Skipped heartbeats in bathroom (don't mean to offend)

I'm so sorry if this post grosses anyone out, but I have to ask if anyone has experienced the same thing while going to the washroom. I mean #2, not #1: that's the most polite way to put it I guess ... :0

Anyways, it's something about the sensation of 'pushing down' to go to the bathroom that makes my heart skip a beat, and it's not like other PVCs which I know are harmless ... it's like by pushing down I am squeezing my heart or something, because it pauses and I feel like it's going to stop. Then, when I freak out and stop pushing, it thumps and goes back to normal. What if I was unaware of it and kept on pushing? Would my heart actually stop? It's weird because my doctor told me that if my heart starts racing I should push down in the same way I would if I was trying to go to the bathroom. I will never do that now because of this problem. I'm so afraid now to go to the bathroom at all!! Ah skipped heartbeats: seem determined to ruin my life.

[cindy707]

Believe it or not its pretty common Gothic.....there is a direct corrolation between having a bowel movement and our hearts and its due to your vagus nerve doing what it has been basically told to do what its supposed to.  You may want to google it out but i wouldn't panic over it...i would call your doc and tell them what is happening to you and what can you do to help yourself to avoid this.  It may be from straining too much and you may just need a stool softener but clear it first with your doc.  Its takes ALOT for the heart to suddenly stop Gothic and the issues between these two things and what you are experiencing shouldn't put you at risk but again talk to the doc.  What it usually effects is the rhythm of the heart and when you feel that thump and the heart returns to normal that is a good thing believe me...it just means that the hearts electrical is resetting itself to bring you back into a normal rhythm.  We should all be so lucky i swear...if i thought for a minute that it would help when i had rhythm issues to stop them by going to the bathroom  believe me that would be where i would have spent alot of my time instead of all of the worries and fear and thousands of dollars later when i had to go to the E,R,.  I would def. call your doc on this one to help you move past the fear and see what they have to say....

[is_something_wrong]

You're describing a normal phenomenon. It's called vagus nerve stimulation, and it happens to all of us while we are on the bathroom, some more than others.

The heart beats like 1-2--3----4------5-----6---7--8-9 to illustrate.

If you are afraid of this, try not to push so hard ;)

By the way: Now you know how to terminate an SVT event. Just to do exactly the same (well, sit on a toilet may be a good idea :p) will terminate most SVT's.

[gothic_beauty]

Is it really that hard to stop the heart suddenly? I've heard so many terrifying stories of heart attacks that come out of nowhere and they scare me so much :(

[cindy707]

Yep it takes ALOT the stop the human heart...it is the main pump of the body and in actuality the most sturdy of organs...generally when you read of heart attacks coming out of no where there is kind of no such thing if you look into it further..there is ALWAYS a reason gothic beauty as to why the human heart stops..some reasons that may have you believing that is alot of the stuff that is written on the internet and is not super accurate.  What puts most people in higher risk groups is if anyone in their family under the age of 50 has had a heart attack...at that point there can be some hereditary issues and even at that it doesn't mean you will just in a high risk group....another issue w. heart attacks is actually lifestyle...high cholesterol blocking off arteries that feed the blood into and out of the heart and causes stenosis or narrowing so that blood and good O2 don't get thru properly...blood clots is another one again the blocking issue...or plaque breaking lose and that goes back to the eating habits...the smart thing to do is to eat healthy..stay far far away from fatty foods, try to get exercise on a regular basis and believe it or not try to stop worrying......i mean worrying about a heart attack is sort of like waiting for the ax to fall and chances are unless any of those things physically apply to you you will be waiting a long long time and miss out of life my friend....sometimes the internet is not our friend believe me...maybe you just need to make an appt. w. your doc and tell him/her all of your fears because the 50.00 you spend on the appt. will no doubt put your mind at ease and that is priceless.......i know how you feel tho...i had to learn that one the hard way too.....

[Mom2four85]

It really does take alot to stop our hearts; thankfully for most of us we'll never know what it feels like for it to stop, but we need to learn the warning signs and what to do if an emergency situation does happen...here's some info I have about warning signs and what to look for http://www.medhelp.org/user_journals/show/284973/Warning-Signs?personal_page_id=861727  ;

dangerous/malignant arrhythmia's are most commonly associated with organic heart diseases such as CAD, cardiomyopathy and valvular heart diseases; which is a good thing because with CAD if like Cindy said we eat well, exercise and maintain a healthy lifestyle we can prevent or prolong coronary arterial disease (heart attacks etc).

The AMA http://www.americanheart.org/presenter.jhtml?identifier=4726 says we can't change some of those risk factors such as genetics, age and sex... that's why it's important to know your blood levels such as cholesterol, trig's etc things that are under our control.  If you look at the bottom of the link you'll see a page that says know the facts, get the stats is a very good pamphlet to read and gives some great tips.