Resist Triggering Thoughts to Prevent Palps

Heart palpitations can wreck your life, upsetting a lot of dreams. I know it and I know how it feels. When I first had them (sometime in the 1980s) I couldn't do anything without getting its "approval." I mean, I had to always consider my heart condition, being unable to do things because they might provoke abnormal heart beats. I had to "ask permission" from my heart before I could decide on anything. If I did this or that, would my heart approve? It was crazy. I didn't know how to deal with it yet.

Photo by Clay Banks on Unsplash.

One day, I decided that abnormal beats cannot rule my life anymore. I cannot let them decide for me, especially what I can do and be happy with, when and where. I had to start taking control again. At first I doubted if this would really happen. But I read in the bible that all things are possible to him who believes. And fear and doubt are from the devil, and the bible says I must resist him. Moreover, Jesus said things will happen according to how I believe they would. God leaves the "how" to me. He backs with his power my faith on how "how" will happen. So I stuck with that rule. Resist triggering thoughts!

 

My story on how I won against heart palpitations.

What I did to prevent, manage and sometimes stop palpitations.

Get more info here.

Palpitations Enslave

My activities were kept to an "extreme minimum" and I was mostly at home or kept in my bedroom because I was afraid of having an attack away from home where no help from folks who knew my condition could be available. It was unimaginable to be amid strange people while you were having an attack. My foremost fear then was that, they might do something stupid in their sincere effort to help me--like apply CPR on me because they thought I was having cardiac arrest. My palpitations were not a sign of heart disease or cardiac arrest. They happened due to extra electrical heart pulses. I had more electricity than the usual person. I'm electrified. 😄

You can never tell. There are people "happy on the trigger," as it were, just eager to apply their skills in CPR once they see the slightest hint of what they think is a heart attack. Or, they might take me to a wrong heart specialist who may try a lot of stupider things on me. Yup, I actually experienced things like this in the hands of doctors who felt the need to prove themselves as the best experts. They'd insist on their opinions even if you say you already have a personal heart specialist who knows exactly what your condition is. Like an ER lady doc who insisted I was having a "heart failure" when I was rushed for excessive bloating. I showed my regular real heart doctor her diagnosis and he just giggled.

So, in the initial years when I first had palpitations, I stayed at home most of the time.

Battlefield of the Mind

But you need to fight. Anything that tends to keep you imprisoned in your room or home or your "safe zone" should be resisted. Don't let your heart condition rule you or set the parameters in your life. It has a tendency to do that. Don't let it. Take back control. But I did this one step at a time. You cannot do this in one sitting like magic. You conquer one small territory at a time. Don't be in a hurry. Relax and enjoy, but make sure you progress. You progress by actually doing it regularly. All the details are in my e-book, "How I Became Palpitation Free."

I started with my mind. I trained my mind to think normal again. And here's exactly what I mean--I got rid of the thought that I might die anytime (this thought tortured me) because of heart palpitations and I also told myself that I shouldn't limit myself to certain places (comfort zones) to reduce the chances of palpitating. I demolished all these thoughts by doing what palpitations forbade me to do. I started brisk walking and exercising, enjoying the outdoors more, laughing and having fun, while at the same time carefully observing precautions. Neither should you be careless.

You need to balance them--freedom, caution and responsibility. I started here. It begins with a battle in your mind. Your mind should "tell" your heart what to do, not the other way around. I had epic fails now and then, of course. It was expected. It was hard but it had to be done. Having palpitations can be so discouraging to the max. But I didn't give up. After a long while, my next step was to study my heart palpitation. Not all palpitations are the same, though in a sense they are.

All palpitations are fast and abnormal heart beats. But their causes and effects differ. Some are caused by thyroid problems, some by caffeine, some by heart illness. Mine is caused by rising gas in the tummy (bloating) affecting a nerve. Some palpitations are accompanied by difficulty breathing, dizziness, sweating and others. Mine wasn't, although at first I thought it was.

Most abnormal heartbeats are treated with maintenance meds. Mine was at first but later was stopped by the doctor except for an as-needed pill. But all abnormal heartbeats need to be pacified with positive thoughts. Resisting triggering thoughts is both a good preventive and a calming and relaxing first aid during attacks while medical treatment is unavailable. 

Water as a Heartoholic Calmer

I noticed when I was hydrated enough, I more easily controlled my ectopic heart beats or prevented them. When I felt like a palpitation was forthcoming, I just drank a glass of tap water to preempt it. It worked lots of times. Moreover, my medical heart doctor suggested I try drinking cold water during heart palpitations. I tried it many times and it worked, too. Water is life.

Photo by Lanju Fotografie on Unsplash.

Here's how I kicked out palpitations from my life and now enjoy total freedom from it. It includes my struggles and experiences with palpitation and what I did to manage it and reduce its effects, if not stopped it. Click here for more.

Once, I was in a public restroom in Munoz market when palpitations happened without warning. I walked to Walter Mart to rest hoping it would go away, but it didn't. So I called up my wife on the phone and told her my situation. She came at once from the school she worked in (she used to be a school teacher) with a tall glass of ice-cold water. While drinking it straight, the palpitations stopped. It often worked like that. Then I was able to proceed to my appointment after that.

Water is Often the Key to Health

Thank God I was just a few minutes away from her school that time. If I was somewhere far I'd be in big trouble. There'd be no way she could come to my aid quickly. I would've taken a cab back home and rested there all day and spoiled my appointment. Instead, after a few minutes of resting, I proceeded to my client meeting in Pasig and finished the interview for a magazine article. I thanked God that everything still went well. 

