I'm here looking for a bit of advice since I'm not all that knowledgeable on the subject of natural medicine. I apologize in advance if this is too wordy or posted in the wrong place!
About a year ago, I suddenly started having all these disconcerting symptoms at once. My heart beats really hard, but not all that fast - it pounds so hard inside my chest that it's uncomfortable and makes it hard to sleep (which is why I posted in this section). It's especially bad right when I wake up. I have headaches most of the time - it feels like all the blood in my body has migrated to my head. These are also horrible right when I wake up. I sweat. A LOT. Feet, armpits, hands - always drenched, to the point that my skin is constantly pruned up and my skin is peeling off. I even leave soaked places on my sheets at night through my clothes. Lastly, I feel fidgety and trembly, which isn't very fun.
Nothing happened when these symptoms started - no lifestyle changes, nothing at all changed. I just woke up one morning and there it was. I'm a very relaxed, happy sort of person, so I don't think anxiety is causing this - I never worry or feel stressed at all. I don't drink alcohol or caffeine or smoke. I have been to the doctor about this, and have had all sorts of tests done, like a thyroid panel - nothing. My blood pressure is normal. He seems most worried about the sweating and gave me a prescription antiperspirant to use - it did less than nothing (I still sweat like crazy and my skin cracked and bled), so now he wants me to have surgery to sever the nerves that trigger sweating. :\ I'm more worried about the heart aspect (I can't help but feel like it's going to wear out from beating so hard all the time!), but can't seem to find any help.
I'd like to try something - anything - natural, to see if it can settle my heart down, if only to be able to get a good night's sleep. Anything that could curb my flood would also be a miracle! I really hate taking prescription drugs and sure don't want to have a very expensive, unnecessary surgery, and would love to find a bit of natural relief. Like I said, I'm not all that up on the ins and outs of natural medicine, but I'd be grateful if anyone could recommend something to try or do. I don't even know if folks are allowed to recommend things on this forum (I just now thought of that, but I'll still submit my post for what it's worth).
I'll be grateful for any kernel of advice I can get! Thanks to everyone for taking the time to read this!
Welcome to the Forum, sorry to read about your problems.
From all your symptoms it sounds like you may have a growth on one of your adrenal glands, a condition called pheochromocytoma.
The adrenal glands are responsible for producing hormones such as adrenaline and noradrenaline and normally are under the control of of our neurons, which control the "fight and flight" response when we are alarmed.
A growth interferes with this action and it causes excess adrenaline even at rest, which brings on the excess sweating and pounding heart.
The excess adrenaline also causes high blood pressure(which can be intermittent), which could be responsible for your severe head aches. If you note from this chart the high blood pressure spikes appear to occur early in the morning which appears to be your worst period too.
My heart beats really hard, but not all that fast - it pounds so hard inside my chest that it's uncomfortable and makes it hard to sleep (which is why I posted in this section). It's especially bad right when I wake up.
I'd like to try something - anything - natural, to see if it can settle my heart down, if only to be able to get a good night's sleep.
I'll be grateful for any kernel of advice I can get!
Hi alabaster, welcome. Supplementing with Magnesium (citrate or malate), may help with your heart palpitations.
Thank you all so much!!
I looked at the Mayo Clinic info and it sounds spot on. It will be a couple of weeks before I can get to the doctor, so in the meantime, I'm going to try the magnesium and I'll also try taking my blood pressure right when I get up in the morning and seeing if it's high. The headaches are worst right when I sit up in bed in the morning - like I said, it feels like all the blood in my body is trying to go through my head at once. Also, I tremble very badly right when I get up. The heart aspect to this whole thing has me worried since there is a very high incidence of heart problems - heart attack, high blood pressure, heart disease and strokes - on my late fathers side of my family.
As soon as I can get to my doc, I will have the tests done to see if this is my issue, and I will definitely let you wonderful folks know what I've found out. Thank you again!!
Pheochromocytoma is a rare form of tumour and most doctors will never come across one in their whole career.
Because of this it might help if you made copies of the diagnosis I made as well as the the two Mayo Clinic links referred to and take them with you when you go to the doctor.
If the doctor refuses to do the test for whatever reason go to another doctor who will.
Keep us informed on your progress, we like to hear how people contacting the forum are progressing.
