vagus nerve and arrythmias

[anna1955]

I have a terrible problem. I feel like I am about to kick the bucket. I have horrible arrythmias when I have the urge to defacate and when I attempt to defacate. I become very lightheaded, fain, sweaty, and my heart races out of control. Help me! I take a beta blocker, but it doesn't help. Can I do something about the vagus nerve to get rid of this problem?

[DeltaDawn23]

It does inhibit acid production, but it works to keep my irregular beats under control.  I am not sure how it works, maybe because I have reflux and when the acid backs up into the esophagus it irritates the vagal nerve.  If I skip the Prevacid I have more PAC's.  My family doctor and my cardio both agree, a vagal reaction can cause the "skips."  My heart problems have always seemed connected to digestive problems.

I'm interested in the anxiety conditioning you mentioned.  I think I do that.  If I'm alone and without my cell phone, I panic, sure that this time I'll have an Afib episode and won't be able to call for help.  When I distract myself, do deep breathing, or remind myself that it hasn't killed me yet, the panic melts away.    I have, however, went from a big irregular beat straight to panic mode without any thought process whatsoever, it's like a knee jerk reaction.

Any other ideas on how to "de-condition?"  

[itdood]

Everything you describe sounds like the full spectrum of an anxiety attack.  A possible issue is that you've conditioned yourself to become anxious when you have those feelings.   It’s a behavioral conditioning.  This would mean that the anxiety isn't being caused by something in your autonomic nervous system.

For the prevacid, I thought that  is a proton pump inhibitor?  I don't think the action is based on effects of the vagus nerve, it blocks an enzyme in the gut to prevent acid production.  I could be wrong.

[DeltaDawn23]

I take Prevacid and my family doc says it quiets the vagus nerve.  Avoid spicy foods, try to have regular bm's.   Maybe a stool softener would help or anything that keeps things moving.  Anything that affects my digestive system affects my heart and produces irregular beats.