Heart rate is crazy high

(Rebecca Vaughan) #90

thanks steve :slight_smile:

(Lisa Stevens) #91

I had that problem when I first started and just found the answer recently. What happens is your body starts putting out more cortisol to make up for the decrease in sugar. My blood pressure rose as well. I really didn’t track how long it took to go away but I’m fine now.

(Stephanie Manino) #92

I know this is a old post but my heart rate has been out of control the last couple of days. Last night watching a movie It was 104 BPM the more I watched it the anxious I got. I literally threw myself into a panic Attack.

Trying to read up on all of this. I’m 7 days in and my HR has been sky rocketing for the last 2 days.

(Rebecca Vaughan) #93

Hi Stephanie,

It took 2 months for my high HR too go back down. It’s due to electrolyte imbalace and your body not being used to its new state, from what i’ve read this useually only last a few days to a couple of weeks for most people. What helped me was keeping my electrolytes balanced, 2 litres of water a day, with 800mg potassium citrate powder, 600mg magnesium malate, 5000mg sodium.

Rebecca

(Edith) #94

I agree with Rebecca. Make sure you are getting enough electrolytes, especially sodium. If your sodium is low, your blood volume decreases and then your heart has to work harder to get the blood to all the parts of your body.

Good luck,
Edith

(Jon) #95

I’m using a fitbit and my heart rate is up 10bpm since I started keto 7 weeks ago. I also started running and cut my pace from 10 min miles to 8:30 over 2 miles. I just don’t get it. I started taking a 1/4 tspn or two lite salt every day to combat the keto flu early on. Gonna try using Himalayan punk salt instead of lite salt. Maybe I’m getting too much potassium. I eat a small avocado every morning, several servings of hemp hearts throughout the day, lots of eggs, chia, flax, almonds, etc.

(Ron) #96

This thread might help -

(Denise Dole) #97

I am not on Keto, but have adopted a high fat low carb diet. My hunger has lessened, lost a few pounds but gained back due to this stress i’m about to explain.
My heart rate is about 111 beats per minute. I feel it, as though i’m nervous . I’m a 61 year old female with parents with cardiovascular issues at young age and I’m on statins finally got my cholesterol below 209 now this fast heart beat. I have to go for a heart ultrasound and that has me a nervous wreck. (Probably not helping the quick heart beat!)
But, my Keto point is, I began adding about 1/2 teaspoon MCT oil to my coffee. Very, very little. But I read online of some having increased heart rate from MCT oil. Are you using that?
Also I have a bladder condition called IC. My doctor told me when it’s bad to mix a teaspoon of baking soda with water and drink. I did this for a week about two weeks ago. I’ve never had a reaction before, but I learned that could have screwed my electrolytes up causing quick heartbeat. I stopped that two weeks ago so I assume any affects from that are gone. I didn’t make the MCT oil connection until last night and stopped today, but as I said I used very little. However, if anybody has a fast heart rate and is using a significant amount of MCT oil. Do some online research. I still don’t know why my heart rate is still up, so time will tell. (Heart rate is a funny thing the more you worry about it the higher it goes, so who really knows the reason!)

(Rebecca Vaughan) #98

Hi Denise,

Thanks for this info, I was using MCT oil which gave me bad reflux so I stopped, I also increased my electrolytes and the heart rate came down, not sure if reducing mct helped, but i still cant take it due to refulx. Over the last 8 months i have been in and out of keto due to various issues, finally, on my 5th attempt, I seem to have figured out how to eat to keep as many issues at bay. I can’t eat coconut oil or mct oil, nor cacao butter. A little olive oil is ok, and my main fats are butter and bacon.

My thoughts about your high HR is maybe you are in ketosis by accident and you haven’t adapted yet? Try upping your electrolytes especially salt intake and see if it goes away or at least calms down?

(Sonny) #99

Hi Rebecca,
Just adding my experience.

Was in Ketosis last month, noticed elevated heart rate, got scared and got out of Keto - heart rate went back to normal.
Tried to go back into Keto and started consuming full fat coconut milk and noticed heart rate going up. Assumed that I have Coconut allergy, stopped it, stopped trying for Keto and the heart rate went back down.
Tried MCT oil to see if it would impact heart rate. MCT put me in Keto and heart rate went up. Figured that MCT oil is from Coconuts so stopped it. Fell out of Keto. But this time I continued Low carb, High Fat. Some mornings I wake up in slight Ketosis. Heart rate is still elevated, rises after a fatty meal. Supplementing with Magnesium, Himalayan Salt and Potassium and Bone broth. Sometimes I see a difference, other times I don’t.  I am going to check on the quantity of the electrolytes.  I am scared of taking too much Potassium because I heard it can cause serious issues but I will definitely up the sodium.  I have only been taking a 1/4 teaspoon and it hasn't done the trick.
("Don't call it calories, call it food") #100

Thought I might offer my experience to others that are reading this and might have symptoms of POTS. I have had periods of POTS in the last few years, and the only option offered by doctors was beta-blockers. I declined because I didn’t want to cover up the symptoms, I wanted to get to the cause.

