Ectopic heart beats linked to indigestion.

Hi Gail, thanks for your response, it's kind of reassuring to know others are in same situation, 40 years is a very long time but does prove they're not life threatening, although the recent increase that we are both experiencing is stressful in itself!

I have given up eliminating alcohol and other food/drink related possible triggers, as nothing made a difference, with the exception of caffeine, which definitely sends my heart racing, followed by short bursts of palpitations and ectopics!

I enjoy a glass of red wine most evenings after dinner, which tends to relax me for sleep...giving it up for a week made no difference.

I can't take beta blockers as they slow me down too much...my resting heartrate isn't fast at all so maybe that's why!

I will let you know the outcome of my 24 hour monitor next month.

Im the same as you Gail, I cant fly at all for fear that these palps will go in to overdrive. Im in my early 40's and have had these for 12 years now and quite simply they have ruined the quallity of my life.

 I only wish that someone could create a cure, maybe stem cells or something will eventually help.

Hi Chalky, you call them palpitations but there is a distinct difference between palps and ectopics....although occasionally I can get both!

My doctor keeps saying "as long as your heartbeat is 'regular' however fast or however many ectopics, you will be fine, it's the irregular heartbeat that puts us at risk of stroke etc...that's when you need meds, betablockers usually.

Don't let it control your life, ask for diazepam for emergency use only and book your flight 😉

Many people find that their ectopics go during exercise like running or cycling.

Yes Derek, but I'm not a runner or cyclist these days, they do seem to improve when walking...it may be I just don't notice when active?

The fact that there is no chest pain, tightness or shortage of breath is my only reassurance

A friends wife was diagnosed with ectopic beats and found that her quite serious running stopped them.

I'm always being asked about shortness of breath but that is one thing I have never had nor have I ever needed to sprays that have sometimes have beed handed out to me.

Yes Derek, when mine were diagnosed 15yrs ago (following 24hr monitor and treadmill test) the cardiac doctor told me they are commonly experienced by athletes (which I'm not) but it helped to know this fact.

I once tried the lowest dose of beta blockers but stopped them after 2 days, they slowed me down so much, like treading through mud with heavy feeling in legs! My resting heart rate isn't fast anyway so I clearly didn't need them!

I know the feeling. Even 1.25 mg Bisoprolol had very bad side effects for me.

My heart rate in AF one time was 136bpm. The doctor said to take 2.5mg that morning and night and then 2.5 mg a day. By morning my heart rate was down to 36bpm.

 

Wow that's way too slow 36bpm, you clearly don't need them on a regular basis!

No, I had a pacemaker fitted and now it does not go below 60.

Someone having a pacemaker fitted that day had a heart rate of 26bpm. It was only found when he was having tests prior to a hip replacement, It evidently had not cused him any noticeable symptoms.

I,m on bisoprolol 1.25 mg, I feel very tired and it affects my breathing, I felt tired before I was taking this too, it's a no win situation.  I,m 70 and have had palpitations for at least 42 years that I know of, people cannot see how this affects us physically and mentally.

Guess we're all different Julieanna, my ectopic beats first developed when I was 50 (15 years ago) I was prescribed HRT around that time too, as my hormones were showing possible menopause levels, but the beats continued and I learned to live with them.

2 years ago I was diagnosed with breast cancer, dependent on both estrogen and progesterone, so had to stop HRT immediately, but ectopic beats continue and I have to take Tamoxifen for 5 years, which blocks most of the estrogen.

I'm well and happy but still no clues why the ectopics have become more troublesome recently...if it is a hormone imbalance there's nothing they can do, I just wish I was still on HRT but it's too risky, it suited me so well 😏

Do you get little runs of fast heartbeats after your ectopics sometimes, or a few odd beats ?   I am told that providing my heart then goes back into sinus rhythm, there is nothing to worry about.    Easy to say, not so easy for the person experiencing them !

Yes I do Jan, like flutterings, I'm waiting for results of the 24hr monitor later this month, I'll post the outcome on here.

That's what I'm always told...if it returns to normal it's "highly unlikely" that there's anything wrong!

