Gastrocardiac Syndrome

Many of us suspect our afib, PAC triggers are caused by different foods and stomach issues like lying on our left side etc.

Finally a Cardiologist, Dr Sanjay Gupta, explains in excellent detail the anatomical relationship between the stomach, heart and palpitations and PAC's and importantly what to do about it.

Even Carey will be impressed with this one...

[www.youtube.com]

Dean

Thanks for posting this video. I had two episodes this month, both set off by upset stomach. Sad to say once you have Afib, it seems anything can trigger it and it's impossible to avoid all these triggers. I have an ablation scheduled next month, I hope it will address it.

In my case, it was either stomach distension or GERD/reflux, often after drinking coffee or some foods after 1800 hrs. I found myself belching constantly after meals from either an unhealthy gut biome or due to insufficient acid. I have read since that, counterintuitively, a tablespoon of apple cider vinegar soon after eating a meal that might cause upset is almost certain to stave off reflux or indigestion. But, as soon as my belches became acidic, I would go into AF. I also triggered AF bending over to tie my shoes after a meal. Too much inner tension and pressure.

Dr Gupta's videos are often a very good source of information. There are lots of them and they're worth watching, even if the symptoms this guy describes are not always ours.

Thanks, Dean - This is well done. Recently, there was another post on reflux and associated problems such as stimulating afib and that prompted me to post the link to a post from long ago titled No More Heartburn because back then, which was many years ago, I had gastric issues including heartburn which was tracked to lack of adequate stomach acid.

Once that was identified and managed by using supplements that stopped the acid reflux, the majority of other related issues including much of the Afib also resolved. To this day, I am no longer plagued by acid reflux symptoms and I do continue to manage with preventives. Obviously, that didn’t ‘cure’ my arrhythmia since I did have two ablations and a touchup, but it did lessen the triggering of events and all the related symptoms, discomfort, reflux, pain and inconvenience. Fortunately, today, my heart remains calm and I don’t have reflux problems as long as I take digestive enzymes and add betaine HCl with a meat/protein meal.

Just FYI… It’s worth trying.

Be well,
Jackie

[www.afibbers.org]
[afibbers.org]

I have to say that all of the 3 times I got into Afib there was a stomach component for sure, and I believe to be one of the triggers. The feeling was something was stuck in the stomach/gut.

How many of you have looked into their hormones levels, especially cortisol and thyroid. Low stomach acid, and the feeling of the food not passing out from stomach/gut at a normal pace, points out to low adrenal/thyroid functioning. I remember also seeing some data on hypothyroidism and Afib

It's an older study, a decade ago, and it's over rats, but, worth consideration: [pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov]

This next article is slightly contradictory, but only with respect to the relative incidence of AF between hypo and hyper thyroidism:

[www.thyromate.com]

In my case, testosterone and thyroxin are good, and so is my ADH, which means I don't get up in the middle of the night to pee.

Cortisol is meant to be a reparative chemical as a result of injury or stress. It is a convenient indicator, but its precursor is adrenaline (epinephrine). People whose sympathetic nervous systems are constantly aroused due to lifestyle or real/imagine stresses are more likely to have other problems in time, including atherosclerosis (which is checked when a patient is being screened for catheter ablation), and fibrillation or other arrythmias. Another exceedingly important outfall from chronically elevated cortisol is a suppressed immune response, particularly interleukin II. It is why when I have run short on sleep or have other problems which take up too much of my time, I'll soon have a Herpes lesion on my upper lip where the virus resides in the trigeminal nerve. Coincidentally, I have one at the moment.

Quote
gloaming
It's an older study, a decade ago, and it's over rats, but, worth consideration: [pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov]

This next article is slightly contradictory, but only with respect to the relative incidence of AF between hypo and hyper thyroidism:

[www.thyromate.com]

In my case, testosterone and thyroxin are good, and so is my ADH, which means I don't get up in the middle of the night to pee.

Cortisol is meant to be a reparative chemical as a result of injury or stress. It is a convenient indicator, but its precursor is adrenaline (epinephrine). People whose sympathetic nervous systems are constantly aroused due to lifestyle or real/imagine stresses are more likely to have other problems in time, including atherosclerosis (which is checked when a patient is being screened for catheter ablation), and fibrillation or other arrythmias. Another exceedingly important outfall from chronically elevated cortisol is a suppressed immune response, particularly interleukin II. It is why when I have run short on sleep or have other problems which take up too much of my time, I'll soon have a Herpes lesion on my upper lip where the virus resides in the trigeminal nerve. Coincidentally, I have one at the moment.

oh no. I hope you are getting some extra sleep now.

To my understanding, as in everything else, there is a U shaped curve in terms of hormones and Aifib. Too little can put people at risk of Afib, too much can potentially do the same. I was just doing some research last week on hemoglobin levels. too little and the chances of Afib rise, too much and again Afib chances raise. I remember seen some evidence how low testosterone in man can increase the chances of Afib, and anecdotal intervention with TRT reversd Afib.

Thanks for your kind concern. I am a determined night owl, my own worst enemy. If I force myself to go to bed at a more reasonable time, I almost certainly have a better night. I think it's my morning internal alarm that does it. If I am abed too late, I just lose out on sleep because I'm awake again just a few hours later with that infernal internal clock.

Reflux/Gerd was a major trigger for both my afib, SVT and fluter episodes. Conversely, the episodes triggered my relfux/Gerd I had a lot of success with the FODMAP diet at one point, Now on PPI's, which I don't recommend unless you absolutely need them, which I do. Smaller meals, not eating too close to bedtime and intermittent fasting are all things you can try to calm the gastro track which in return may calm the heart. A lot of this has to do with vagal stimulation.

Quote
gloaming
Thanks for your kind concern. I am a determined night owl, my own worst enemy. If I force myself to go to bed at a more reasonable time, I almost certainly have a better night. I think it's my morning internal alarm that does it. If I am abed too late, I just lose out on sleep because I'm awake again just a few hours later with that infernal internal clock.

I have the same issue. IF I'm not asleep by 10:30pm, I'm in trouble

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mjamesone
Reflux/Gerd was a major trigger for both my afib, SVT and fluter episodes. Conversely, the episodes triggered my relfux/Gerd I had a lot of success with the FODMAP diet at one point, Now on PPI's, which I don't recommend unless you absolutely need them, which I do. Smaller meals, not eating too close to bedtime and intermittent fasting are all things you can try to calm the gastro track which in return may calm the heart. A lot of this has to do with vagal stimulation.

so, digestive issues are more common withing the vagal type, correct?