Arrhythmia Alliance

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Heart palpitations (slow skipped hard beats) with bad stomach problems (bubbly gut, cramping) HELP

I am having palpitations and stomach issues constantly!!!! I hope that someone has had the same issues and can maybe shed some light.

It all started a few years back when i was at work my heart ran up to 260bpm. The hospital and doctors said that it was an SVT. That was the first and only time that one happened.

Some time later (months) i started feeling what i call skipped heartbeats. It would seem like every couple of heartbeats my heart would miss a beat and then ramp up and do a really hard heartbeat right in the middle of my chest. When it happens and i say hard i mean like a hammer hits me right on my chestbone smack in the middle of my chest. Usually they only happen a couple at a time, except for one time it was doing it for about 1 hour straight. When these happen they always seem to take my breath away.

I always have had stomach issues. ALOT of bubbling goes on in my stomach all of the time. Cramps espically toward the top of my stomach. I have had constipation issues in the past which i do have under control now. I have fully changed my eating habits and drink only water.

It seems that these are only getting worse and the arythmia and issues with my stomach always are happening at the same time (seems like my stomach never stops). It is literally driving me crazy.

I have been to many hospitals and doctors and extensive tests have been done which they have only found the SVT once and damage in my stomach lining. And when i say i have been seen alot i mean alot. Over the past 5 years probally 10 times to the hospital and 20 to doctors offices and specialists.

Does anyone else have these similar issues with the heart palpitations?

16 Replies

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Yes I experience exactly what you report. It is horrendous and has been going on for too many years now. I am in the uk and currently having the stomach and cardiac connection investigated separately but with both medics being aware of my insistence about the connection. No one either medic or layman will ever convince me otherwise, there is definitely a connection in my case, but so far not getting anywhere. Had loads of tests and more to come then hopefully some bright spark will accept there is a connection and hopefully, just hopefully, will suggest some type of assistance. At least my EP is being open minded and willingly looking into the connection for me.

It's horrid trying to live a normal life like this, I empathise.

Nice to actually see someone with some of the same issues here! The scariest part for me is when the hard heartbeats happen in the very middle of my chest that take my breath away.

They always say that when you feel chest issues to go straight to the hospital. My father had his first heart attack in his 30's and my mother died in her 40's from heart attack.

The problem is when i go to the doctors they tend to tell me i am too young for heart issues (which makes no sense). Also on top of that here in the USA every time that i go to the hospital it can cost me $1000's of dollars.

So when i start having issues and my wife is scared there is a point where i debate on even getting help because of the wasted time, people looking at me like i am lying, and all the mounting up hospital bills.

These issues have been going on for years now and i would be getting used to them but they seem to just be getting worse and coming at closer intervals. I started a new job last week, a life changing job and im scared something will happen at work where i need to say "im having chest pains".

Sorry to blab on and/or complain lol. I really hope you can get your issues figured out as well and maybe someone that has been through some of the same issues can shed more light.

I did forget to add that my stomach doctor found damage in my stomach lining which at first led them to believe that i had celiac disease. That was ruled out and they never tried to find anymore reason for the stomach lining damage.

Good luck to you and i hope you find help!

Those chest kicks are horrendous, I often describe it as if a donkey has reared up and kicked me mid chest with the full force of its back legs. They are so intense I Yelp and stagger backwards, most upseting. Not very many people in the forum speak of experiencing such wild kicks, not sure if they are unusual though. My EP says that I feel them in different areas of my chest and intensity depending on where in the heart beat cycle they occur. He seems unconcerned about them but then it's me feeling them not him lol but I try to be reassured, it doesn't always work though no matter how I try to rationalise it.

The stomach heart connection drives me nuts as finding someone to connect the two with any sort of treatment seems impossible. I have changed my diet, cut out all sorts of things, eaten at various times and in small amounts but it all seems to have a mind of its own and I can't find a pattern, indeed I don't think there is one to find.