I look forward to seeing the outcome of your 24hour monitor.  Good luck !

Thanks Jan!

Hi Mary, my cardiologist and i believe my ectopic beats were possibly from my high estrogen levels . I'm 56, i don't use hrt but i use bio identicals, they are natural, can't be patented, they cause you to create your hormones naturally. Its not taking hormones. DR Oz hi m highly recommends them too. Only i didn't get my symptoms checked or blood checked, so my estrogen levels got too high. Ive got that under control now and my heartbeat returned to normal almost overnight , without beta blockers.

Of course we are all different but that's my story

That's interesting Julieanna, I first noticed the ectopics when I was around 50 (now 66)

I started taking HRT shortly after that for pre-menopausal symptoms (mood swings & awful hot flushes) the ectopics continued but I was doing lots of exercise at the gym around that time, so felt reassured that the beats were no worse during exercise (cross-trainer etc...)

Fast forward to July 2015, breast cancer surgery and radiotherapy, had to immediately stop HRT as the cancer was both oestrogen/progesterone dependent, thankfully caught early (stage 2)

I have been on Tamoxifen since then, it blocks most of the oestrogen left in the body, to prevent cancer returning!

However, my ectopics have continued throughout the whole time, some days worse than others but, thankfully, they don't restrict my life in any way, just annoying!

I'm not on beta-blockers or any heart meds 😉

Hi all,

Im just new to this site, interesting reading!

I also have had skipping beats/double beats since I was 20, now 55. My heart rate often increases and pounds in my chest after eating and drinking certain things. I explained this to my cardiologist 13 years ago when I was getting this checked out - his eyes just clouded over really. All they know is what they have been taught and really arent open to exploring other possibilities.

My echocardiogram showed an Atrial Septum Aneurysm but he didnt feel this was causing my problems and it didnt warrant any further followup unless I had a stroke :-(.! Since then I have been to a naturopath and she has advised me to not eat any dairy products, wheat or grain products, legumes, beans, pork, and a few other foods that irritate my digestive system. This includes alcohol and processed/additive foods. When I am cooking from my GOOD cupboard I am free of indigestion and free of heart skips and pounding, as soon as I eat out of the naughty cupboard then I can go all night and during the day with my symptoms. Its so life altering and I get so frustrated and sometimes a bit scared.

I looked into it further and we have a nerve called the Vagus nerve which runs through our digestive system to our brains and this regulates the electrical impulses for your heart rhythm. Once it is irritated, I find anything I ingest causes the problems, this even includes water!

I have a lot more information if anyone is still on this thread. Let me know. Karin

Hi Karin

Mine started a few weeks ago. I find that indigestion makes mine much worse. After burping symptoms tend to reduce. I noticed my heart 'skipped' a beat while at the gym this morning and I panicked and this caused my heart rate to increase and probably blood pressure to increase too. I was so scared i went to A & E. They did an ECG in the ambulance which showed an ectopic but the one done at A & E showed a normal trace. They told me to go to my GP if it's bothering me for further tests and to come back if I get chest pain etc. To be honest it was scary!

I am a biology teacher and heard the vagus nerve being irritated can amplify symptoms and this seems to be the case with many people.

Steve

Hi all, it is good that we are not alone with this scary condition. I've had this problem for a couple of decades or so, now 69, just in the middle of experiencing a recurrence of them after a long time without (or at least only a few mild ones). Mine are very definitely connected to diet as when at home on my own, I do not eat carbs except for vegetables - and non-starchy ones at that - and I don't drink alcohol and only a very litte caffeine, whereas right now I am staying with family and I reverted to the foods and drinks I love, hoping to get away with it because they're being supplied and it's a nuisance to everybody to have to be treated separately.  I haven't, day 5 and it all started yesterday.  Interestingly, I was in France for a week in May and did not suffer at all, despite consumption of the 'bad' things - see below.