Several times, cold water did it. Countless times when I woke up with palpitations at night or dawn, cold water did the trick. But I learned something more. If I kept myself well hydrated through the day, there were lesser chances of palpitation. Well, I'm not surprised because water is a known health promoter, a powerful heartoholic calmer. And the body is about 70 percent water, so I see a connection there.

And water is often the remedy for any small illnesses.

I researched online and found scarce studies on water and heart health. But medical science doesn't know everything. In fact, a lot of things patients complain about cannot be explained by some doctors. I've had a lot of heart doctors before who could not figure out what my problem was. And when I asked my present heart doctor about some organic health supplements, he merely said that anything I think would help was good. But generally, he said water was good for the health.

Water and Heart Health

The site WebMD says severe lack of water can affect blood supply to the organs. To me, that clarifies everything. It's easy to see why lack of water affects the heartbeat, especially during hot days. Moreover, the same medical site says water is a good stress reliever. And don't we heart optopics know that stress is a big factor in atrial fibrillation (FB or afib)?

My palpitations are solely due to gas in the tummy. So I try to keep my acid reflux at bay. I do this by drinking enough water each day. Water can arrest too much stomach acidity, and it works for me. But stress sometimes contribute to gas. Too much stress can stir the acids and produce gas that goes up and tap something in your heart somewhere and trigger palpitations. They say it's the vagus nerve.

When I feel dead tired, I mentally control stress by telling my body my tiredness has nothing to do with gas. "Gas, you shut up. There's no reason why you should act up!" I tell it. And it helps, especially when I do it while drinking cool water and relaxing and thinking of nice things. It works. I have proved to myself several times that a lot about health is water and mind over body--that is, if you keep a healthy lifestyle as well.

Don't practice mind over body and then abuse your body with unhealthy lifestyles. And anyway, your mind wouldn't be able to control your body if you are unhealthy.

Don'ts with Water

However, here are some dos and don'ts. Don't drink water while eating. This disrupts the work of your digestive acids and enzymes so that food in your intestines get digested slower and makes food stay longer there, sometimes even rot. That invites more bad bacteria to the area and worsens your stomach gas. That may make you more susceptible to palpitations and then you wonder what's happening.

Drink water an hour after meals. That gives enough time for your digestive system to do its work completely. But another warning here---after an hour, make sure to drink enough water. If not, it could again build up gas and trigger palpitation. Your body always needs enough water.

Enough Water

But how much water is "enough water"?

It depends on your body size, weight and physical activity. Ask your heart doctor or professional dietitian or nutritionist about it. In general, it's 8 glasses a day with 330 ml of water each glass. Active and sweaty folks may need more. To me 8 are enough. I just have mild exercises daily---walking, push-ups, some weights, isometrics and martial arts shadow boxing.

Drink Fresh

Finally, avoid drinking from bottled water. Water there is stale, kept for a long time on the shelves or storage. Worse, if you drink water left in the bottle a long time and which you have already drank from. The saliva you deposited into the bottle the first time you drank from it will cause bacteria to breed and contaminate the water. That, again, is added acid.

Or, the bottled water may have been exposed to the sun's UV rays (left in the car where sunlight reaches it) and made more dangerously acidic.

As much as possible, drink fresh water taken fresh from the faucet or water dispenser. Drinking alkaline water now and then is also good. But remember, your body also needs healthy amounts of acid to digest food. Too much alkalinity is also unhealthy. Often, tap water is enough. Stay away from distilled water.

Turning Palpitations into a Blessing: Prevention and Cure

You can't sulk in your room all day everyday and expect to get better. I realized this one day after brooding about my life and palpitations a long time. Years actually. I was afraid one wrong move could result to palpitative miseries, so I figured I better limit my movements and confine myself in  my room, in my lonely chair. That was a big mistake.

Photo by Arek Adeoye on Unsplash.

Be Angry, Not Worried

I worried a lot about making wrong moves because my palpitations could be easily triggered by wrong position standing up, sitting down or lying down. Or even improper distribution of my weight on my feet. It's weird and stupid. But I realized I couldn't go on living this way. I must overcome all this and not let it rule my life. Never! Yeah, I was angry. How could I just give up without a good fight?

But don't be so angry that it affects your health, too. Or your life. Like getting mad at everyone or everything and being a difficult person, or being violent. What I mean is, be angry enough to fight back in your mind and determine to be free from the shackles of palpitation. Don't be passive and just let negative things happen to you. Be indignant!

I successfully kick out my palpitations for good. Thank GOD. I share all my experiences with palpitations in this e-book, especially how I managed them, successfully remedied them or even stopped them, and finally get rid of them totally. Click here for more.

Fight Back, Walk and Be Happy

I started with walking. If you prefer, walk with someone who can understand and support you in case you have palpitations while walking. You need support to help you calm down during an attack. But don't think of that all the while you're walking. Don't think you will have an attack so you're going to need support. Instead, think of nice things. Look at the surroundings--God's creation and gift to us--and see how beautiful they are---people, flowers, butterflies and birds, leaves, trees, neighbors, dogs and cats. Everything. Even traffic.

