Skipped beats back again after 7 months

[skippedbeats]

I have been having problems with skipped for over a year. Last January Dr. recommended banana and orange juice every day to increase potassium levels. I still take Enalapril HCTZ 10/25 everyday I went for my check up late January and was feeling just fine. Now for the past two weeks noticed the skipped beats were back again. I don't have health insurance so Dr. is reluctant to order any expensive tests. Since I don't have any other symptoms,i.e. shortness of breath, dizzyness or chest pain with these.  Should I increase the o.j. and bananas? What about other supplements?  I am really sick of this. Dr has told me not to take magnesium, but I see that others here have had luck with this.  
Anyone, have any idea why these things keep coming and going.

[Jerry_NJ]

Yes, on V8 it is much more than posasium will give you a vegetable serving too.

I use fish oil myself, and know banana has much good for the body, nothing bad - well I'm sure one can eat too much.

Lose the weight, do you exercise... I don't mean an expensive gym membership, just walk in the neighborhood every day, the shopping mall if the weather is bad.

Stop smoking, and all caffeine his includes chocolate and many sodas, and the diet soda in near Poisson - drink it myself but no more than 12 oz a day.

We do many destructive things to our bodies, and the heart is first alarm for many of us.

[skippedbeats]

Not yet. But worth thinking about

[skippedbeats]

Just purchased V8 yesterday.  Haven't bought this in years. Forgot how  much I like the stuff!  Hope it works. Saturday had these things all day long, sometimes 8 times per minute. yesterday, not so much,until I tried to just relax, then they started lasted for a while then just stopped. Ugh!

[updownleftright]

Keep the bananas, but change the OJ to V8 it has just as much potassium if not more, with a much lower dose of sugar.

[den2094]

have you tried fish oil, omega3?

[achillea]

I hate to say it, but of the factors you listed, the only one that really matters--and it REALLY matters--is your smoking.  This is tremendously more important than your weight or your diet.

Four or five cigs a day is not really 'light smoking.'  The chemicals in cigarettes constrict blood vessels; they cause you to produce adrenaline, which raises your blood pressure; they reduce the amount of oxygen that available to your heart and the rest of your body, which inhibits the ability of the body (including the heart) to heal any damage; and they can increase anxiety, which in turn increases palpitations.

All this is discussed here:

http://www.nhs.uk/news/2012/12December/Pages/Just-a-single-cigarette-a-day-linked-to-sudden-death.aspx

[skippedbeats]

Great article by the way. Thanks!

[skippedbeats]

I wasn't eating bananas for a while, just taking o.j. In the past two weeks I have again started having a banana with brkfast as well as my 8 oz of o.j. Not been eating a lot of vegetables lately either. So, yeah diet could be a factor.  Thanks for your input.  I hate having these skipped beats. Once it warms up here (I am in Michigan) I am determined to get in more walking as exercise.

[skippedbeats]

I am a bit overweight. I am currently trying to loose about 10lbs. Per Dr. as a start. Should loose at least 20 more than that.  I smoke but not very much. 4 or 5 a day.  I think I will just continue with the o.j. and bananas to increase potassium.    Stress is an issue,and I need to work on ways to relieve that.  Thanks for your help.

[achillea]

No one really knows why healthy people get 'skipped beats.'  Most often, they are either Premature Ventricular Contractions (PVCs) or Premature Atrial Contractions (PACs).  In people with normal hearts and no substantial risk factors (bad family history, obesity, smoking), these funny beats are of no significance, other than that they can make you a little nuts.  Or a lot, if you start obsessing about them.

Here is a brief explanation of what's going on:

http://mykentuckyheart.com/information/PrematureVentricularContraction.htm

Many of us at this forum have found that these ectopic beats never really go away--and that supplements of any type have no lasting effect.  It becomes a matter of finding a way to live normally with them, not paying too much attention.  Sometimes this requires the help of a therapist who treats anxiety.

[seaweib]

I would recommend just looking really closely at your diet for the past few weeks and if there have been any changes...even subtle ones.  I personally believe that excess sugar plays a role in aggrevating my skipped beats.  When mine flare up, I generally go on a very strict diet for a few days and they go away.  Of course, caffeine, nicotine and alcohol are biggies in terms of skipped beats so an increase in any of those could also be contributing to their resurgence.