VAGUS NERVE and STOMACH or HEART LURCHES (spasms)

[petestrand]

I'm a sixtish male with a history of mitral prolapse/systolic functional murmur, PVCs and PACs. I take very low dose Atenolol. I was told that I have mild acid reflux, but decided to restrict diet rather than take a prescription for that.

I often get what I call "lurches" that seem to be centered in the area of my diaphraghm. These lurches (spasms?) seem to correspond to the old phrase "my heart leaped into my throat." When they were first noticed about 25-30 years ago they were closely correlated with eating spicy food, but were quite infrequent.  Over the years they have varied in frequency of occurence, from a good many days with none, to several a day, to several an hour, to one every few minutes. (Generally, more often as I aged.) About 18 years ago I had them more or less continuously for about 4 hours. A Holter monitor test about that time indicated PVCs and PACs, but no treatment other than the minimum dose Atenolol, and I have never had activity/exercise restrictions.

I have long been convinced that most, if not almost all, of the lurches are STOMACH SPASMS. Doctors have seemed very sceptical of that, insisting they were irregular heart beats. This week I had left arm pain that occurred while having fairly frequent lurches. In the emergency room, bloodwork and EKGs were normal. The doctor (an internist) indicated that the left arm pain might have come from a nerve problem in my neck, and when discussing my "stomach spasms as cause" theory said that the vagus nerve could possibly transfer stomach spasms to the heart.

What is the possibility that my theory is at least somewhat accurate? I would worry a lot less about stomach lurches than if the lurches were from a heart problem!! I have asked several doctors if I could try having my heart monitored aftr eating known "too spicy" foods such as mustard or hot sauce, but got no agreement.

Could the stomach/vagus nerve be a significant source of the lurches? If so, could the lurches  be mistaken for irregular heartbeats? Or, would they almost always/always trigger irregular heartbeats? If the irregular beats are triggered by stomach/vagus, does that mean less cause for anxiety than if they  originate solely in the heart itself? I'd greatly appreciate any information/suggestions/referrals to other info sources, etc. Thanks.  Pete

[Foreverosier]

I have had all the same problems/symptoms as all of you and the same meds nothing has worked. SIX years now and counting! I even have suffered stroke/neurological symptoms from it. But one thing I know that it IS the Vagus Nerve that is causing all of this. My Cousin is a Nurse Practitioner and trys to help me learn. Now the great problem into solveing this is, why do Gastro docs know this and choose to ignore it, ignore us? Vagus Nerve controls alot of things, read up on this please. Vagus nerve causes stomach/intestinal spasums  which in turn throws that fun acid up into the throat and Wah-Lah, GERD! Vegus Nerve controls the heart, epilepsy, it causes malfunctions in the brain and can tell the brain to release adrenalin into your system mimicing STRESS (heart lurches), to name a few......Now what causes the Vagus Nerve to malfunction and cause such pain? It's a "HECKIFIKNOW" thing. I know... one of us needs to go to Med school then come back and cure us all. I have litterly been to over 200 doctors and not one can help. WHY- WHY-WHY-!?! Well as soon as one of you find a doctor that has 100% understanding of our plight, please post it so we all can go and get help. I know there is a new treatment for Epileptics called the "Vagus Nerve Stimulator" which helps to control siezures in epileptics. It is a little box like a pacemaker that turns on and off the Vagus nerve. I wonder if it would help us???? Again any one know a good Doc?   I do agree with the person who said to see a Chiropractor. It does help.  TA-TA!            Val in Cal.

[Elizabeth 4]

After 2 years of utter frustration, I was heartened by the posts I just found from Pete, Wally and Bluebottle.  Those symptom descriptions are the closest I've found to my experience, and I'm desperate for answers.  I have a history of GI problems and was thrown into the IBS "bucket" many years ago, though it never seemed to be a very good match for my symptoms.  My first "lurches", or jolts as I call them, were probably 8 or 9 years ago, but they seemed to be rare and isolated events.  Two years ago I had an acute onset of diarrhea, jolts, tachycardia, dizziness, GI pain, and weakness.  The acute phase lasted 8 weeks, during which I lost 25 pounds (20% of my body weight).  I've had many tests (colonoscopy, endoscopy, 24hr urine for catecholamines, EKG, holter monitor, CT scans, screens for thyroid, glucose, blah blah blah).  While stress certainly doesn't help, I don't believe it

[astros18]

Well, I don't think I sound like a conspiracy theorists, but obviously we look at things differently. I don't think anyone can deny that the state of our health in this country and the Western world in general has declined dramatically since the advent of processed and refined foods along with the thousands of prescription drugs that have so many side effects(that are listed on the label) and do damage to the liver. Since immunizations became required, there are thousands of children with autism and other learning disabilities. And the list goes on and on. I know on a personal level about pain and gastrointestinal issues. I was bedridden with them. I tried every prescription drug under the sun trying to get better. I never did until I had a car accident and went to a chiropractor who explained to me how the body works. It was for me a "light bulb" moment. I began to research everything I could get my hands on concerning natural means of healing and lo and behold, it worked. Whether you personally believe in it is of no consequence to me, but if I can touch one persons life and change it for the better, then that's what I will continue to do. If you think the pharmaceutical companies want to cure your disease, then the jokes on you. They have NO interest in curing anything. If they did, then it would have been done by now. We spend too much time studying the sick instead of looking at people who aren't sick and seeing what they do and eat and how they live. Prescription drugs for the most part do mask symptoms. That's why at the end of the commercial for the purple pill, it states that a serious stomach condition may still exist. Doesn't sound too good to me.

[astros18]

Acid reflux is not a disease. It is called one so that the pharmaceutical companies can make money off of people who want a quick fix for their health problems. Long term use of your PPi's can cause more problems than it supposedly fixes. I don't dismiss all allopathic medicine, but I have a huge problem with Gerd all of a sudden being a disease. The key is to find out what is causing the reflux and go from there, not masking symptoms.

[ckg]

hey wally,

nexium, from my practice, is a far better agent than both AcipHex or Prevacid -- as it is a derivitive of Prilosec.  From the studies that i've read -- it's a cleaner, longer acting version of Prilosec -- so more patients receive symptom relief faster and better with Nexium than with all others.

if you'd like more comparitive data, i'd check out the american college of gastroenterology website for all of the data on the different medications.  they should have a journal search or something of the sort.  I know that Dr. Donald Castell & Dr. Philip Miner have published a lot of studies on the different PPI therapies, I'd check them out if you'd like more info too.

Nexium is the agent that I prescribe most often -- when -- the awful insurance companies will pay for it.

[Wally1470]

I posted similar symptoms a couple of weeks ago.  I can actually see the beating in my stomach area.  I had an ekg while in symptoms and it showed an extra beat but blood pressure was good etc..  Are your symptoms relieved or made worse by lying down?  Mine are relieved by getting into a prone position or by exercise such as walking.  I NEVER get symptoms while exercising (Over 60 minutes of cardio) and actually feel excellent for hours/days after.  I was given Prevacid which eventually made my stomach feel "lousy" and then Acifex which did the same.  Did you ever try sipping water, it helps me since sometimes my mouth gets dry during symptoms?  I will look into your supposition...it is interesting since sometimes I will get symptoms by sitting with my left arm on an arm rest above my shoulder or my crouching over a computer with tightness in my upper stomach muscles.  Good luck, I will let you know my research.