I realized how much I'd been missing when I first ventured into the streets alone after a long time being kept in my room. The fresh cool air early in the morning and the gentle sun, most especially. And then I thought, if I didn't have palpitation I wouldn't have thought of walking early in the morning and determining to exercise regularly. I would've preferred to stay in bed instead and probably lay idle there all morning, all day, and waste my health in the process. I wouldn't have decided to exercise regularly and live a healthy lifestyle.

Or, I would've become too busy with work like everybody else and waste my life doing that everyday. Yeah, palpitations made me stop doing my job and kept me home, but it gave me plenty of time to be with God alone, meditate His Word, be with my wife and family, write, blog and read a lot, plus really workout regularly, and spend time with myself. A blessing in disguise.

I Turned It Into a Blessing

But you have to decide to turn it into a blessing in disguise. Desire it, mean it and will it. Pray for it and work it out (one way of working it out is by following the tips in this blog as you consult your heart doctor about them). Because if you just let palpitation or anxiety have their way, they can work like a curse. They'll make you their slave.

How did I do it?

First, I walked around the house for hours. It was a safe start. In case something went wrong, I could just sit down and rest. Anyway, I was just home. I could shout for help anytime and my family and relatives would be there in no time. And palpitations have the habit of stopping sometime soon. It will cease, just wait patiently. Well, there were times I felt too uncomfortable so I asked to be sent to the ER of the Philippine Hear Center for Asia and get an intravenous procedure that involved a cold liquid injected through my raised left arm vein. I forgot what it was called.

Intravenous Heart Calmer at the ER

In my research, I found that continuous palpitation for two or three hours may need going to the ER. But my heart doctor told me that I could let it stay for 2 or 3 hours as long as I take my as-needed medicine. If it takes longer, then I could go visit the ER. But I hated doing that in this pandemic, with hospitals full of cases. So I prayed to God for immediate relief, and my palps lasted only for a few minutes. Thank GOD I'm free from palpitations now.

Back to the ER procedure. I felt that liquid go from my hand through my arm, shoulder, chest and heart and made my heartbeat faint and real slow, feeling like I was about to pass out. The ER room grew dark (though it was well lighted) and I felt so weak like I was going to die. It's probably how a dying person felt. I felt my life was about to pass away, that I was about to leave this world. And I thought of my wife who was there somewhere near, calmly watching. I know she was worried. She just didn't want me to see it. What if I died?

At first I felt fear. I didn't want to die. But then I decided not to fight it. I just trusted God and the procedure. Something in me told me to relax and surrender. I relaxed in God's presence. I was sure He was there holding me. In fact, before the procedure, I had asked the ER staff and doctors to pray with me. The medical staff and doctors looked so worried while they were about to do the procedure, but I just smiled and relaxed. I assured them everything was going to be okay. I know God will not let anything go wrong. HE was there. I led in prayer.

After a while, my heart beat, pulse rate and BP seemed to go flat (said my wife told me about it later) but also quickly and instantly redounded and normalized. I heard it, too, through the monitor. It was scary! In the three instances that this procedure was done to me on different days, I always thanked God when everything normalized. There was a really scary episode on this, but it's for another blog article.

Back to Walking

Anyway, back to walking. I walked around our yard first. And then I walked some distance along our street, back and forth. And then I walked around the block. And then I added push-ups, pull-ups and isometric exercises. And so on. I always consulted my heart doctor about it all.

I noticed that with regular exercises like walking, I got fewer palpitation attacks. Fewer tendencies, too. And if I did have palpitations, they were shorter compared with the times I just sulked in my room all day. Moreover, regular walking (and healthy lifestyle) prevented any more complications from occurring. It will be harder to deal with palpitations if you also had diabetes, hypertension or other illnesses. So keep healthy while you're diabetes or hypertension free.

I strongly recommend (with your doctor's okay) leisure or easy walking at first. Just walk and stroll around enjoying what you see. Do this for 30 minutes a day initially, and then gradually increase to 40 minutes a day if you can. You may also slowly switch to brisk walking after, say, 3 to 6 months of leisurely walking. You don't have to pressure yourself. You're not competing for the Olympics. You simply want to be healthy.

Now that I'm free from palpitations, I enjoy working out at home doing jogging-in-place, push-ups, and isometrics. Sometimes I lift some weights. But often I shadow box, with punches and kicks or with arnis sticks or knives for aero workouts. I also teach Filipino martial arts now and then.

Walking may not totally cure ailments but it can definitely make you feel better. Sometimes, I even hear stories of ailments just naturally going away through years of praying, healthy living and brisk walking. It's worth a try. And walking entails so small an expense. Sometimes even nothing. You simply go out there and walk.

Walking is strongly advised by most doctors, no matter what the ailment, and especially for people with heart palpitation problems. If you seriously decide on walking outdoors regularly, have a companion or a mobile phone with you in case of an emergency. Also carry a portable heart monitor if possible. And do everything your heart doctor tells you.

As for me, I simply walked in the streets without special gadgets except my old cellphone. Keep things simple.

The Power of Discipline and Palpitation Control

Discipline--it's often everything in, well, almost everything. Especially in recuperating, healing, or just plain managing certain ailments, discipline is tops. Some say it's the key to getting a cure. Never take it lightly. If you don't have a habit of discipline with your heart palpitations, you'd just suffer more. So I developed my anti-palpitation discipline.

Photo by Thao Le Hoang on Unsplash.

I found this out years ago. Back then, I just waited when palpitation would suddenly strike because I didn't know what to do, much less how to prevent it. I felt like a helpless victim just waiting to be victimized again. It's sheer horror not knowing when it'll strike next, especially when you know it will. Until one day, after observing patterns and signs that palpitations made, I started figuring out effective corresponding preventives. I noted them and decided to make an e-book.