I empathise as life is a trial when it should be so good and work life has been compromised with me so I appreciate your current position with a new job. Family are stressed likewise as they see our pain and distress and feel powerless to help. I don't know how you cope with the medical cost concern on top of it, at least our NHS means there isn't that pressure although it's got it's short comings and waiting lists can be long but we can go private if we have private health insurance ourselves or through our employer or can afford to pay ourselves. That added stress must be horrendous.

I hope you find someone medical who will and can find a cause but in the interim you are not alone if that helps at all. Best wishes.

Hello meadfoot, I've followed you for years on our journeys! I get the hard PVC that does make you yelp and I have to stop dead in my tracks....but EP not a bit worried!!!! Dr Sanjay Gupta has done lots of videos on the heart/stomach connection...vagal!!! Im sure you can find them via Google. Good to know we are not alone with all this but hard to get my head around even all these years and 3 ablations later!!

Thanks frenchgoose I will have a look. Yes it's a hard old game we are involved in but we do our best don't we. Here's hoping you are managing ok with this weird and not so wonderful condition of ours. It's no fun that's for sure. Stay safe.

I manage quite well most of the time, but if Im with someone who doesn't know me when I get these bolts that stop me dead in my tracks, I get strange looks and comments!!!! They mostly occur when Ive been sitting for a while and walk/move quite quickly. I have recorded them on my AliveCor and EP is not concerned about them....the vagal nerve has a lot to answer for!! Keep safe too!

I saw several medics and mentioned a possible link between my PAF and digestion but they all looked at me as if I was mad. My present cardiologist has been the only one to admit that there is a link with arrhythmias, vagus nerve and digestion. Why can't they all say the same thing. Very frustrating and the patient not getting any help.

I agree, would have thought the connection would have been made medically and recognised before now for those of us in this position.

The skipped or missed beat that you feel, especially if you're feeling it while taking your pulse at your wrist, is probably a PVC. That kick you feel as part of that PVC process, and if that's what it is, they will tell you that it is harmless. Some people feel PVCs a lot stronger than others, and some aren't bothered by them at all. That is assuming we're talking about a PVC. I've had PVCs for probably four years now, and they come and go, sometimes I don't have them for months, and sometimes I have them for two weeks on and off and they drive me crazy and even though I know that that's what they are because they have been recorded on a Holter monitor, and my doctor and cardiologist are not concerned about it, it still makes me feel like I'm about to die at any second. Now I'm not saying for certain that that is what you have, because from what you have described it looks like they were able to catch a SVT on the monitor that one time when you went to the hospital. PVCs come and go, and unless they happened to be occurring when you go to the hospital and they hook you up to a monitor, there is nothing for them to see. Have you worn a Holter monitor? If not, this is something you may wish to ask your doctor about. It's basically a little device that you wear 24 hours a day for either 24 hours or 48 hours or sometimes 72 hours, or sometimes for a couple of weeks. There are electrodes attached to your chest just like they did in the hospital, and a little box dangles around your neck usually and it records every single beat. Some of them will have a button that you press when you feel that thud or kick in your chest so that it marks it so they can go back and take a look at that specifically to see if that's a PVC or at least be able to see what it was that you felt. But without knowing if it's a PVC or not, and the only way to know that is for it to be measured on a Holter monitor or on an EKG, and it will only pick it up when it actually happens. I've never been able to quite figure out why they give you a 12-second EKG at the hospital, but I guess that's just to see initially if there's anything going on and then they usually hook you up to a monitor for an hour or two. I live in a country where we don't have to worry about going to the hospital, but I can't imagine how difficult the financial strain must be on you when you need to decide if you should go to the hospital or not. I can tell you though what PVCs feel like in your pulse. If you're taking your pulse with two fingers on the inside of your wrist, and you can feel a good strong beat, as long as that beat is steady and rhythmic, and then all of a sudden it feels like it just skips or misses a beat and there's a thud in your chest and then it continues on with a rhythmic and steady beat, that is what a PVC feels like to me. There are they related arrhythmia called PAC that usually feels like there's an added beat instead of a missed beat. For me, I have been told that as long as the heartbeat is rhythmic and steady on either side of that missed beat, that it is a PVC, and it is harmless. Now, if when taking your pulse at your wrist, you feel a very erratic heartbeat, where there's no Rhyme or Reason to what's going on, or it's speeding up and slowing down and then very fast for a few seconds and then very slow or all over the place and it's just generally chaotic, then that is something completely different and might be atrial fibrillation and that needs to be looked at at the hospital, especially if your heart rate is very high. So by the sounds of it, if you don't get these very frequently, you need to wait until you start getting them again, and then have it lined up with your doctor to get a Holter monitor for 24 hours or for a couple of days or whatever they think. Once they can capture those thuds in your chest on the monitor, they will be able to tell you oh, probably, what it is, and if it's dangerous or not. Good luck. And remember, no matter what you read on the internet in forums like this or elsewhere, you should always seek the advice of a doctor first instead of taking a face value anything that anyone tells you on the internet. I know the cost is an issue, and I can't imagine how burdensome and stressful that must be.

