Heart Palpitations - Editor's Choice

I just want to report an incident that happened to me recently that may be good for others to know. I was trying to increase my potassium intake since I've had little or no appetite since my husband died. I ordered some powdered potassium chloride, and after taking the recommended amount for five days my heart went nuts! I suddenly had an irregular, racing heartbeat with discomfort across the top of my chest! I was concerned enough to take myself to drive half an hour to the nearest emergency room where I was put on a machine that apparently monitored my heartbeat for all to see. Nothing was done by the staff to fix the problem. I laid there and laid there until I was really bored.

The only thing happening around me was the occasional visit by a nurse, and sometimes I'd hear a group of nurses and what have you laughing, like down a hallway. It seemed I laid there for at least 2 hours and finally was so sick of it, ha, ha, that I suddenly got the notion to see what would happen if I did some slow, deep breathing. I took only a few of those deep breaths, check my pulse and it was normal!!

Then, one of the emergency staff came over, and, looking at the monitor, said, well, I see we're back to a regular heartbeat! I told the woman what I had done and was met with silence. Days later, while at a doctor's office, the same thing happened. I said I felt I had corrected my heart rhythm with deep breathing, and the doctor just got a very skeptical look on his face and didn't say anything. Ha, ha, but, it's really unfortunate that we have this divide, like our political divide. I wish MDs had a more rounded education.

Since that episode, I am noticing an occasional palpitation that would go away on its own, but I can stop it faster by breathing deeply. Interesting how all these various parts of us are connected, the brain-gut connection, brain-heart connection. I think there's a brain-breath connection, too.

Here's a bit from a website called "premier heart and vascular.com":

"Can breathing exercises stop palpitations? Deep breathing that causes your abdomen to rise and fall can calm a racing heart. Make sure to breathe slowly and deeply, inhaling through your nose and exhaling either through your nose or mouth. Repeat this deep breathing pattern until your symptoms go away, and your heart is beating normally. Sep 5,2019"

p.s. I'm 78.

My PVCs began hard and heavy during a stressful time of my life. Ironically, I was having acid reflux issues at the same time. I decided to take a course of Prevacid to counter the reflux and noticed that my PVCs began to improve. I just assumed the PVCs were winding down because the stress was. Be advised that I have "silent" Reflux, which means I don't usually experience symptoms even though I do have the reflux. I also don't take meds unless I have to.

So, as my Reflux felt better, I chose to stop the Prevacid. Shortly thereafter, the PVCs came back with a vengeance. So I began to experiment. I would start a round of antacids and then take a break for a while. Always on the breaks the PVCs became worse. Not wanting to take Prevacid the rest of my life, I started drinking baking soda every night before bed. This simple trick substantially improved my PVCs. Basically taking them from unbearable to manageable. I have done this for 2 years now.

Okay, recently I began taking ginger supplements. I noticed at that my PVCs were so rare, I felt normal again. I did not at the time make the connection with the ginger. However, about a week after I stopped the ginger, my PVCs started coming back. Again I bought more ginger and again noticed improvement within days.

I finally put everything together. I believe my PVCs are directly linked to my acid reflux. A trunkline nerve runs down your GI tract to the heart. It is called the vagus nerve. When your acid reflux acts up your GI tract becomes inflamed. It is my opinion that this inflammation aggravates the vagus nerve and thus leads the heart to misfire.

I do not believe I am cured of PVCs as they show up occasionally. However, God has given me my normal life back.

The protocol I use is as follows:

Baking Soda: 1/2 teaspoon mixed with 1 ounce of water at bedtime.

Ginger: 1100mg tablet daily.

Yes, yogurt causes heart palpitations because it has lactic acid. Lactic acid is peculiarly toxic to the cell's mitochrondria. Atheletes dread lactic acid buildup and wish one day they can rid of them. Well there is a remedy, it is the acetates (and can come from apple cider vinegar and the side effects are also reduced with citrates - from lemon and bicarbonates).

As a student when I studied biochemistry I would cringe at the idea of lactic acid. If I do a cell cultures, and use lactic acid as a pH to adjust to ideal biological conditions, the cell cultures would immediately die. This is a well known fact.

Since the heart is the source of constant energy, mitochrondrial health is extremely important. Lactic acid buildup intracellulary is dangerous, and this is why athletes have short lives - from long lactic acidosis causing muscular fatigue, thus heart attack is frequent.

In my opinion, magnesium acetate and potassium acetate are an ideal form, and this is found best whenever apple cider vinegar and baking soda is added. May I dare say that apple cider vinegar and baking soda is a food for the heart.

The other issue is the calcium buildup which causes the cells to function improperly. Usually a citrates, found in 8 teaspoons of lime juice (or lemon) plus 1/2 teaspoon of baking soda is taken reduces the serum calcium buildup which clogs the cells. This should also help.

The best detoxification of lactic acid is either sodium acetate, potassium acetate, magnesium acetate. These acetate forms are found whenever apple cider vinegar is taken, in any brand, and it is reacted with the body's bicarbonates to neutralize and convert to acetate. The cells use the acetate to rid the body of lactic acid. The problem about ridding the intracellular is half of the problem. The other is the body needs to neutralize the acid extracellularly also, which I think is best handled with baking soda and citrates (lemon juice). I remember that whenever a person has a heart attack, they use Harvey Teams (in hospitals) to inject a large syringe of baking soda. This is a quick remedy, but not a complete one. Acetates, magnesium, potassium, and bicarbonates is the preferred remedy to use, in my opinion anyway.

I recently have a friend who came to visit me one day and told me her heart had a terrible heart palpitations that she would nearly faint and breathing becomes a problem. I knew it was a simple electrolytic imbalance. After taking 1/16 teaspoon of potassium citrate, 1/16 sea salt, 1/16 teaspoon of magnesium chloride, and some sodium citrate, the conditions stopped within minutes and never came back.

People never realize that these electrolytes are the power cells that gives cells their electrical energy. In the olden days, they use salt with a cardboard in layers to create electricity (Alessandro Volta). If you have a multimeter, most salt solutions do have electricity. Usually it is about 1/2 volts, in case you are wondering. Just imagine what happens if the body's electrolytes are imbalance or lacking, the heart needs electrical energy for normal heart beat too.