Learn more about my e-book on how I beat my heart palpitations and am now palpitation free, not needing any maintenance medicine. Watch out for this e-book. But you can be among the first to buy it. Email me at palpitationfree@gmail.com.

Mind you, preventive measures or disciplines that I share in my e-book worked specifically for me. What works for me may not work for others. But it may. Who knows. Often, you have to figure out your own preventive discipline by carefully observing your heart palpitation tendencies and patterns and see how you can effectively prevent or control them naturally. Work with your heart doctor and make sure to get a medical doctor just right for your palpitation case.

However, some tips I share in the e-book may help you figure out your preventive disciplinary measures, if not outright work for you, too. They're important measures also recommended by some doctors, and you'd find more if you buy my e-book above. For more information about the e-book, please email at palpitationfree@gmail.com.

Lifestyle

I noted that healthy lifestyle contributed a lot to preventing my heart palpitations. Never underestimate healthy eating, sleeping, good eating habits (you may be eating healthy food but you eat them at the wrong time, for instance), proper napping, relaxation (mind and body), exercises, positive socializing, etc. Everything healthy.

Try walking. Ask your doctor if it's okay. If it is, walk regularly and enjoy it. I highly advice it. Walking helps you divert your thoughts from worrying about palpitations to thinking about a good life. Regular walking can correct a lot of health defects and keeps your mind relaxed and positive. It also gives you better life perspectives as you enjoy the outdoors. Sulking in a corner all day makes you focus on your palpitation or panic tendencies. so, go out! I also do a lot of jogging-in-place and shadow boxing. But ask your doctor first.

Don't stay idle in one position. Stand up now and then and walk around. Staying sitting for a long time disturbs normal blood circulation. And we know that the heart has to do with blood behavior. Also, prolonged idle positions also affect normal oxygen intake of the lungs. Lungs and heart are connected.

Food

I do away with anything unnatural---food coloring, preservatives, additives with names that sound like they came from outer space, sugar or its chemical replacement---in fact, anything chemicalized, especially synthetic beverages, vitamins, spices, flavoring or seasoning. I don't eat much white bread because it has lots of inflammatory ingredients. Or cakes and pastries. I stay away from anything processed or too sweet or have lots of carbs. Well, okay, I allow myself some cheats now and then.

I'm pescatarian, eating fish and vegetables because this has lots of positive effects on me, especially regular bowel movement. If your bowel movement is irregular, gas builds up from rotten stacked up stool in the intestines and that gas can trigger palpitation. But neither am I all-vegetarian because I don't want to deprive myself of good meat now and then. Just enjoy life.

The idea is simple---avoid getting too acidic or too alkaline. Our digestive system needs natural acids in the body to digest food. But be careful not to add anything more, especially synthetic acids we get from unhealthy food and lifestyles (due to overstress and lack of fun). Does being too acidic trigger heart palpitations? I think so. I observe it to be so. I noticed that when I was too acidic and had a bad case of reflux, the palpitations were worse and frequent. Anyway, experts say being too acidic is bad for overall health, and so is being too alkaline. Bad for the health surely means bad for the heart.

Don't eat and lie in bed or go immediately to sleep. Allow 2 hours for proper digestion. So eat your supper early. If you eat supper at 6 pm, you may go to bed at 8 pm. I often eat supper at 5 pm.

Drink

Be careful what you drink. Even water. Don't drink distilled. I'd rather drink clean tap water or lemon water now and then (not always though). Totally forget about sodas, softdrinks and canned or artificial juices. I drink fresh fruit juices without sugar. If I need them a bit sweeter I use raw honey or coco sugar. Brown sugar is a bit tolerable. 

Drink lots of water (but not cold or ice-cold). Water can counter acidity and bloating because it induces burping out gas. Yup, gas triggers heart palpitations in many people. I drink 8 to 10 glasses of 330 ml each day. But I drink them gradually. I seldom drink a glass of water in one sitting. Sometimes I do, but I regulate it to prevent sudden stomach gas upsurge. Take everything easy. Don't overdo them. Relax.

Don't drink right after eating meals. This makes it harder for your digestion to do its job. When I feel like drinking immediately after meals I just take 3 or 4 small sips. But mostly, I don't drink till after an hour.

Laugh

I'm not saying you Lol. Just laugh enough, making sure the laughter does not trigger palpitations. When I laugh, I make sure there's no electric fan around (I don't sleep with a fan blowing directly at or near me) or the air-conditioning does not blow directly on me. Don't laugh if you're bloated.

If there's something really stupid and funny and you can't avoid lol, pray that God would prevent palpitations. It works for me. With God's help I laughed mildly when I used to have palpitations and felt bloated but nothing bad happened.

Without Discipline You Make It Harder for Yourself

I know someone who knows eating beef triggers her palpitation. Yet she eats it anyway, saying she can't do away with it because it tastes so good. Some folks still drink wine or coffee regularly even if it triggers palpitations in them. Some never see their doctor and self-medicate instead. It's needless punishment to suffer more than you're supposed to.

Yeah, God allows palpitations in some folks, though it's a most unneedful thing to have, really (God knows what He's allowing in our lives). But God has a good purpose for everything. I believe that.

For instance, God didn't create sin, but its there. He allows it. And it's stupid to have it. God isn't stupid, but sin is. Get it? But God also allows that through discipline and patience, we can overcome sin and get rid of it.

