wake up all through the night with rapid heart beat, nausea, shakes, and bowel movements

[bricand1]

I'm 36, slender, don't drink, don't smoke, exercise, don't drink caffeine, and have been waking up every night with rapid heart rate, nausea, shakes and bowel movements.  I just wake up and my hearts beating faster (113 bpm).  I try not to move much and breathe slow and my heart slows.  Then I feel nauseous and terrible and sometimes my body shakes.  I go to the bathroom and then after a little while feel a little better and I go back to sleep.  Then about an hour later it happens all over again.  It normally happens about throughout the night.  I'm feel fine during the day.  I went to the doctor and he did some blood work and says everything came back normal, including my thyroid numbers (1.8).  He also did an EKG and it was fine.  I get a hard lump below my ribs in the middle after I eat and have lots of gurgles.  I'm not sure where to go from here.  Can you help?

[bricand1]

I have been trying a low fat diet for the last three or four days.  I have noticed that my stomach is not hard like it was before, but I still wake up at night.  It's so weird, because I was fine a few weeks ago.  I never had problems at night before that.  Then it happened one night.  Two weeks later it happened again, and since then it's been every night.  My mom had gallbladder problems and had it taken out and she told me that she thinks that's what it is.  I don't think the doctor did  liver and pancreatic enzymes.  He just did the basics and added the thyroid.  I don't think it's stress.  

[AlanPi]

I'm 35 with the same life style/symptoms as yours. I just wake up with thirst.  

If your hear rate goes up it could be sleep apnea.  Try to sleep on your side or on an incline to see if the condition improves.  

It could also be due to stress.  I took 5mg Ambien for a few nights and they help me to rest and relax, then I stopped using them because they cause daytime dizziness.

I have normal blood tests and thyroid as well, but my gallbladder has a low ejection fraction, which could explain some fatigue and IBS during sleep... Hope this helps.

[CalGal]

Did the blood work include checking liver and pancreatic enzyme levels? Does the problem persist even if you're following a low fat diet? Any history of gallbladder issues in your family?