# Heart Problems



## TheMildlyStrangeone (Aug 13, 2007)

Hey all, I don't see too many guys posting over here so let me be the first. I'm a 22 year old stud (j/k, of course) and have a question. Have anyone ever heard of atrial fibrillation from being overweight or do I just have shat luck? One night, at my friend Nikkie's bday party, I got really wasted and was vomiting all night long. Oddly enough, I had sushi for the first time with my girlfriend and her family that night so the mixture coming out was unpleasant to say the least. Regardless, I kept waking up feeling as though my heart was flopping around in my chest. I have had palpitations my entire life and thought nothing of it at first. 

Needless to say, I woke up and semi-sober, went to the ER and wound up finding out I had to be admitted. Wound up being a week. So the dr. really couldn't come up with any conclusive reason for me having it other than a combination of heavy partying, sleep apnea, being overweight, but again, no conclusive evidence. So therefore, I already had horrible anxiety on top of that so it has been worse. Now, after that long and drawn out backround my question is basically have anyone else encountered heart problems from being overweight? I mean I finally came to terms that I was fat and was embracing it and now have to lose weight. I mean, with all the anxiety right now, I am eating almost nothing. Have no appetite. I've lost about 15 lbs in the last two weeks. I'm 6'2 and about 320 lbs and work on my feet in a warehouse all day long.


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## SamanthaNY (Aug 13, 2007)

I've had heart rhythm problems, but nothing that's required intervention (yet... I'm 45).

It's unusual in someone so young, but yes - weight can negatively impact the heart and contribute to or even cause problems. I think you should take your symptoms seriously, and pursue answers... with another doctor if you have to. When you were in the hospital, were you seen by a cardiologist? Did they put you on a Holter monitor?

Your quick weight loss concerns me. While being overweight does tax the heart, quick changes in weight (especially if it's up and down) can stress the heart more than just being fat. Your loss of 15 pounds in two weeks is unhealthy, in my opinion. It's wise to reduce or eliminate any stimulants like coffee, cola, chocolate (ohhh, the painnnn), but otherwise you want to maintain a healthy diet and if you plan to lose, do so slowly.

You mentioned a warehouse job - does that mean you have medical coverage? If so I think a trip to your doctor would answer many of your questions and concerns. Once you know exactly what you're dealing with, and have a plan for handling it, the anxiety won't be nearly so bad.


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## Aliena (Aug 13, 2007)

I agree with Sam with all she told you, but please consider this.


Good luck--


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## Sandie_Zitkus (Aug 13, 2007)

I think if you are having heart problems I would get a referral to a cardiologist. You need to see someone who does nothing but think, work and learn about heart problems.

I use to have palpatations when I had anxiety attacks. They stopped when I got on an anti-depressant. Also sleep apnea could be causing heart trouble. Get a sleep study as well.

I wouldn't ignore this. JMO


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## TheMildlyStrangeone (Aug 13, 2007)

oh no did I exclude the fact that I am currently being seen by a cardiologist and have a heart monitor on?!? lol I am sorry. Well but my point was more or less that I wasn't a heavy drinker, just on the weekends, like one weekend a month. Really my question was whether or not people had experience on this board since there is a large conglomeration of large folk.


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## Miss Vickie (Aug 14, 2007)

I'm not really sure if it's weight related although you have to admit that the heart has to work harder to push our blood around. That's why we tend, as a group, to have higher blood pressures, because the tension in the arteries increases with our weight. I'm glad you're wearing an event monitor; that'll definitely help diagnose what's going on, and your cardio doc should be able to suss out what the problem is. 

In the meantime, make sure you aren't overloading on stimulants like caffeine. I noticed a huge difference when I was in nursing school, chugging tons of coffee, diet soft drinks and stressed up the wazoo. I ended up in the ER with huge runs of PVC's and PAC's, and at one point became breathless and a little faint from it. Maybe just try to treat your body kindly while you get to the bottom of this; whether or not it's related to weight, partying, not sleeping, etc is not good for ya. 

