Anyone else having or have had this problem after significant weight loss?

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solomon508
solomon508 Posts: 1 Member
in Health and Weight Loss
I've lost over 50 lbs in 9 months...having palpitations when I bend over too far or do inversion. I've had a few episodes of palpitations when the blood rushes to my head.

I've had some episodes of having my heart rate jump up to 128 while I am at rest after doing some inversion. I've experienced palpitations after sitting upside down on my couch (I know it sounds crazy but I had a killer crick my neck so I used my couch as a makeshift inversion table...it helped my crick resolve but it provoked some palpitations). I had a 2nd incident after the end of an upper body workout. I worked my back & biceps pretty good and when I bent over to set the dumbbells down on the ground my blood rushed to my head and I experienced some palpitations again. They lasted for a couple of hours after my workout. It left my systolic blood pressure elevated around 20 points higher than my baseline for a few hours too.

Has anyone else had any issues like this after losing a significant amount of weight?

I've already visited my family physician & saw a cardiologist today. Neither seemed to believe I am experiencing anything serious or life threatening. I do have a heart monitor being sent to me to see if we can record an episode if it happens again. My primary physician speculated that it could just be that my hemodynamic system is just adjusting to my significant weight loss in a short amount of time.

My resting heart rate before losing over 50 lbs was in the mid to high 80s but now my resting heart rate is high 50s to low 60s. That does seem to be a significant change in a short amount of time. I am just wondering if any other people have experienced this too and if it resolved quickly?

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  • kshama2001
    kshama2001 Posts: 27,922 Member
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    When my anemia is not treated properly I get heart palpitations - did you happen to get your iron levels tested? How's your protein intake been these past 9 months?

    What about your salt intake? I tend towards low blood pressure and used to get head rushes/dizzy when getting up when I was younger and presumably eating less salt because back then salt was considered bad. I don't remember whether or not I had palpitations - was a long time ago.

    How long will you wear your monitor? I wore mine for two weeks. I don't understand why some doctors prescribe a shorter period of time - my palpitations were not recorded the first day.
  • cmriverside
    cmriverside Posts: 33,985 Member
    edited October 2018
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    beatyfamily1 wrote: »
    It sounds like your blood pressure. I lost a lot of weight and I could feel my blood pressure. There were times when I had a rapid heart rate and could feel pressure in the back of my hands but it didn’t have anything to do with my weight loss. It slowly got worse over time. I changed my diet where I was eating a lot of animal meat and eggs to keep my protein up and carbs down but I didn’t balance it out with vegetables. For a short period, I ate mostly plant-based just to sort of reset and then I went back to eating meats but I balanced my meals out to include vegetables. After that, my blood pressure went down and my heart rate was fine.

    Well that could have been something as simple as an electrolyte imbalance. Low carb can do that if you're not careful. Low blood pressure could also do that (cause dizziness,) I don't think high blood pressure causes dizziness, but again it could be lots of things.

    I agree that I would have labs done to recheck all the meds. Weight loss changes everything. I would definitely see a doctor, @solomon508.
  • OldAssDude
    OldAssDude Posts: 1,436 Member
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    By inversions do you mean you hang upside down?

    If so, do you think it could be something to do with that?

    Have you informed your doctor about that?
  • nutmegoreo
    nutmegoreo Posts: 15,532 Member
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    Has your doctor also done blood work to check your electrolytes? I'm glad you're getting it looked at.
  • GaleHawkins
    GaleHawkins Posts: 8,160 Member
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    beatyfamily1 wrote: »
    It sounds like your blood pressure. I lost a lot of weight and I could feel my blood pressure. There were times when I had a rapid heart rate and could feel pressure in the back of my hands but it didn’t have anything to do with my weight loss. It slowly got worse over time. I changed my diet where I was eating a lot of animal meat and eggs to keep my protein up and carbs down but I didn’t balance it out with vegetables. For a short period, I ate mostly plant-based just to sort of reset and then I went back to eating meats but I balanced my meals out to include vegetables. After that, my blood pressure went down and my heart rate was fine.

    @beatyfamily1 did you mean you could feel your pulse? I have done that before but it is rare when I notice it.
  • 92joann
    92joann Posts: 67 Member
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    I have a heart murmur so not sure my advice will be useful haha, but i get palpitations due to anaemia, and if i stand up too quickly I get a blood rush to my head, spotty vision etc. I stopped eating meat so my iron got really low lately and it kept happening, been taking iron and b12 supplements and it's stopped. Could be a number of things but anaemia is what gets me
  • beatyfamily1
    beatyfamily1 Posts: 257 Member
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    @GaleHawkins No, not the pulse. I felt actual pressure. I would say it’s similar to going far below under water. The farther you go under water, the more pressure you feel except it was just in my hands and forearms.
  • GaleHawkins
    GaleHawkins Posts: 8,160 Member
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    OK @beatyfamily1. I have never felt that I guess but my wife is always reminding me that I am not a very sensitive type guy. :)
  • beatyfamily1
    beatyfamily1 Posts: 257 Member
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    @GaleHawkins It took me a while to figure out what was causing it. I still don’t know exactly, but I do know that pressure feeling started happening after eating specific foods. Originally it started with the occasional rapid heart rate. Then the veins in the back of my hands and forearms would protrude out more than usual and I would get this pressure feeling that really bothered me. Sometimes I would get a headache. I think it may be I was eating too much saturated fat. I don’t know for sure. I would get the pressure feeling after eating fatty proteins like skinless chicken thighs or eggs but I would be completely fine if I had something like a protein drink so I know it wasn’t protein itself. I was trying to find a reason why I was having high blood pressure. I read that protein can cause that. I know that’s not true but I figured going as meatless as possible for a short period of time can’t be any worse than what I was going through so I gave it a try. I experimented with different foods and found it wasn’t the protein that was causing it, I just happen to be eating proteins that are fatty that was causing it. Obviously, you need fat but it had something to do with the fat. Maybe it was the ratio of the different types of fats I was eating, I don’t know. I just cut back on how much fatty proteins I was eating and balanced out my calories with more vegetables to be on the safe side. I haven’t had any problems since then.

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