Oh, I will certainly give all the information I can to my doctor. I just hope he listens and is willing to do the tests. I live in a tiny town in the rural deep south - doctors are not easy to come by and most here aren't taking new patients or don't accept patients without insurance (which I don't have).
I have had so many tests done and everything, but each time the results have been negative for whatever it was. I don't know if it even entered into my doctor's mind to test for this at all. I did see that this is rare, so I know that the odds are against me having this sort of tumor, but at least if I have the tests done, I can rule it out and try to keep looking at what may be causing my symptoms. It is scary to think that I could have a pheo though, because my husband and I were thinking of trying to start a family. I read about the grim prognosis for women who are pregnant and have them - frightening!
I will let you all know what goes on with my doctor - and again, thank you all so much for your help!
Hello everyone! I have been taking magnesium as per your suggestions, but I can't tell that it does anything to calm my heart down. However, it does make me fall fast asleep, so that's a good thing!
I've finally gotten an appointment with my doctor for Friday, so I'll let you all know if he agreed to do the test or not and all of that.
Thanks for everything, and I'll be back Friday to let you all know how the visit went.
Hi everyone,
My doctor did agree to the test but he told me that I would absolutely find out that I don't have a pheo. He kept saying that pheos are so rare and that I would just ultimately find out that there is no medical reason whatsoever for all of this stuff going on at once (which I find hard to believe) and that there is basically nothing that can be done. Hmm, being miserable is not my forte. :\ I turned my pee in on Saturday afternoon (13th) and also had blood drawn, so I should be able to call tomorrow (22nd) and find out the results.
He did put me on metoprolol for the heart palpitations (25mg twice a day) when I saw him on the 12th and said that if in a week or so, there was no change, he'd up the dose. I don't know, he seemed surprised that I asked him for something to settle my heart down and said, "Well, I guess we could try metoprolol..." No change at all as of yet. :\
Well, we'll see tomorrow what the test says! Keep your collective fingers crossed for me that I'll eventually get this figured out.
Hmmm - that's weird. Can you have anxiety without worrying? I didn't figure that was it because I don't feel worried or nervous or upset or anything, just physically trembly sometimes - shakiness sort of similar to low blood sugar or something. Well, it doesn't matter to me, just as long as I eventually get this mess remedied, lol!
If you decide to stop taking this drug gradually taper off over the course of 1 to 2 weeks, for the body can react with cardiac symptoms if you just stop.
metroprolol is used for irregular heart beat and headaches... headaches which you do have but no one has said anything about irregular heart beat., which is different from racing heart and pounding heart , in my opinion. I is also used for hypertension. If you do not have elevated blood pressure there is a chance that it may become too low for you. Watch for dizziness and weakness. Check your BP if you can.
If your test comes back negative then perhaps we should discuss taking supplemental iodine. Did you know that iodine is a part of some heart medications? The heart really needs iodine. I had racing heart before iodine supplementation and now it is gone. Racing heart is not a typical sign of deficiency. Sometimes iodine causes racing heart in a very few people, so you will have to figure it out, an likely due to a sensitivity or allergy to the iodine, or perhaps detox symptoms that the iodine is bringing about, for iodine will facilitate detoxing some bad stuff people tend to accumulate.
Racing heart can bring on a sense of anxiety without any psychologial component.
I use to have this symptom and since iodine supplementation it is now gone. Lugol's iodine or iodoral tablets is the type you want. Many people here on this forum supplement with iodine. You would have to learn about it, as there is a learning curve regarding its supplementation.
Do not supplement with iodine if you have a known allergy to it.
Im actually surprised your doctor prescribed Metoprolol. It is supposed to be withheld from patients who may have a pheochromocytoma because it could actually increase blood pressure surges.
In patients known to have, or suspected of having, a pheochromocytoma, metoprolol tartrate is contraindicated (see CONTRAINDICATIONS). If metoprolol tartrate is required, it should be given in combination with an alpha blocker, and only after the alpha blocker has been initiated. Administration of beta blockers alone in the setting of pheochromocytoma has been associated with a paradoxical increase in blood pressure due to the attenuation of beta-mediated vasodilatation in skeletal muscle.
Advice?
Linear Mode