And it might be that God allows palpitation for some people like us to help us become more disciplined and enjoy better health--and discover real power in weakness. Really! Because of my health discipline to prevent palpitations as much as possible, I have normal blood chemistry results and enjoy my ideal weight, fitness, health and physical strength. It's all thanks to God.

Probably, if I didn't have palpitations, I'd also enjoy unhealthy lifestyles like most people do and suffer worse, really deadly ailments. I often see heart palpitations as God's preemptive measure to help us take good care of our bodies. But it shouldn't be permanent. Nothing in this life lasts, nothing is meant to be permanent. So is palpitation. I believe this.

Be Patient, Too!

Some people, just because they started with healthy lifestyles for 3 or 6 months, expect to be perfectly well after. Natural processes in the body can take long. The body may need more time to recover or repair itself depending on the damage or abuse wrought on it. Be patient. Just go on, with or without immediate good results. Healthy lifestyles can only do you good.

Work with your doctor. Naturally healthy preventives work well with maintenance meds, too.

I expect to start really reaping the good fruits of being pescatarian after 3 years, although I'm starting to enjoy some now. Just imagine---you fed your body wrong food for decades. Do you expect it to fully recover in 6 months or 1 year? I believe God can do it in the wink of an eye if he wants to. He did it a lot in the bible. But he also allows natural processes for some things, for some reason.

He often wants us to develop the virtues of discipline and patience more than being pampered with instant miracles--though I believe so much in instant miracles. Instant miracles can do a lot of transformation to our character. You see, GOD might want to use us to heal others miraculously, but for us to be of real use to him, we should have developed these two virtues in us. So, just hang on, be disciplined, rely on God and expect the best.

Why Palpitation is Sometimes Psychological

Heart palpitation is real. I once had a heart doctor who told me that  my palpitations were only my imagination. So she gave me prescriptions for Valium, which I never took. She also suggested that I spend vacation in some monastery or something to enjoy peace of mind--because she said I was just imagining my heart condition. What I did was look for another doctor who'd take me seriously. Your BP reading, heart rate and ECG result cannot just be your imagination.

Photo by Hello I'm Nik on Unsplash.

Sometimes Imagined

But sometimes, things that trigger palpitation is only psychological. It's just your imagination (though I was sure it wasn't so in my case). Especially, your imagination can go berserk with excessive nervousness, which is panic. Panic can result to palpitations. We think we might have palpitation---or anticipate it---and it happens. We shouldn't underestimate mind power. I discovered this for myself. I was so worried about heart palpitation that I imagined myself triggering it if I did this or that. And those times, it often happened. The mind sometimes works like that--it manifests what it believes. I discussed this in my e-book.

Watch out for my e-book.

Then I fought fear. I thought about life positively. Focusing on God's promises in the bible helped a lot. I mean a lot! And going out of the house to enjoy nature, my neighborhood and people also did good to me. I left my prison (my room) and got out and had adventures. Change of environment keeps your thoughts away from what might happen. Sometimes we tend to pet our illnesses instead of getting rid of them.

Anxiety is NOT a pet. 

But Then It Can Be Real

But don't get me wrong. There are real causes of palpitation---wrong diet, wrong lifestyle, certain internal health conditions (thyroid problems or other problematic organs or systems in the body), and others. There are even situations when palpitation just happens for no apparent reason, and this is usually something tricky to deal with, like what I had in the beginning of my ordeal. Sometimes, even some doctors can't figure it out, like what happened to me the first time I saw a heart doctor about my palpitation.

But sometimes, psychological factors or wrong perspectives, do add to the problem. Aside from having palpitation problems, your paranoia gives your heart more reasons to misbehave, doubling your difficulties. Sometimes, mental torture is the horror that folks with heart palpitation problems really suffer from, not so much the palpitations. There's a torturer in your mind. I should know. And we shouldn't let it be that way.

Get Out of the Prison

Try walking. Lack of exercise is a proven cause of a lot of ailments. Exercise lack affects both body and mind. You have weak lungs so your mind gets less oxygen supply. That's poor circulation. It weakens the mind so it easily gives in to negative ideas, especially fear, particularly, fear of what might happen. And weak lungs are susceptible to breathing difficulties when you have panic attacks. Weak lungs are often due to lack of exercise, too. So I like aerobic exercises like walking, jogging and squats.

You'd be surprised what oxygen can do to the lungs and the brain. I workout regularly and I know the wonderful effects (or miracles) that healthy amounts of oxygen can do to the brain. And brisk walking and climbing up stairs are a great way to start this off. Not only so, but I often feel exercise (especially walking or light jogging) lessens incidence of palpitation, if not prevents it altogether. But consult it first with your heart doctor.

Proper Mindsetting

So, if your heart doctor approves it (and most doctors do), try walking regularly. If you think you need a companion, then take one along. I take my wife. Don't aim for anything spectacular but to simply walk. Don't set goals or break records. Walk about 30 to 40 minutes regularly. Walk leisurely and enjoy fresh air and sceneries. It can change the way you think about life and palpitation.

Some folks do not realize how the mind works and how it affects the body. Some doctors give their patients placebo drugs (mostly containing nothing but flour and salt) because all some patients need is something positive to feed their minds with. A hope. Of course, doctors won't say the prescription is merely placebo. The patients believe that what doctors prescribe will make them well, even if they really aren't sick of anything. Then they claim they feel better after taking the placebo medicine.

