Can you trigger arrhythmia on purpose?

[jpek]

After months of trying to figure out how to make my heart beat "normal" and stay out of palps or extra beats, I am changing my strategy.  Avoiding exercise,  certain foods, anxiety, etc is reducing my quality of life.  It is also making it difficult to diagnos the problem.  I created a diary to gather data on what triggers my arrythmia, as well as what makes it stop.  

Has anyone tried or had success triggering arrhythmia ?  I know this sound very strange.

After lots of data collecting, mine seems to be caused by a full stomach / bowel.  Anything that causes bloating in the stomach.  Body positions that put stress on the upper abdomen, and stress that causes me to suck up my guts into my chest (not very technical, but the best description I can give).  I also noticed that if I feel arrhythmia coming on, pressing on my stomach makes it worse.

Enough doctors have told me that arrhythmia is not going to kill me, so I will fully embrace it, and bring it on, until I can determine cause and effect.

If anyone has any suggestions to bring on arrhythmia, please forward them to me.  I look forward to being a lab rat.  
Thanks for any help you may offer.

[garethbp]

Exactly what others said for me too.

I triggered a trip to the urgent care by eating a big meal, carrying my son up the stairs to my house (increased heart rate) on the way back, bending forwards to put him down and then briskly standing upright. As soon as I stood up, whoosh 200+ bpm and a trip to the doc :)

What I would ask though is why embrace it? Sure it wont kill you, but the chances are that a morning in the hospital might get it permanatly cured. Is it an SVT or something else you are getting?

[dogtag]

Like others,  I've kept track of what I think causes my "skips" as I call them.  They were diag as PVC's and they started when I was 21 years old.  I'm now 67 and had a 5 way bypass eight years ago.  In the mean time,  I've lost weight and am on a healthy diet and go to Cardiac Rehab three times a week and have for the last eight years.  I've had the PVC's more or less all those years.
Here's what I find sets mine off.    Full stomach.  Some foods such as onions and red wine.
Also,  since I've been on a diuretic for years,  I have to watch my potassium level like a hawk.
Even in the low end of normal,  I get the shakes, weakness and tons of skips.  1 out of 10 beats.  
Taking my potassium supplement with some gater aid reduces the skips within two or three hours.  You would think I'd learn but sometimes when you get busy you forget to eat the right food.
I don't recommend a supplement unless you talk to your Doctor first and have a blood panel done.  To much potassium can be just as deadly as not enough.
I also carry a can of V8 (low sodium) in the car with me at all times.  Turns out one little can has 1/4 your daily requirement.  They replaced sodium with potassium salt.  Neat idea.

Hope this helps.  I have been living with the curse for half a century.  Note,  I said LIVING.
Don't let this curse ruin your quality of life.  Benign PVC's aren't likely to kill ya.....

[Machados_patient]

I've noticed a connection to intestinal distress and gas moving in my upper abdomen.  In fact, sometimes I'll have a bout of "PVCs" (or whatever the heck they really are), then in a few minutes I'll have to run to the bathroom.  I also get weird heartbeats a few hours before cold or flu symptoms start.  A fever can bring them on too.

Some say that exercise will actually reduce the frequency of PVCs.  So, if they say you are healthy otherwise, exercise seems like a good idea.  I feel most comfortable starting with what I call "slow burn" activities like walking, doing house or yard work.

[IaneFortin]

Hello Jpek,

I would say that most of us have noticed triggers to set off  tachycardia. The most effective ways were : 1- Sleeping on my left side, 2- Bending forward rapidly and constantly, 3- Standing up quickly with-out taking a breath first and finally lots and lots of excitement.

Those would usually trigger my heart rate.

My recommendation is not to try and get them to set off too often, because at some point one of your attacks is going to land you in the ER to convert it somehow... I never thought it was fun to go to the hospital.

Iane F.

[jpek]

Thanks for the response and ideas.  I think almost everyone has had a Dr. doubt their symptoms.  I have been doing research and I believe many of these issues are due to the Vagas Nerve, which is large, and can cause the heart to flutter.    Because the nerve is large, many things can affect it.  

Thanks again for the ideas,
jpek

[mum2four]

If you want answers I would not avoide the things that you think cause the problem cause this may be the very thing that making it hard to diagnoise something if something exist to diagnoise.

Keeping a diray is a great Idea I keep my info on speed sheet in excell.

I don't know about trying to trigger thing's but I have never avoided activety or food's ect all the time specially when it came to test like ECG's. Because I was keeping records I did notice a pattern and that was that when I had a panic attack my HR lowered and this DID make diagnoising my tachycardia very hard. As every ECG I had set my anxiety off and even before the hoilter monitor I had a panic attack and this lowered my HR and I did not Tachy much and when I did it was not as high as did before the panic attack. It also took till the 3rd in hospital for me feel comfortable and before my tachycardia issues started to really kick in yet it was no where near as high as it gets when I'm active and not anxious. I told the Dr's and cardiologist that panic lowered my HR but they did not beleaive me, my GP Dr finally beleaives me althought she has said that I have strange symtoms and she may one day be reading about me in medical book lol.

Go for it test away I say I have done this but also listen to your symtoms and talk to a Dr when things concern you even if it's only to keep them up to date.

I seriouly suject that if you want to keep records and get to the bottem of whats causing your symptoms that you look at buying a HR monitor maybe even one with plith(HR-ECG wave) wave abilty I want one but I cant afford one yet.I'm also concidering buying my one home ECG machine that's actually cheaper than the HR watch with the Plith wave if I remember correctly lol.

I'm now looking it to how my allergies may be effecting my tachycardia if they are at all. I'm desperate for answers and my Dr's cant find an answer's. They cant be with my 24-7 so the next best thing is me keeping records and then talking to my Dr about them. Now that I have a Dr that trust me and does not look at me like I'm pretending ot exagerating I feel more comfortable talking about my strange symptoms.