Intermittent fasting / chest pain / emergency room
bishopjulia
Posts: 205 Member
Yesturday I was going about my day, 10 days into 16:8 fasting ... and Bam 💥 I’m struck with severe chest pains, wobbly vision, sweating and dizziness. The attack lasted about 7 min, followed by Dizziness and exhaustion that lasted roughly 30 min. Ended up in Emergency with ECGs xrays and Blood work. Besides WB being elevated everything else came back normal.This happened prior about a month ago while I was fasting. Could it be related? Now My mother has arrhythmia and it started in her late 30s. Doc wants me to wear a heart monitor. Has anyone else experienced this during fasting?
7
Replies
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Get the monitor, pronto. Also suggest you knock off the fasting until after the results are in, even though your current 16:8 pattern isn't really a big deal, longer periods could be.
What did the doctors at the ER say it could be? Has your own doctor offered any insights?
Take care of yourself!10 -
what is your calories for the 16:8 fasting?3
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bishopjulia wrote: »Yesturday I was going about my day, 10 days into 16:8 fasting ... and Bam 💥 I’m struck with severe chest pains, wobbly vision, sweating and dizziness. The attack lasted about 7 min, followed by Dizziness and exhaustion that lasted roughly 30 min. Ended up in Emergency with ECGs xrays and Blood work. Besides WB being elevated everything else came back normal.This happened prior about a month ago while I was fasting. Could it be related? Now My mother has arrhythmia and it started in her late 30s. Doc wants me to wear a heart monitor. Has anyone else experienced this during fasting?
What does your sodium look like? There is a possibility that you are deficient in one of the electrolytes which can drive dizziness and exhaustion. Its also possible you aren't getting overall good nutrition because of our fasting.9 -
snickerscharlie wrote: »Get the monitor, pronto. Also suggest you knock off the fasting until after the results are in, even though your current 16:8 pattern isn't really a big deal, longer periods could be.
What did the doctors at the ER say it could be? Has you own doctor offered any insights?
Take care of yourself!
At this point he’s not sure what it was or could be. The heart monitor should give more insight into what’s going on. Blood work came back normal except for White blood cells slightly elevated. I guess I’ll find out.. or flat line lol jk. For now I’ll have to put IMF on hold. Just follow my calories and stay away from sugar.
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Was 16:8 as well as 20:4 on days too. Following 1500 cal.0
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bishopjulia wrote: »snickerscharlie wrote: »Get the monitor, pronto. Also suggest you knock off the fasting until after the results are in, even though your current 16:8 pattern isn't really a big deal, longer periods could be.
What did the doctors at the ER say it could be? Has you own doctor offered any insights?
Take care of yourself!
At this point he’s not sure what it was or could be. The heart monitor should give more insight into what’s going on. Blood work came back normal except for White blood cells slightly elevated. I guess I’ll find out.. or flat line lol jk. For now I’ll have to put IMF on hold. Just follow my calories and stay away from sugar.
If you have another incident, please go to the ER again immediately. It's just too easy to think, "Oh, they didn't find anything the last time, so I'll just do a bit of a wait-and-see." Because regardless of what's causing it, you want to be in professional hands if it goes even further sideways.8 -
Don’t forget to ask for an upper gi endoscopy. sometimes esophagus problems are misdiagnosed as heart problems and vice versa.4
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bishopjulia wrote: »Was 16:8 as well as 20:4 on days too. Following 1500 cal.
Since IF is merely a way to perhaps make it easier to reduce calories and not feel like it so much - that 1500 could be reasonable, or if you burned over 2500 and only have say 10 lbs of fat left it could be very unreasonable.
How big has your deficit been?
What kind of workouts?
Is 1500 the MFP base for no exercise, and then you correctly eat more when you do more like exercise?
With regard to avoiding sugar - you mean like Keto level - no fruits, grains, few vegetables high in carbs?
Or literally just like added sugars perhaps?
Do a few things wrong and you can certainly stress out your body enough and discover an underlying condition that may never have reared it's ugly head.7 -
bishopjulia wrote: »Was 16:8 as well as 20:4 on days too. Following 1500 cal.
Since IF is merely a way to perhaps make it easier to reduce calories and not feel like it so much - that 1500 could be reasonable, or if you burned over 2500 and only have say 10 lbs of fat left it could be very unreasonable.
