Heart Palpitations

[Christine000]

Hi, I'm 42.  I began noticing palpitations (one or two very strong or misplaced heartbeats) back in I think 2008, 5 years ago.  But I shrugged it off.  I chalked it up to being tired, my hormones possibly changing, stress, etc.  Back then this only happened MAYBE once in a blue moon, so I didn't allow it to bother me and I just carried on as though it didn't happen at all.  

I have had anxiety since 2004 when I was attacked in the subway in NYC.  It took me 3 years but I was able to manage my anxiety to the point where it didn't bother me any more, using Yoga and very small amounts of Valerian root when I was at my worst - apparently it bonds to the same receptor cells in the brain as Valium.  I dropped all caffiene intake such as sodas, coffee, etc.  However, I continued to eat milk chocolate and white flour products because I was addicted to them, and eventually I could "get away" with eating some without having an anxiety attack although I wasn't altogether comfortable after eating it.

4 years ago I got into a stressful work situation AND a stressful relationship, which were connected (I work with my bf).  I began living with him and working with him.  I began feeling anxiety symptoms return within 6 months, but continued managing them and I didn't feel that I had anxiety because of how I managed my symptoms.

Around 1 year ago I began to feel a "flashing" sensation of heat on the left side of my head, and sometimes up my back.  I assumed these were "hot flashes" and were due to my hormones changing as I had turned 40.  In addition my periods speeded up so that sometimes I had only 3 weeks in between instead of 4.  This lead me to believe that I could be having "hot flashes" due to perimenopause.  I was also diagnosed with a small fibroid in my uterus, which the Dr. assured me is another symptom of changng hormones and not to worry about it unless it got much larger.

Flash forward- around January of last year I felt a loooong heart palpitation.  I had just been arguing with my bf and I walked out into the cold to get the mail.  I was agitated, annoyed and overworked, tired with not enough sleep.  I had never felt such a long palpitation before, it was a series of strong, too fast beats that didn't belong with my normal heart rhythm.  I was terrified.  I came home and spent the rest of the afternoon having an anxiety attack which I fended off with meditation.  I chalked it up to our arguement.  At this point I dropped ALL alcohol, ALL chocolate, ALL white flour and unnecessary sugar, corn syrup, etc from my diet. So far (it's been since Jauary) I have lost 15 lbs without increasing my exercise, just from diet alone.  Wish I could have done this WITHOUT the palps:)

*to be continued in the comments section- it exceeded the "8000 character limit".*

[Christine000]

All Hell broke loose.

I was cured after going to the hospital - for exactly one night. I went back to my apt.  After spending 24 hours there, I was unable to eat food.  My esophagus had closed up and I had to take a tiny bite, swallow, take another tiny bite, swallow.  I didn't get much food.  I was able to eat a cucumber too because it is soft.  I ate broccoli and chicken.

I went to work, but I panicked all night at work.  I was concerned about my environment.  They had remodeled right before we moved in, it was an old building, and now I suspect environmental toxins making my allergies flare up- cheap paint, industrial glue, etc.  When I left work I decided to spend the night at a friend's house to see if it would make difference to be away from that environment.  His house happened to have had a rabbit there, and it had a lot of dust- he's a guy and didn't dust, clean, etc.  I slept over in the living room and my allergies went through the roof.  The next day I had redness, anxiety, itching, and major spasms.  I called 911 and went to Montefiore hospital in the Bronx.  There they gave me Benadryl in a drip.  This allowed me to sleep and cleared the allergens from my system. The doctor said that he thought I had achalasia.  After the benadril my throat opened up and ate a sandwich without incident.

All this was just too much for me.  I jumped in my car and drove straight to my parent's house from the Emergency room without stopping at my apt.  I took a nap at a rest stop for 4 hours, then woke up, rinsed my mouth, bought a big red apple and kept on going.  I ate the apple as I drove, without incident, and pulled into my parent's driveway around 10pm.  They were happy to see me.  I tried to explain what was going on.  I'm not sure they understood completely.

I slept all that day and night, then woke up and ate a bananna. Immediate spasms and allergic reaction.  Hives, anxiety and spasms all day.  That night I tried to eat chicken breast. I only got about a third down before my throat totally closed up and some of the chicken breast refluxed back up. I went to the ER in Fairfax, VA.

