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450439 tn?1249233238

HEART PALPS WHILE USING THE BATHROOM??

I know this is a TMI question but I've been diagnosed w/ benign pvc's and pac's...but I still worry...
I notice that I get an irregular heart rhythm from straining on the toilet...this scares the bajeepers out of me!! So I quit straining...and I continue to get heart palps off and on...and as I'm writing this, I got a little dizzy...this has happened before but w/o the dizziness...I thought the vagus nerve only slowed down the heart?? I've been to several doctors and they all swear I'm healthy...my last Cardio "broke up" w/ me because I wanted to see an EP...they've ALL told me that my hearts perfect...but this toilet thing has me really freaked out right now and I can't relax!! I'm trying not to have a panic attack :(
Can ANYBODY help?
8 Responses
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Avatar universal
I have been having a lot of joint issues, pain in my ipper back, new found anxiety attacks, leg pains, heart fluttering-pain-dizziness-nauseous. it all started with digestive problems. I couldn't complete a bowel movement and I have to rewritten minds later for a bit more. I developed frustration and anxiety about it. I have had meant many tests and a colonoscopy , AMD a rectal motility test. All fine -_- docs don't take me too seriously. They almost seem annoyed with me. I have learned that when my new found hypochodriac-isms are put away, I kind of feel fine. I even came to terms with fear of death. My symptoms have been for five years. I say check your hormones, those off kilter can throw off digestive health. I am seeing a,gyn for highly irregular periods, that are unusual for me. I usually struggle with constipation and it interferes with my life. You should be fine though. Try to eat more fiber and keep up with your exercise, and   try taking a vitamin for digestive health or hormone balance bc you shouldn't have to strain to go. You really aren't suppose to stain at all. The gastro doc told me to open and relax the rectum while bearing down your waist lounge you're having a baby but with no pushing but if you have to push gently. You can weaken your pelvic floor muscles which can cause incontinence. I have noticed small amount of pee leakage just sitting there (mind the grossiness). Don't let it get carried away like mine. It's not good to strain. But your heart I  is fine. It's just stressful like yelling or excess weightlifting
Helpful - 0
450439 tn?1249233238
Yeah, I do remember you telling that story...wow! I'd be so self conscious every time I had to "use" the bathroom...I'm scared now because I'm afraid to strain! Sometimes I forget that I get heart palps while using the bathroom so of course I strain, and I don't always get the palps mind you but every once in a awhile...like last night!
The part that is bugging me out is that I was already in bed when I got this strange "dizzy" like feeling...I was on my laptop, trying to take my mind off of what happened w/ the palps/ toilet...so anyway, all of a sudden, I get this strange sensation of my body "moving" slightly, have you ever been stopped at a light in your car when you feel like your car is still moving? That's kind of what it felt like...it's like you say whoa..am I still moving...so hard to describe..I didn't feel my heart beating strangely before it happened...but up until then, after I had my toilet thing happen, I was getting palps off and on...so I was still freaking out from earlier...then I felt "the earth move" so to speak...I didn't feel like I was going to pass out or faint, just felt like the wth was that?!
So then I was up until 4:30am...I'm still tired and I have a Algebra class tonight!!
Take Care
Jules
Helpful - 0
450439 tn?1249233238
I appreciate your reply...I feel at such odds w/ this...I WANT to believe my docs, yeah docs..ALL 3 of them! But just feel like they are missing something...it's exhausting trying to make a point w/ them, especially when they think I'm full of BS...the "dizziness" is what really scared me last night...the heart palps were bad enough but when you feel like dizziness is involved to..it's just kind of freaky!
Helpful - 0
967168 tn?1477584489
Hey Jules; I think I told you this before...one of my most embarrassing moments was in my early 20's at work and I went to the bathroom got my business done and got up to get dressed; and it was lights out and I fell into the door and was found like that OMG

