Does anyone suffer stomach related heart pain?

[DaveSpice]

Since my HA almost 3 years ago I have had heart twinges of varying magnitude, which all seem related to my stomach and of late they have been getting worse. I went along for check yesterday and the cardio says gastrology wasnt her field of expertise. There is a thing called Gastrocardiac Syndrome and we know the two organs are linked by the Vegas Nerve, you can probably add the brain to that, since stress is a factor too,. But just wondered if anyone else had this and whether they had fixed it.

I had a gastric endoscopy, but they lost the biopsy results, anyway last week had the blow in a tube test for H Pylori, which I think is the cause. Meanwhile the cardio has put me on a betablocker and PPI, to protect the two oragns.

Cheers,

[NotAllWhoWonder]

I’ve had absolute hell with my gut since my MIs 4 years ago. Lost like 10kg in 6 weeks which led to an urgent referral to gastro because they thought I may have had Chrones. Turns out all the meds I was on had burnt holes in my stomach and intestine (diagnosed with erosive gastritis and erosive duodenitis - it looked like I had cigarette burns!). In addition, the gastro reckoned that the shock of the MIs triggered IBS, which is what caused me to go to the toilet 6+ times a day, and is what caused the rapid weight loss. All this despite being on PPI. I have IBS for life now, and only avoid symptoms through careful management, but I’m uncomfortable most days. Ironically, symptoms improved slightly when I stopped my PPI - one of the side affects of Lansoprozole is an aggravation of IBS!

Of course, constantly feeling like your chest is on fire isn’t great when you’ve had 4 MIs! Having your stomach in such close proximity to your heart definitely isn’t ideal!

Hopefully they get you sorted out soon.

[DaveSpice in reply to NotAllWhoWonder]

I am an engineer and thought about moving the heart a few mm 😁, bloody silly place to put it. I have my gastrology report and will discuss it with my GP on Monday, but I drooped my PPIs 6 months after my HA which were doing nothing, have just been put back on them. Will post what happens after my appointment, but thanks for sharing your experience.

[DaveSpice in reply to NotAllWhoWonder]

I found this very useful Youtube vid about PPIs. youtube.com/watch?v=y04y998...(Not working as expected?)

[Milkfairy Heart Star in reply to DaveSpice]

The BHF has this evidence based information which maybe useful too.

bhf.org.uk/informationsuppo...

[NotAllWhoWonder in reply to DaveSpice]

Thank you. Yes, the more digging I’ve done, the more detrimental I’ve found long term use of PPIs actually is. While BHF and other sites may list some of the common physical symptoms (nausea, etc) no-one ever does a deeper dive into malabsorption of magnesium, calcium, B12, etc - all critical vitamins and minerals that affect your ENTIRE body! Another study found that a large number of hip fracture patients, especially younger ones, were all on PPIs - makes sense, because it’s caused through calcium not being absorbed into the bones.

[Milkfairy Heart Star in reply to NotAllWhoWonder]

Very interesting.

Have you got the references to the research about increased hip fractures and malabsorption problems associated with proton pump inhibitors?

Sometimes a very slight increase in risk is acceptable to someone if their quality of life is improved.

[DaveSpice in reply to Milkfairy]

Here is some expert advice. youtube.com/watch?v=y04y998...(Not working as expected?)

[Milkfairy Heart Star in reply to DaveSpice]

I would prefer to see some published research of randomised, controlled trials carried out by experienced, well regarded researchers.

Funded by the BHF, National Institute of Healthcare Research NIHR, or the Medical Research Council, MRC

The YouTube link you posted is someone's opinion.

[DaveSpice in reply to NotAllWhoWonder]

The main problem with them is the diagnosis which leads doctors to prescribe them, that stomach ph is too low, when the opposite seems to be true. If as is usually the case, the stomach has to little acid the PIs are making things worse, not to mention the side effects.

[Razor1967]

Yes me !! Well more towards the top of my stomach and low chest area. It is just underneath my heart and I have been worried about it. It feels like there is a big ball of trapped wind which I cannot get up (or down) if you know what I mean. !!😀. Anyway went to the doctors last week as it is now 7 months post CABG x 6. He did all the blood tests which came back normal. He thought it was gastric related and prescribed Peptac liquid for after meals and before bed. I also take Lansoprazole in a morning. 5 days later the bloated feeling has almost gone, so I guess it was some kind of indigestion related problem.

