heart palpitation and bowel movements

[twogirls]

I am a 35yo female that has suffered from heart palpitations for the last several years. I have had every test that you can think of.  They all come back as normal.  My cardiologist says that some people suffer from palpitations for no reason.  It just seems like when I have palpitations that I automaticlly need to have a bowel movement.  Does anyone else suffer from that? I have been told that is not a sign of any heart problem.  The palpitation bother me to the point that I am afraid that I will have a heart attack.

[Kristyethier]

I have had the same issue for years but dr.'s never have caught my heart in action. Last night I was laying in bed with my son on my right side and once agin I felt a weird kind of bubble in my chest and then boom full on tachycardia for a minute! Scared me to death and immediately I got tummy cramps and had to have a bowel movement  afterwards I just felt sick and tired and so scared it was going to happen again! I have episodes like this for the last dice years but I can go for months without having one and have no idea what brings them on? I have had an EKG and a holter monitor and they say my heart is fine but there hs to be something causing it? Every time it happens I just think oh my god this is the time I die! So worried

[JoKelly]

There is a definite connection between bearing down for a bowel movement and a change in the heartbeat and in fact, when I have AFib this can often put the heart back into rhythm ie sit on the loo and bear down regardless of necessity.  My cardiologist says this is a good thing to try during arrhythmia.

I would also agree that the way you lie in bed can also effect changes.  I have learnt to lie down slowly and spend at least ten minutes on my back before allowing myself to lie on my side and this has lessened the incidence of skips and jumps at that point.  All these things differ for each of us, but some are harmless to at least try out and see...

[tom_h]

When you bear down to make a BM, you are actually performing a manuver referred to as Valsalva.  Doing so abruptly spikes internal pressure, and in doing so can halt arrhythmia, and especially useful for halting supraventricular tachycardias.  I used this technique for 54 years to halt mine.  It can also have a reversal effect and actually commence an SVT event which happened to me on several occasions.

Kristy, my guess is you have some kind of concealed SVT condition; perhaps AVNRT.  An EKG and echo cardiogram will show a completely normal heart.  There is perhaps situations where your heart's electrical "circuit" will fire at just precisely the right moment to put your heart into tachycardia.  24 hour Holters are a waste of time.  You best chance lies in a long term, 30 day monitor which is worn continously except for showering.

If you've had these events before, then most likely they are reasonably harmless SVT's.  I had hundreds of events over my 54 years with it.  While I got use to them happening, they always caused  anxiety when they occured, not because I felt death was imminent, but for fear that I could not halt it and would wind up in the ER.

If you carefully describe the events to your physician, and leave any mention of anxiety out of the conversation, chance are you will receive an accurate diagnosis and be put on a path to a resolution, be it drug or by a medical procedure.

[bigkev414]

Hi All -
I'm still here but haven't posted for quite a while. Having 'missing beats' straight after I eat (just had dinner, and every 6 -10 beats and there's the 'thump', Coincides with gas burbles often, and as we've all said before, there's definately a connection between stomach / digestive system and the SVTs and bumps. Just went to the toilet - yes, as soon as the bumps start I have to go. Everytime.  
Been bad lately and I've been having hot flushes all night and day (and I'm an old man). Had a couple of 'turns' when it doesn't feel like SVT (really racing) but just a lot of bumps every 5 or sixth beat, and I feel a pressure in my head and very off balance. BP soars to 220/160 and I shake a lot. Have to 'pee' every 15 minutes for hours, and take Valium and Tenormin with a really big dose of Zantac and wait till it stops. Sometimes (last time last week) it went for about 10 hours. Maddening, and I nearly went to see the doc again, but why bother,,they just don'y know why it happens. Ive been having this crap for 30 years, and the ticker is OK.
It's electrical, and definately connected with digestion and what food I eat.
Be re assured all of you other guys....the ticker won't stop and you have pleanty of company. Main thing is not to panick, and PLEASE CAN SOMEBODY HELP ME? I'M GOING CRAZY WITH IT!. ahhhh, see, I'm calm. cheers

[tom_h]

Yo Kev.  I think the need to "go" is a fear or anxiety response.  It may not necessiarly be attributed to cardiac problems.  I've had occasions when that has happened too.  Sitting on the toilet while my heart was pounding away at 250bpm is a wierd sensation.

There is a definite connection with stomach gas, reflux or GERD and arrhythmia and SVT.  Have you ever been examned for a hiatial hernia?  Also of course is the fact that a bloated stomach can displace the diaphram upward towards the heart cavity.

WHat really got rid of my PVC's after my ablation was going ultra low carb.  When I eliminated carbs from my diet, the skips went away.

[incontrol13]

Exactly its our animalistic instict kicking in for flight or fight.  Your body for whayever reason thinks iys in a nad situation so if you were an animal in the woods and a bear was going to attack you the animal would become scated and deficate itself in orser to keep the bear from attacking.  Weird how our body works isnt it.

[BrokenHeartedBella1975]

I too have had the same problems for 5 years or so now. I am a 38 year old female and have had every test know to man with the exact same answer "we just don't know" or "it happens to everyone" and my personal favorite "what does it matter your not going to die from it". I too get the pressure in my head with accelerated BP. I can go days with no problems or like yesterday it was skipped beat after skipped beat with that scary hard thump as the beat comes back. Anyone feel free to email me with any possible solutions or anything that may have helped them ease it or deal with it better.
***@****