues. Mostly due to refeeding syndrome but also if you’ve not been eating much you can have low potassium and magnesium which will cause heart issues.

Definitely go to get your heart properly checked, they will need to do blood draws to check your levels also.

If you’ve barely been eating for a while then I wouldn’t recommend increasing your calories massively. You’ve got to increase them slowly over time, refeeding syndrome kills due to low serum phosphorus levels. Again I recommend going to a dr and being honest about your diet.

 

[Dcole461]

I’ve an eating disorder and have suffered lots of heart issues. Mostly due to refeeding syndrome but also if you’ve not been eating much you can have low potassium and magnesium which will cause heart issues.

Definitely go to get your heart properly checked, they will need to do blood draws to check your levels also.

If you’ve barely been eating for a while then I wouldn’t recommend increasing your calories massively. You’ve got to increase them slowly over time, refeeding syndrome kills due to low serum phosphorus levels. Again I recommend going to a dr and being honest about your diet.

Yea, I'm worried about refeeding syndrome. I'm back up to around 2000-2500 calories a day. My appointment isn't until next week. Do phosphorus containing foods help prevent it? I've also been eating lots of spinach/kale and bananas for magnesium and potassium. ER said my potassium and liver/kidney function was normal. Not sure what else they checked. Thanks for your help!

 

[MsDiz]

I’ve always been admitted and given IV electrolytes. I’d be getting some thiamine anyway and supplementing it for sure as well as general electrolytes. Just keep an eye on it. If you’ve been to the ER then im sure they did an ECG. Try not to worry to much because anxiety will also cause those symptoms. Do a bit of quiet time and meditation and destress yourself. Honestly, it does help in a big way too!

 

[CFC]

Do you like chocolate @Dcole461 ? If so, you should know cocoa is one of the most concentrated natural sources for magnesium and potassium there is:

Per 100g pure dry cocoa powder you get:

If you don't want to eat high cocoa % dark chocolate, you could always try making a healthy nutritional supplement shake with ingredients like bio-yoghurt, fresh fruits and berries, honey, oats, and then add in a big scoop of cocoa powder, and slowly sip it through the day. This could be an easy way for you to enhance not only your calorie intake but also your vitamin and mineral levels.

 

[MountainTrails]

You gotta eat. Easier said than done sometimes.

When I am having trouble putting enough calories in, I don't obsess about food quality, at least in terms of trying to get an appetite jump-started. "Anything" is the name of the game. For me, a couple reliable ones are ramen, frozen turkey pot pies, sometimes yogurt, stuff like that. If I eat it, the odds are decent that I'll be back looking for more food in an hour.

For a while I was making fruit smoothies with whey protein in them; they went down easy and stuck around a while. But whatever appeals to you is the answer for now.

 

[Jabberwocky]

During the depths of my alcoholism I would rarely eat, and if I did it was non-nutritious foods. I rarely took any supplements or anything. My body was weak and damaged, and it contributed to my mind snapping.

Even during meth binges I would force myself to eat SOMETHING... anything!

I've never eaten much, but now that I'm a bit older I recognize how important eating is. It's literally how your body heals, balances and manages itself.

Even when I'm not hungry I at least force myself to eat a banana or power bar or something.

 

[Dcole461]

Thank you everyone for the replies. Just an update, I spoke to a registered dietitian yesterday and they said that because I've started losing weight again even though I'm eating more, it means my metabolism is still working so I'm not at risk for refeeding stndrome.

I'm feeling better everyday but I'm still struggling to get to the number of calories I need to (she said 3500 based on my activity level) and currently I'm at about 2500/day. So I'm just going to take it easy until I can work up to the calories I need to.