Heart Palpitations ARE a Stomach Issue

If you have acid reflux or GERD and also suffer from heart palpitations, this data is for you.

Back in the early 1900s, Ludwig von Roemheld coined the Roemheld Syndrome where he described a cluster of cardiovascular symptoms (think heart palpitations, tachycardia, dizziness, vertigo and elevated blood pressure) that were stimulated by gastrointestinal (gut) changes. The gut symptoms included gas, bloating, constipation, hiatal hernia and more.

Roemheld explained how gut imbalance compresses the vagus nerve (your longest cranial nerve) slowing your heart. The slowed heart then stimulates the "fight or flight" part of your nervous system in order to prevent your heart rate from diminishing too much. The result is heart palpitations, sometimes elevated blood pressure and/or tachycardia.

The patient's heart is fine. You may have experienced this after an ER visit where you have worried you were having a heart attack. But the heart is not diseased.

It is worth noting that Roemheld lived in the early 1900s and today his Syndrome is considered obsolete, which is why your doctors give no credence to the association between gut imbalance and heart symptoms.

Even more annoying is the direction to doctors stating that once the heart tests normal, the next step for the patient is a psych evaluation. If you've ever been told it's "all in your head", you now know why.

[SueFeige]

My mother told this to her doctor and was told there was no relationship between the two systems. This was years ago. Just goes to show doctors don’t know what they don’t know and the patients know their own bodies

[artjournalfriend]

I’ve experienced this and NO Dr had any clue whatsoever. I’ve had to go on a YouTube journey for healing.

[AlyssaSunshineAngel]

I actually got told by a gastroenterologist that the gut is the great imitator and problems in the gut can cause issues all over the body. I already knew this from my own experiences but this was the first time i heard a doctor acknowledge it.

[micheles.]

When my stomach is very full and bloated I get PVCs. It's the pressure in my stomach pushing against my diaphragm and irritating my heart. Simple explanation really. I've been told by doctors of course that this is ridiculous. No, no it's not.

[ClassicJukeboxBand]

Heart palpitations can also be caused by low magnesium.

[Alice-me]

I remember when I went to my doctor, it was a building with one doctor who owned it, one nurse and a receptionist. He actually listened and cared. Oh those were the days.

[wendyfarrowartist]

Yep. I was recently in the ER with palpitations that caused me to faint a little - they were happening at the same time of day, after breakfast. The doctors determined it was not a heart issue which is great so then I had to experiment with switching up the morning routine. It turned out oatmeal for me was the culprit. Stopped eating oatmeal. Palpitations stopped. Simple.

[atexinc.]

Absolutely unbelievable. Yes. Been dealing with this for 15 years. So scary. Three different cardiologists do theCT with contrast to tell me my heart is perfect. Perfect squeeze. No blockage. No calcium. But never mentioned food. Been learning more last couple of years and getting better. I’m 51 now. When I was 40 I literally thought any step would be my last. Everyone kept saying “stop stressing “ it’s horrible

[peterrat]

Absolutely right. If your stomach is too large or your diet causes it to swell you will get palpitations. This is the voice of experience.

[SM-JIL]

I feel like crying…you literally described everything that happens to me at night, and I was starting tot think it’s in my head, my anxiety (it’s what the ED thought I had going on). Each time I went to get it checked, all tests come normal. I do have a small hiatial hernia and with stress’s it plays up. I notice after these episodes, my stomach starts to cramp really bad too. Thank you because I get all panicky when it happens, and then exhaustion from waking up and not being able to sleep afterwards.

[trishf]

OMG my father told me this when I was 12. I got skipping in 7th grade. Dad had it. The palpation ALWAYS signaled a GI problem..took me 30 years to NOT be afraid. BLESS you for coming out with this. It is 100% TRUE!

[cynthiahelmich]

Was on 2 different bp meds for almost 2yrs…after crying to my doctor that something else is going on and I don’t need the meds, he asked if he could change my meds and try a different kind along with an added statin and antidepressant along with a referral to a therapist for stress. A change in diet as made all the difference! To this day, my doctor does not believe me and is “very concerned” about my heart health. I will be seeking a new doctor and maintaining my new diet as a lifestyle. Feeling great these days all thanks to YouTube and persistence in fixing my gut!

[kastaways]

I told my cardiologist a few times, if I didnt have to eat food, we wouldn't even know each other .
I've always thought my palps were tummy related.
I gave up on crappy carbs and started eating correctly and they all but disappeared.
Thanks for this great video.

