heart problems - Eating Disorder Recovery Message Board

angelslove · 09-11-2003, 08:54 PM

hello there. i am 22 and i have been suffering with an eating disorder for 8 years...i am doing very well in my recovery however i was wondering if any of you have any heart problems due to anorexia. i have a few questions so if there is anyone out there please let me know. thanks!

raindrop · 09-15-2003, 07:16 PM

w/my ED my heart rate was almost halved. luckily my magnesium & other vitamin & mineral levels werent dangerously low so i didnt have a heart attack. but i know that a fair number of people w/EDs get heart attacks & other heart probs.

my heartbeat went back to normal after i gained weight. is your heart ok? the funny thing was, when i was so sick i could tell that my heart wasnt right, in a way. i was always aware of it & it would keep me up at night because i could always feel it beating throughout my body & that scared me . . . all this craziness!

i hope that u continue to do well in your recovery!

angelslove · 09-15-2003, 10:24 PM

thanks for the reply raindrop...as for your question if my heart is ok...im not really sure. i had ekgs done and they came back abnormal. all i remember was they would say right axis deviation, short PR intervals, and abnormal atrial rhythmm. my dr. sent me to a cardiologist who did another ekg on me and said there were unspecified changes and he ordered an echo cardiagram and a stress test. the stress test came back as normal but the echo showed some muscle loss. the nurse called me with the results and said everything was ok though. im just confused b/c i have been getting chest pains and i have trouble breathing. i also get like this fluttering in my chest...any ideas??

raindrop · 09-20-2003, 07:28 PM

hmm, 2 bad im not a doctor . . .

well, is there any way that u can get a second opinion or something? the stress test just tests for, well, stress, right? (sorry, i dont know much about this stuff!) cuz i know that people who get panic attacks can feel like that in their chest. & theres always the possibility that this could be unrelated to the ed, although the muscle loss thing sounds suspicious. does doctor knows that u have had an ed?