chest discomfort/palpitations (especially after eating)

The feeling of impending death, or any form of panic attack, are sometimes associated with mitral valve prolapse, or so I am told.

Similar Problem
I am a 26 year old female and under weight. About a month ago I started a new diet to gain weight, eating no fast food, just the normal cooked foods. I am posting because a few days ago I started having a vibration or fluttering feeling below my right breast, it normal happens after a meal in the afternoon. I have been mostly eating rice this week and some days baked potato. Although I am not having any pain this feeling is quite discomforting. Any suggestions anyone? I also went to the doctor he wants me to monitor the vibrations, he also mentioned during my visit that I had a fast heart beat about 100.

First I would strongly suggest that you eat a more balanced diet, and then that you see a "real" doctor. I hope you are not going to a chiropractor or other kind of quack.

Gas
Hello Sakhi.
i have same problem, which u are facing. 100% same.last day i eaten rice with chilly curry on it( known as biryani in Pakistan). i felt same thing . i.e palpitaions, discomfort, pressure on chest. after 1/2 hour i chew a tab known as Trisil(having simethicone in it) The pressure released by belching and by farts. I suggest you to take simethicone. My Doctor who is specclized in Heart disease had cleared me from any heart disease.

Actually this is known as Gas, it also radiates to left or right arm(mostly left) to shoulders, to head and legs as well

You might have occassional heart burn or recurring, nausea, sore throat.
thease are the indications of Gerd.

Excess Gas in the stomach formed by follwong things

late Night meals
heavvy and fried foods
eating things which may cause more gas such as rice, milk, etc
Mental Stress( a big cause)
drinking water after the meals
chewing fastly
smoking
etc

sakhi wrote :



the problem is that we ourselves often do NOT know that we are suffering from stress - but our body does and responds in various ways - even with gas (and that can be more than uncomfortable at times - you might even think that you are dying when you are suffering from gas that is not being passed) .
here is the website of the MAYO CLINIC . you may find it useful if you want to explore what might be causing your problem , but do NOT neglect to talk to your physician !
if necessary , keep a daily log of : food eaten and when , symptons occuring - what time , sleep , anything unusal happening - both good and bad ... you may want to do that for a month to see if you detect any kind of pattern ... it should also help your physician in making a diagnosis .
wishing you all the best !
hbg

(btw. i worked in IT and enjoyed it very much - but i also know that it did indeed caused some stress - but i didn't realize myself at the time .
the stress disappeared when i got out of IT and became an auditor )

I have a very similar problem, but it is after I eat beef of any kind. I am a 33 yr old White male. I was in ridiculous shape up until the last 7 or so years and I have let myself go a bit.

I have the chest pressure and heart palpitations, which feels like adrenaline to me. The type of beef does not matter and it last a few days. I have eaten an all beef fast food burger to a $50 steak. Same symptoms. It does not hurt, but is just there.

I do not take any medications, smoke, but I do have a drink about once a week.

I used to drink Monster religiously until I had some very bad reactions to the stuff. My fiance at the time had trouble waking me in the morning after I had consumed a few cans of the stuff the day before.

I did have some stress issues a few years back, but those seem to be under control.

Anyways, I searched and found this thread, joined and now subscribed to hear about any updates from the community.

Thanks!

Palpitations and stomach pain/bloating esp after eating
Hi to all. I am about at the end of my rope as they say. I can't even get the first bite of food in my mouth before the heart races and the pain begins. I am losing weight have had the problem for years but it is about to take me. I have been to 3 GI docs all say IBS they love to throw that at you. This is affecting my mariage, my ability to work, I am depressed and right now no insurance. Have not been able to find a doctor to help yet and I just feel like giving up. God what to do?????? Nobody wants a sick person in their life, in thier workplace and I don't feel like doing anything. I take anti-anxiety meds and my heart just seems to laugh at them.

