Stomach issues = PVC's?

[Mike85281]

Does anybody else experience PVC's or PAC's when their stomach is upset? I am anxious most of the time, so my stomach is almost constantly roiling, but when I have worse stomach issues, my heart seems to skip when my stomach knots up. Not to be gross, but having a bowel movement can also make my heart skip. Does anybody else encounter this? Thanks.

[Zachs]

I don't know which comes first. Upset Stomach then PVCs or PVCs then an upset stomach.  I did notice before I got overly anxious about my heart skips, several years ago, I thought I needed to go pass a BM to help them, which sometimes it did.

My PVCs and flutters have really calmed down these past few days.  Of course I completely halted everything bad in my life.  I look at it as a test to see what is causing the imbalance which leads to my heart skips.

High Protein Diet, No Soda/Caffeine, No MSG/Processed Foods, Quit Nicotine, Reduced Alcohol to 0-1-2 drinks a day (usually save up till the weekends and have 5 or 6, but likely to have skips next day),  no sugar free products at all!  Hope this helps.  Zach

[Zachs]

After 2 months with these changes, I've lost 18 pounds, blood pressure has dropped 15 points, my heart feels stronger when I wake up in the morning, or do mild exertion, and I surely notice a big difference in stamina throughout the day.  I don't have that feeling that I have to take a nap because I'm tired.  Zach

[Mike85281]

Thanks for the feedback. I know what you mean about the PVC or stomach starting first. When I feel the skip, almost immediately I feel the urge to use the bathroom. But I'm not sure if they happen at the same time and it just takes the stomach sensation a moment longer to hit me or what. They are definitely related though, as one evening I was walking home from the bus stop and I really  had to use the bathroom. My heart was skipping like crazy. Once I was done in the bathroom, the skips stopped. Weird. I hate my heart being so crazy sensitive to everything!

[Zachs]

Yes I can relate to the over sensitivity.  I think once the vicious cycle starts, our minds seem to be constantly focused on how we're feeling.  It takes a very scary event to trigger this constant dreading which hangs us in suspense.

I've been pretty happy with my body lately. I've treated it well for a while and its actually starting to pay off.  I just hope it lasts, since these PVCs do tend to stop for months sometimes, and reappear with a vengeance.

[SassyLassie]

Yep, I truly believe that tummy problems can contribute to these horrid things. I know when I have lots of gas or feel bloated, mine will act up more than other times, and when I am eating a meal, I sometimes will have one or two, then, my appetite leaves as I am totally scared. I have read from others that our tummy's and certain stomach nerves are near the heart, and they can cause a "reflex" action, who knows, all I know is gas and such is a culprit as is having a hiatal hernia, I have that too. UGH.

[greendave]

Sure do - with my christmas excess I've had a lot of gurgly stomachs with the associated PVC's.
When i have my driving problems I always seem to have the stomach problems and lots of wind.
vagus nerve affected?
dave

[Mike85281]

Thanks everybody. I'm happy to know I am not alone with this. For a long time I was trying to find some correlation between PVC's and bathroom functions. I thought I was going crazy.

[loreley]

I'm so glad to hear that you guys also experience what I've been saying all along: that digestive problems trigger arrhythmias. When I've mentioned that to doctors, I get a blank look. So no, Mike85281, you're not going crazy.

[EFT56]

I have to agree with your problem totaly - but also found a few things that caused my
palps to happen !  I have h.b.p most times- but its controlled by b.p meds daily.  

iv noticed 95% of all my palps happen like this -  first comes the palp 2s or 4s clusters
then comes a large burp! (gas)  very rare from the rear -  mostly belch type burp.. loud
gross !  after it happens the palps stop !  but can restart within seconds.
other times iv had the ones that knock the wind out of me !  the worst kind to have..

well I went 3days without palps happening - felt sick with the flu but otherwise ok
I started thinking what did I eat to cause this ?   popcorn was one , and ate 2 apples .
didnt bother to wash them off.. could have had somekind of spray on them ?
maybe msg in the popcorn or I ate to fast !! ..

