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Lialda and an irregular heart beat

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Ulcerative Colitis
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Posted 12/6/2013 8:51 PM (GMT 0)
I noticed that my heart was skipping a beat about every 60 to 90 seconds in early November.

Since I experienced similar heart behavior when eating almonds or Brazil nuts I figured it must be something I was consuming so I started eliminating new foods that I had recently started eating which had no effect. I then eliminated all of my supplements but nothing seemed to affect my heart's behavior.

Two days ago I stopped taking my Lialda and today my heart is beating normally. My heart's behavior yesterday was stranger than I had ever experienced. Last night while making dinner my heart decided it wanted to get some extra exercise because it began beating around 95 beats per minute when it should have been in the mid-60s. This lasted for a couple minutes before it settled down. I started taking Lialda in October after I ran out of my Delzicol.

Had anyone else experienced anything like this?

Asacol is no longer available, Delzicol will no longer be covered by my insurance at the beginning of the year, and Lialda appears to contain a substance that my body doesn't like. I'm guessing Apriso is next up to bat since Pentasa appears to be excessively expensive.

If my mother hadn't passed away of colon cancer at 36 years of age then I would just chuck the medicines and see how things go. My doctor is rather adamant about me taking mesalamine to reduce my risk of colon cancer and rightly so.
Posted 12/6/2013 10:30 PM (GMT 0)
Myocardial issues are not unheard of in patients taking mesalamines, so it's great that you are treading with caution. This is one of my biggest fears as well and I intend to get off when I can. There was a young man who had a minor heart attack due to mesalamine intolerance and had to take blood thinners. It's rare but it exists.

Just so you know - there is zero reduction in colon cancer rates in patients taking mesalamines. When I asked to see the data, no one could provide it. It's like a zeitgeist. It's completely non-existent and when you look at the meta-analysis - the data shows it's inconclusive at best.

If you decide to get off, make sure you have some insurance policy like probiotics or resistant starches. You seem to be following the Perfect Health Diet, so I believe that should be good enough. Maybe consider adding a really low dose of LDN to the mix for more immunomodulation.
Posted 12/6/2013 11:10 PM (GMT 0)
Have you told your GP that you are having irregular heart beats? At age 48 it seems that you should have a cardiac work-up. I had a terrible bout of benign early beats a couple of years ago (PVCs) and even though I knew they were harmless they were alarming enough that my GP had me wear a holter, get a stress test and an echo. It was all fine, and the cause of the PVCs was never determined. They stopped after a few weeks. Sometimes crap happens.
Posted 12/7/2013 1:23 PM (GMT 0)
@StealthGuardian: I had been on Asacol since 1998 with no issues. I did review the literature on chemoprevention a while ago and although the research on 5-ASAs was not very impressive I definitely came to the conclusion that those that remain in remission have a lower chance of experiencing colon cancer than those who failed to maintain remission.

In addition to following the Perfect Health Diet, I continue to consume foods that have shown positive results for me in the past such as having a couple of tablespoons of psyllium seed powder everyday, having raw potato starch everyday, and having turmeric a few times a week with my butternut squash soup.

@kazbern: I spoke with my GI yesterday afternoon and he noted that he had no knowledge of anyone on Lialda developing an irregular heartbeat. He did say that I should follow up with my GP just to be sure that there is no underlying heart issue. I will probably go see her on Monday. I was hoping to be done with the health care system this year. I plan to start my Lialda again on Monday to see if the missed beats begin again. Heart disease does run in my family but its been a plumbing issue and not an electrical issue.

Thanks for the feedback!
Posted 12/7/2013 3:00 PM (GMT 0)
My dad had a history of PVCs and in his late 60s developed a-fib. Now he's 10 years older and is taking some kind of med to keep the a-fib away (he had 3 episodes in 10 years). I'm glad you're going to see your GP. I know it sucks to have so many DR appointments but this is important. Good luck with reintroducing Lialda!
Posted 12/7/2013 5:15 PM (GMT 0)
It's probable that it's unrelated since you had no issues with Asacol.

You do, however, need to see your GP/PCP and request the holter monitor and a cardio ultrasound (echo) at the very least.

My heart's done some wonky things, but I do have a murmur. Nothing obvious, but it does skip beats...and it's disconcerting when it's happened...especially when I was having panic attacks many years ago.

Hopefully this will get figured out quickly.

q
Posted 1/26/2014 8:20 PM (GMT 0)
I finally got the results of my holter monitor and a cardio ultrasound tests back and they both showed no issues with my heart.

My heart's behavior now appears to be unrelated to my use of Lialda.

I suspect that it is related to something I'm eating but I have not been able to track it down. Strangely, I experience the skipped beats mostly on the weekends and the early part of the week. Other than a piece of salmon I usually have on either Friday or Saturday, my meals are very similar to what I eat the rest of the week. I tried the ingredients I used on the salmon separately this week but did not notice any issue.

The other possibility is that it is related to the pain in my mid-back. I did notice one morning where my heart was doing the skipped beats and after foaming rolling on my back the skipped beats went away.

I see my doctor on Monday morning about the pain in my back and I see a cardiologist in the afternoon. Hopefully some progress can be made.
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