What palpitations feel like after 60
A palpitation is the moment you notice your own heartbeat. It can feel like a skipped beat, a thud, a flutter in the chest or a run of fast beats that comes out of nowhere while you are sitting still. Plenty of women first notice it in their sixties, often at night, lying on their left side with the house quiet.
On this episode of The Doctor Is In a listener named Claudette asked Dr. Martin two things at once. Can electrolytes help with heart palpitations? And if she puts salt in her water, will it deplete the salt in her body? His answer to both runs straight to the same place, and it is not where most women expect.
He does not start with the heart itself. He starts with what the heart runs on: water, and the minerals dissolved in it.
Why he looks at magnesium first
If there is one line in this answer to remember, it is this one.
Dr. Martin, The Doctor Is In, Episode 1428And heart palpitations, you always have to look at magnesium. Often a shortage there.
Magnesium is one of the body's electrolytes, a mineral that carries an electrical charge once it is dissolved in your fluids. Your heartbeat is an electrical event. Every beat starts as a signal that has to fire and then reset, and the minerals in and around the heart muscle cells are what make that happen cleanly. When they run short, the signal can misfire, and you feel it as a skip or a flutter.
He ties the same thinking to the most common irregular rhythm in older women.
Dr. Martin, The Doctor Is In, Episode 1428I talked a little while back about AFib, which is like an arrhythmia in the heart, and oftentimes they're missing electrolytes.
Women over 60 have more reasons than most to run low on magnesium. Many are on a medication of one kind or another, and that is a group he singles out in this same answer, as you will see below. He covers the wider case for this mineral, from sleep to cramps, in magnesium for women over 60.
"And heart palpitations, you always have to look at magnesium."
Dr. Martin, The Doctor Is In, Episode 1428The water problem most people have
Before minerals, though, there has to be something for them to be dissolved in. He tells Claudette that water is great, and then he says what he really thinks of it. He calls it vitamin W, and his view of how much of it people drink is not flattering.
Dr. Martin, The Doctor Is In, Episode 1428Vitamin W people are so stinkin' dehydrated.
He compares the body to the planet. Both are mostly water, and he puts both at about 75 percent. He talks about the tens of thousands of miles of blood vessels the heart has to pump through, and says you have to pour water into that system for it to work. A heart pushing against thick, underfilled blood is a heart that is working harder than it should.
Then he adds the group he worries about most.
Dr. Martin, The Doctor Is In, Episode 1428Now, some people, if you're on any medication, any medication, you're probably dehydrated and you need electrolytes
That describes a great many women over 60. Blood pressure pills, water pills, acid blockers and diabetes medications are common at this age, and he says any medication at all is enough to put you on his list. If that is you and you are noticing your heartbeat, water is the cheapest place to begin.
Electrolytes, and the one he starts with
So does he like electrolytes for palpitations? Yes, and he says so plainly. His point is that the right water already carries them. Mineral water and spring water are electrolytes in his book before you add anything.
When you do want to add something, he does not reach for a coloured sports drink.
Dr. Martin, The Doctor Is In, Episode 1428Want a good electrolyte to start with is use a Himalayan salt or a Celtic salt. They've got 84 minerals in there and that's electrolytes.
He also says there are electrolyte products you can stir into your water, and that some people really thrive on them. He does not name one or give an amount. What he is against is paying for it twice. He says you do not have to buy alkaline water or smart water and spend more money: spring water with a little salt added already is smart water.
He is talking about real, unrefined salt here, the kind that still carries its trace minerals, and about adding a little, not a lot.
Salt is not the villain
The second half of Claudette's question was about salt. Women over 60 have usually been told for decades to cut it, and the idea of adding it to water feels wrong. His answer is that the body's handling of salt depends on something else entirely.
If you are a sugarholic, he says, your body will hold onto salt, and that is often what gives you swelling and fluid around the ankles. In other words, the salt sticking around is the result. The sugar is the cause.
Dr. Martin, The Doctor Is In, Episode 1428So don't blame salt for what sugar does.
He adds that the sugar affects your kidneys more than anything else. For a woman who has been told to fear salt, that is a different way to look at her plate. More on that is in blood pressure in women over 60, and the way blood flow ties into it is in how to improve circulation after 60.
When to get it checked
He closes the answer with a caution that matters as much as anything else he said.
Dr. Martin, The Doctor Is In, Episode 1428Yeah, if you're getting heart palpitations, well look, I am not telling you it's only it could be. It certainly could be.
That is the honest version. Magnesium, water and electrolytes are where he looks first because a shortage there is common and simple to fix. They are not the only reason a heart skips. A rhythm that is new, that keeps coming back, or that comes with chest pain, shortness of breath, dizziness or fainting needs to be seen by your doctor, and the sooner the better. An ECG or a heart monitor is how AFib and other rhythms are actually found.
What his answer gives you is the list to bring with you. How much water are you drinking? Which medications are you on? How much sugar and processed carbohydrate is in your day? Has anyone ever looked at your magnesium?
Common questions
What causes heart palpitations in women over 60?
There are many causes, and some need a doctor. The first things Dr. Martin looks at are a shortage of magnesium, low electrolytes and plain dehydration, which he says are common, especially in anyone on medication.
Can magnesium help with heart palpitations?
He says that with heart palpitations you always have to look at magnesium, because a shortage there is often part of it. Magnesium is an electrolyte, and the heart's rhythm depends on electrolytes.
Can electrolytes help with heart palpitations?
Yes, in his view. He links AFib to missing electrolytes in many people. His starting point is spring water with a little Himalayan or Celtic salt added.
Will adding salt to my water make things worse?
Not in his reading. He says the body holds onto salt when you eat a lot of sugar, and that is what often causes swelling. His line is: don't blame salt for what sugar does.
When should I see a doctor about palpitations?
If they are new, frequent, or come with chest pain, breathlessness, dizziness or fainting. He is clear that magnesium and electrolytes could be the reason, not that they are the only one.
The mineral he checks first
With heart palpitations, he says you always have to look at magnesium, because a shortage there is common. Martin Clinic's Magnesium Bisglycinate is the clinic's magnesium.
60-day money-back guarantee. Formulated in clinic.These statements have not been evaluated by the Food and Drug Administration. This product is not intended to diagnose, treat, cure, or prevent any disease. Always consult your healthcare practitioner before starting a new supplement, especially if you are pregnant, nursing, taking medication, or have a medical condition.
