Acid Reflux / GERD link to arrhythmia

[ChrisHE01]

I have read many old posts on this and wondered what the latest is?  I have had bloating, lots of burping gas, swollen stomach, feeling of fullness even if meal was small, hardly any heartburn at all though, for many years. Also, after big or spicy or greasy meals have a very strong heart beat and feel full for 3 to 6 hours.  Two weeks ago I ate a large meal on Sat, couple Coronas with lime, then a huge brunch on Sunday and in the afternoon a lot of PVC's or "skipped beats" started bothering me. It got to where there were a few every minute. I have never been a coffee or tea drinker, hardly any caffeine at all unless in chocolate.  So I cut all spicy, greasy, food, no beer (only had 3 a week or so anyway), went to Dr. who gave me Nexium and over the last 20 days the PVC's have lessened and are almost gone today.  I truly believe the two are related.  EKG showed slight Bradycardia (53 bpm) I am not a trained athlete.  47 yrs old, I take no prescriptions, have no disorders or sicknesses, except I took one or two Advil a lot of days right before bed for minor sinus issues.  5 foot 11 175 lbs.  I was going to have a endoscopy but they cancelled until I see a cardiologist regarding the bradycardia.   My guess is from what I've read from many others: Acid is bothering my vagus nerve or maybe an ulcer or hiatal hernia and that causes the PVC / ectopics etc.

Appt. with cardio next week, will post results.


This discussion is related to Re: Reflux = arrhythmia.

[BokBlark]

You might have gastrocardiac syndrome. People, including myself, have found relief by losing weight and exercising (focusing on cardio, not resistance training). In particular, fasting, such as skipping dinner, has helped a lot.

And of course, avoid any foods that trigger your symptoms, such as your reflux.

Let us know how you do!

[ChrisHE01]

OK, tests done by cardiologist: echo, holter monitor, chest x-rays, stress test (treadmill), blood tests.  All negative, no issues found other than 2,176 PVC's in my 24 hours monitor.  GI doc did endoscopy and said my esophagus, stomach, duodenum look really good, no issues.  I'm stitting here at my desk after work, heart skipping lots of beats, no change since this started back on August 4th, it's now 10/30/2013.  My next steps: have my gall bladder checked out by gastro doc, maybe the small intestine pill-camera and lower GI. I'm frustrated and a little depressed.  I was down in Colombia for 10 days, got back had diarhea/fever two days, cleaned me out but no change.

I've been taking pill-probiotics and dannon yogurt (Dan-Active) too.  

Thanks for everyone's comments, maybe the no-gluten thing is what I need to try.

[skydnsr]

Agree whole-heartedly with ed34 about gut bacteria playing a major role in overall health, especially GI health.  I have been taking probiotics for a couple of years, and they help me.  I also have done courses of apple cider vinegar (ACV), with the live mother.  Dilute one to two tbsp. of ACV in a glass of water, and drink one or two glasses per day.  It helps me when my reflux symptoms flare up.  The mother is a type of probiotic.  The vinegar must be unpasteurized.  Braggs is a good brand.

Re the possibility of gluten intolerance, you just won't know if that is a player until you do a trial off of gluten.  As I mentioned above, it's best to discontinue all gluten and all dairy for about a month, to get the most valid outcome.  There is often some cross-reactivity between the two substances, so just discontinuing one or the other may not give you the information you need.  

There are lab tests that you can order (without a doctor's referral) from enterolab in Dallas -- if you need some kind of evidence of your body reacting to gluten before you try the diet -- but that costs money.  There are blood tests that your doctor can order to rule out celiac disease, and maybe you could get those done at the county, but they are unreliable when it comes to diagnosing nonceliac gluten intolerance.  Doing a trial off of gluten costs nothing.  You have to eat, regardless.  