I believe that my biggest trigger is white bread and that once triggered, other things jump on the bandwagon and contribute to the chaos.  I had two days of being fine, then on the third day, I had a white bread roll.  I do know that white bread (I'm in the UK) is an issue for me in other ways so no surprise that it could be the trigger for this as well.  What makes the thing worse for me is that the ectopics are accompanied by palpitations (loud, thumping, and fast beats) so that they're amplified in my head, neck and chest with feeling faint and they can go on and on and on for hours, days and my worst episode, for two weeks solidly, I went to bed with them and woke up with them. I did sleep, amazingly. On that occasion, I had eaten an Easter egg, a big one, it was a stressful time in general and I only worked out later that it had started with the egg... I said above that I'm in the UK - I read somewhere recently that French bread obtained in France, does not contain something that UK white bread of any description does, so I have wondered if that's why I got away with eating and drinking whatever I fancied but interestingly (?) no chocolate.  Typically I've forgotten what the ingredient is...  I can take some caffeine as long as I avoid the breads, some alcohol ditto, but a combination can produce a riot.  I also have neuropathy, diagnosed in the past three years, I'm not saying there's a connection but the Vagus nerve, is well, a nerve.  I experience outrageous quantities of wind/gas which bubbles up uncontrollably as well as having to belch massively while the heart thing is going on, not exactly sociable!!  But my digestion is excellent at home when eating a restricted but very healthy diet.  Finally, this morning I had a caffeinated coffee to see what would happen (the symptoms were still there, but mainly fluttering and less amplified and I had slept well) and off we went with the heart chaos.  So I then remembered I had not taken any magnesium since being here although I had brought them along, I took two and the symptoms have reduced ...  I'm going to take another two later and perhaps yet another two to see what happens, maybe they'll kick the heart back into regularity.

Hi

I think heavy meals especially late in the evening kick it off. Never slept much last night due to anxiety etc.

I will be going caffeine free as I feel that is a trigger for me too. I also take magnesium too but don't feel much benefit from it tbh.

Steve

The other issue to look at is lack of potassium which can cause arrythmias. We apparently need 4700 mgs per day which is almost impossible to get from food intake alone.  If we also drink a lot of water we flush out electrolytes like potassium which makes things worse.  Dr Eric Berg does fantastic videos on this and a lot of other stuff.  It's probably no coincidence that currently I am not taking any potassium supplement, which I was doing but (mistake!) decided not to bring it away with me.  He says this too which I've just spotted and is very interesting as it brings digestion into it: There's something in the body called the sodium-potassium pump. It's built into a little protein, attached to an enzyme on the surface of your cells. You have 800,000 to 30 millions of these in your body. They're little generators that allow things to enter into the cells and they take a lot of energy to work. In fact, one third of all the food you eat goes to running those pumps. You also have another pump in the stomach called the hydrogen-potassium ATP-and it's a pump to help you create stomach acid to help you digest foods.  So, potassium is ESSENTIAL for building the pumps that control these functions.  Makes sense ... 

Hi Karin like you I am 55 and developed ectopics at 19 whilst pregnant, had them off and on for many years but last year took a run of them and never went away day and night! Had 2 ablations this year but still have them all the time, now I also have developed chest pain and my EP has told me he doesnt think a 3rd ablation will make much difference, been taking magnsium iodine and calcium citrate for 4 days after reading it may help but no difference as yet! also follow the lowfodmap diet most days still no change only sleeping 2 hours a night as ectopics wake me, I cancelled 4 holidays last year due to fear now of going anywhere so my life is somewhat limited! Any information would be very much appreciate, having an MRI scan today will post any updates. Regards Ingrid

I am quite certain that as we get older our bodies start taking action with the foods we used to be able to tolerate, and not all foods affect all people. Its interesting to look at eating what your blood type is too. Im o positive which is very common and wheats and grains inflam our digestive system. I find chillis and dairy give me cramps and diarrhea and other foods give me excessive wind, heart thumping and increased heart rate. If your body doesnt like a food or drink your eating it creates an immune response and starts attacking your gut lining. After many years of this your body is then susceptible to autoimmune diseases the list of which includes peripheral nerve damage, arthritis, osteoarthritis, rheumatoid arthritis, fibromyalgia, multiple sclerosis, motor neurone, so many . 