How big has your deficit been?
What kind of workouts?
Is 1500 the MFP base for no exercise, and then you correctly eat more when you do more like exercise?
With regard to avoiding sugar - you mean like Keto level - no fruits, grains, few vegetables high in carbs?
Or literally just like added sugars perhaps?
Do a few things wrong and you can certainly stress out your body enough and discover an underlying condition that may never have reared it's ugly head.
I can’t even remember how big my deficit is lol been so long that I’ve been trying to stay 1500 or below.
As for workouts I have a very faced paced job working at a care home, working over full time hours. Don’t get exercise in everyday but when I do it’s light and on the treadmill with no extra calories added.
By no sugar. I mean staying away from sweets, chocolate , cakes stuff like that. I try to limit my starches , and eat only protein and veg for dinner with a fat. Occasionally throw in a piece of Rye bread and a night cap. So is life.
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OP, in a recent post you stated you were trying to eat below 1200, eating OMAD, and had a recent day of under 850 cals. That's not quite eating 1500 cals a day, and you should probably tell your doctor this information.
https://community.myfitnesspal.com/en/discussion/10774607/gaining-on-imf#latest20 -
i think you might also be suffering from anxiety.0
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bishopjulia wrote: »bishopjulia wrote: »Was 16:8 as well as 20:4 on days too. Following 1500 cal.
Since IF is merely a way to perhaps make it easier to reduce calories and not feel like it so much - that 1500 could be reasonable, or if you burned over 2500 and only have say 10 lbs of fat left it could be very unreasonable.
How big has your deficit been?
What kind of workouts?
Is 1500 the MFP base for no exercise, and then you correctly eat more when you do more like exercise?
With regard to avoiding sugar - you mean like Keto level - no fruits, grains, few vegetables high in carbs?
Or literally just like added sugars perhaps?
Do a few things wrong and you can certainly stress out your body enough and discover an underlying condition that may never have reared it's ugly head.
I can’t even remember how big my deficit is lol been so long that I’ve been trying to stay 1500 or below.
As for workouts I have a very faced paced job working at a care home, working over full time hours. Don’t get exercise in everyday but when I do it’s light and on the treadmill with no extra calories added.
By no sugar. I mean staying away from sweets, chocolate , cakes stuff like that. I try to limit my starches , and eat only protein and veg for dinner with a fat. Occasionally throw in a piece of Rye bread and a night cap. So is life.
Was that base calories from telling MFP an incorrect Sedentary setting?
The more stress your body receives from all fronts - the more you need to control what you can.
The extra stress from a diet (it is a stress to some level, one would hope a level that doesn't cause negative side effects) may be the only one you can control - and therefore may need to purposely be set not so stressful.
Same as someone with a disease the body is already dealing with, or insomnia, healing from injury, ect.2 -
Yes some days I am eating Omad or 20:4 , some days it’s 1200 some days it’s 1500. I can give you my password for MFP if you are wanting to read my food Diary. The point I’m saying is chest pain while doing IMF. And I most definitely told the doctor these things.OP, in a recent post you stated you were trying to eat below 1200, eating OMAD, and had a recent day of under 850 cals. That's not quite eating 1500 cals a day, and you should probably tell your doctor this information.
https://community.myfitnesspal.com/en/discussion/10774607/gaining-on-imf#latest
If you read what I wrote above I said 1500 or Below. If your getting technical
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bishopjulia wrote: »
Yes some days I am eating Omad or 20:4 , some days it’s 1200 some days it’s 1500. I can give you my password for MFP if you are wanting to read my food Diary. The point I’m saying is chest pain while doing IMF. And I most definitely told the doctor these things.OP, in a recent post you stated you were trying to eat below 1200, eating OMAD, and had a recent day of under 850 cals. That's not quite eating 1500 cals a day, and you should probably tell your doctor this information.
https://community.myfitnesspal.com/en/discussion/10774607/gaining-on-imf#latest
Do not give out your mfp password, just open up your diary!
