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Chest Pain and Palpatations.................

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Posted 10/13/2009 3:52 AM (GMT 0)
Hello All..
I am a new member, and this forum is a godsend. I have GERD and IBS. however I had not had chest pain and palpatations untill just lately. The chest pain and palpatations I have been reading about in this forum are exactly what I have been having. The sharp stabbing stinging burniing chest pain scared me not to mention they were preceded by palpatations. I have been to three different ER's multiple times resulting in 9 cardio work ups and 3 echo stress tests in the last six months. All of them being negative. Not to mention the hospital stay.
Any suggestions on what to do are welcome. There is one thing that is unusual. The pattern to my dismay. When I wake up all is fine. I go through the day with no problems., untill I start my eating cycle.. After about the second meal I began to feel palpatations then the chest sensations start. The pattern is if I sit still they seem to taper off but the more I move around or be active the chest activity picks up. I had these symptoms in the hospital while being monitored and I was told all of my readings were fine. Has anyone had this experience or is it just me.
PLEASE HELP..............
TREBAZ94
Posted 10/13/2009 2:57 PM (GMT 0)
TREBAZ94

Hello and welcome to HealingWell and the GERD/Heartburn Forum.

GERD can  cause chest pain because the acid inflames the esophagus and can lead to abnormal muscle contractions. This chest pain may feel very similar to the pain experienced in angina -- the pain felt by patients with coronary heart disease.

Although it does not cause heart palpitations directly, GERD-related chest pain  may cause you  to feel very anxious, and this may cause palpitations.

May I suggest that you talk to your physician about anxiety as this may be part of your problem and there are many options available to learn how to deal with your anxiety when you have a chronic condition like GERD.

Again a warm welcome to HealingWell.

Kitt
Posted 10/13/2009 9:21 PM (GMT 0)
I had heart arrhythmia problems after eating for several years, did nothing about it, and ended up with a heart attack.  I found out, from consulting an allergist, that it was due to food allergies/intolerances.  The heart is connected to the stomach by the vagus nerve.

I've posted my list of food triggers on this forum a couple of times.  You may not have the same triggers, or you could just have a problem with volume in your stomach due to a large hiatal hernia. 

I got rid of my reflux by avoiding the causes, only to have a bad accident and have even worse reflux and arrhythmias and pain because of a large paraesophageal hernia - big part of stomach stuck in chest.  Only cure for that is surgery.

Posted 10/13/2009 11:59 PM (GMT 0)
Palpitations were the only sign of my GERD, erosove esophogitis and hiatal hernia. I didn get pain untill the last 4 months before I got the surgery.

I'm 4 weeks post op and I'm still healing and still have a different type of pain that I atribute to the healing process. There are days now that I feel great, with no pain from the surgery and the palps are non existant. But with the pain come the palpitations. Its still hard to take a deep breath and when I do, and I feel pressure/resistance in my chest I get the palpitations. I dont have reflux that I can feel any more and my wrap is pretty tight, but I do have a lot of healing left to do. My esophogus was severly eroded and the sores were/are pretty bad. I attribute the palps. to the problems I was having and the healing that I'm doin because if you look at a chart of the body the esophogus is right behind the heart. I believe that in my case when my esophogud is inflamed or swollen it bothers my heart and causes it to palp. I came to this conclusuion because of what I feel and from the many years of dealing with these palpitations.

The doctors I saw for tha last 10 years were stumped about what was/is causing my palps because I have an otherwise healthy heart.

I hope you get to the bottom of your problem as this can be very stressful.

Take care.

Rafael

Posted 10/14/2009 3:58 PM (GMT 0)
I Thank you all for this info and I look forward to sharing more info and conversation with you all. A warm heart felt
Thank You.
Tre Baz 94...............
Posted 10/17/2009 6:29 PM (GMT 0)
Hello as I said before thank you for the info.....I wanted to ask does anyone know of something I can do about these symptoms of chest pain and palpatations. besides the medicine I am taking.I am taking protonix, and amitriptyline but I still have these symptoms......

If anyone can help please do..........

trebaz94..
Posted 10/17/2009 6:47 PM (GMT 0)
Dear trebaz94,

I can relate to what you shared. My husband is a doctor and he explains that to help digest the food after eating, our stomachs request for more blood to keep it going. This makes our hearts work overtime right after eating and hence, exacerbate the PVCs/palpitations/chest pain.

For me, the things that help me are:
1. Don't eat anything with caffeine. This includes most soda, coffee, tea, and chocolates.
2. Get plenty of rest. When I get too tired I often sleep for about 10 hours each day and I find that I can recover faster if I just give in and stop fighting it.
3. Find distractions to keep your mind off the feelings.
4. I find that it helps to remind myself that my heart and lungs are healthy, and that all of the symptoms are temporary.
5. I sleep about 3 hours after my last meal and I sleep in an almost upright position. It's not my favorite but it really does help a lot.

If it's only GERD and IBS that are causing the symptoms, it often goes away after some time. I hope yours will improve soon.
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