If we let it, the mind often decides what happens to our bodies. What the mind entertains it feeds to the body and then we feel it. We see a juicy triple cheese burger and our mind gets entertained by it. Soon, the body reacts and you feel hungry. But before seeing the burger, we felt okay. I often come across instances like this. Thus, be careful what your mind entertains or what catches its attention.

Think Right, Not Just Positively

Let your mind think right and dwell on positive things. It's okay to be watchful of your health and look out for what is good for your heart (avoiding things that make you susceptible to heart palpitations), but don't dwell on them all day all your life. Don't be a prisoner of your illness and how to prevent it. I see illness as a challenge to make us appreciate life more, every second of it (some people only come to appreciate the worth of life once their lives are threatened by danger). Sometimes, illnesses are also a way of making us stronger in the end.

"Whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable--if anything is excellent or praiseworthy--think about such things...And the God of peace will be with you." [Philippians 4.8]

But don't just think positively. Sometimes, positive thinking tends to make you fool yourself, feeding your mind with happy thoughts that aren't real, something just short of flattering yourself. It's not a good idea. The thing is to think right first and then complement that with proper and realistic positive thinking. Don't feed yourself with false hopes. 

What I do is first admit my condition. I have to be careful. But I also decide firmly that I'm not going to stay this way. I fight negative thoughts. I decide that doing things---whether this or that---WON'T trigger palpitations in me. Or, I will declare that this day, there will be NO palpitation. Of course, I supplement this with prayer, proper care and healthy lifestyle. I counter fear by declaring positive things happening to me each day. Words are powerful. If some people talk to their plants or pets and claim it's effective, why not talk to your body--to your heart--and tell it how it should go the whole day?

It may not be effective the first time you do it, or even the next, and the next. But just keep at it. Practice makes perfect.

My Cardiologist Stopped My Maintenance

For years, I was made to take Atenelol and Lanoxin in small dosages (I forget now how much) which I felt I didn't need. I didn't have high blood pressure or chest pain. My heart was fine but for this occasional SVT palpitations, which wasn't really a heart disease, says a lot of medical heart doctors. But because my doc prescribed it, I took them. It was like that a long time. You need to follow doctor's orders. So get a really good medical heart specialist.

When I did have heart palpitations my BP went up a bit higher, but not that high. About 130/80  or 90. Even my present cardiac electrophysiologist doctor said so--that my heart rate during palps wasn't that alarming (he's the most efficient heart doctor I've had so far for years though he was the one who gave me the meds aforementioned). On rare occasions, it went up to 150 over 80, sometimes 140 over 80.

Photo by Usman Yousaf on Unsplash.

All Normal 

But the moment the palpitations stopped, my BP went back promptly to normal. I could go back immediately to my usual routine. All systems were normal, even according to ECG results and even ultrasound. Often, doctors were puzzled about it. One moment and while palps were happening, my BP and heart rate were going a bit wild. The next moment when palps stopped, everything immediately went back to normal. I even had to convince them I was okay. Didn't they tackle about this in Med school?

Without palpitation, my BP was a regular 110 over 70, sometimes 100 over 70. (Well, as of this editing, dated Aug. 20, 2024, my normal now is 120 plus over 80, which is normal for my age). For a while, it went without posing any problems. Each time I had a checkup my doc would say I had good heart health. I did my regular workouts, my weight was well managed and my blood chem results were normal. Then after some time, after a checkup, my doc decided to stop my lanoxin. It was good news to me. At least, it showed I was improving.

Stop!

But then, a few months, I started having dizziness and slow heart rate. I had a really bad time. My doc decided Atenelol was making my BP a bit too low and my heart rate a bit too slow. So he decided to stop my Atenelol, too. I was right--I didn't need my medications any longer. He tried to replace it with some other drug but I felt the dizziness worsened. So in the end, he decided to just stop it altogether. "Let's see what happens," he said. If palpitation happened again, I just needed to call him up. Well, thank God it didn't happened. I didn't need my maintenance anymore.

Why would I take those medicines when my heart and BP were perfectly normal, even before?

During the experimental no maintenance trial period, I had one or two short attacks, perhaps three, but they subsided immediately without medical treatment. I just applied my usual home remedies, and it did the trick. Sometimes, I just needed to type on my PC and the typing action somewhat corrected my heartbeat (can you believe that? More on this in my e-book. It happened a lot of times before this trial period. I discovered a lot of home remedies for my palpitations that really worked).

As-Needed Med

But one day, I had palpitations on our way home from Nueva Ecija. It started a little after lunch and went on till 5 pm. I had already texted my doc about it but he was out of the country. "Is there anything I can take for it?" I asked. Sometimes, he seemed to ignore my texts. But thank God he replied at once this time. He told me to take Flecainide (Tambocor) 100 as needed. I didn't have to take it as maintenance. But I could only take 2 per day, in case I needed another one. (But later he said it was okay for me to take one every 4 hours if the palpitations didn't stop. Thank GOD that never happened. And thank God I don't need Tambocor anymore today). 

I researched about Flecanaide, and I learned it blocked extra electrical impulses to the heart. And that's what triggered my palpitations, according to my doc. Extra pathway for electrical impulse that made the impulse go back and double the heart beat. The medicine blocked that tendency. At least, there was no indication on the description that it lowered blood pressure or anything like that.