Settings> Diary Settings> Scroll all the way down to Diary Sharing and select Public7 -
Go_Deskercise wrote: »bishopjulia wrote: »
Yes some days I am eating Omad or 20:4 , some days it’s 1200 some days it’s 1500. I can give you my password for MFP if you are wanting to read my food Diary. The point I’m saying is chest pain while doing IMF. And I most definitely told the doctor these things.OP, in a recent post you stated you were trying to eat below 1200, eating OMAD, and had a recent day of under 850 cals. That's not quite eating 1500 cals a day, and you should probably tell your doctor this information.
https://community.myfitnesspal.com/en/discussion/10774607/gaining-on-imf#latest
Do not give out your mfp password, just open up your diary!
Settings> Diary Settings> Scroll all the way down to Diary Sharing and select Public
Obviously not going to do that. Lol give out my password that is
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bishopjulia wrote: »
Yes some days I am eating Omad or 20:4 , some days it’s 1200 some days it’s 1500. I can give you my password for MFP if you are wanting to read my food Diary. The point I’m saying is chest pain while doing IMF. And I most definitely told the doctor these things.OP, in a recent post you stated you were trying to eat below 1200, eating OMAD, and had a recent day of under 850 cals. That's not quite eating 1500 cals a day, and you should probably tell your doctor this information.
https://community.myfitnesspal.com/en/discussion/10774607/gaining-on-imf#latest
If you read what I wrote above I said 1500 or Below. If your getting technical
Well I'm glad you were either kidding or changed your mind....5 -
The technical discussion above boils down to the fact that you're under-eating well beyond MFP targets.
So. You have a health issue that has popped up. You don't know what is causing it. You DO know that you are consciously applying a health stressor on your body by under-eating beyond what is recommended in an attempt to lose weight.
Either you're concerned about your health, or you're not. You can eliminate a POTENTIAL source of your problem by eating at maintenance.
People do eat at maintenance. That's actually the <supposed and elusive> default state for humanity. It is not a crime and it is not unusual for people who want to recover from an illness or injury to fuel themselves normally to enhance recovery.
So, given that you do have the option to eat normally at maintenance and see if this will have a positive effect on your health, are you willing and able to do that? If not, why not?
Obligatory and totally fake LOL
when discussing uncomfortable truths.
Let me add that heart issues plus sudden water weight gain from your other thread is something that should definitely and explicitly be discussed with a doctor, if for no other reason so as to eliminate that it is caused by some potentially serious health issues.
Obviously I am not you and I am not a doctor or even remotely close to one. But your post about feeling unwell, plus a water weight scale gain while, to all appearances, severely under-eating causes some concern.12 -
Speaking of undereating, heart issues, and water retention:
https://community.myfitnesspal.com/en/discussion/10761904/under-1200-for-weight-loss/p1Emmapatterson1729 wrote: »I see new faces here daily, see new posts about eating low calories daily. If you've read my story, just ignore post. If very short and sedentary ignore my post.
I had congestive heart failure at 25 years old.
I was 5'8" around 135 lbs,
US size 9.
Ate around the 1000 calorie mark (usually coming in around 1100). Some days as low as 800 (just wasn't hungry), once every couple of weeks would binge a little and hit around 1200 calories.
I walked 3-9 miles and did an ab workout daily. After a binge, I would feel guilty and do aerobics. I also played tennis.
I wasn't Karen Carpenter thin.
I gained just over 100 lbs of water weight when my heart failed. Eating too low of calories to replenish the energy spent, caused an unbalance in electrolytes, one chamber of heart swelled, slowed, and I retained 100 lbs of water in a two months time.
Because gain was so fast, I ended up with deformities for life. I had a breast reduction, because they swelled from a perky D cup, to hanging in my lap H cup. Insurance wouldn't cover a tummy tuck or thigh lift, so stuck for life with deformed stomach and thighs (originally stomach hung so low, it would get calloused from hitting the ground when I sat).
It caused other problems as well, had to have gallbladder removed immediately, hormones went crazy, and ended up mal-absorbent.
Just before my heart failed, I felt healthy and strong. I was just trying to lose weight I had gained from a pregnancy that ended in a miscarriage. Almost at goal weight and size when heart failed.
Shocked when I was diagnosed as eating anorexic calorie levels. I couldn't believe I was obese from eating what I thought was healthy eating.