In my experience, I am pretty sure that my POTS was caused by an imbalance in my thyroid. An excess of RT3 can cause POTS. When I switched medications and got my thyroid into balance (which took a while) my POTS disappeared.

I know how debilitating POTS can be - if you start a keto diet and you have unresolved medical problems in your HPA axis, I would guess that there is a fair chance the syptoms of your HPA dysregulation will be exacerbated.

I have finally got all the moving parts in my system in order (I liken our bodies to a Rube Goldberg machine – if even one section is an inch off, all the balls back up and things start to collapse). As such, the keto diet seems to be working really well for me because I think I have lined up all the various sections of the contraption. Increased energy, weight loss etc. But, last time I tried, I felt horrible, ended up in hospital with acute pancreatitis and certainly didn’t lose weight.

This is not meant to discourage people from trying the diet - rather, if you start and things start to go haywire with your heart rate, your fatigue levels or stress, it may be time to stop, take a 6 month or year break from keto to try to resolve your other issues. I do realize lots of people use keto as a tool for dealing with health problems, so this might not work for everyone, but it did work for me :slight_smile:

(Rebecca Vaughan) #101

Thanks Sonny,

Yes that sounds very similar to me. My heart rate did lower eventually and on other times I tried keto it didn’t go as high as the first time i did it. I am now out of ketosis,I tried for 10 months and just couldn’t get it to work for me, the worst was upper back pain and arm weakness it gave me which meant I had to lie down all day or id be in pain with breakthlessness. I’d suggest if you want to continue, to buy some potassium citrate powder and take 2 1/4 teaspoons scoops a day in water you’ll also need to buy some celtic sea salt and take at least 4 1/4 tspns a day. I weighed out 5 grams and tried to eat it all over the day, but it was really hard to get that much salt in, when i did get all 5 grams I did feel a little better.

Generally, the keto diet is very low on potassium and you need 4000mg a day which is very hard to achieve. So an extra 600-800mg a day from potassium citrate won’t hurt. I didn’t notice much if I didn’t take my potassium though, the big thing was the sodium. I also take 600mg of magnesium malate a day.

(Sonny) #102

Thank you rebecca. I added a lot of salt to my diet and also Magnesium. I am scared about the potassium because I read that it can make your heart race. I am just adding salt to my bone broth and drinking 3 cups a day. What I have noticed over the past few days is that my HR is very high in the morning and then slowly normalizes during the day. 110 standing still when I wake up. Mid 80s in the afternoon and low to mid 70s by evening. It never used to be so high before Keto. I don’t want to quit Keto so I really need to figure this out. Hopefully someone else who has a similar experience can shed some light.

Thanks,
Sonny

(Nicole Silvia) #103

Honey, you have a serious health condition, please ask your Doctor.

I work in healthcare (cardiology) and as much I love this keto stuff and think it changes people dramatically, it does not mean keto is magic. Keto shouldn’t mean we stop going to doctors.

Definitely make sure you are staying hydrated, that MAY have something to do with it, but no one on the Internet can tell you for sure. Potassium is very important. You can find answers to these levels by seeing your doctor and getting some labs.

(Sonny) #104

Hi Nicole, I have been to Cardiologists and had EKG performed. It’s all clear. Also my total cholesterol and all lipid panels are excellent. The issue that I am seeing is that most cardiologists have no experience with Keto and therefore cannot provide guidance. I am not doing Keto because it’s a fad, I am doing it because it helps with my autoimmune issues so I would really like to understand it so I can continue. Thank you for your input though because I feel the same way about people asking for medical advice on the Internet.

Thanks,
Sonny

(Sonny) #105

Rebecca, were you eating a lot of greens? I eat at least 4 cups of salad a day and should be getting a lot of potassium from that. I am waiting for my electrolyte results to get back but wanted to check your diet and supplementation levels.

Thanks,
Sonny

(Rebecca Vaughan) #106

Yes I ate a lot of greens but in the early days of Keto your body needs a lot more potassium than that. There are plenty of people who only get their potassium from greens, but those who struggle with these kind of symptoms do need supplements. Only way you can really say if you’re getting enough is to have your electrolytes measured.

(Sonny) #107

Thank you. I will update again after my results.

(Whatever) #108

Should I take potassium citrate 1/4 teaspoon when water fasting instead of baking soda and apple cider vinegar

(Edith) #109

I can’t help you with that. I get my potassium using No Salt.