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My heart

I am a 52 year old female 140 lbs and 5 ft 7 in in height. About 7 years ago I started fainting when I eat. My face turns white and my lips turns blue approximately  4 to 6 times a month. My heart drops in t the low 50's and rises in the low 100's . As time passes this seems to be long lasting with either lower or higher HR I have visited an array of doctor from neurologist, ENT, cardiologist, neurosurgeons, Gastorologist  and more! Two weeks ago the cardiologist had me wear a holster monitor for my heart. Saturday after a near fainting spell the hospital cardiologist call my home said that my heart was pausing, wanting me to come to the ER and I told him I would wait till Monday due to the fact it has been happening for 6 or more years and I could not see an ER bill. So my question is what's the difference  between a paused heart and as topped heart, can a paused heart kill me?
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Avatar universal
You ask, "So my question is what's the difference  between a paused heart and as topped heart, can a paused heart kill me?"

A stopped heart is a heart that isn't beating any more, and isn't going to.  It's *The End.*

A paused heart means that there is too long a time between beats.  There different types of pauses, and different lengths of pause--but they can indeed kill you.  One way this happens is a direct result of fainting:  It's surprisingly common for people to fall and injure their heads in ways that lead to death by severe injury, like skull fractures and blood clots on the brain.

Even if you're not badly injured in a fall, longer types of heart 'pauses' can let bad heart rhythms get started.  Some of these cause strokes, and you have probably seen what happens with strokes.  Ever heard of anyone whose life was improved by a stroke?

Other types of 'pauses' cause rhythms that lead to complete heart stoppage and cannot be corrected even by electrical shocks at the hospital.

If you want to keep on living a nice life, I'd suggest you follow the cardiologist's advice.
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257552 tn?1404602554
Look-up the following article (see the link below), print it out if you can, and take it with you when you see the doctor and give it to him or her. The article is intended for doctors, it's not a patient oriented web site.

Swallowing and digestive induced arrhythmias are a well known phenomena, and Bradycardia (slow heart beat) is probably the more common rhythm disturbance.  I'm currently experiencing a bout of heart rhythm problems and have seen an Electrophysiologist (E.P. or Heart Rhythm Specialist) and Gastrointestinal Doctor and have arranged for an endoscopy of my esophagus and a check of the colon too. One does not need to have a serious GI Tract problem to have heart rhythm issues caused by it. Inflammation alone may be sufficient.

These disorders are believed to have a neurological aspect. Your heart is connected to your Sympathetic Nervous System, to make your heart go faster, and your  Parasympathetic Nervous System to make it go slower. Sometimes one system or the other can influence the heart in a biased way, for instance, the parasympathetic system can slow your heart rate way down, and it does this by influencing how fast the heart's natural pacemaker, the SA Node, discharges. Much of this is handled by the Vagus Nerve, a nerve that starts in your brain, goes down your esophagus, and on to the digestive system.

Please be advised that this may not be your problem, but the following article may be of some help.

Best wishes.

""Cardiac manifestations and sequelae of gastrointestinal disorders

Rhythm disturbance and syncope related to oesophageal disease

Disturbances in cardiac rhythm accompanying swallowing are well documented, and while bradyarrhythmias including atrioventricular block, sinus bradycardia and ventricular asystole are more common, swallowing-induced tachyarrhythmias have also been described, such as atrial fibrillation. Deglutition (That's a fancy word for swallowing) syncope is characterised by loss of consciousness on swallowing; it has been associated not only with ingestion of solid food, but also with carbonated and ice-cold beverages, and even belching. Evaluation of these patients has revealed that many of them suffer from underlying gastrointestinal disorders including gastro-oesophageal reflux disease, hiatus hernia, achalasia and gastric diverticulae. Ectopic beats and tachyarrhythmias can be triggered by many of the above stimuli, but generally occur in patients with no oesophageal abnormalities........

Intestinal disease and cardiac complications

In addition to the association of gastro-oesophageal disease with cardiac complications, disorders of the large bowel can also result in secondary cardiac arrhythmias and pericarditis. The most commonly observed examples of this are in patients suffering from inflammatory bowel disease – more commonly ulcerative colitis than Crohn’s disease. There have been several case reports of these patients presenting with collapse due to arrhythmias – complete heart block and Wenckebach atrioventricular block have both been described. In the majority, symptoms and signs of pericarditis have also been present, and on colonoscopy there has been evidence of active inflammatory change in the bowel. It is now becoming accepted that pericarditis, with or without arrhythmia, may be a more common complication of inflammatory bowel disease than first anticipated......""

http://bjcardio.co.uk/2009/07/cardiac-manifestations-and-sequelae-of-gastrointestinal-disorders/
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