I don't know if heart damage is a possibility, unless you didn't treat it in the long term, then maybe you'd have some problems. In the short term, I doubt it.

Hi didier, my heart is in a weakened state but it is reversable. My doctor says I have to do a cardio exercise every day to build up the heart.

I think have to give you some background information in order to understand my situation. I was first diagnosed with a heart murmur when I was diagnosed with hypoglycemia at the age of 17. (that was 13 years ago). My doctor (a homeopathic internist and cardiologist) explained my heart murmur symptoms will act up when my sugar levels are out of whack. So, if I just followed my diet and exercised, I would be fine. And I was. Then life happens. I couldn't go to this doctor because my hmo didn't cover him and he was too expensive for me. Then I would "sample" foods that were not good for me. Then I would have an occasional drink and/or cigarette and coffee. And yet I still maintained the diet, although I did eat things that I thought were healthy for me that weren't. (for example, hummus, splenda, soy milk, etc.) and ironically, I did all this and still lifted weights and ran about 3 days a week.

And guess what?! I relapsed. In the worst possible ways. Insomnia, de-realization, anxiety attacks. (my body used to warn me when I was "bad" with light-headed-ness and my heart murmur would act up. But, somehow, it stopped doing that.) so here I am ... Back at square one really. Hopefully, this will help some who think "is this diet necessary?" ... Umm, yes it is.

I also wanted to add:

thanks for sharing that information, didier. I appreciate it.

I do believe my shortness of breath comes from 3 things. (1) the heart issue (which btw, i've had two other ekg's since august and both of the other doctors said I was fine) (2) anxiety from the hypoglycemia and (3) not taking the time to breath properly. I'm always rushing ... Every where.

Hey tygrbabi
i am glad your heart problems are reversable but I must tell you that the shortness of breath that you describe is not at all the shortness of breath that I am talking about and mentioned in another post (see "difficulty breathing"). It doesn't matter if I am stressed or relaxed, exercising or at rest, busy working or at home. This unpleasant sensation of not being able to get to the bottom of my breath is physiological or maybe more precisely endocrinological. It is sometimes relieved ( a little bit) after I eat but comes back.

Also heart murmurs are quite common. I was diagnosed with a heart murmur years ago but have been able to remain quite active (lift weights 3 days a week, cardio 5 days a week) without any consequence. I too have heard that people with this benign congenital defect are more prone to anxiety attacks and heart palpitations but it is unrelated to respiratory problems.

Didier, I think I understand what kind of shortness of breath you're talking about. And I do believe it stems from the hypoglycemia in some way, although, i'm not exactly sure how. And it doesn't matter whether i'm working out or relaxing, either. I try to just deal with it. There is a product called Dr. Bach's rescue remedy. It's drops that are intended to relieve stress but I noticed that if I take a few drops, I feel a little better. (it doesn't relieve the symptom, it just relieves my stress over not being able to get a full breath).

This weekend I decided to enjoy the good weather by walking along the water. It's very picturesque and i've always enjoyed running there. A short brisk walk sounds great, right? No. Again, I started to feel like I couldn't get a good breath and it makes me very frustrated. I hoping this symptom will go away once my sugar levels stabilize.

It's hard, but try not to worry about them too much, though they're frustrating always remember that they never get any worse than what you're feeling (unless you ate sugar!).

Thanks for putting it in perspective for me, stan. I have to remember that they can't get worse. Well, at least the derealization has slowed down.