The Dr. there thought this may have happened from being around the paint and glue in my apt.  She gave me a dose of Protonix, a proton pump inhibitor which shut down my acid.  My spasms went away and my throat opened up.  She wrote me a prescription for Protonix.  I tried to fill it today but no pharmacy in this area had it.  They called her and switched it to Prilosec.  I had a terrible adverse reaction to Prilosec, it made me have anxiety, jitters and a very bad feeling all day where I couldn't accomplish anything and couldn't carry on a descent conversation.  Tomorrow I will attempt to control my acid with over the counter meds and order the liquid Protonix.  This is crazy.

I'm getting health insurance tomorrow, and making an appointment with a gastroenterologist and an allergist.  And I have to find a new apt.

This has been INSANE.

I suspect this: http://www.allergyasthmaaz.com/blog/tag/food-allergies

Eosinophillic Esophagitis, I can't even spell it.  I think I was bombarded by allergens in my apt, paint or glue, and I already had a predisposition for this condition, and the allergens made it much much worse.

Either that, or I produced so much stomach acid due to stress that I burned my esophagus.  Come to find out I have LPR.

But with how much allergy trouble I had, I bet it's the first one, and now when stomach acid hits the inflamed esophagus and it's nerves, a spasm is the result.

I"m not sure though, I have to go to the doctors to find out.

THIS. IS. CRAZY.

[Red_Star]

Muscle spasms are a classic symptom of low levels of magnesium.

Excerpt from "The Magic of Magnesium: A Mighty Mineral Essential to Health" by Christiane Northrup, MD...

"Perhaps the most miraculous story I've ever heard about magnesium was one I heard from Dr. Dean. There was a man who suffered from esophageal spasms so severe that he often couldn't swallow anything, including his own saliva. During one horrible attack--something quite similar to choking--his wife gave him some water with magnesium citrate powder mixed in it. After holding the solution in his mouth for about a minute, the magnesium calmed the muscle spasms and he was able to function normally."

Magnesium supplements, - to avoid,- how to take it and -safety:
http://www.medhelp.org/posts/Heart-Rhythm/Magnesium-supplements----to-avoid---how-to-take-it-and--safety/show/1002415

[Christine000]

Hello, All!

Since I wrote my last entry, I have found out A LOT.

I all this time wrongfully assumed these "palpitations" were my heart.  Well, yesterday I was hooked up to a vital sign machine at the hospital that clearly showed me having a "palpitation" - and my heart not moving a noodge.  Yes that's right- my heart did not budge.  It was my esophagus having spasms.

I guess I'm in the wrong forum!  LOL Or perhaps sometimes the esopahgeal spasms can be so strong that the heart becomes involved because it rests against the esophagus.  However, the heart is fine- it is the esphagous that is spasming.  

I was having more "palps" last night, despite all the help that had been given to me by Nick and all I had done for myself.  I was scared, frustrated BEYOND belief.  I didn't want to just pop another Gas X and mess up my digestion further.

I took about 3 drops of  Golden Seal tincture in warm water to help kill possible h. pylori in my stomach.  The Golden Seal raised my heart rate, when I was ALREADY anxious about spasms.  It got so bad I couldn't even lie down and my heart was racing.  I decided to go to the Emergency Room as I hadn't been able to sleep all night, and I was tired of this merry go round and just wanted someone to look at me again.

When I got there my EKG was fast but fine.  After waiting for the Golden Seal to wear off and a lecture about not taking natural cures (It's true, I was very irresponsible for not fully researching possible effects of Golden Seal on my body and just going off of someone else's word that it would be beneficial FOR ME), I was talking to the Doctor when I had a "palpitation".  We watched my heartbeat stay COMPLETELY NORMAL on the screen and just keep on bliping, while this happened.  So at that point we knew FOR A FACT that IT WAS *NOT* the heart.  I guess what can happen is that the esophagus rests against the heart and if the spasm is strong enough it can set the heart off.  But there is nothing wrong with the heart itself.  And most of the time, if you have a spasm, that will NOT happen.

BTW, all this could have been avoided if I had been able to know quickly enough about my GERD.  But I had the "silent reflux" that does not burn, so it progressed to the point where I was having spasms trying to get things down the esophagus.

The warning sings were:

1) things "sticking" in the throat and not wanting to go down
2) things coming back up into the throat in a way that I could feel it
3) occasionally something getting "stuck" as I was trying to swallow it and hurting a great deal, and taking a while to "go down".
4) spasms

I now follow the GERD protocol to a tee, sleep with the top half of my body elevated (on pillows for now, I'm looking for one of those "wedges" to put under my mattress), don't eat for two hours prior to lying down, and all that stuff.

I'm also looking for a GREAT gatro doctor in Manhattan, which I'm sure there are many to be found.  

