Tachycardia after eating a heavy meal?

[antsypants]

Please explain why I sometimes get tachycardia within a 1/2 after eating a heavy meal?  The heavy meal usually causes bloating and indigestion, then tachy.  This doesn't happen all of the time, just when the meal is particularly rich with carbohydrates and/or fat.

Thanks

[GaFella]

Finding this thread is a huge comfort! I'm a 29 y/o male who started having related symptoms over a year ago. Amazingly enough, mine also started with the feeling of having a lump in my throat. Following 2 months of having the throat issue, I had what I cannot explain any other way than having an anxiety attack. An ambulance was called to my office for the fear I was having a heart attack at the age of 28! After multiple test(Bloodwork, EKG, UpperGI, Chest X-Ray, Abdominal Sonogram), I was Dx with having GERD and a hiatal hernia. Since the lump sensation has disappeared, I have now been experiencing chronic burping as well as tachycardia(95-110BPM) daily. These symptoms have caused a panic attack now on 3 occasions. It also makes me tired by the end of the day, because its as if your working out after every meal. I just recently come to realize the tachy heart rate was mostly happening after eating as well as the duration and rate of increase being directly related to the amount of food I ingested. I serached thru WebMD and found no relations between digestion and tachycardia. I am amazed as well as relieved to find this thread. I printed it out to show my wife who has been as baffled and concerned about my condition as I have. We both feel as though I could have written all of theses posts. Amazing! I am currently keeping an hourly log of my heartrate and when I have enough data will present it to my family physycian. If anyone gets anymore info(from your physicians, ect.), please keep us informed. I will do the same. I, like yourselves, have yet to have a physician pinpoint the exact problem muchless a solution. I agree with several of the posts here however, theres DEFINETLY a relation between GI issues and tachycardia! PLEASE, keep us informed!

[Fairie]

I am currently under investigation for tachycardic episodes after eating and was hugely relieved to see so many other people having the same symptoms! I am having this on a daily basis and am eating a fraction of what I would normally eat to avoid the unpleasant and frightening episodes. These 'attacks' are often followed by diarrohea and feeling faint! Does anyone else have it affect them in this way also? I have had another lot of blood tests today. So far the Thyroid has come back normal, as have eletrolytes, but the fbc indicates low lymphocytes. In the past, I only had tachycardia on eating chocolate, now it is after practically everything. The episodes have become chronic in the last month. I would particularly like to know if anyone else has the stomach episodes with this! I should add that I am a very allergic person anyway, and have Coeliacs, which is an intolerance of gluten, wheat, and lactose intolerance too!!

[cottagemom]

I am happy to have found this board.  I too have been experiencing these EXACT symptoms on and off for the past 10 years and I am now 34 years old.  Symptoms would last up to 2 years to suddenly and mysteriously diminish and disappear.  I would develop bloating and reflux after meals (especially dinner) with accompanying tachycardia.  5 years ago I had it so bad that it kept me up until approx 4 am with fast heart beat, burping, and a feeling of great anxiety with feelings of doom (like an adrenaline rush feeling with sweaty palms) almost every night.  And I am NOT an anxious person or suffer from any anxiety disorders at all.  I learned through trial and error that if I ate dinner earlier and earlier in the evening or ate very little, the symptoms would sometimes be less, but even then it was somewhat unpredicable.  Water would sometimes help, but sometimes it wouldn

[bellison]

I cant believe I have come across this thread. This has been my main issue over the past 6 months and now it seems I am not the only one confusing the Docs. However I can add more weight to all the issues. Currently my main one is the rapid increase in heart rates after eating. However, initially I couldnt swallow and we looked at my espophagus. I have GERD (long term damage) so I was put on Protonix to reduce stomach acid. The lump in the throat sensation started to pass but then one day I had the most unbelievable panic attack after breakast. Heart rate was crazy and I couldnt breath right and became a real mess quickly. I am only 27 years old so it was unexpected to have heart issues. Anyway, my reasons for mentioning the GERD is becuase my GI Dr has noticed that my stomach doesnt empty correctly. Consequently I have Gastroparesis, although not as bad as it could be. This means my stomach doesnt contract and squeeze its contents through. Some people cant eat at all and a lot of people have it and their stomachs just work slower than usual. My GI doesnt understand the anxiety and heart related issues. However its definitely related to eating and defintiely arrived due to these Gastric issues I am having. However the medication he would like me to take, known as Reglan, can cause Anxiety and heart issues. This bothers me as he doesnt understand why I have these symptoms, but here, this pill that fixes the stomach may make it have those symptoms. HOW ARE THEY NOT RELATED. Maybe you all should look into this. Drinking water does help....probably as its helping the food pass through. Ive wondered about the vegal nerve being a little strange. Im not a Doc but Ive been going nuts for 6 months and could probably pass the exams to be one by now. The vegal nerve covers a lot of areas but mostly explains the anxiety in eating, heart issues and maybe even my throat issues. There is only one issue with this revelation.....nobody knows how to fix the problem....sucks!

[sherma]

Hiya,

I also experience this after eating, strangely enough only after lunch and not in the evening, but I do agree with other postings that I have found that I skip lunch now, because I cant stand the pounding and racing heart.  My pulse rate will go to about 100 and I just sit down and rest until the episode passes.  I am really scared about this, and I thought (as you do) that I was the only person in the world who had this problem.  I am 40 shortly and only about 10 pounds over my ideal weight, I also smoke approx 20 a day, which i really want to pack in, but at the moment i feel in a vicious circle because quitting smoking makes you eat more.  2 years ago i had a full heart inspection and nothing was found to be abnormal (this was when I was about 7 months pregnant and found breathing very difficult and massive bouts of tachy)  

I am too scared to see the Doctor about this, even though I probably should because after reading other postings it is probably treatable.  But I have Multiple Sclerosis as well so it has made me very frightened indeed.

[Feathan62]

After eating something with sugar or a heavey meal my heart pounds... sometimes more than 100 bpm. I have shortness of breath with it on occasion.  Sometimes it is so bad I can't go to sleep at night.  It is like I get an adrenaline rush that won't stop!  It lasts up to 6 hours sometimes. I have never been to the doctor for it. Should I?