I just want you to know that you are not alone.... if I had not of known better I would have thought I wrote your post.....have you any answers yet?

hello i am 37 years and male and i have the same problem, I have dealt with this first when i was 19, second when i was 26 and third when I was 35 years old, my condition is more scary because i was born with heart murmur which is really loud, which make the condition worst actually I live and died every single day, , my family doctor recommended Losec (AstraZeneca ) which I take 2 times a day, which is helping me thanks.

I have had this problem for 18 years, but it has worsened since I was diagnosed with high blood pressure and having to take the medications for that. I have found that if I get these palps after meals (about an hour after) I take a very large drink of water and they seem to subside. This gives me the belief that they are caused by my stomache and the water is flushing things through. If it is stress I find that going on sites like this and finding others who suffer the same problems makes my feeling of suffering alone go away and some of the stress too. It may sound callous but in my country, the UK we have a saying ( a trouble shared is a trouble halved). I have yet to told what I suffer from, is there a specific name for it. Very best regards. Ronnie, UK

I have had this problem on and off for years. My cardiologist says that palpitations can occur after eating. He explained that parts of the digestive process such as the esophagus is right behind the heart. With some people the sensitivity to certain foods, can create the esophagus to overreact and press against the back of the heart causing the heart to create irregular rhythms. He said that those palpitations are benign and told me not to worry. I suppose if it gets really bad, one would have to change their diet.

it does seem in my case to be related to what exactly I eat. I discovered a post on one website about some woman swearing that she finally got over this problem and that it was MSG that was causing it. She changed her diet to completely exclude MSG (which is hidden in our food supply by the food industry conspiracy to keep us feeding on that junk, they do it by putting creative names that hide a large MSG dose) from her diet and she says she has not experienced symptoms since.

I think it might be MSG possibly along with a couple of other food additives that you have always thought were safe and/or never gave any thought to but that were actually screwing you all along.

I have been frequenting a site called msgmyth.com that has a "test yourself" diet that eliminates MSG from your diet and then you can tell if you feel better or not. One thing I am positive on is that once I eliminated MSG from my diet and re-introduced it it did give me the symptoms described on that site: namely sharp pains in random parts of the body, frequently in eyes and unexplained tenderness in random parts of the body as well. Some other symptoms seem to match as well. I urge you to check that site out.

Also another thing I noticed was that a lot of posters that have symptoms like these seem to have been heavy drinkers in the past. One theory is that heavy drinkers hurt their liver to the point it has trouble fighting off common neurotoxins like MSG and other crap the food industry puts in our food to make it taste better and it lets those neurotoxins affect and mess up your heart rate, among others.

Hope this helps at least someone. Let me know what you think on this.

Hi Sakhi,

I am not sure if this would help but a few years ago, I too experienced palpitations and had a cardiologist do several checks short of a Holter test(this is the one where you wear for at least 24hours). The tests did not reveal anything conclusive except for possible MVP(mitral valve prolapse). I then searched the internet and discovered that a lot of Traditional Chinese Medicine sites had something to say about this condition. I visited a Chinese physician and he immediately knew what I was talking about by just taking my pulse on my wrist. He told me to stay off cold drinks, cold fruits and uncooked vegetables(yes, that means cold salads) and chocolates. Plus he gave me some traditional herbs to take. My palpitations stopped. Recently however, because I went back to cold drinks and chocolates etc., the palpitations have returned.

I have similar comlaint since 6 years, the situation is worse whenever have dinner espicially for fatty meals where the chest discomfort become more troublesome during night time with insomnia and late night palpitation with occasional racing heart and the turned irregular (Atrial Fibrilation attack) usually at early morning Igo to Hospital and they electrically shock my heart to return it into normal sinus rhythm, so far I have 4 attacks. Cardiology tests where normal and they did not reason for that, Gastroentrologist consider irrtable bowl syndrome and stress and gave me antidepressants which did not help. I start to have phobia from eating at night and I do not the actual cause of that.

Ahmad

Do you eat bread or bread products such as pasta and rice, I guess anything with white flour? I experienced the same thing but I usually dont eat white flour products but I had a visitor and of course your diet changes when people come to stay and I found my heart fluttering like crazy.Just wondering if your diet is moderate to high in white flour products

msg also causes all the side effects and problems listed in this thread.




