after meals

[wmcool]

Hi there,

I have always had chest pressure after eating meals like most of us do but it is getting worse. I was miserable last night after dinner which was a frozen barbaque beef patty on bread and noodles on the side. I haven't changed my diet or meds or anything else. This increase of symptoms after meals has been slow increasing for months now and I am really getting tired of it! I am guessing that my tolerance for sodium has gone down. I understand that most food especially pre-packaged with preservitives include a lot of sodium. So my best bet would be to eat low sodium, fresh foods, smaller meals right? Is there any thing else I can do?

Thanks,

Wendy

[AnnetteP]

Hi Wendy,

I think your ideas for things to try are on point. I had the same problem (still do if I eat large meals). So I cut the size of my meals and eat the freshest food I can. For some reason, a BBQ meal caused the worst symptoms. I don’t know if it was the particular food or the amount I would eat along with the huge bucket of sweet iced tea I would drink with it. By all means, try your ideas; but if symptoms do not improve soon, see your doctor.

(Edit: Sorry, I just read the rules for this particular forum. I don't think I was supposed to reply here.)

[Midge Rollins]

Sounds like you have the right ideas going for you. It is hard to follow a healthy diet al the time but when you suffer from over eating it is worth it. sodium is hard for our hearts and makes it work harder. Watch your intake by reading labels and staying at 2400 mg or less everyday. good luck.

[mtlieb]

Hi Wendy,

Mealtime can definitely be a bit rough for us HCM'ers.

I started keeping track of what I eat everyday on sparkpeople.com (shameless plug there) and was a bit startled to learn that even without ANY added salt (I don't even keep table salt in the house right now) I am still getting 2300+ mg of sodium per day JUST in the food I am eating. Yikes!

I'll also tell you, and this is just my own experience, that high carb meals tend to make me miserable. Lots of sugar that gets rapidly assimilated and makes the heart go thump thump trying to get it digested. I am not an advocate of Atkins per se, but eating lower carb meals does tend to help.

Keep in mind that HCM can be pretty dynamic. I have a few problems now that I did not have several years ago. It doesn't necessarily mean you are getting 'worse' or anything like that. Ya just gotta keep changing and adapting as your heart does.

Hang in there. :cool:

Jim