Since then, I was happy with Flecainide, but when the palpitations stopped altogether, everything changed. No more Flecainide or any maintenance medicine. Thanks GOD. (Update on my planned ablation. I never had it to this day, August 20, 2024. NO MORE HEART PALPITATION! All thanks to the LORD JESUS! The palps just disappeared by itself. A miracle from GOD!)  But don't take this drug unless your heart doctor says so. Consult with him or her. And after having this condition for some 33 years (off and on), I have learned a lot about it and even found ways to sometimes control heart palpitations. Get my e-book to learn about them. 

My upcoming e-book. Watch for it.

Healthy Lifestyle

Bottomline is, living a healthy lifestyle helps a lot to improve heart health and lessen palpitation attacks. It can even help with reducing medication if not stopping it as in my case. I eat right, workout enough, and live a healthy lifestyle. Above all else, I pray and believe for total healing in Jesus. It's not man's religion, it's pure faith taught in the bible. Radical belief is vital and I will write an article about medical findings on how faith really helps.

Today, my workout routine includes, 50 pushups in several sets, weight training, squats, bending bars, brisk walks and jogs. This is aside from my Filipino martial arts training. It is important to start workouts gradually. I recommend starting with leisurely walking. I started there. 

Here are some quick tips for starting your exercise routine:

1. Start with leisurely walking. I did. Make sure you enjoy it, not be pressured or stressed by it.
2. Climb up stairs. As long as you can endure, climb up and down your stairs. Do it slowly, no need to hurry. No stairs in you house? Climb up and down on a low stool repeatedly. That will do. Hold on to something for balance.
3. Jog in place. This is safe for you to do inside your house. No need to go out. 
4. Walk back and forth in the street where you live. 
5. Walk around the block as many times as you can.

But get your heart doctor's approval first before you do anything. It is important to enjoy what you're doing. Do it at your pace. You're not training for the Olympics or some tournament. You're doing it to appreciate life and your environs and get enough healthy workout.

I hope readers similarly affected---folks with palpitation problems---would find help as I share my story here on Heartoholic.

There was a Cardiologist

 

Heart palpitations are of many types. Some occur due to thyroid problems, and I used to have that before I got married. My T3, T4, TSH results were abnormal and caused my heart palpitations. This was my case for probably 5 years or so. No doctor could figure it out. One heart doctor even wanted to operate on me just to see what's wrong with my heart. Imagine that! 😓

I had perfect health. All my blood chemistry tests, heart ultrasound, ECG, treadmill and everything else produced normal results. So this doctor--who was my cardiologist for years---probably felt he was getting nowhere and his reputation was badly affected by my mysterious case. So he offered me some theories--he felt some defective valve was probably letting blood flow back and forth instead of just flowing forward. And that probably triggered my palpitation, he said.

Heart Surgery to See What's Up with My Heart

But he needed to make sure, so he wanted to open me up. I said, "What do you mean?" He said he'd open up my chest surgically to see what actually went on and caused my palpitation. I was shocked, not just because how absurd it sounded, but first and foremost the surgery cost. What if he saw nothing after opening me up? All my tests, after all, were all normal, so there was a big chance the surgery would reveal nothing.

However, her assistant doctor told me the following day that after carefully examining my test results, she saw that my T3, T4, TSH readings were abnormal. She even showed me what she meant. Yup, there it was. The results were higher than the normal range. The lady doctor happily said I'd be cured in no time after taking the right medications. She told me to go back to my cardiologist for the prescription.

So, when I went back to my cardio, he was giggling, like his erroneous surgery suggestion was nothing. "You have a simple case of hyperthyroidism. It's the kind that's tame and easy to treat. Hehehe, I missed seeing that detail in your test results!" he said something to that effect. I smiled, thinking her assistant was smarter. He should be her assistant.

The Cure

After a few weeks of taking the medicines, I felt much better. I felt stronger and no more sensation of ever having palpitations. Indeed, the palpitations were gone. At once, I went back to full martial arts training and full workouts. I improved my muscle built. I became deadly with martial arts once more, as before. I was unbeatable during sparring. I was enjoying life! I thought it was going to be forever and ever. 

The "honeymoon" went on for years. However, after about a year or so sometimes the palpitations would recur for short intervals. Then it would disappear again. I didn't pay it much attention because it was not as bothersome as before. There were even long periods when it seemed to have disappeared forever again.

However, after my marriage and also when my sons have grown up a bit, the problem recurred, and this time with rather strange accompanying symptoms. Today, my new cardiologist, who is definitely more efficient than any who had seen me, diagnosed it as Supra Ventricular Tachycardia or SVT. My thyroid condition is normal, my heart is normal and everything in me is okay. Yet, my heart acts wildly when the trigger occurs.

The Trigger and the Control

And the trigger is gas rising from my tummy or bloating. Sometimes it's stubborn fart trapped in my tummy that sometimes goes up and disturbs my heartbeat. Funny, but it's true. Some people have palpitations when they're too stressed, too tired, too emotional or too anything. With me, it's too much trapped gas, something like global warming. Nothing more, nothing less. Sometimes the gas would suddenly shoot up and mess up my emotional composure. But the odd thing about it was that I sometimes seemed able to control it.

Well, I mean, controlling it with prayer before it happens and claiming and stating it with strong resolve that there will be no palpitation today. Words can do wonders if you believe and not doubt, said Jesus. One of the things that really helped me cope and overcome were things I discovered in the bible and which I experimented on with faith, complementing it with what health science says. This is among things I want to share on this blog.