Dont think you are avoiding it just because a package does not say MSG or monosodium glutamate.

MSG is also , among over 22 different names, - autolized yeast extract ( dont know how to spell that word. sorry)
Glutamic Acid
Vegetable Protein Extract
Textured Protein
Yeast extract
Natural flavors <- most popular
Natural Seasonings
Flavoring
Soy Sauce or Soy extract
Annato
Milk powder



just to name a few.
MSG is a chemical that effects the heart rate in a way that is not always testable.. meaning.. having fluttering sensations after you eat, and if you were to go to the doctor when it happened, they wouldnt ' notice' anything. There are NO reasons for you to be having it, even though they see it.
People tend to shy away from a simple solution as a food additive thinking its not true.. but. .. do your own research. Remove it from your diet. Watch that go away.

I think you need to see a cardiologist who specializes only in the treatment of cardiac arrhythmias. Cardiology, like most medical areas, is also highly specialized. You are describing an arrhythmia--a disturbance in the normal rhythm of the heart--because you are experiencing palpitations. You also know that your heartbeat is too fast. These problems need to be further evaluated, and an arrhythmia cardiologist is the person who will know which are the best diagnostic measures to employ.

You can read more about cardiac arrhythmias here
http://www.acc.org/media/patient/chd/cardiac_arrhythmias.htm

Your symptoms might be caused by other factors, besides cardiac problems, but I think it is important to rule out all cardiac issues first, before exploring other possible causes, because these can be the most potentially life-threatening.

Your symptoms are quite similar to those experienced by my mother. My mother has both angina and a cardiac arrhythmia (she has atrial fibrillation) and her symptoms (particularly the palpitations) proved somewhat elusive to track down. Whenever she wore a Holter monitor, her symptoms did not appear. In fact, we joked that the solution to her problem was simply to wear the monitor all the time. But her doctors were still able to get the problems under fairly good control with appropriate medications.

Several years ago, my mother suddenly developed a problem with bradycardia--she had episodes where her heartbeat would slow down (to about 35 beats per minute), and this would last for a day or two and then her heartbeat would return to normal. She again consulted an arrhythmia specialist who did an electrophysiologic study to evaluate her for a pacemaker. He found she did not need a pacemaker, but he discovered that she had an extra node in her heart which could make the heartbeat speed up and cause tachycardia, or rapid heartbeat. During the test he ablated (removed) this node, and since that time, she has not experienced any significant or unpleasant episodes of rapid heartbeat. Mysteriously, her episodes of too slow heartbeat also ceased after this procedure was done.

So, even with cardiac rhythm problems, symptoms can be effectively addressed and treated, and the diagnostic tests are really not unduly unpleasant. But I would urge you to see an arrhythmia specialist, if possible, since different types of cardiologists specialize in treating different types of problems.

You might also consider consulting an endocrinologist to more systematically evaluate your problems with blood sugar fluctuation. Also, some electrolyte imbalances can affect heart rate and heart rhythms, and an endocrinologist would be the best medical specialist to investigate those possibilities.

I hope you are able to get your problems properly diagnosed and treated soon. In the meantime, do something simple, like eliminating caffeine from your diet. Don't drink coffee or cola drinks, and even watch your intake of chocolate. Caffeine can certainly contribute to an increased heart rate.

Good luck.

i agree with the stress may not have been there before but after seeing doctor after doctor this is what causes the stress....i too get discomfort after eating a large meal or sometimes just i get this full feeling that makes me feel totally exhausted and i need to lie down ... i have noooo energy...i never seen a doctor for this because unless you faint or take a heart attack then no one seems to take anything serious.....doctors today are horrible and hopefully we might get some good ones in this country...sometime soon would be nice

Have you ever thought of MSG sensitivity?

I had similar problem. It is related to gastric disorder and can be due to acid reflux. Do u belch or burp a lot as well? Ask doctor also about Helicobacter pylori as well and endoscopy may be reuired for definite results. Good luck