This problem can affect your whole life if you let it go - without your esophagus, you don't have ANYTHING.  Some people even ended up on J Tube feeding tubes, so THIS IS A SERIOUS PROBLEM.  These spasms were my esophagus crying out and I didn't even realize it.  

Oh, there is also a mental component - if you fear spasms, it makes spasms.  Yesterday as soon as I realized that this was not my heart but my esophagus, I was able to actually control my spasms.  I was able to tell my esophagus "quiet", put my hand over it and actually  calm them down MYSELF.  So keep searching until you get PROOF POSITIVE OF WHAT IS WRONG.

Magnesium helps, Camomile Tea (a natural nerve tonic) helps, anything relaxing and anti-spasmodic.  There are some who take nitro under the tongue, calcium channel blockers, etc.  I hope that with education, pampering, rest, understanding, well chewed food, GERD diet, exercise etc that this situation will come to a happy ending for me.  

[Christine000]

Hi Jerry!  I haven't been thinking too straight in the past 3 weeks, this thread is kind of like my personal journey into pinpointing my problem and finally being able to gain control of my symptoms.  It's true, it meanders a lot.  I'll go in and clean it up once I am feeling better.  This has been a hellish trip, with two emergency room visits and a clinic visit, threats of having to buy expensive health insurance and spend addtional money on tests, locate and asess cardiologists for lifesaving skills, decide which hospitals had the best cardiology departments, possible heart problems, clinics and doctors who failed me, did I mention the SHEER TERROR???  I feel worn out and wrung out, as though I was falling and someone grabbed me at the last second.  Talk about adrenal fatigue, LOL

I'll go in and put a "clean", stripped down version at some point possibly next week.  NICK WALSH already has a great site and book about this very problem if you google him.

[Jerry_NJ]

Just a comment/suggestion.

This was too long and too off my personal experience for me to get real deeply into the full body of the information.  But, it looks to me like there are some valuable findings in the thread.  

It could be useful if the originator could provide a brief, say all in one post without any specific details beyond noting specific emotional and physical problems/symptoms and what worked to resolve them.  The Gas-X (or equivalent) sounds like a fine other may benefit from.

I even think this information could be shared on "women's health issues" or similar Communities.

Hope you've got a path forward to feeling better.

[Christine000]

Hey everyone, I found someone online who helped my palps greatly, his name is NICK WALSH.  He first told me to take Gas X if I was having a huge palp attack.  This I did.  The attack subsided in 15 minutes.  Apparantly the active ingredient in the Gas X alkalizes the stomach very rapidly, causing it not to irritate the Vegas nerve any more.

He then told me that I can't live off of Gas X, I need to create a more alkaline digestive tract in general so that my esophagus can heal.  He reccomended these things:

1) Aloe Vera GEL (not juice, the gel is different and works much better)
2) a great probiotic - the liquid in the bottle in the refrigerator that has billions of bacteria, not the pills or capsules.
3) Ph drops for your drinking water to make it more alkaline.  Mine cost $20 from my local healthfood store.
4) oils and extracts that kill h.pilori, a common bacteria that causes us not to be able to digest food well and makes acid in the intestines
5) great digestive enzymes to be taken before meals
6) mineral drops to act as a supplement

If you want to know more, google NICK WALSH stop heart palpitations, he has a book and a website about this very subject.  He himself had this for 7 years and researched it for that long, to come up with this protocol for keeping it away.  I'm going on my 3 rd day and no palps.  The Gas X has been a real godsend, it's the silver bullet that protects you until you can get your GI tract on track to create a non irritating environment in your body.

ALSO- IF you are a woman over 35, know that GERD/LPR is a symptom of MENOPAUSE as is anxiety, dizziness and other symptoms.  There are great threads with tons of useful info about this.  Your hormones are changing levels- when progesterone dominates it causes muscle weakness, and your GI tract is made of muscle. If you sphincters become weak, it causes GERD and therefore eventual heart palpitations in some people due to irritation of the Vegas nerve.  Your whole mission should be to create a body that is as inflammation free as possible.

Follow the GERD diet- no spicy foods, no red meat, no fats and oils except healthy flax and other oils that are good for the body.  Sleep with the head of your bed elevated 6-8 inches from the foot, and don't eat 2 hours before lying down, let gravity help you.

Oh, and try not to sit in abdomen-crunching positions, keep your back straight.  It's harder than you think.  I was slouching my way through life.  Do exercises that don't pound and irritate but are smooth, like walking.

It's a LOT to learn and take in, I'm still learning a lot.  What I didn't learn on my own, NICK WALSH helped me with.