Accurately Identify the Symptoms 

In my journey with this new and efficient cardiologist, I went through a lot of trials and hardships which the illness sometimes brought with it. Heart palpitations often come with anxiety attacks, depression and paranoia, which are hard to identify, deal with and control. But with time, after clearly identifying them and not mistaking them for other deadly things, you become equipped to somewhat control your palpitations while working with your heart physician. Remember, the negative symptoms can control you and take charge of your life and swallow you whole if you fail to deal with them firmly.

I'll tell you how I overcame all these and took full control of my life again in my e-book. I hope my story would help folks with palpitation problems. So make sure to check my blog, Heartoholic, for updates and more articles on how to calm down you heart and manage your heart palpitations.

Watch out for my e-book, "How I Became Palpitation Free," where I share a lot of my decades experiences with palpitations and how I managed and later stopped them for good.

Palpitation Nightmares

It was about 6 in the morning in 1997. I was taking a shower, preparing for work, when it struck. My heart bit suddenly went wild, beating about double per second. It had been a long time since my last heart palpitation---that was before I got married---and I didn't expect to have it that morning when I was in a hurry to leave for the office.

Photo by Aarón Blanco Tejedor on Unsplash.

I got scared. I kind of forgotten how it was to have an attack and what I had to do. That was my first big mistake, getting scared. Moreover, I was worried about not making it to the office on time. I couldn't afford to lose my job. I had been married just almost a year and my wife was pregnant with our first baby. I told my wife and announced the sad news. She too looked worried. We both didn't know what to do.

Okay, what I remembered was to relax and take a rest. A rest? I just got up from sleep and was only taking a shower. I wasn't tired. But I rested just the same. That's what I'd been told--just take a rest. I hoped the palpitations would be gone after a few minutes. It did before. I could just take a cab to the office after the palpitation to make up for lost time. But several minutes had already gone by and the heart palpitations continued.

HERE ARE THINGS I CONSIDERED IMPORTANT DURING AND AFTER MY HEART PALPITATIONS:

1. Never get scared.
2. Finger strokes to the neck.
3. Thank God.

Never Get Scared

During those times, I felt cold, sweaty, dizzy, weak and kind of breathing abnormally fast when I had palpitations. This was because I had allowed myself get scared initially. First impression lasts. Once you start with scary, it's likely to continue being scary. But after years of studying my palps, though, I discovered that palp attacks didn't need to have the accompanying symptoms I enumerated above. Heart palpitations are really simple and easy to manage.

Back to 1997. There was no pain, though. But I hadn't mastered it yet then so it made me panicky. I also couldn't eat anything because I felt like choking. Chewing and swallowing seemed to make my heart stop beating. I was afraid it might stop for good. I thought I was going to die. What about my pregnant wife? That morning my wife and I did nothing but wait for the palpitation to stop. Lunch time came and it was still on. I tried to calm myself by watching a noontime TV talk show (Tessie Tomas was interviewing Cesar Montano), to no avail. I was more worried now than I was that morning. 

My pregnant wife managed to buy some lunch and I tried to eat. I took a few spoonfuls and that was it. Finally, I decided to be brought to the hospital. Now I had four worries--my pregnant wife, my job, my heart palpitation and the hospital bill. So off we went with my mom to Lung Center of the Philippines (we fetched my mom along the way). Why Lung Center? For some reason, I was more comfortable with that hospital than the Heart Center. Moreover, my cardiac doctor, who was never able to help me all the time that he was my doctor, was there. I still somewhat believed in him.

At the ER, a lady doctor saw me. As usual, I was interviewed to get a background of my medical history and my vital signs were checked. They prepared me for confinement, although they seemed to be at a loss about what to do with me. They didn't know what was wrong with me. 

Finger Strokes

Then the doctor told me to look to the left and caress or stroke the right side of my neck, up and down, with my left forefinger and middle finger, applying pressure 40 times. She said it might do the trick. So I did. After a long while, the palpitation stopped! It was about 6 pm. I felt in my body that everything was back to normal (it always feels like that right after a palpitation). No more palps, sweating, feeling cold, dizziness and difficulty breathing. I felt suddenly elated and strong. Life was happy again.

The doctor checked my vital signs and I was suddenly so normal. She looked puzzled. But there was a painful snap on my chest, like a vein or something was torn off inside. The doctor said it was a natural reaction after having palpitations for almost a day. "The pain will subside," she assured me and didn't look worried. So I was confident it was nothing. And indeed it was. The pain was gone after a while.

Thank God!

We went home so thankful to God for his mercy. I attributed it all to his grace and mercy. For some reasons, God allows things like that, but you can always depend on Him to do the best thing at the exact moment. The doctor told me that the next time it happens again, just apply the same finger stroke on the side of my neck. She cautioned me, though, not to apply it on both sides of my neck. And it seemed effective. When heart palpitations set in, the trick worked after a few minutes. I thought it was going to be the permanent remedy since then. Before you try that trick on you, however, ask your heart doctor first.

Lesson

The vital lesson here is never to get scared when palpitation strikes. That's among powerful lessons I learned during the first episodes of my palps. At the first sign of a palpitation, pray. Ask God to make it stop. Second, relax and think positive. Tell yourself at once, "It's just a palpitation. It will go away soon." Third, follow up with, "Nothing to worry about. God is with me to make me safe." After this, think only of nice things, especially that the palps will soon stop.

Never get scared!

Often visit this blog. I hope my story helps folks with palpitation problems.