If you drink alcohol (even just a little)...

you may want to check out this article from the Metro in the UK.

By now most of us know the effects of heavy alcohol consumption on the heart, but this is the first time warnings have been attached to moderate drinking.

It's a bit tricky though when you think about consuming a glass of red wine, like I did on Valentine's Day. It's a pretty well known fact that red wine has some amazing components such as flavonoids and other antioxidants in reducing heart disease risk. And sometimes a glass of red wine may help us to relax and relieve stress. So in that way I'm at less of a risk for experiencing heart palpitations if stress is my usual culprit. My thought. If an occasional glass here or there doesn't bother you, then I think it's okay. But if even a sip gets your heart a dancin' I'd think you'd want to avoid drinking altogether. Of course, check with your doctor.

They're back, and I'm back

My respite from palpitations a couple months a go has given way to a vengeance of them the last couple of weeks. Last Saturday evening, I had the worst case of them I've had in years. I had just laid down to go to sleep when they started to rear their ugly heads. The end of a day seems to be a common trigger for many of my palpitations. I'm not sure if I'm just not feeling them during the day and then when I go lay down, I start to notice them or if they are just they byproduct of a long stressful day. Usually, I believe it's the latter. A couple whumps later, I can tell my anxiety level starts to rise. I start to practice my deep breathing, but then my mind starts to play little tricks on me like "Uh oh, what if they don't stop? What if I start getting more of them? What if I have to go the hospital?" And as soon as that negative anticipatory anxiety starts, I get more and more of them. Pretty soon, I was in bigeminy or trigeminy where I started getting them every other or every third beat. I would exacerbate the condition when I started putting pressure on myself to "beat these pvcs" after all I'm an expert on them now, right??? I continued to deep breathe and then decided I would try talking to my husband for distraction. I started telling him all the things I had on my plate right now and all the stresses and worries I'm dealing with. That helped a lot and before I knew it, a gentle peace enveloped me and I fell asleep. I remember waking up around 3 a.m. in the morning excited that I had gotten some sleep and that the pvc's were no longer bothering me. Every time I'm successful at accepting and dealing with them, I'm encouraged that I do have the power to make them stop. I don't need a magic pill or a doctor to help me through them. I have me. My mind and attitude is my greatest ally.

But even after that successful night of stopping them, palpitations continued to bother me off and on throughout the week. It was the week before my period was to begin, and I firmly believe (although some male doctors won't admit it) that the fluctuating hormones played a role in the abundance of pvc's that I experienced this week. I also went out of town for a week and although vacation can be relaxing, just the change of routine, most likely contributed to them. I got back late yesterday and instead of relaxing and taking it easy I went over to a friend's party. As I was sitting outside in the hot and humid late afternoon sun she handed me a Mexican martini. I knew I was dehydrated and should have been drinking water, but I started to sip on the alcohol anyway. A couple minutes later, whump...whump...whump. My heart was skipping in a dance. We excused ourselves early. I went home and took a shower. They were still bothering me but when I sat up in a meditative pose and started to breathe in and out fully to counts of 3, 4, 5 and they started to diminish. My husband came in and gave me a back massage and once again, I started talking through all my worries. And guess what? The palpitations disappeared after an hour or so. I was able to go to sleep without any trouble and woke up late the next morning feeling refreshed and energized.

Drinking for Life

One of the first things you'll hear when your doctor diagnoses you with heart palpitations is to cut out all caffeine. Some people even claim once they cut out coffee, they never had any heart problems again. I had never been a huge coffee or Coke drinker so I knew I couldn't blame caffeine on all my heart palpitations, but I knew it contributed to some. I remember when I was in college, I loved getting a cafe au lait from a local coffee shop. Well, it took one night of experiencing the dance in my heart and I swore I would never drink coffee again. And I haven't. I also try to stay away from soft drinks but I do sip an occasional one for special occasions. But my rules are never drink a Coke when I'm experiencing high levels of stress or late at night. We were in the midst of packing up our apartment and moving into our first home and we knew it was going to be a long night before we had everything ready for the movers. I remember it was a little after midnight, I was worn out from teaching that day, and I thought it would be a good idea to get a little energy boost by drinking a Coke. I guzzled it down and no sooner had I just put the empty can down when my heart paused and let out a hard THUMP. I was tired, I was stressed, and I had just consumed caffeine. Not a good combination.

Another thing that is usually recommended is to eliminate alcohol. I try to limit my alcohol consumption to a small glass of red wine (since it's suppose to be good for your heart) once a week or so. I also like to reward myself for working out and staying healthy with an occasional mixed drink. But that's all. Of course, if you notice heart palpitations after drinking alcohol, put the drinks away.

Previously I mentioned that one of the things I do when I start getting palpitations is to immediately drink a glass of water. A lot of times we are dehydrated and don't even know it. And you've heard it time after time, but I'll repeat it. Make sure you are getting the recommended amounts of water every day, especially in the summer. "Eight 8-ounce glasses of water a day" is a good rule of thumb.

Alternatives to water? While sugar IS something you want to minimize, I would choose small amounts of natural sugar any day, over foods sweetened with high fructose corny syrup or artificial sweeteners like aspartame, saccharin and sucralose (Equal, Nutrasweet, Sweetn'Low, Splenda, etc). The following are some healthy alternatives to water. If you have other suggestions, let me know, as I love trying new healthy drinks.

-Water with lime or lemon or cucumber.
-Decaffeinated hot or iced tea with honey, agave nectar, or lemon
-Green teas (even if you choose decaf you'll still experience some of the healthy antioxidant benefits)
-Smoothies: My favorite recipe is very simple. 1/4 cup apple juice, 1/4 cup water, 1/4 cup blueberries (or other favorite fruit), 1 scoop (10 mg) whey protein powder (vanilla flavored). Blend together and enjoy. This is a perfect snack because it contains 1 block of protein and 1 block of carbohydrates.
-Vegetable juices (Hey Mom, my taste buds are finally tolerating these!)
-Fruit juices (but I always dilute them with at least 50% water)
-Fizzy water (or in Italy it's known as "con fizz") such as Pellegrino