Stomach issue leading to high BP, rapid heart rate, extreme dizziness

M

mindy_me

New member
Anyone have any idea what this could be? If i dont eat i feel weak because of no food. If i eat then i end up almost dead coz of the weakness and high bp/heart beating, etc.

Background:
25 yr old/male. Everything was normal until 2 months ago. Never had any health issues (except hairloss) until 2 months ago. Then i took 50mg Ephedra alkolides + 400 caffine. After a day i fainted and ended up in the ER. I feel it was coz of the dehydration. All tests in the ER was normal.

Since that day until now (2 months later i feel like shit most of the time)

1) I keep burping out throught out the day
2) If i eat almost anything, i feel bloated in the stomach, gas builds up and I have to either burp out more or go the bathroom and pass out the stool (after an hr or so).
If i don't pass stool or burp out air then it starts to effect me big time:
- I start to feel very weak and dizzy
- My BP starts to rise
- Pressure builds up in the ears
- Sometime starts pounding faster
- I start yawning a lot & eventually get so weak that i cant balance myself anymore.
- Mouth dries up from inside, low saliva production

Then if I start to burp out air for sometime or pass out the stool, after 30mins of so everything comes back to normal. (except for the BP- it drops to the 130ish over 80 range, and there is a slight fatigue but nothing abnormal)

TESTS: (All tests were good, nothing wrong.)
- Blood work (TSH, T4, Electrolytes, 12 hr Fasting glucose (it was 98), liver enzymes, lipids, SED rate, CK (for heart), Helicobacter Pylori
- EKG: normal
- BP: high (in the 145/85 ish range if i dont remove air)
- Nose/Ears: normal, no infection
- NO pain, no external bleeding, no nausia.
- Stool is usuall normal, but the color is a bit light like orange/light brown mix.

Any idea what it could be? I doubt it is was the ephedra since i only took 50mg once and that also 2 months ago. Havent taken anything else since then.

I dont think it's acid refulx either since i dont have any food coming up, just air. I think the air is getting stuck in the stomach and putting pressure on the organs which is increasing the bp? I told this to m doc but he didnt buy it.

I am not 100% sure though if the stomach issue is an effect of some other problem in the body or if this is the main problem and casing the other issues like high bp, etc..

What all tests can be done?
 
Considering what's affected - heart rate, blood pressure, gastrointestinal, respiratory, and that you have dry mouth - this points to possible damage to your autonomic nervous system. The ephedra was enough to do this, that's one of the side effects it can have. One dose was enough.

You could look for an autonomic nervous system specialist - likely a neurologist considering your symptoms, but sometimes they can be cardiologists and electrophysiologist.
With luck your nervous system will eventually heal itself, though more thorough testing could find some deficiencies or high levels of things not normally tested for that could be hindering you from healing.

I strongly suggest you avoid caffeine at this time, if you're not already. And no more experimenting - you could have died from the ephedra alkaloids (which I thought were banned in the US?).
 
agree with what this person says. hope you feel better never take something else with ephedra especially caffeine. Please be careful and keep us updated. Never take medications from weird places that you can't get here without a RX like when going to Mexico don't buy it just because you can, very dangerous. ephedra sounds like a diet drug sorry I am tired haven't slept yet. if its banned dump it down your garbage disposal can cause serious side effects.
 
Well the Ephedra is genuine as this bottle was the same one being sold before the FDA ban. People just stocked up before the ban with tons of these bottles. I guess it must have been expired though, didn't check the date.

The thing is I have taken so many supplements, including Clen, T3, etc + many hormones too since i was into amateur bodybuilding, and never had any health issues for the last 25 yrs. Yes, liver values & lipids did go up when i was taking hormones but it became normal. Only the hair is starting to fall, that's it. So it's strange the ephedra would cause so many problems with just few pills. But ys, i am never going to touch it ever again!

I did speak to another doctor over the phone and he suggested the same thing - autonomic nervous dysfunction. Ofcourse he's not 100% sure though and said it could be a stomach issue also.

But the good news is he suggested I take Prilosec first and see if it helps so we can rule out any stomach issues. And ever since i started that my dizziness has pretty much gone, no ear pressure, no dry mouth, no fainting/near death experiences.