I do belive gas and palps go hand and hand .. I always thought it was gas pushing up on my heart or vains - or just touching  a nerve to the heart - causing the palps to happen ?

like someone said here - they go to the doctor -and the doctor looks at her ,with a blank face !  as they dont know the cause !  
I have to say ,one cardiologest told me years ago , when this first started , that I had been put on a b.p med -that caused a sensor in my heart , that makes the heart beat slow to now go in reverse or fast ,it gets the wrong signal !!  he said its been mutated !
by the medication - and will never be the same ! so now I have to another type of med.
beta blocker to stop the palps.

well they work !  though I cant take them well.
I dont have a real ansure for anyone here.. but I like everyone here ,have palpaitions !
pvc's as they are called.

does anyone know if there is a med to stop palps  that isnt a b.p med ?

thanks

[sb786]

Its interesting to read how many of us experience pvcs/pacs when we have tummy issues.

Whenever i am stressed, tired or anxious my bowels go crazy and i get a lot of stomach gas and sometimes acid this without doubt triggers the palps. Usually when i feel gas travel up my food pipe i will get a pvc followed by a burp!!

[allaflutter1213]

Zach,

Can you explain the 'no sugar free products" that you mentioned and why you stopped using them?

High Protein Diet, No Soda/Caffeine, No MSG/Processed Foods, Quit Nicotine, Reduced Alcohol to 0-1-2 drinks a day (usually save up till the weekends and have 5 or 6, but likely to have skips next day),  no sugar free products at all!  Hope this helps.  Zach

[marshaldillon]

Mike,

I have mentioned in other posts that my PVC's only happen after I eat and are very bad when I have an upset stomach. Once my food settles, I will have no more PVC's until my next meal. This started a couple of months ago, so I have cut down to 1 cup of coffee per day and cut out all alchohol. They seem to be better. I also quit eating spicy foods because my doc thinks that acid reflux is stimulating my vagal nerve to cause these flutters.

[missalisa]

I am convinced my severe PVCs are related to my hiatal hernia and belly fat. I've lost weight and begun running 60 minutes a day, and I've stopped eating three big meals in favor of six small ones (no bigger than what I can hold in one hand) and the PVCs have miraculously cut WAY back. For the past three nights I have been palp-free. I am also taking a magnesium/calcium supplement, organic. I am amazed by how effective these things have been. The doctors won't tell you this. Mine said hernia and weight had nothing to do with palps, and prescribed me beta-blockers. I have not put a single pill in my body. Rather, I listened to my body, and followed common-sense good health steps. I'm not 100 percent cured, but I am pretty sure I'll get there if I get the hernia under control.

[Wisconsin2007]

Sometimes I think a list of things that don't cause PVC's would be a shorter list.

I own my own business, and there was a time when I had to take a client to court.  This client was AWEFUL.  During the year or two it took for the litigation to progress, anytime I'd get a call from her, my heart would start firing off PVC's.

Sometimes, if I eat a big meal, I'll get PVC's.

If I bend over, sometimes I'll get PVC's.

Lots of caffeine?  PVC

Etc, etc.  If you're overweight, it might cause more.  You name it.  Anyway, I wish you success in dealing with your situation.

[missalisa]

You're right. Who really knows what causes these things?

After a while of them gone, they're back. I had a decaf coffee, and that seemed to bring them on. Does decaf do this too? Jeez. No coffee at all?!?! Sigh.

I can't imagine living with this for the rest of my life. It is so depressing. It does give me hope to see all the people here who are muddling through with PVCs, though. Strength in numbers!

[lasvegasgirl6]

yes foos effects them terrrible for me if im hungry if I eat to much no sugar too much sugar pooping straining I know gross but we are all in this together I like it like this not so scary anymore ...

[cardiac_guy]

Well heres something personal. Is everyone who is getting PVC's or PAC'c with Gastirc origin overweight? I get them and need to loose 40 lbs. I wonder if less congestion in the abdomen (reduced fat) would help? With me they're positional, I can get them leaning over, laying down, etc.

[FerdyBoy]

This is definitely caused (at least in my case) from the vagal nerve.  I suffered with the same arrhythmia problem for years, just after eating during digestion or consuming alcoholic beverages, and all of the doctors I spoke with never even mentioned the vagal nerve as being causative for the skipped beats or PVC's.  There seems to be VERY little research in this area---and diagnosis or knowledge  connecting the two also seems to be very rare.