[DaveSpice in reply to Razor1967]

Yes the cariologist I saw just put me on Lansoprazole two days in it isn't working, I see my G on Monday and think she may give me something else. Glad to hear you are better, what was your heart pain like? I don't feel that bloated but have a lot of gas and burping does help. I had a HA and 2 stents almost 3 years ago and have had this problem since then, albeit off and on. I think there is an alternative to aspirin which may be the cause of the problem.

[Razor1967 in reply to DaveSpice]

It was more a bloatnessness feeling I had in the lower centre of my chest like really bad trapped wind. It wasn't a sharp feeling but more a fullness feeling if that makes sense. It was worse after exercise and on an evening or when I first went to bed. It started to concern me so went to the doctors who had a good listen to my heart and chest etc. He diagnosed it was gastric and the Peptac solution has really made a difference. As a side note I have really suffered with wind since starting the cocktail of heart medicines much to my wife's complaints. I could only blame the dogs for so long. 😀

[DaveSpice in reply to Razor1967]

You and I seems to have different symptoms. First of all when I talk about sharp "feeling" I am referring to my heart pain or discomfort. Apart from the burping, I don't have much of a stomach problem...not that I find burping a problem..I am an old guy and people expect you to have wind at one end. ahem..

Anyway now I have drawn a blank with H Pylori, I am back to square one.

[Hidden]

Hi Dave, Yes! I have the same thing, and I too discovered the link between heart and gastric problems. I suppose that's what comes of there being discrete fields of expertise (hearts and gastro)

I posted a similar comment about this when I suggested that posture was something that worked for me. Eating froma tray whilst slumped in an armchair brought on dizzy or fainting spells and terrible bloating. (The latest episode caused my ICD to fire for the first time ever)

Since reading about gastrocardiac syndrome (Roemheld syndrome), I now only sit up straight ; trying to keep my vagus nerve straight whenever I eat anything. That 's working for me so far.

As an aside; a few years ago my GP put me on a PPI Omeprazole. Never again! I couldn't leave the house for constant diarroea.

[DaveSpice in reply to Hidden]

What you say makes a lot of sense. I recently bought a new chair to help with posture for watching TV, but havent been using it much. I have started eating meals at the table instread of on the sofa, but it hasnt make much difference, will keep it up though. The last few days I have suffered some really spikey heart pains, but no stomach pain, had an ECG and alls well. I found that lying down and massaging my stomach seems to help, but nothing else. I have a slight Haitus Hernia and am attemting to push my stomach back down with this massage. Recently I went to the hospital and they found the biopsy results and will see my doctor on monday who will explain them (they are in Portuguese). Thanks for the advice will stay in touch.

[july2020]

Hi Dave

When you say twinges what do you mean?

I am interested to know if your "twinges" are similar to issues I have experienced.

I have had a few episodes where I was blue lighted to hospital which I now think may be related to my stomach.

I was getting palpitations where I could feel my heart pounding in my chest, my heart rate went up and I was in discomfort.

The last bad incident was in the early hours of Christmas day when I woke with my heart rate at 120 bpm and my chest felt tight. Given I had a HA and triple bypass in 2020 I was sent to hospital (it was really not a good day to go to A&E), they did an ECG and took some bloods. After 5 hours, they finally took my blood pressure and I got to see a doctor and by that time my heart rate was down to around 85. He said anything under 100 was normal and I should go home as the blood test showed nothing and ECG looked normal.

I am now waiting for a 24hr ECG, but who knows when that might happen as my local Clinical Commissioning Group has decided there will be no "Urgent" requests which is what my doctor asked for.

Because the incidents appear to be associated with indigestion/over indulgence, when I had a minor repeat of the symptoms I took an antacid and that appears to alleviate the symptoms.

I am now waiting to talk to my GP to discuss this, so seeing this thread has been very interesting.

Thank you

Mark

[DaveSpice in reply to july2020]

Mark, I have been doing some homework and possibly figured a few things out, so I will be starting another thread to put my ideas up for scrutiny to try to get to the bottom of this.