Heart palpitations and weakness both, apart from heart affections, are symptoms of various medical conditions. The most common of these medical conditions are as following:
1. Atrial fibrillation- a heart condition causing palpitations, dizziness, weakness etc
2. Psychological issues like panic attack and general anxiety disorder( the patient feels constantly anxious)
3. Premature ventricular contractions (PVCs)-extra heartbeats starting in the lower chambers of the heart.
4. Heart rhythm disorder- deviation of the normal heart rhythm
5. Low potassium (hypokalemia) – the drop of potassium level under the normal range
6. Thyroid affections – Thyroid storm (very increased levels of thyroid hormones in the blood. It is a potential life-threatening condition) and hyperthyroidism (increased levels of thyroid hormones in blood)
7. Vitamin B deficiency – the lack of vitamin B in the body causes pernicious anemia, which causes palpitation and weakness, which is severe, amongst other symptoms.
8. Aortic regurgitation – an affection of the aortic valve, in which its papers do not close properly
9. Late dumping syndrome – a post-operational complication of stomach resection surgery. It occurs 2-3 hours after eating sugar-rich meals, and is due to the excess release of Insulin in order to afford the increased sugar levels in the blood.
How do palpitations cause general body weakness?
Heart palpitations and weakness are experienced together in all the aforementioned medical conditions. In some of these conditions, weakness is a consequence of palpitations, and in other conditions it is a co-symptom of the disease.
In heart affections such as atrial fibrillation, rhythm disorders, premature ventricular contractions etc, weakness is a consequence of palpitations.
Palpitations cause the heart to beat more rapidly, thus, the heart does not have the proper time it needs to fill its chambers with blood.
Having not filled enough with blood, its outflow will decrease, therefore all body tissues, including muscles, will not be properly supplied with oxygenated blood. The improper blood supply of the muscles causes general weakness.
Psychological disorders like panic attack or general anxiety disorders cause palpitations due to the stimulation of sympathetic nervous system. Weakness is due to both, palpitations and independent symptom of these disorders.
Low levels of potassium cause palpitations by altering the function of the heart muscle cells. Weakness in this condition is due to palpitations, and also to the direct effect of low potassium in lower and upper muscles of the limbs.
It alters the entry and exit of other electrolytes such as sodium and calcium leading to muscle weakness and tiredness. Sometimes this weakness is severe enough to cause inability to move the limbs.
Thyroid affections cause heart palpitations and weakness by altering heart work. Thyroid hormones have direct effect of heart tissue by causing it to beat harder and faster, causing palpitations.
Apart the improper supply of blood due to palpitations, weakness in thyroid affections is also caused by the effect of these hormones in the body muscles. They interfere in the work of cell muscle pumps (Ca- ATP-ase pump) by causing consumption of cell energy leading therefore to weakness.
Vitamin B12 can result in a condition called pernicious anemia. It is characterized by the lack of healthy blood cells. They are large and do due to some changes in their inner structure, do not get properly saturated with oxygen, causing lack of proper oxygenation in every cell in the body. This condition causes the heart to beat faster, in order to compensate this improper oxygenation. Both, heart palpitations and weakness are due to improper oxygenation.
Palpitations and weakness in aortic regurgitation are decrease of the heart outflow, because some of the blood pumped by heart reverses back in heart, due to the insufficiency of the valve papers.Late dumping syndrome causes palpitation and weakness due to the increased levels of insulin, stimulated by the immediate crossing of food bolus in small intestines.
What is the treatment??
The treatment of palpitations and weakness depends on the underlying disease causing it.
For example, your doctor may prescribe you thyroid hormone-lowering drugs (like propiluracile or carbamasine) in case of thyroid affections, anti-arhymthmic meds in case of rhythm disorders, eating small and often meals in case of late dumping syndrome, taking vitamin B12 in case of its deficiency, taking potassium rich foods like chocolates, tea etc, as an additional of low potassium therapy (low potassium condition is treatment in hospitals)
Here are some natural treatments of palpitations and weakness :
1. Natural treatment of palpitations: resting, reducing excess physical activities, reducing stress therapies (like yoga or aromatherapy etc) reducing intake of caffeine food and beverages will help.
2. The natural treatments of weakness are: bananas, almonds, milk, Indian Groosebary, ginseng, licorice, mangos, strawberries, eggs. Careful with the intake of coffee: it reduces body weakness but triggers palpitations, so do not drink high amounts of coffee, or do not drink it at all.