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

[ckg]

Have you tried to take reflux medication to see if the "lurches" subside?

I've often seen patients who are unable to control their acid reflux with diet alone.  Usually starting them on a PPI therapy would subdue any/all symptoms they've seen.

PPI therapy is the most efficacious therapy out right now - because it turns off the activated proton-pumps in the stomach that produce the acid - as well as work on all 3 of the enzymes released during acid production (medication such as Zantac or Pepcid only work on 1).

hope this helps ...

-ckg

[ckg]

Hey Wally,

Have you ever tried Nexium?

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