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GERD? and Heart Arrythmia??

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Posted 11/28/2006 4:01 PM (GMT 0)
Hello, i'm new to the forum and wonder if anyone can help with some symptoms which are driving me mad!

I have suffered with irritation to my throat/chest on the left side for a few years now which often includes a feeling of an obstruction/lump in my throat i cannot clear. The symtoms fluctuate but never completely clear.

I can put up with these symptoms which i assumed are either due to some stomach acid problem (GERD)  or post nasal drip but over the last months my heart seems to get irritated when the symtoms are bad.

My heart will start beating wildly and erratically - this often starts if i bend over or crouch after eating a large meal or if i do not constantly clear the congestion in my throat. Coughing or clearing my throat will return my heartbeat to normal and i'm 100% sure the symtoms are all directly related but i don't know how ?  I wondered if anyone with GERD type symptoms also suffers with these arrythmias as well and how do i stop it?? I've made an appointment with my doctor next week.   

Posted Yesterday 1:15 AM (GMT 0)
Hi Paul,

I tend to have irregular beats when my GERD is bad. Also, I can get it alot when I work leaning over too much, or get a little constipated. You might search this forum for similar discussions about GERD and irregular beats. I know we've had them in the past.
But I would never assume it was your GERD, unless you had had your heart checked out and it was okay.
What is a little disconcerting is that you can cough and stop the run of irregular beats. They teach people to cough to stop their runs of vetricular tachycardia. Do you ever feel faint with these beats?
I had a stress echo and it was normal.........so I've learned to assume that an irritated esophogus, or pressure on my heart from my stomach can cause these irregular beats.
I've often wondered if I have a sliding hiatal hernia, since I always get irregular beats after leaning over much. But then again, that could also be caused by the irritation from stomach acid coming up into my esophogus.
I believe the vagus nerve, which also goes to the heart, lines the esophogus, so that might be a reason for the irregular beats when our esophoguses are having trouble.
I tend to over eat alot, and there's nothing that works better for eating less, than getting alot of those irregular beats. They are really scary. When I quit eating much, they ease up too.
Good luck to you at the doctor's.

P.S.  I have found that taking calcium and magnesium helps alot too.

Posted Yesterday 12:52 PM (GMT 0)
Thanks for the info Cathy, I'm sure my problem/symptoms are the same as yours. I had my pvcs/ectopic beats investigated a couple of years ago before i realised they were connected to my stomach/throat problems and they were found to be benigh

(i.e. i have no underlying heart disease and am physically fit ).

I am also susceptible to these abnormal beats/rhythms if i bend forward or 'scrunch' up after eating large meals but lying flat after large meals can also trigger the same symptom. I also suspect the problem is caused by direct irritation of the heart by a distended stomach/possible hernia or maybe irritation of the vagus nerve by stomach acid or enlarged stomach... 

Posted Yesterday 1:36 PM (GMT 0)
Hi Paul,

I'm glad you've had your heart checked out. It really does help me to take extra magnesium, when my heart seems to be extra sensitive.
Not to be gross.......but I've discovered that when I have stool in my transverse colon, it can give me ectopy! Maybe some of us just have thinner diaphragms, and our hearts get pushed on more easily by "stuff".
I've also been wondering.......I have a very high waist.......which means more stuff has to be fit into a smaller area. It makes me wonder if high waisted people tend to have this problem??
Even though I've had my heart checked out, ectopic beats are very disconcerting.
The one summer when I went to the ER for all the ectopics, and then had the stress echo, was when I was building a chicken run, and leaning over a whole lot.
I guess there's not much for us to do about it, except try not to lean over, especially when our stomachs are full! But like I said, I seem to get some relief from taking extra magnesium.
You're not alone with this curious problem!

P.S.  Have you  noticed that caffeine plays a part?  I can have 1 glass of coke a day.  But if I go to anything above that, my heart is alot more prone to ectopy.   I've never figured out if its the caffeine, or the irritation to the esophogus.