Recently there has been more awareness about gut\brain\heart connections. The vagus nerve possibly being the link. I’ve been seeing a nutritionist for my stomach issues for the last 2 years and my PAF is definitely less frequent.

I hesitate to give medical advice but Google FODMAP and Monash University. There is also an app which costs about £8 which i use a lot.

Over the last 18 months or so since the beginning of my heart issues I have been more aware of my gut ‘activities’. To be fair, some of this could be related to my medications but I have always thought that there is a vagus nerve link.

Yes, I have had PVCs for nearly 10 years, skipped beats, sometimes every other beat (bigeminy, apparently) sometimes for hours. I don't get the thud but I can feel ill with it. Always stomach gurgling at the same time, discomfort just below the sternum and discomfort in the throat. I have done lots of research, the connection is the vagus nerve which has branches to the neck, throat, heart, stomach and bowels plus other organs. Many experts mention this, no-one understands how or why it happens. In my case, I am convinced that swallowing air is a trigger, either with food or drinks (be careful of fizzy drinks and gulping drinks or swallowing air with hot drinks) or even while talking a lot or exercising. I try to burp it out, not always possible. I have been told that I have a lot of bowels are "squashed in". Perhaps gas in squashed stomach or bowels irritates the vagus nerve which causes palps. Perhaps the vagus nerve is trapped or irritated in the neck causing palps and causing stomach to gurgle. These are my guesses, I have no medical experience. Stress is also a contributory factor but the palps cause stress so vicious circle. Does not seem to be much research on this, probably because drugs don't seem to help. Lots of people online have PVCs for decades, still alive.

I have had similar issues lately with skipped beats, especially when I am lying down. I’ve been on and off acid reducers for years for my stomach issues. It sounds like you are having PVCs. Have you considered getting a Kardia device? It’s a small pad that you place your fingers on to take an ekg. It can be reassuring to actually see what’s going on and also nice to have events recorded for your doctor

Hi there,

I also suffer occasionally with a stomach sensation, like a flip flopping movement as if like a washing machine with clothes in going from side to side. There is definitely a connection and I have seen videos about Gastro cardiac syndrome. Watch this link youtu.be/zt4Cw-VKIlY, and it may help. I can't walk along when I get it, I have to stand still otherwise it keep happening. I found eating something and drinking made it subside, but everyone is different.

I wonder if ginger or peppermint may help with the digestion. Also some form of magnesium may help the PVCs (but not magnesium oxide) and not enough to give you diarrhea, as that will cause more problems. (Magnesium should be safe providing you don't have kidney problems) It should be taken daily for about six months.

Wow, i have not been able to get on for a few days because of my new job. Im driving a semi truck now so its not as much labor intensive as my last job. The downfall of that is it seems like i feel them less when i am doing labor intensive things. My issues are still ongoing but i have cut out gluten from my diet again and (knock on wood) i have not had my heart issues in quite a few days. My stomach is still constantly acting up and when it does it just makes me feel all out weird. Just foggy in my head among many other issues.

Thank you to everyone that has gave me their input, sometimes it helps just to talk about it with others that have the issues. My wife and others around me just dont understand, and i cant blame them as i dont even fully understand it. I wish everyone luck and great health, your all in my prayers