Julie - changing eating alone won't do much, especially in the short term, because your body just gets used to the reduced calorie input and slows your metabolism.
Gotta exercise, too.
Well, what I get is
PAT/
PSVT, and I get those same sensations, the red face, hot feeling - I really think it's about the head and not the heart for that particular symptom.
If your brain and head aren't getting enough oxygen because your heart isn't working properly, you get pale (lack of O2 and blood flow) and pass out.
I told this story on MedHelp, I think. I was riding on my exercise bike a number of years ago and was wondering how long I'd have (during exercise) to call someone if my heart stopped working before I passed out. So during the middle of the exercise, heart rate around 150-160, I held my breath and watched the clock. At about 8-9 seconds everything started to go dark. Really fast. I let out the air and started breathing again but still could feel myself starting to slump over/fall sideways on the bike. Everything kicked back in and I was fine a few seconds later.
But I never felt hot. I never felt the same sensations I felt when I had the bursts of
PAT. And the blood flow to my brain was clearly stopped during this experiment. And I was most certainly about to pass out.
So that's kinda why I think it's a fright reaction more than anything - just basing it on my own little self-experiments. I know. Looney tunes. But whatever - how else am I gonna find out?