I struggled with depression going from thin and fit to obese, going from active and athletic to immobile, couldn't breathe just walking from bed to toilet. I had never considered myself anorexic, because I was curvy and not rail thin.
Eating too low of calories isn't worth the risks of these consequences. Eating too low of calories, literally destroyed my health and severely worsened my quality of life!13 -
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bishopjulia wrote: »bishopjulia wrote: »Was 16:8 as well as 20:4 on days too. Following 1500 cal.
Since IF is merely a way to perhaps make it easier to reduce calories and not feel like it so much - that 1500 could be reasonable, or if you burned over 2500 and only have say 10 lbs of fat left it could be very unreasonable.
How big has your deficit been?
What kind of workouts?
Is 1500 the MFP base for no exercise, and then you correctly eat more when you do more like exercise?
With regard to avoiding sugar - you mean like Keto level - no fruits, grains, few vegetables high in carbs?
Or literally just like added sugars perhaps?
Do a few things wrong and you can certainly stress out your body enough and discover an underlying condition that may never have reared it's ugly head.
I can’t even remember how big my deficit is lol been so long that I’ve been trying to stay 1500 or below.
As for workouts I have a very faced paced job working at a care home, working over full time hours. Don’t get exercise in everyday but when I do it’s light and on the treadmill with no extra calories added.
By no sugar. I mean staying away from sweets, chocolate , cakes stuff like that. I try to limit my starches , and eat only protein and veg for dinner with a fat. Occasionally throw in a piece of Rye bread and a night cap. So is life.
How tall are you and what do you currently weigh?2 -
Go_Deskercise wrote: »bishopjulia wrote: »
Yes some days I am eating Omad or 20:4 , some days it’s 1200 some days it’s 1500. I can give you my password for MFP if you are wanting to read my food Diary. The point I’m saying is chest pain while doing IMF. And I most definitely told the doctor these things.OP, in a recent post you stated you were trying to eat below 1200, eating OMAD, and had a recent day of under 850 cals. That's not quite eating 1500 cals a day, and you should probably tell your doctor this information.
https://community.myfitnesspal.com/en/discussion/10774607/gaining-on-imf#latest
Do not give out your mfp password, just open up your diary!
Settings> Diary Settings> Scroll all the way down to Diary Sharing and select Public
She could have meant just for the diary—you can lock your diary with a password.1 -
Do you still have a gall bladder? Gall stones are a pretty common issue that people seem to go through when losing weight. I am dealing with it now and when I went to the ER just before Thanksgiving, the pain was so bad that I thought I might be having a heart attack at one point. Also had dizziness and shortness of breath. Pain was sudden and like a tight band in my upper rib cage/chest area.
I had an endoscopy and an ultrasound to confirm I have gallstones. I am going to see a surgeon next week, so I anticipate I will be having it taken out soon (hopefully before the end of the year).
I don’t do any kind of IF.1 -
If you are eating what you normally eat (just w/in a shorter time period), I doubt IF had anything to do w/it.
Blood tests and other methods of diagnosis would probably be more informative but it certainly wouldn't hurt to eat on a "normal" schedule just to rule IF as a possible factor0 -
Do you still have a gall bladder? Gall stones are a pretty common issue that people seem to go through when losing weight. I am dealing with it now and when I went to the ER just before Thanksgiving, the pain was so bad that I thought I might be having a heart attack at one point. Also had dizziness and shortness of breath. Pain was sudden and like a tight band in my upper rib cage/chest area.
I had an endoscopy and an ultrasound to confirm I have gallstones. I am going to see a surgeon next week, so I anticipate I will be having it taken out soon (hopefully before the end of the year).
I don’t do any kind of IF.
was going to suggest the same/ 16 8 should not be a big deal nor should 20 4 for most people. if you are losing weight, its common that some people develop gall stones/sludge. also if you are eating a high fat diet, that also contributes to attacks.... and a gall bladder attack feels a lot like a heart attack and has the other dizzy, sweaty, etc symptoms. esp if you are passing a stone. if it happens again, and they say its not cardiac, i would ask about an ultrasound on your gallbladder.
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raven56706 wrote: »i think you might also be suffering from anxiety.
This is a dangerous and irresponsible statement to make to someone with the reported symptoms, who has yet to complete medical testing.2
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