I'm on Day 5 of induction and have lost about 6 pounds. The problem I'm having and I'm not even sure if it's diet related is it feels as if my heart is skipping a beat or something! I get a fluttering of some kind, almost like the start of a panic attack but it doesn't manifest itself into a panic attack. Has anyone else experienced this?

Thanks

A sign of potassium defficiency is a racing heart rate, palpitations and the feeling that you're having an anxiety attack. Are you taking a potassium supplement to replace what you lost when your system flushed out the excess water? If not, some "nuSalt" will help you greatly. 1/8th tsp in a large glass of water 2x a day during induction and once a day thereafter will do the trick. you can find "nuSalt" with the regular table salt at your grocery store.

Nat

Dear Karma,

Natrushka may be right about the potassium. I have hypokalemic (low potassium) Periodic Paralysis and use a low carb diet to control insulin and stabilize my muscle cell membranes. Once in a while, one of us dies when our potassium gets too low (in our case, it's not really gone, it's just in the wrong place--for you, the potassium is probably just being flushed down the toilet).

If you are having heart problems you need to, Need To, NEED TO go to the ER.

They may blow you off, but they can and should check for low potassium on the heart monitor. Classic EKG signs of low potassium are prolonged QT or PR intervals or flattened T waves. Any cardiologist should recognize low potassium if they know they are supposed to be looking for it. Please don't mess around with this. If your potassium is so low your heart rate or rhythm is affected, it needs to be fixed, and can be fixed NOW. Please don't wait. Go to the ER NOW. Drinking prescription potassium bicarbonate or getting some intravenus potassium may be able to stop the skippiness inside of 30 minutes and prevent your heart from loosing its rhythm completely.

Generally, most people can get by with over the counter potassium gluconate tablets during Induction. These usually come in 99 mg tablets and are equal to about 3% of the typical daily requirement. That means that 10 of these pills might be 30% of your daily needs when you are eating "normally". You might need a lot more during your Induction phase. If your EKG comes back showing low potassium, you might need to skip Induction and go on to eating 50-60 grams of carbs (still very low and effective for weight loss) plus get some prescription strength potassium. Talk with your docs. and please write again when you get back from the ER.

Yes, this is why I suggested "nuSalt", 1/8th tsp will provide you with 528 milligrams of potassium.

Rodney is correct, Karma, if this persists or if you feel worse you should seek medical attention ASAP.

N

Thanks guys,

The palpitations have stopped for a bit but the next time I get one, I'll go to the ER. For now though, I'll take the NuSalt...thanks again for all your help. This board is so wonderful, it's givin' me the strength to lose that 15 that I've been fighting with since I was a kid!

Karma

I have what is called a "pre-arterial heartbeat" according to my doctor - at least that's what I think he said.

It is occasional fluttering of my heart and it may often even feel like it's skipping a beat. It doesn't happen all the time, and it only started about 7 years ago.

He said that many things can trigger it, a surge of adrenalin is one, excess heat and humidity is another. I still get them periodically.

I was put on one of those halter monitors for 24 hours when I reported it, it was a good idea - then they run the tape back and can identify what your heart is doing when it acts weird.

Anyway I was told I could live a long healthy life, that the actions of my heart were just part of its "personality"

I can run 6 k non stop and my maximum hiking distance (so far) is 18 k.

THis used to happen to me before I started low-carbing. I would experience it frequently at night, after my sugar eating had ceased for the day.

This is from Dr. Atkins Super Energy Diet:

The most frequent disturbances in the rhythm of the heartbeat come on suddenly and are called paroxysmal atrial tachycardia (very rapid regular heartbeat) and paroxysmal atrial fibrillation (chaotic irregularity). A common, less serious rhythm upset is premature (or skipped) beats.

You would be astounded to learn just how often they are correctable by a dietary program.

I learned about this when my first head nurse was constantly reporting to the hospital emergency room with attacks of paroxysmal tachycardia. I noted that she was a four-teaspoons-of-sugar-in-her-coffee-person and made her take a glucose tolerance test. Her curve showed the typical diabetic-hypoglycemic pattern. When we finally got her to avoid sweets, she stopped having the attacks.

More than half the patients who consult me for upsets in heart rhythm have reported vast improvement after going on the diet.

If you are subject to any of these heart rhythm disturbances, no medical investigation of your case could be considered thorough unless a five or six hour glucose tolerance test is performed. If the results suggest an unstable sugar response, then an antihypoglycemic diet might just solve the problem.

Karen