Oh, and I hope they're getting you treated for sleep apnea??? That can cause huge problems with the heart and even lead to irreparable damage. Be nice to your ticker, and it'll be nice to you. 

Good luck and let us know how it works out. I have a friend going through a similar thing and they're talking about "zapping" the conduction pathway to get rid of some of the jumpy cells that are causing her arrhythmias. It sounds scary, but I hear they do it all the time.


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## Sandie S-R (Aug 16, 2007)

I have a diagnosed heart arythmia that is called SVT (Supra ventricular tachacardia). It is that flopping around in your chest feeling, run amuck. And it had absolutely nothing to do with being fat. Anyone can have it at any weight. It is a chemical imbalance that causes electrical miss-firings of the normal sinus heart rythm. 

It started when I was in my 30s but was very sporadic, and never lasted terribly long. Usually by the time I got to the ER it would be gone. The problem finally turned a corner about 7 years ago, when one night the intense thumping in my chest (my heart pounding very fast) started up, but didn't stop. After about 5 minutes of this I knew this was not going to stop on it's own, so we called 911. When the paramedics arrived my heart rate was 216 beats a minute. They started an IV and used an injectable drug called Denezine (sp?), that converted me to normal sinus rythm. They took me to the hospital and ran a ton of tests, but couldn't find anything wrong. They prescribed the drug Verapamil that was supposed to take care of the problem. It didn't. 

After several more episodes (all the same) where we had to call the paramedics who converted my heart to normal rythm with Denizine, the doctor decided on more intense tests, and eventually I was diagnosed with SVT. The dosage on the Verapamil was increased to 240mg, and a second drug was added, Atenolol, which is a beta blocker. That did the trick, and it has enver happened since. They have discussed doing an ablation, which is a surgical procedure where they run a line up thru your groin to the heart and zap the place in the heart where the problem is, with a lazer. However, since all is well with the drugs we're just letting things be for now.

My daughter has had these litle episodes (hers only last for a few seconds) and stop on their own, and Guy has had them too. Guy's are getting to the place where I'm about ready to make him see a cardiologist as well. Thing is, they are more common than we realize. A lot of people have this. Two things that are very important if you have this is, to CUT OUT CAFFIENE, and lower your stress levels. Both will kick in the arythmia, and the less you have of both, the less likely the heart flutters.

2nd, keep and eye on it (document any episodes), and consult your doctor to see if you need to see a cardiologist. This is generally not life threatening, but can be if left untreated, or undiagnosed.

Hope that helps.


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## Chubbyadmirer86 (Aug 18, 2007)

While I'm only 21 and don't have heart problems, my experience has been that being fat doesn't usually cause health problems until later in life. Even then, I don't know of weight affecting heart rythm. Fat, especially belly fat, can cause high blood pressure, high cholesterol, heart disease, and diabetes, but as far as I know, heart rythm isn't affected. I think the previous post hit the problem on the nose.


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## Dunhameverettjennifer (May 26, 2008)

Hi,
Joined this forum just so I could reply to your post! The same thing happened to me after I reacted to an antibiotic I was on for root canals I had done. It has happened 4 times now. The doctor in the ER told me that (since I have an enlarged left Atrium)...the Vegas Nerve was triggered by the vomitting and set off the Atrial Fibrulations. I know that One of the risks for death in martial arts is triggering the Vegas Nerve so that makes sense to me. I am a chemical sensitive and react gastronomically to a variety of things by vomitting so my risk of triggerring atrial fib. is quite high. Be careful of things like shrimp...not only is it a known allergen but a lot of frozen shrimp is treated with Sodium Tripolyphosphate...if you can't pronounce it--it is not good for you! It makes me deathly ill!
Anyway...hope this helps you iunderstand the mechanics of what happened...I am middle aged and only slightly heavy so I don't think your weight had anything to do with it...BUT, if you vomit that hard again, it might happen again.


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