Atkins and PVC's - Diet & Nutrition Message Board

84hurley2003 · 09-24-2003, 05:51 PM

I am a 40 year old female. I began the Atkins Diet 1 1/2 weeks ago. I weighed 131 pounds, and have lost 6 pounds. I want to loose 6 more. I am still on the Induction. About 4 days into it, I began to have skipped heart beats. They have continued to get worse. Of course the more I think about them the worse they get. I have had PVC's for the past 16 years. There have been several times where they have gotten worse. Normally just a few an hour and runs of them when I am under stress. I have been evaluated several times. I saw a cardiologist 7 years ago when they were very bad, and had the full work up. I was told just benign PVC's. DO think the diet has made them worse again. I have up to 10 per minute. Then when I calm down, they seem to stop. Any suggestions?

arkie6 · 09-24-2003, 07:30 PM

Dieting is stressful on the body, no matter what kind it is. Make sure you are eating enough food and make sure that it is high quality, highly nutritious food - not a bunch of low carb bars, shakes, and aspertame laced fake food and diet drinks. Some people are extremely sensitive to aspertame. Also make sure you are drinking plenty of water.

Low carb diets tend to cause the loss of quite a bit of water in the beginning. Along with the loss of this excess water is minerals and electrolytes. If you aren't eating lots of green vegetables, you might want to consider supplementing some minerals, potassium in particular. I would take 200-400 mg of potassium for a couple of weeks and see if that helps. Magnesium is another good mineral to supplement.