[ed34]

I was reading some research a couple of months ago, from a University in Ireland. Their research seems to be giving a lot of clues and maybe answers. From what I understand, they were saying that 10% of the body is made from our own cells, but 90% is made up of microbes, most of which are there to help us. A huge majority of those live in our gut, to help us with digestion. Our body has a very long nerve, the Vagus nerve that runs from the brain all the way down to the lower part of the intestines, and it connects to many other organs too, including the heart. They've discovered that some types of gut microbes can communicate to the brain through that nerve, and some can even affect our mood by this. They have just been given a huge grant to continue with the research. If we have antibiotics, it upsets that microbe balance dramatically and can severely affect the functions in our body. Most people seem to have the same types of microbes, but many have microbes not expected and they seem to love playing with the vagus nerve. They theorise it depends on a few factors, including diet.

[ChrisHE01]

Thanks Skydnsr, I'm on that track- I had a GI dr. ready to do the endoscopy, but he ordered some blood work first, so I went to the county clinic that is free for my job to have the blood tests, told the dr. there what was going on with PVC's and bloating etc, she took an EKG and it said 53 bpm, bradycardia and she strongly recommended not having the endo until I saw a cardiologist.

Yeah my PVCs come on after I get up and seem to get less as the day goes on.  I'm not of gluten yet.

[skydnsr]

After you get cleared by the cardiologist, then it would seem like a gastroenterologist would be the next specialist to consult.  The gastroenterologist would be the one to scope your upper and/or lower GI tract, if he or she deems that appropriate.

The PVCs are worst in the morning?  And they don't start up until you're out of bed and up and around?  That's got to mean something, but I'm sorry, I don't know what.  Most people's reflux symptoms are worst when they're lying down.  

You mentioned being almost totally off of dairy, but just for my understanding, did you also go off of gluten?

[ChrisHE01]

Well, in the last19 days I've had one yogurt and 1 glass of lactose free milk, and I still have about the same amount of PVC's.  They still start right after getting up and continue a few or several per minute until the late afternoon, seem to lessen up during evening and not many thank God at night, I'm able to sleep OK.
I still have that cardiologist appt. Sept 5th, I hope to be well by then (no PVCs) or find out something or get some tests going. If he says I'm OK to have the endoscopy then I can schedule one of those, see if I have an ulcer or hiatal hernai or ?  I am still taking 40mg Nexium daily, much less bloating, but I'm eating MUCH less and mainly vegetables, beans, some fruit. I'm basically scared to eat or drink anything other than water.

[skydnsr]

Oh, and if you do a trial of eliminating both gluten and dairy, and you get relief, then when you add them back in at the end of the month, do it one at a time -- not simultaneously.  That will help you see which one it was that was causing your symptoms.  For me, it's actually both, but the gluten is worse.  

[skydnsr]

Okay, great, there are a lot of good resources on the internet, as well as books.  I'm following this thread, so post back here if you want to, or feel free to PM me.

[heartfluttersflyawayplz]

thank you Sky for the info will have to give it a shot

[skydnsr]

This may seem like it's coming out of left field, but both of you might want to consider the possibility of gluten intolerance, lactose intolerance or other food intolerance as a causative factor for the GERD.  Acid reflux, belching, and bloating are among the well-established symptoms of food intolerance.  Gluten, which is found in wheat, barley, and rye, is probably the most common offender.  Lactose intolerance is pretty common, too.

It's pretty easy to go off gluten and dairy for four weeks and see what happens.  If you're going to do it, I'd do both gluten and dairy, because if you're intolerant of both, and you only eliminate one, you may not see much resolution of your symptoms.  During that trial, stay off the lactose-free dairy products, because they still have the milk protein (casein or whey) in them, and it's as possible to be intolerant of the protein as it is to be intolerant of dairy sugar (which is lactose).  

I've just recently been diagnosed with gluten intolerance.  I've undoubtedly had it my whole life.  I'm feeling a whole lot better, since going off gluten.  Many, many of my chronic symptoms are clearing up, including GERD symptoms.

[heartfluttersflyawayplz]

ho Chris, I believe they are , I to have acid reflux, lots of burping when I get a lot of flutters , I do think it comes from that. sometimes I have bad reflux and they never bother me other times yes so really hard to say in my case they are but if the med is working for you and you are having less that's great. keep in touch and let us know how it goes