Atrial Fibrillation Stomach Gas & Bloat Relationship?

[delcocat]

I saw a post about atrial fibrillation and stomach gas possible association.  I too have the same thing so it may not be all in your head if your suspect this to be the case.  Most dr.'s think your crazy or never heard of this when you even suggest it.  Thats whats wrong with most dr's.  They don't think outside the box and most always treat symptoms with side effect ridden drugs because this is what they learned.  I think we can guess or prognose just as well or better than they can at times particularly if we know something about health and or ourselves.  Never be afraid to speak up because I feel strongly that digestive tract problems are real and translate into other real nasty symptoms like this.  Fortunately we can prevent much of this & need to prevent it from happening. I do feel the more you get afib the worse it can become either physically, emmotionally or both no matter what the cause.  I thought up until now that I may have been the first to discover this but thought I would put this to a POLL since the question already exist out there about the afib gas connection.  I would like to know how many people feel that they get atrial fibrillation and feel that it may be related to gas or full, bloated stomach, intestinal or digestive tract troubles etc?  Any way I also would be interested in what anyone might have to say about it and or what they may have learned from this if they know or even think this to be the case for them and would also like to correspond with others to trade stories and info on what they've learned and done. Be well.  Sincerely, Rich - ***@****


This discussion is related to Stomach Gas and Arrythmia.

[delcocat]

Some good info and observatios.  As noted above there may be no one size fits all description of what causes excess acid, gas, bloat and even perhaps afib itself.  I think thru my own personal observations that its reasonable to assume there is some correlations between the two sets of symptoms.  Digestive problems have a vast array of causes and I believe more than afib.  I do believe there is ultimaely some trigger point caused by digestive problems which leads to a chain of events that sets off the afib.  Gas, bloat, acid are the symptoms and things like ibs, gerd, reflux etc are descriptions that have been given to label these as some sort of medical condition,  The whole problem is to identify an underlying cause, stop doing what causes it, ***** damage and hopefully be able to treat, repair and reverse such damage. This can be a huge under taking with lots of tests and no guarantees you'll be any closer than you are now at finding the problem and or solution sorry to say.  My theory is that inflamation is the first culprit that leads to all the above and thats pretty easy to address once you educate yourself on what causes it.  It is generally caused by poor diet, eating the wrong foods, stress, smoking, medication, alcohol or junky sweets and junky drinks like soda.  Eat these and this causes inflamation in your intestinal tract making it hard for food and gas to pass.  It slows the digestive process down and then it can cause you to become bloated and out of balance.  Bad bacteria (ecoli, H.Plylori etc) can then over take your good gut bacteria (probiotics).  This can also lead to other things like viruses and parasites.  These then go further by actually damaging and thinning out your intestinal lining making you susceptible to diseases like crohns, ibs, leaky gut etc.  Once this damage occurs is when we start seeing afib or the propensity to get it.  I believe when the intestinal lining wall thins, becomes porous is when the nerves in the lining become inflamed and sensitive and react and these are super close if not intertwined with the vagus nerve pathways.  Once the vagus nerve pathway is disrupted this in my opinion is what causes the afib we associate with the condiions mentioned above.  I have been saying this on this blog, to doctors etc for years and yet there still seems to be little to nothing known or on the horizon to help.  So in conclusion I have taken control and better care of my digestive tract by making modifications in my diet to disinclude as much as possible anything that causes inflamation.  I'm not perfect and its sometimes can be a struggle but all in all it has worked pretty well for me.  Some key points.  #1  avoid stress, acid forming foods, drinks, smoking.  #2  Use a juicer or whole food pulverizer and include a lot more easy to digest, easy to  absorb raw fruits and vegetables in your diet.  #3   Use a good probiotic and take digestive enzymes with every meal.  #4  Drink more purified water.  #5.  Gets some exercise.  #6.  Stay away from sweets and sugars.  #7.  Try not to eat within 4-5 hours of bed time.  A very light natural protein snack generally is fine.  Try this for a few weeks and i think you may see a difference too.  Good luck and thanks for posting!

[sentientbeing]

As a fellow sufferer, I think there is no doubt that heart arrythmia can be caused by excessive gas and bloating. I have experienced it 3 times now and I'm 28, the latest one was during exercise. Some of my observations and thoughts are:

1. Bloating seems to occur after eating. Bloating increases when I begin to walk or do some physical activity. For example gas could start building up when I've done two sets of pushups or walked up a steep incline.
2. The Vagus nerve is a clear suspect. Since its a major nerve ( ne of the primary groups in a set of 11 I think) that regulate critical functions including heart rhythm. Gas pressure  as well as rupture caused due to acidity and reflux may have a strong bearing on it misfiring, causing the heart to jump out of rhythm. All my racing heart episodes have been triggered when I was walking or exercising when there was gas buildup. I've had myself checked to rule out heart problems. Other times I've had micro-episodes of racing hearts like just as I'm drifting off into sleep and wake up with a runaway heart!
3. Hiatal hernia: When I had an endoscopy I was told I had a small hiatal hernia. The symptoms during that time which led me to the doc was moderate gas and sudden racing hearts lasting for a few seconds that'll knock me off my seat,  the same feeling when you wake up with a racing heart. It wasn't hard right away to see a correlation between reflux/gas/digestive problems and heart palpitations and shortness of breath.
4. When I have severe bloating and it feels like my stomach and diaphragm are all gonna explode anytime, there is clear shortness of breath. Obviously my guess is the lungs don't have enough room to expand and the heart may even come into direct contact with the pushed up diaphragm. And possibly with the herniated stomach too. All of this results in lesser room for the cardio-pulmonary system to expand, and contract, let alone staying in tune.