So, I took matters into my own hands after doing MUCH research through forums such as this one.  Although I don't suffer from GERD or any other type of digestive disorders or acid reflux, I decided to try an acid reducing over the counter medication.  THIS WAS THE MAGIC BULLET!  75mg of Ranitidine (Zantac)----one first thing in the morning and one before dinner at night, and the arrhythmias WENT AWAY COMPLETELY.

Your results may vary, so please don't take this as medical advice--I just wanted to let you and the group know (and the MD's and cardiologists if they are reading this)  that there is a definite connection between digestive tract acid, vagal nerve stimulation (or destimulation) and heart arrhythmias.  

Good luck, and if you decide to try this and it works, God Bless.

[Jonnyct2]

Same symptoms as the rest of y'all--   sorry for our "issues" but good to know we're not alone.  I've experienced heart flutters for the past several months--  not sure what they are, but from the research I've done, they sound like PVC's.  Brief period of fluttering followed by a brief pause, and then the normal rhythm resumes.  Sometimes once or twice a week, sometimes a couple times per day.  Scary as crap.  EKG and echocardiogram came back normal, but I am absolutely convinced, like many of you, that there's a link between gas and heart stuff.  I have a lot of gas, and that seems to exacerbate the heart symptoms.  I frequently get them after a large meal when I sit back or lay down, or in the car when I'm sitting up but feel bloated.  I stopped drinking coffee and cut other sources of caffeine, but I still get them.  I also have mild sleep apnea and use a CPAP, which probably only contributes to the gas/bloated feeling.  Docs seem to be generally clueless or skeptical about these links and common factors we've observed.    

[TatiSD]

Yup, same here. If I have an active palp day which then increase, suddenly I have to have a bowel movement, due to the high adrenaline that kicks in as a result of my anxiety.  
So that seems like a reaction to the PVC's.
Than many times in the morning, after having a BM that leaves me feeling drained and empty, starts my PVC's big time lasting for an hour at a time or longer.  My cardiologist attributed that to a reaction of high adrenaline/cortisol in the body.
I did notice that when I regularly take psyllium husk, the BM's in the morning are more calm, not so violent as the ones that leave me drained and empty.  Sorry guys, but perhaps extra fiber may also absorb some of the extra aggressive hormones in our bodies that contribute to these PVC's.  Possibly?

[Jarhead3366]

Ya for sure this happens to me alot changes my day completely I hate it. been suffering with this since I was young and i'M 33 NOW. Stress causes this to happen more but ya gas can cause major havoc in my body.

[Sanczar]

I am 37 and I have been tortured by PVC's for about a year and a half.  At first I would get them mostly at night when I would lay down...I attributed it to eating too late, but then I stopped eating after 6:30 pm and they would still occur.  They were getting worse and worse, so I went to a GI specialist first, thinking that I had GERD or a hiatal hernia or something, but my Gastroenterologist did a colonoscopy and an EGD (scope of the upper GI tract) and he found nothing wrong.  Then I went to a cardiologist because I just couldn't take it anymore.  They did an echocardiogram which showed nothing abnormal and great ventricular function, and a stress test which was perfect....not one PVC and no ST abnormalities at all,  So my doctor suggested a beta blocker - metoprolol - which actually made the problem worse.  So I was back at square one.  I tried to narrow down what in the world could possibly be causing them.  My husband suggested that it seemed my PVC's had increased since getting our cat. SO, I thought, hmmmm....PVC's can be a symptom of allergies, so why not try Claritin or benadryl.  Well, it seems to have helped immensely! I started taking Claritin once daily in the morning and I have FINALLY been getting some good nights of sleep!!  I hope it isn't just some temporary relief for some unknown reason.  Hope this helps!

[venomversaguy13]

I almost always have my skipping feeling after I eat or after I work out and I can feel my food being pushed through my digestive tract. I will have the skipped beats then I will feel everything shift and I am in the bathroom within ten minutes. Its like clockwork. It is much worse with heavy foods or high sodium foods or if I haven't slept as much. I hate these things. I am 24 and very atheletic. Why me. Lol

[venomversaguy13]

I almost always have my skipping feeling after I eat or after I work out and I can feel my food being pushed through my digestive tract. I will have the skipped beats then I will feel everything shift and I am in the bathroom within ten minutes. Its like clockwork. It is much worse with heavy foods or high sodium foods or if I haven't slept as much. I hate these things. I am 24 and very atheletic. Why me. Lol