[a.k.slzr]

I don’t know how I ended up here but I recently got diagnosed with anxiety to explain my heart palpitations, shortness of breath and vertigo. Seems YouTube knows more about symptoms than my doctors

[pixiwix]

I went to a cardiologist fifteen years ago convinced I had a serious arrhythmia. After wearing a holter monitor for several days, the cardiologist determined that I had "frequent non complex pvcs and rare PACs" but that they did not, "except by random coincidence" align with the points where I indicated I was feeling palpitations by pressing the button on the Holter (this meant that a not insignificant portion of the 'heart flutters' and 'skipped beats' I was feeling were not even coming from my heart). He told me everyone had the ectopic beats and it was harmless, but he didn't offer a suggestion for why I was feeling this sensation that didn't line up with my PVCs and PACs.

I didn't believe him and spent fourteen more years miserable, stressed and anxious. Last year, I started getting heart burn daily that I could no longer ignore..I changed my diet completely to a very bland diet full of only foods that I know are well tolerated for me. My palpitations nearly completely disappeared after two decades with them (PMS week is still hit or miss). If I go off my eating plan for more than a day or two now, the palpitations come right back. This is why the Holter monitor results didn't make any sense to me, my symptoms were not necessarily cardiac in nature (or, more accurately, not of pathologic cardiac origin) even though I was really convinced they were.

I can't believe this is not more mainstream given how many people it affects.

Interestingly, I only just recently remembered that I first began experiencing this when I was 16. It'd send me into a panic attack, and my grandmother would always tell me to calm down because I "just needed to move my bowels." As a teenager, I always thought she was just being gross... It turns out that Her experience and wisdom was so much more valuable than I could've appreciated at the time. ❤

An OTC simethicone/Gas-X in situations where you want them to stop pretty quick while waiting to change your diet will do wonders as well.

[whereswendy]

Dr. Sanjay Gupta was talking about this in a video that said it was 8 years ago. He called it the gastro-cardio syndrome.

[countrysister]

I'm a 67 yo female widowed 9 years. Extremely stressful life, miss my hubs desperately still. Having hard time making ends meet. Now a Realtor hoping to create a situation that will last a few more years. Problem: Money problems and stress lead to bad diet including some alcohol and terrible weight gain (I've always been thin), nearly no exercise. Testing showed me deeply anemic (relieved with supplements). But my heart is what concerns me most. Higher BP than the very low/low normal BP I've had all my adult life and random spasms of wild heart beating and skips that sometimes even awaken me in the night. Been drinking kombucha to relieve my chronic constipation (colonoscopy completely clean 12 mo ago). Neurologically, I'm in full fledged freeze mode - feeling too panicked to do what needs doing professionally. So glad to find this info!!!

[boopyournose]

I felt like she was speaking directly to me. I am so relieved to see everyone's comments about how they have issues too. I too went through numerous visits to the ER - cardiologist - had a stress test, nuclear stress test, ekg's, ultrasounds etc etc. I've had gall bladder issues for ages, acid reflux and of course heart palpitations out the wazoo. Was told I just simply have PVC - nothing to worry about but gosh it's horrible to live through and yes 100% gives me anxiety thinking I am about to die any moment when it happens. This video made me feel so validated because for years I was positive that it was related to things I am eating or the gall bladder issues -- just to be looked at like I am nuts.

[Gilded_angel]

Can I just say, I love you?

I discovered the stomach/vagus nerve connection in 2022. Starting that Jan, I had gained a lot of weight. And my back was already messed up due to breaking it in 2008 as well as my ribs.
Well that Jan I spent the day sitting up in my bed watching tv. A big no no for my back and sternum. But I was tired of laying all the time.
I am convinced, sitting so hunched back for so long… helped create the small slipping hernia that was later discovered.
But before it was discovered… later that same night.. after a shower.. I was so exhausted I could barely breathe. I laid down in attempt to calm down but all the sudden I was hit with the wildest heart beat you could ever imagine. I have always had a naturally high HR but this was so extreme I could not move. I went to bend my left arm to get my phone and I had electric shocks in my heart and arm. I could not move it! So I barley moved my right arm to call my mom.
A few mins later I turned my heart rate app on, where you hold your finger on the flash light and it counts your heart beat. I’ve tested it before while at the hospital, it’s accurate.

