Atrial Fibrillation & Stomach Gas, Digestive Tract Problems?

[delcocat]

I saw another post about atrial fibrillation and stomach gas possible association or connection.  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 atleast in my experience in that they don't think outside the box enough possibly because this is what they learned.  I think I/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 and our own health.  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 would like to know if anyone else has any real answers to this as being a 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?  Isn't it possible
that the gas, bloat, perhaps inflamed digestive or intestinal tract can disturb the vagus nerve thereby possibly causing
you to go into an afib attack?  Any real dr's out there any more with some real info about this?  Even conjecture?
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 you know or even think this to be the case for you I would also like to correspond with you to trade stories and info on what you''ve learned and done. Be well.  Sincerely, Rich - delcocat at aol *******

[JeffN]

Anyone have news on ablations for vagal afib?  outcomes?  Since it's suppsosed to be caused by high vagal tone, is there a med that can reduce the vagal tone?  My Dr, seems to think I have two choices, either 3 day hospital to be put on Tikosyn or ablation.  Of course I'm not thrilled with either.  

Has any med shown to be more effective for the digestive/afib relation?  The only one I read of is Flecainide and that did nothing for my afib, it did make me very lethargic, and tired, as my blood pressure is low, even on a low dose.  

[delcocat]

Yep, it can be a vicious cycle.  Stress and anxiety causes digestive related problems and digestive problems cause anxiety and distress. My wife rarely ever had digestive troubles like myself and as you can see ever since my starting this blog I certainly have had my share and experimented like crazy with some success.  Like you my reports were always good.  Dr's scratched there heads but I soon figured out my afib episodes were some how directly related to something going on in my digestive tract.  Well, my wife started with tachardia episodes and her symptoms seemed eerily similar to my own.  Then all of a sudden just a few weeks ago she was having some real problems.  I litterally freaked her out when I stated you have all the symptoms of parasites.  Her not feeling well I just happened to have some parasite formula left and coaxed her to try it.  After the second day to her horror she was both appalled and amazed that she started eliminating small white pinworms in her bowel movements.  She stayed the course and so far seems to be a lot better.  I do not believe in medications and otc's except for certain cases and feel there are natural and or homeopathic options with the help of correct diet, exercise and stress reduction etc that will help bring the body back into ballance.  I haven't been on here in a while and thought I would share this as it may help bring hope and some relief to others perhaps that may be in a similar boat.  Good luck!  

[Katiebob]

I have never commented before but here goes....45 year old, pretty healthy female, scoped in 09 after having that heavy pressure and short of breath feeling, after EKG and such, diagnosed with Hiatal Hernia., Prilosec 2 times a day..life goes on.   Fast forward a few years, under tons of stress, family and death, stomach is a mess.  The fluttering, constant full feeling, bloating, SOB, anxiety, Light headed, depression and I HATE to eat.  Can not put my finger on any food for sure because some days I can eat this then later not.  I have not had caffeine in 14 years, drink socially and drink primarily water all day. Blood work all fine. Ekg, stress test, echo all normal, heart monitor showed a little brachicardia.  Re scoped, waiting on results but now off for an Stomach Emptying Scan.  I have a wonderful husband, 2 healthy boys and the world in the palm of my hand BUT can not get passed this doom and gloom and anxiety that I am about to die. I know I am all over the board here....feeling like crap today yet yesterday was a peach.  lol  Thanks for the support.

[teragramer]

I believe there is a connection between gut problems (inflammation) and having a heart attack. I had a heart attack 7 months ago and the main symptoms  were severe acid reflux pain (Maalox didn't help)  restlessness and anxiety. I had slight pain in my left shoulder. Since I'd had problems for years with my gut I never thought I was having a heart attack.  I didn't go to the hospital right away. I did go to a nearby clinic where they took a straight xray of my gut. The Dr wanted to know why the Maalox I took didn't help the gas and bloating that I felt .He said I could go home.  Later that evening I started vomiting and went to emerg. where they did an ECG  and removed the clot. I had a stent put in. When I got out of Hospital the Clinic called to tell me the result of the xray taken the day of my heart attack and that it  found my gut was filled with mucous and gas, and I may have Crohns disease or colitis..... I told them I'd had a heart attack. Hopefully I haven't harmed my heart too much.  I get quite anxious when I get this gut problem and haven't quite figured out how to deal with it. I've seen specialists etc but no magic bullet yet.  I do believe there is a connection between chronic  inflammation in the body and heart attacks.

[ed34]

I met a guy in hospital a few years back, different situation but amazing all the same. Through alcohol addiction his heart had enlarged a huge amount and basically became useless. They put a mechanical pump around his waste, piped it into his main blood vessels around the heart and then stopped his heart. After a year his heart was virtually normal again and they were ready to attempt a restart. Unfortunately I was discharged before this happened.

[SmokChsr]

I suppose it might given time, but I'm not sure at what rate.. The cardio just had me do a echo and a stress test. The Echo should indicate the perceived pulmonary BP, and the stress test should show any reduction in heart size. but so far I've only received the Dr.s version of the report "It all looks great" so I'll have to get copies of the test results and see if I can determine anything from them.   From what I've heard in the past pretty much once your heart enlarges, that's pretty much a done deal. Most muscle will atrophy away over time if not used, but I'm not sure if that applies to cardiac muscle.