Why is my heart pumping so hard?

[MySongAngel]

I'm a pretty healthy 24 year old that exercises regularly. This is day 3 of induction, and I noticed from last night and through today that my heart seems to be pumping extra hard. Other than that, I actually feel terrific. I feel better, physically, but my heart is worrying me a little. Could this be sugar withdrawal? Caffeine withdrawal? Has anyone else experienced this?

[sassygoddess13]

I too experienced it. Have you been taking a multivitamin?

[MySongAngel]

Yes... the 2nd day and the 3rd (today) I took one in the morning, but not the first.

[Moochiecat]

I would suggest you go talk to your doctor about this.
It could be something related to withdrawal from sugar and caffiene, but I'm not a doctor, nor do I play one on TV.

I found that during Induction I was super-aware of every gurgle, thud or pang that went on in my body, so maybe it's that...but..

When in doubt, check it out!! :yes

[spazzyhilo]

It could also be a sympton of induction flu.. you're body is switching to a fat burning metabolism and maybe its just excited about it.

Try to relax a little and not push your body so much with excercise and see if that helps, switching to fat burning mode does a lot to ones body and it takes some adjusting.

If it doesn't get better by tomorrow, I would definitely recommend a visit to the doctor.

[future_perfect]

Hi Angel,

Well, I'm not a doctor, but I will be in a couple of years (ploughing through med school at the moment arty ). Please don't worry about your thudding heart - it's a very common response to radical diet change.

The reason your heart is beating so hard is because your blood sugar is lower than normal. Here's how it works:

Your brain needs raw, neat glucose all the time. Normally, you eat sugary food and your blood sugar goes up, keeping your brain happy. On low-carb diets however your blood sugar is lower than your brain likes. Now insulin has no effect on your brain's glucose uptake, so your brain has to use a different hormone.

Imagine you're walking home when suddenly a monster leaps out at you. You get a massive rush of adrenaline - your heart rate rockets, you sweat, you shake... and another thing adrenaline does is bring sugar out of storage places like your liver and muscles, ready for you to fight the moster/run off.

So when your blood sugar is low, your brain tells your adrenal gland to release some adrenaline in the hope of squeezing some extra sugar out of your liver or muscles. While it's doing this, it has the side-effect of making your heart thump harder than normal.

Your body isn't happy about burning fat - it depserately wants to hold onto it for future emergencies. It won't start burning fat until it's exhausted all other glucose sources - which is why it takes you a few days to get into ketosis (during these first few days, you're burning your liver and muscle's glycogen stores).
Give it a week or so and your brain should realise there's no glycogen left and give up the whole adrenaline idea, instead settling down with fat burning as its glucose source. With some people it takes days, some it takes a week or more... just stick with the low-carbs and eventually your body will surrender to ketosis of its precious precious flubber.

I hope this was helpful - if you're still worried then of course visit your doctor - I'm only a lowly student after all

[MySongAngel]

Thank you... that information makes a lot of sense, and compliments what Dr. Atkins has written.

[JESTEROO]

I have experienced the same sort of thing.

I can be sound asleep at night, and be awakened by a sudden rapid heart rate, bounding, with palpitations. I feel short of breath - almost like I am having one of my Asthma attacks - but not. I usually sit up, and the shortness of breath gets better - but the rapid rate continues for 10 - 15 minutes . . . off and on all night. It doesn't happen every night . . . but it does happen frequently. I am a paramedic, and don't feel that it is a situation that should summon an ambulance at the time. . . but it does make me wonder. I often think I may have a case of Nocturnal Dyspnea - or sleep Apnea. While growing up, I used to often dream I was being suffocated, strangled, or something similar . . . and would wake up gasping for air. It was suggested then that I may have Apnea, but the physician told my mother that I would out grow it.

I do know that caffiene was a stimulant for this, and the episodes have decreased since I cut that out of my diet. I am hoping living the Atkins life will remedy the rest of it!

[future_perfect]

That sounds like a *classic* case of obstructive sleep apnoea to me... and your physician's wrong,

I'd definitely recommend you get yourself checked out again - it can be so easily cured (they make these headbrace things that stop your epiglottis falling over your trachea when asleep) but if left untreated can lead to terrible things like nodding off while driving

[JESTEROO]

Future,

Sounds like it is time I make a trip to the doc ! ensive Thanks for the nudge !

[Sherry1963]

Although I would never tell anyone not to go to the doctor if they think they have just cause, I can relate to JESTEROO's experience.

Last year when I did Atkins for the very first time, in my 12th week of induction I had the very same experience. I woke up gasping for breath, heart pounding and feeling positively terrified. A 6 am trip to the emergency room and blood tests and an EKG all came back normal. The ER doctor told me that it was just my body's response to the diet. That his wife had tried it but quit after a couple days because she felt so miserable. He told me that it was up to me if I wanted to continue the induction or move to the next level. But what I was experiencing was not harming me.

[DrSbaitso]

Hello!
Just been reading through your thread, interesting stuff!
Let me first say that I've been a qualified doc for 5 years and currentyl doing medicine, ie a physician

1\ mysongangel: the brain would not usually release adrenaline in response to hypoglycaemia (ie low sugar levels). If that were the case diabetics would realise they were having a hypo by feeling their heart pound, and that would make their lives easier. I'm not sure what you mean when you say you feel your heart beating stronger? is it palpitations (ie the obtrusive feeling of your heart beating in your chest at rest) or is it something else? There should be no reason for you (or anyone else) to experience this, and my advice would definitely to pop to your GP (or family doctor I think you guys have) and have some blood test and an ECG/blood pressure.
2\ jesteroo: I agree with future_perfect on this one, though it's not exactly classical (if it were you'd have it EVERY night, and have lots of day time somnolence/sleepiness), but you have to rule out sleep apnoea as your problem. Again there should be no reason for atkins to cause all this. This only applies if you've had these symptoms before atkins
If you've had them since starting atkins, then what could be happenning is that you're heart is suddenly running too fast, and this is leading to the shortness of breath (rather than the opposite way, as in apnoea). This wakes you up and as you say, the heart races along for 10-15 minutes before settling down. If this is the case, then I again think you should see your doctor. He might even put you on a 24 hour ECG to see what's going on at night.

Please be safe and don't blame everything on atkins. I'm on day 8 induction and have not had ONE SINGLE side effect. So, I can't emphasise strongly enough on visiting your doctor when things go funny.

Cheers!