You won’t believe this but it was 280.
My heart rate was280!!!

I discovered when I stood it calmed down some. But even that meant 150.
But when I laid down, it shot right back up.

So, off to the ER I went. Horrible experience. So bad I told myself, if this happens again I’ll just die in peace and my house. I’ll never bother with the stress of a trip and the terrible treatment again.

I told them I thought it was interesting/odd that I burped probably 200 x on the 1 hour drive to the hospital. (I live in the middle of no where.) they didn’t care to investigate or connect the dots of course.

So like everything, I had to do my own investigation. I noted that my heart struggled when I ate. So I would fast for 3 days and eat on the 4th.
I noticed when I iced my stomach I felt more calm.

I began to google the stomachs connection to the heart and found out about the vagus nerve. Then I began wondering about a hernia.

So I had to beg and plead for my doctor to send me for a test.

Finally I went for one and that doctor told me I had a small slipping hernia. And that it shouldn’t be powerful enough to do what it’s doing.

I thought to myself, “it “shouldn’t” but it is !!l lol.

I do have bad gut health especially due to negligence of my doctors throughout my 20s. I had a reoccurring ear infection and instead of helping me find the cause my doctor would just write me refills if amox and I stayed on them for years !! Literally from 23 to 29.
Ages 26-29 were for different reasons tho.
I got very sick during Nov 2019. I was 26. I suspect it was cov bc they tested me for everything and said you have to have a new bad flu going around bc I’ve never seen something like this .
I was in anti biotics from Nov-March . That’s how long it took me to get better. However I still struggled with dehydration after that. And I drink zero caffeine, I can’t handle it.

Well right when I think I’m free of medicine, I break my filling out of my tooth. And the stupid Cov rules for dentist was… they can’t drill fill or pull. So all they could do was write me more anti biotics. So ! i was on that until June!! And I finally just found someone to pull the tooth bc they still weren’t allowed to fill. And my stomach was done for !! As you can imagine!

Yet no one told me “you need pre biotics.. you need to do x, y, &z”

I learned that the hard way. I am not amoxicillin resistant. And it makes me tremor when I take it. Thanks big pharm. lol.

I also do not have a gallbladder.
So! That makes for an even bigger fun time lol.

I feel constantly in a state of panic and fear. I worry about the dumbest things. I don’t feel this is who I am on a soul level, it feels like a body thing that I can’t shake. I cannot lose weight bc of it. I couldn’t lose weight in 20 carbs a day. So I have been doing the carnivore diet. My heart struggled rly bad with red meat and all the fat they suggest. I did Introduce ox bile and it helped some but it got to the point to where I said, I’m going to gave to move to chicken and do that more frequently. Everyone does so great on the so called lion diet but for me, I had to switch to carnivore and include chicken . To give my heart a break.

I have a wheat allergy and cannot have so much as 1 gram of sugar bc of my ears. They will become infected immediately. Medical mystery .
I suspect yeast ?? but the doctor says the do not see any in my ear. I tell them it’s bc I keep them clean obsessively. They say yea yea .. you’re fine. Just stay away from sugar lol. Which is easy to say but you will find that even things labeled zero sugar, secretly include it. Which is another reason I went to buying raw meat only.

I have finally started to lose a little weight. Not as much as a normal person would’ve after two months of zero carbs lol. But I suspect I have Cushings or something causing me to be unable to loose weight bc I am always in a state of terror.
I hate to sound dramatic but the truth is the truth.
I am also extremely lonely. I have been alone since my back injury. I was 15 and now I just turned 31. I don’t have any friends and I’ve never been in a relationship. I think that plays a big part of my body’s stress bc I am a big hugger with no one to hug.
There is a type of loneliness that I read once in a book that described it perfectly… they referred to it as skin hungry. Which means your skin literally feels starved of any connection. I think this wears upon my heart as well.

But I don’t know how to let new people into my life bc they do not understand excuses as to why I can’t just jump up and do things they want to do randomly. It also embarrasses me… bc people tend to think you’re making things up for attn. which is a joke bc being sick or an inconvenience is the exact opposite way to get attn lol. In my experience, no one cares lol.

Sorry to over whelm you but I just wanted you to have my story too, as a reference and to thank you for helping people in the future. Who will be searching for an answer and will find it only bc of you. ❤❤❤❤

[christinem.]

Great explanation. No one talks about the Vagus Nerve.