Dee Randall wrote:
> "Pennyaline" > wrote in message
>> Most fruits and vegetables are good sources of potassium, but bananas are
>> standouts because they are readily available, portable and easy to eat.
>>
>>
>>> Since I take a small amount of diuretic (for high blood pressure) which
>>> deletes potassium...
>> That should be "depletes potassium"...
>>
>>
>>> I get a potassium blood test.
>>> My doctor told me this week that lack of potassium can cause the heart to
>>> race, but to the person it sounds exactly opposite, as if it is
>>> electrically stopping and then thudding. He did not give a medical term
>>> for this, but my granddaughter has the same thing.''
>
>> It's fibrillation, a too much potassium can cause it as well.
>> Your doctor might have called it by the general term for variations in
>> heart beat caused by electrical conduction disorders: arrhythmia.
>
> I asked him if he would describe or call what I was experiencing
> "fibrillation" or "arrhythmia." He said a resounding "NO."

Hmmmm... that's not likely, because all sensations of racing heart,
stopping heart skipping beats, fluttering, pounding, etc. are caused by
arrhythmia. It's all a matter of out of sync heart muscle contraction,
caused either by conduction errors in the nervous tissue or in the
cardiac muscle tissue itself. It can go by a variety of names, each one
signifying some specific zone or pathway effected by the error, but at
their essence they are all the same thing: arrhythmias.

>>
>>> Appears that a lack of potassium can be important to our health.
>>> So much for the doctor's opinion, though; as my potassium was normal.
>>> So you can probably ignore most of the above paragraph -- tee hee.
>> No, actually you'd better not!
>
> I, myself, am not ignoring it, but am pondering what to do about it. He
> took the strip of an ECG, but I've heard stories about these little strips
> not defining a problem that exists sporadically. I have a feeling seeing
> another doctor just might be a repeat of what this one told me, but I won't
> know unless I seek out another doctor's advice. Basically his advice about
> it was: stop doing whatever you've been doing -- I kid you not! HELP!
>

Basically, that's good advice! If your strips aren't showing anything
consistent or there aren't any of the hallmarks of chronic conduction
problems or cardiac damage, your arrhythmia is probably acute and stress
related. So like the old joke says: if it hurts when you do "this,"
don't do it.

A Holter study could give your doctor scads more information about
episodic events. Any doctor can order a Holter study, but a cardiologist
is needed to interpret it.