But sides still around:
-BP is a bit high, around 135-140 over 75-82
-Stomach always feels bloated and i cant eat much
-Gas issue along with burping is still there. Even if i eat 1 smallbar i feel full & need to burp.
-Heart rate is normal most of the time except if i do any real physical activity like run up the stairs. (this never happened before. I used to do cardio for 45mins a day - 5 times a week for the last 2 yrs and never had this issue)

So I'm waiting for my insurance to kick in then will get an Upper GI/Lower GI xray, along with a stress echo for the heart, hopefully something comes out there. But i'm much better now, atleast i can lead a normal life without being dead on the bed like i was for the last 1 month, all thanks to prilosec.

btw: Does anyone know if there are any public/low cost blood testing labs? I want to get many tests done but my doc said it will be expensive without insurance so I'm not sure if there are low cost labs around where we can do tons of blood tests?
 
Here's the thing though. Stomach issues can affect the vagas nerve (autonomic nervous system) since it goes all the way down through the stomach. This is why people with acid reflux will mistake those symptoms as a heart attack.

I have some ANS problems myself, and prilosec is one med I take on occasion.


For blood tests - different labs have different prices, you'd have to call around. But remember you'll have to pay little extras like drawing fees. You will need a doctor to order labs for you.
Some of my blood work has averaged out to costing $800-$1000 before insurance. Little stuff like a CBC and electrolytes is cheaper, but won't find anything else that needs to be checked.
I wouldn't be surprised if your doctor would like to check a urine sample, too.

In the meantime. Please be very careful what you take.
Old pre-ban supplement or not, it's not safe to put all this stuff in your body. Do you still take supplements other then any minerals or vitamins? And if you take any of those, what sort of doses? It is possible to get to much, and it's also possible to get more then your kidneys may be able to pass properly even at recommended doses if there is something wrong with them.
 
The only reason i say it could be a stomach issue is that the sides only happen when/after i eat. If i don't pass stool and burp out the air then within 10 mins my bp rises, ears start popping, head gets heavy, i start yawning and eventually i feel so weak and dry with high heart rate. Then after i burp out everything and empty my stomach, like make it 100% empty everything becomes normal within 30mins. I feel like i could run 10 miles, thats how much energy i get back.

If this were purely a nerve issue why doesnt any of the sides happen when my stomach is empty? I've tried fasting for a day and was perfect.

I know it's not acid reflux coz i dont have any food coming out, nor do i feel any burning in the stomach/chest.

I feel, although the doctors disagree, that this problem is not related to the ephedra unless the ephedra damaged something in the stomach.

If my body were a system of pipes i can easily tell you that there is a leak somewhre coz the air from the stomach is somehow putting pressure on my heart and other organs. Today i didnt shit/burp after eating and i could feel the air pressure in my chest.Entirestomach got bloated too when i hardly ate 5 egg whites.

I'll let everyone know in a week or two what diagnosis i get, it may help some of you too. Right now waiting for my insurance to start so i can visit the doctor. The cardiologist is charging 400 just for an office visit which i am not paying until i get insurance.

How's the prilosec working for you? Any sides? My doc said to take it twice a day which i am not. I feel twice is too much until hecan give me an accurate diagnosis.
 
Your stomach and everything else in your body is innervated. If it weren't you couldn't digest food. That's why something wrong with your stomach (and the nerves to it) can affect blood pressure and heart rate.
You don't have to have either, honestly. Some people with have it for years and not know until they have an endoscopy and their doctor finds damage. But I was mostly using it as an example for you as that's one stomach issue that causes the vagus nerve to act up - thus increasing or lowering heart rate and blood pressure

Research it. It's a nasty supplement and there was a good reason for it's ban. It killed people, with just one dose.
The chances that it was something you took are very high, and this one just seems bad all together.

It's not though. Your stomach can't expand far enough to press all your other organs aside. And it's not directly against your heart anyways. Again, that bloating can trigger the vagus nerve which could be what you're experiencing.

I hope you do get a diagnosis soon, and yes specialist are ridiculously expensive. I saw one who charged $700 - thankfully I only paid the $35 copay.
Prilosec helps but I do have acid reflux (among other issues). My Gi doc has me trying out Nexium, right now - it's 40mg and a lot more expensive. I have yet to see a difference between 40mgs of OTC prilosec and 40mgs of prescription Nexium.
 
So i went to the doctor again as the prolisec is loosing it's effectiveness. The high bp and ear fullness feeling + gas is forming again. Heart only starts beating hard if i do any exercise (or even walk fast), otherwis it's normal.

Was given nexium & dicyclomine. And he said to do a CT scan of the abdominal areas + an endoscopy once my insurance kicks in. Will even get an echo of the heart done.

Still no real diagnosis. Now doc feels it could be IBS. Will check with a specialist soon.

I feel my vision is also getting a bit blurry & hair loss is increasing over the last 3 weeks.
 
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