I still think this vegas nerve is the one interrupting our  heart beats tho.

Yeah, i try not to eat later than 7pm, and have stopped having wayer around each meal and regularly take probiotics, kimchi, and coconut yoghurt to keep healthy bacteria

Hi stephen,

Its the conclusion that i have come to. If you have only just started having this then look into your blood type and check out what they suggest for you. Once you damage your gut for long enough then the list gets longer for what you can and cant eat. Have probiotics regularly too especially if yuve had antibiotics. Watch your dairy and all wheats and grains except sprouted grains. Kimchi and coconut yoghurt can help balance tummy flora. Im no expert, but im seeing a naturopath and everything she has said for me has been correct  

Look into the Paleo diet, its a bit too restrictive but i think it on the right track for a lot of us

My ectopic beats suddenly stopped taking estrogen. i found out from a blood test that that my levels were above normal.Going though peripause . Anyway. I thought it was my digestion , which i don't think it helped but I'm happily over the beats

Great, thats good you found a solution. Ive had this for at least 20 years and are 10 years past menopause so dont think thats me. Always better when i dont eat my naughty foods. Best of luck

Karin

Hi Karin

I will look into that, thanks!

I had breakfast this morning and literally as soon as I finished the frequency of the ectopics increase too and the thud in the chest was more noticeable. Positive of the connection between the gut and these dam things. Took some bicarb and after lots of burping they eased off a lot.

Do you get them less now you have changed your diet Karin?

Steve

Unfortunately been told potassium is not good gif the kidney function ..if true bit snookered! 

I believe your probably right. But in my case, my potassium levels were normal. I do suspect they were low before being tested. I did take electrolytes

Thanks Karin anything is worth a try!

Regards Ingrid

Yes, if I stay off all breads, wheats, grains, dairy (except butter), chillis, alcohol, beans, legumes and a few other things. Some people cant also do the nightshades- capsicum, tomatoes, potatoes,eggplant and others but im ok with those.

If I eat the wheat, dairy etc i get banging, faster  heart within a few minutes, and if indigestion I get ectopics too. Can go for hours belching and skipped beats, no sleep once for twenty hours!

Try cutting out what im saying and see how it goes. replace with rice milk, almond milk coconut milk on your cereals. Or cooked eggs with paleo bread or sourdough.

I cant do pork either but am fine with all other meats.

Hi everyone, Karin - I tend to agree with you on the skipped beats possibly being caused by diet. I have these episodes on and off for many years. It seems that over the past year they have become more frequent - I guess somewhat due to age too. I have had a stress test several months ago which showed nothing abnormal... I have talked with my cardiologist about the palpitations (EKG shows normal as well) and I was given a holter monitor to wear. I had this thing on for one month. Taking it off only to shower. And during the time I wore it,  I had many episodes recorded. So the result from my cardiologist was they are PVC's and nothing to worry about. But they do cause me lots of anxiety. I try to figure out what triggers them, and I have cut down on consuming alcohol - which I l never drank much anyway. I do like to have a glass of wine on occasion with friends at dinner, but I have limited that too. I drink one cup of coffee in the mornings and avoid caffeinated drinks after that.  My cardiologist suggested cutting down on salt intake, drink more water and get more exercise. I have also started taking magnesium which I have read will help. I still get them. I have noticed that if I eat a large meal later than usual, I will wake up in the middle of the night with the pounding irregular beats. And I have also noticed that if I can burp some, it will help... I am inclined to think again about the vagus nerve being involved with the irregular beats. Sometimes I feel that the anxiety caused by them makes them worse. Some days when I have them frequently, I wait for the next one to happen. I have also read about people having a positive experience with acupuncture. I have never had experience with acupuncture before, but my friend and neighbor has gone to one for many years and talks very highly of the results. Her problem though is not the irregular beats. She has back issues. So I am going to give her acupuncturist a try. I have an appointment for next week. Unfortunately insurance will not help out with this, but if it will do any good, I am will to give it a try. Karin, you mention diet and your GOOD cupboard versus your BAD cupboard. I would be interested in what you keep in the GOOD cupboard that helps you.  Charles