Last year I had the barium swallow. They saw no hiatal hernia but definite reflux. I somehow don't believe that test is accurate and all it did was give me an appendicitis a day later I think due to the barium that got clogged in the appendix opening. I wish I was scoped instead.

I am determined to get to the bottom of this, I will get an endoscopy soon to learn if there's is a mechanical problem (hiatal hernia) and what other damage the last 2 years of reflux has caused and go from there. There are many questions unanswered like could it be H. Pylori? What causes excess acid (and gas) in the absence of clear mechanical abnormalities like a hiatal hernia? Why is the esophageal valve loose? For GERD I think there is no definitive cause effect relationship. Is too much acidity causing the valve to loosen up? Or If it was the valve that is malfunctioning, why should it cause excessive acid? For all the scientific/medical progress we've made there seems to be a poor holistic understanding of body science! I guess we have to rely on our experience and every bit of knowledge we can assimilate to work towards a solution.

[mkarashmk]

I read your article. I have similar situation like you. Off recently i experienced some funny sensation in my heart. It is something very uneasy where i felt someone touching or twitching you heart from inside. It comes and goes. TOday i had something different wherein i felt like the heart is choaking but sonna after my burp and fart .. the feeling and sensation subsides. I called my cardilogist he said it gastric problem... what you think perhaps you can share some views of yours.

[Duarte666]

Hello Everyone.
It is difinitely related.
The symptoms are clear. Actually after describing the bloating symptoms the sense of prechure in the upper stomach, and the ocasional arrythmia episodes, the gastrologist I've seen, told me right away, after doing an abdominal palpation "that's caused by the gas", and then i told him that at the time I saw him I wasn't having those symptoms anymore, I continued saying that I had drunk cabbage and carrot natural juice, done at home, for 7 days. Then he replied "Yes, keep doing it, the only thing about the cabbage is that may produce a little gas in the intestins, but thats all ", he continued "Since you like to use natural herbs, drink peppermint tea, or fennel tea this may help reduce the gas in your digestive system."

This doctor specialized himself in H.Pylori infections treatment, and he stated further "We've done an experiment when I was elaborating on my thesis for my academic degree that involved using natural substances existing in graprefruit or a fruit similar to that, I'm not sure, that was a bomb in erradicating H.Pylori as potent as an antibiotic, oh it was an natural antibiotic of course. It was just a shame we didn't procceed with that studies...".

So... concluding I would like you guys to experiment on drinking the cabage and carrot juice for 10 days at least and then report if you noticed any improvement... I believe it would be important for many... I haded apple sometimes as to make it more palatable. Thanks for your attention and I believe you'll find a way of improving ;)

Take care

[Settybue]

Did you eat anything other than the carrot & cabbage juice?

[delcocat]

Hello Stampwiz and thanks for your input.   This is the conclusion I have drawn some time ago and one that I have put out there for people however I've tried to convey this cautiously since I know not all people or their situations are alike.   That being said if you have certain other obvious symptoms such as intestinal distress resulting in gas & bloat I know that can lead to the stimulating of the vagus nerve which can then can trigger the afib.   I have paid attention and felt this many times.  I therefore have placed great emphasis on acknowledging the need to not only try and be self aware in any such self diagnosis but also to help remedy digestive woes which is a real bear of its own to deal with.   I suspect most people suffering with afib relating to the aforementioned have a considerable amount of damage already to their digestive tract that tends to sneak up on you over time.   As for doctors you are correct.   It has been my observation that they do not know, realize or admit that you have afib until they place all the monitoring systems on you.   Something obvious to you and I just isn't for them for some reason.  A simple stethoscope and listening is no longer enough anymore I suppose.  To make matters worse even after the diagnosis they are totally perplexed and generally have no clue as to why and they have looked at me like I had two heads on a few occasions early on when I visited the ER.   Only one time in my life did I get a doctor in the ER that understood and worked with me as a human being.   I told him what I had which he confirmed and why I believed I had it which he thought seemed logical.  He even went so far as to understand my reluctance to have any of the drugs mentioned administered and even used my suggestion of intravenous magnesium and he also gave me potassium pills.   This worked for me like a charm and I came out of the afib faster than any other time that drugs were administered.   I do not know if you are a doctor but you seem to have knowledge and understanding about this subject.   I had to learn the harder way.   I was relatively young and in good shape when I got these episodes and so am glad I stuck to my guns and refused the medications many docs wanted to place me on all without knowing why I was getting these episodes in the first place which could have had detrimental impact on my over all health above and beyond what i already was experiencing.   Now yourself and others will (if they don't already by now) know why I'm so passionate about this.   You will see that when I first started posting I too was confused and worried and not certain of what brought these episodes on even though I developed some suspicions that as time went on became all to clear for me.   I've made tremendous strides in being self aware, learning and understanding and helping myself.   I now know the signs and symptoms.   I now know 99% of the time how where and why I will or might get this and I can usually nip it in the bud particularly when I know I have been a bad boy dietarily before it does happen.   I believe others can as well!  Beyond just the comfort it brings others knowing others suffer with this I hope that I have done good for some in putting it all out there on this and other med help blog.   Again thanks for your post, comments and acknowledgement.

[stampwiz]

Atrial Fib from gas is related to vagal tone atrial fib where the vagal nerve is excited and results in inducing atrial fib in some people. Most DR's are either unaware or dismissive. One reason is that the atrial fib triggered this way often self corrects to normal rythim very quickly, though not always. Unless Drs see the afib on a monitor, ekg or tape they don't believe you have it.