New to Keto (3 weeks) - and feeling some heart palpitations and flush

(Amy ) #1

Hello the the group,

Per the subject line, I am only 3 weeks on the keto plan. I went cold turkey after talking to a friend who has been on keto for a year. I didn’t experience any symptoms of “keto flu” (aside from some lethargy in week two), but I have felt a sensation of heart palpitations and a sensation of hypertension. I also had a flush feeling come over me a few times for no apparent reason. Can anyone relate to this?

I will say that my blood pressure is elevated. 140/80. I may have had this before going keto. I’ve been monitoring with an at-home cuff. Most everything I’ve read is that keto will help reduce high blood pressure - so I am watching this and know I need to give it some time.

But if anyone can speak to the sensation of intermittent heart palpitations and flush, I would love to hear. (Aside from those feelings, I already feel a wonderful difference!!!)
Thank you in advance!

(Sarah ) #2

Are you taking any supplements? Do you have PCOS or any other female hormone issues?

(Cailyn Mc Cauley) #3

Please speak to your Doctor.

Anytime we change our diets, it’s affects our hormones and also our circulatory systems. You’ll want to rule out any hidden issues that are being noticed simply because you are paying closer attention to your body.

Let us know!
~Class of 2017

(Wenchie) #4

Hey there, I had the heart thing too. It scared me. I remember taking walks with @Groversaurus having to stop down to feeling my heart acting weired.

It was nothing in my case and went away after I started taking Magnesium and salt as a daily thing. But since its the heart I would always see a doctor… makes you feel saver as well. Well at least I always feel better getting things checked

(Rob) #5

I had the same experience and also added magnesium and other electrolytes and after a couple of months, my BP was down 15pts.

(Melanie Armistead) #6

I get those symptoms when I’m on too much thyroxine but there could be a number of reasons for it - I’d also recommend speaking to your doctor

(Amy ) #7

Thank you to all who replied. You bring up great points and I do have an appointment with my doctor next week (for a follow up with the high blood pressure that was detected a week ago).

I told my doctor about my diet change last week and it was interesting… she said she could subscribe to LC and LEAN proteins and felt “everyone should adopt a South Beach Diet”. But she just can’t get behind HIGH FAT. She doesn’t believe bacon and eggs are good for the body. I found myself tippy-toeing through our conversation a bit.

I feel so confident regarding the information I’ve been reading and listing to with the 2Dudes. So confident! And aside from the fluttery feeling and this darn high blood pressure, my body hasn’t felt this good in years. So I think I’m going to have to toughen up and get totally honest with her and perhaps bring her along for the ride with me on this one.

Regarding the hypertension feelings of flutter… I did notice a difference when I take magnesium (as others replied to me). I haven’t had any other levels of hormones tested and haven’t started any other supplements (except fish oil just a few days ago). Still so new to all of this and the physiological depth that you can go into gets a bit overwhelming to me at times.

So happy for the forum and the 2 Dudes. And grateful for your replies.

(Tom Seest) #8

On a related but unrelated note, I would recommend supplementing Berberine…It helps with blood glucose levels, and will help reduce blood pressure as well. Just be sure that there are no problems with any other medications that you are taking. Hawthorne is another good supplement for lowering blood pressure. I drink Hawthorn tea with Motherwart in it every day.

(Shayne) #9

If you don’t already have one, I suggest purchasing a blood pressure monitor (upper arm as opposed to the wrist type). In the doctor’s office, my BP runs 134/90 (sometimes even higher), but at home it runs around 110/60. So medicating me for my “high bp” results in my blacking out in the kitchen during meal prep. I had to take myself off the bp meds because my (former) doctor claimed it could have been from something else and then did no tests to confirm.

I’m doing autoimmune keto and I’m learning that my palpitations are food related. Dairy is a huge problem for me - which I didn’t realize until I stopped using it and tried a reintro. I can’t even have butter.

(Jan) #10

I still sometimes get the fast heartbeat thing, but it has always gone away a few minutes after I munch on some salt & drink water. And the flushing…more than a year on strict Keto, still happening. I think it may have something to do with eating more protein and/or fat than I need. Still working on that one.