I'm a 21 year old female and since I started my job as a vet tech I have gained about fifteen pounds. I'm not overweight, but i'm also not as lean as I was because the long hours and hard work often leave me unable to exercise as much as I did. In late may I bought a bottle of *metabolife ultra* and began using it with a healthy diet and exercise (weights and stomach crunches, mainly) in order to lose weight. I lost twelve pounds and after twelve weeks I stopped using the pills. I only took two pills a day (less than half the reccomended dose on the bottle) and I never ate or drank anything with caffeine in it at the time. At the time I was taking the pills I never experienced any of the symptoms listed on the bottle (i.E. Nervouseness, rapid heartbeat, ect.). I was careful to watch for it because I knew that *metabolife* contains ephedra and that it can be bad for your heart if not used correctly. Things went along normally after that for several weeks, and I thought nothing of it. Until ten days ago, that is.

Early last week I was at work and I noticed my heartbeat seemed a little rapid. Since it was a busy day and my job can be stressful, I thought nothing of it. But within the next couple of days my heartrate stayed consistently at about 125-135 and occasionally it would "flipflop", or thump out of rhythm against my chest. On friday, my mother, who is a nurse, called my doctor and he suggested I come in for an ekg and bloodwork because he says *metabolife* has been known to cause hyperthyroidism and heart problems even when taken at or below the reccomended dosage. I am still waiting for him to call me back with the results.

My question is this: has anyone else had or heard of this kind of delayed reaction to ephedra? My heart seemed perfectly ordinary for two months after discontinuing use of the product and I never had any symptoms even while I was on it. Has anyone else experienced this?

Sorry to be so yappy but i'm very nervous and I would appreciate any thoughts on the matter. Thanks.