I still think about that anytime I go into a public restroom and think will that happen again? :P

doctors are human, they overlook, ignore and just plain miss things - if you think there's something more wrong that what they tell you; find another doctor or keep looking until you get the answers; we each know our own bodies and live in them daily - we know when something just doesn't feel right =)
Helpful - 0
Avatar universal
r9c
Yea i have to agreed with you that Cardiologist are strange people,when i completed my full cardio workup,they couldnt find anything causing my dizziness and palpitations,so the cardio suggestead it was just anxiety,when i told him i don think its anxiety,he just smile and says it really could be anxiety as all the test are fine,at first i just tought that they were lying to me,but as then i learned that bad news comes very fast from doctors,especially about the heart,if they found something wrong,they would just tell u straight away.He was just stood quiet as he dint knew wat test to ordered next as i have done twice ecg stress test,echocardiography a year ago,twice 24 holter where they said its just sinus tachycardia.
Also,i do get dizziness,lightheaded type alot,most of the time when i got checked out its normal and heart rate is a bit high at 110,but the A&E doctors arent worried as my previous test are fine.wat a terrible experienced anxiety sometimes can cause.
Helpful - 0
1124887 tn?1313754891
You're welcome :)

I know that we "cardiac neurotics" (sorry to use that term, I include myself here) tend to connect most body sensations like dizziness, chest pain, throat fullness, flutters in stomach or chest, and other sensations, to the heart. In fact, we are wrong.

I like to say, we're not operated by a CPU, so our bodies will change all the time. Blood pressure will vary, so will muscle tension, so will heart rate, pretty much everything. And sometimes we are a little out of normal values, without that implying a disease process is going on.

A little dizziness will happen in everyone, it can be caused by almost everything, from a little low blood pressure (due to a slight dehydration, excess body heat, short runs of slowing heart rate) to muscle tension, and often a cause is not possible to find. The problem is: We connect it with our heart immediately. And as you know, anxiety is a great trigger.

If your heart rate is OK while you are dizzy, you can be pretty sure it's not cardiac related. An otherwise healthy person needs a heart rate far above 150 to cause dizziness.

I get dizzy all the time, and if I measure my blood pressure during the dizzy times, it's usually normal (except after exercise, when everyone can get a little dizzy, blood vessels dilates to get rid of the excess body heat and the blood pressure will drop a little).

If you have very slow/very fast/irregular heart rate along with dizziness, you should contact your doctor. Otherwise it's usually not a problem at all, as long as you're not fainting or it prevents your daily life. In that case, it should be evaluated.
Helpful - 0
450439 tn?1249233238
Thank you! I really needed to hear that..it's 3:00 am and the dizziness happened after I had been in bed for a little while..maybe 30-40 mins...is this still okay?
And when my ex Cardio left me...I basically don't have anybody now...so when I'm using the bathroom and get that weird scary feeling, knowing I don't have a heart doc anymore I just get that much more anxious...so I tried to relax, had a palp or two..then I got this sudden dizzy like feeling but my heart didn't feel like it was fluttery or anything, but like my body just went off kilter or something.....like when you were young and trying to balance yourself on a curb and almost teetered off? Hope that makes sense to you...
You have made me feel better...thank you...so you really think my "dizzy" spell is still okay?
Helpful - 0
1124887 tn?1313754891
Hi,

First, cardiologists are strange "creatures". They get really offended when you doubt them or ask for a second opinion (at least that's the way I've experienced them).

Anyway, straining on the toilet is a perfect valsalva maneuver, and it causes many strange things to your heart rhythm. It causes an initial drop in heart rate, (causes bradycardia and may be perceived as "skipped beats" when your heart rate in fact is just slow.) It's followed by a drop in blood pressure (and increase in heart rate, to tachycardia - which some people think is a response to the skipped beats, "ectopic tachycardia" when it in fact is not, just a normal response to the blood pressure drop). During the drop in blood pressure, dizziness is normal.

Adrenaline (from panic / worrying) can increase the reactions, which causes more adrenaline and more reactions.

In a normal heart, PACs and PVCs are benign, even if they sometimes appear very often and seems scary. I wouldn't worry at all, and I really doubt you need to see an EP if you don't get extremely quick heart rate (at rest) >180-200 or fainting.

Good luck :) I think it's the anxiety you need to work with, not the heart rhythm. In some cases, a small dosage of beta blockers may help (it helped me..)
Helpful - 0
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