Posted Yesterday 10:41 PM (GMT 0)
This is all very interesting to me. It started during the summer with some weird feelings in my chest. It got much worse in Sept. When I would eat somehing at times it felt as if my heart was racing. I was also suffering from dizziness and light headedness. At first I thought it was related to a possible pinched nerve as my left shoulder was full of knots and my neck was at many times slightly stiff. As time went on the dizziness got more pronounced and there were times whenI was stading in one spot that I thought I might pass out. I finally went to the Dr. and the did and EKG and blood work. My EKG did shpw a fast heart rate. Then I wore a Holter monitor which didn't show any abnormalities. I finally went to the Cardi, ad laast week had an echocardiogram. The Cardiologist doesn't think it's heart related. I also went to my GI as I have crohns disease. He prescribed Prevacid and wants to do an upper endo. This is scheduled for the end of Dec. (MY choice). I had started taking Zantac a few weeks ago and felt this did help and suffered from less dizziness and light headedness. I almost always feel better when sitting down. At work this isn't possible. I'm on my feet just about eight hours a day. I have started to feel better overall. I haven't gotten the results of my echo yet Another sympton was that At times if felt as if my chest was tight. When I did feel light I was having irregular/racing heart I would cough. I don't know if it helped or was just a distraction. I do take a lot of magnesium, but this doesnt' seem to make any difference for me. Ayhow thanks for making me feel like I'm not crazy. Robin
Posted Today 1:37 AM (GMT 0)
Hi Robin,
I'm glad you had an echo. That would show mitral valve prolapse, which might give you those symptoms too.
When I was going through perimenopause, I thought I would go crazy. My GI tract went crazy. I had had an upper endoscopy awhile back, so I knew nothing was horribly wrong with my stomach. But I began to get intensely bloated all the time. So much so that I felt I couldn't breath. I slept in a chair for 7 months. There were times when I swear my diaphragm was contracting. It felt just like some of the contractions I would get with labor, only higher.
So I think our GI tracts are capable of ALOT of weird stuff!
Good luck with your endoscopy Robin.
P.S., when I have irregular heartbeats, I sort of reflexly cough. It is like someone hitting me in the chest. When we have premature heartbeats, the heart fills more slowly and fully for the next beat, so that when it does contract, its a whopper. I think that's what makes us cough.
Posted Today 10:12 AM (GMT 0)
Hi Cathy, yes i think caffeine definitely plays a part and i only drink 2 cups of tea/coffee a day otherwise it can cause me problems. Alcohol causes severe problems for me - usually the next day when i will suffer fast erratic heart rate and lots of irregular beats. I have completely stopped drinking alcohol now due to this as even small amounts cause me problems - it really is a bummer !!

I have been taking magnesium for a while and it definitely helps as does a herbal supplement called 'hawthorn berry' which is known to be useful in heart rhythm complaints. At one point i was suffering thousands of pvcs a day but the magnesium seems to have cut 90% of them out and the episodes i get now always seem to be directly gut related in some way.

Posted Today 10:27 AM (GMT 0)
Cathy, For info, link detailing benefits of Hawthorn Berry capsules, they work for me...

Edit:  I removed your link as it is a direct link to a website with a message forum.

If you are a web site owner and have a link that fits into this category that you want to share, please submit it to our resource directory and we will review your submission.   


Post Edited By Moderator (stkitt) : 12/24/2009 6:53:42 AM (GMT-7)

Posted 12/11/2006 11:27 PM (GMT 0)
I use hawthorneberry with capsicum, although I gave that a rest for a bit since it's on the hot side.  I also have a hawthorneberry syrup I carry with me.  All my herbs are liquid, because they help faster.   I also make my own slippery elm which is for healing the intestines and colon.  Slippery elm and pepperberry also help with acid in the body.    We have herb guys who are licensed who make their own formulas.  Great stuff.  Very easy to make the slippery elm though.  I give it to my dog, he has an intestinal problem and when I give this to him he is better.

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