Can anyone tell me if they have experienced tachycardia (rapid heart rate) from taking chromium picolinate? The reaction was similar to when I took antihistamines (which I no longer take).

I weigh 116 lbs, so maybe 200 mcg is too much for me? Or is this a common side effect that I haven't heard of before? I stopped taking it, but I'm curious how others have reacted to it.

Wanda

hi Wanda,

I've never taken chromium picolinate before, so can't share any experience with the tachycardia. But, Healthwell.com's article about chomium does give a brief reference to some persons taking the mineral who experienced heart rhythm problems. Apparently this was associated with injestion of excessive amounts.

So what constitutes excessive amount? For non-diabetics, the recommended amount is 200 - 400 mcg per day. Diabetics may be prescribed up to 1000 mcg per day. Note to readers - if you're diabetic, do NOT self-treat with chromium, as it might alter how much and the way your body uses insulin. Make sure you have a health care professional monitoring you closely.

There's a lot of controversy over what type of chromium is best, and the picolinate form has come under fire in the past for causing serious health effects .. although the studies were inconclusive. For the record, the Drs. Heller of Carbohydrate Addicts do not recommend picolinate .. instead they use GTF chromium (glucose tolerance factor). You can read more about GTF chromium from the Carb Addicts' FAQ's page.

hth,

Doreen

Hi Doreen:

Thanks so much for your information. The information from the Heller's site was useful. It must be my body's way of saying it doesn't want chromium picolinate. I haven't read the Heller's book so I didn't know that they had some issues with it. Everyone else seems so positive about it. Maybe at some point I'll try the GTF chromium.

As for Healthwell.com's site, I followed your link on chromium and found it quite informative as well. But then I made the mistake of following their link to hypoglycemia where they cite 20 year old research stating that hypoglycemia may be partly a "psychological" problem. I wish I hadn't done that. I must still be a little defensive, eh?

Anyway, thanks again for your help.

Eeeek!! I'm going to have to check that out (I didn't follow every single link in the chromium article) ... Maybe it has to do with depleted serotonin levels. Healthwell.com uses Healthnotes 2002 as its information resource. Hmmm ...

Glad the other info. was helpful.

Doreen