Irritable Bowel Syndrome Message Boards | Ibs & heart palpatations

I'm 29. I was diagnosed with IBS less than a year ago. I've suffered with off and on heart palpitations since i was 18 and it was ALWAYS gas related. Sometimes if i was especially bloated, if I bent over the wrong way my heart would take off racing. I ended up in the emergency room having a panic attack (which was not diagnosed at the time) at 18. They dosed me up good with I don't know what, and got everything stable. My heart was beating 160+ BPM laying down. The doc told me I needed to relax. I was then taking gasx with every meal to keep gas bloating under control. I worked out a lot in the ensuing years and i rarely had an incident. Then, around 25 or so, I started focusing on my career a lot, and let my health start slipping. About this time last year i ended up in the emercency room again. Heart racing again, blood pressure high. This time with a terrible knot in my stomach that was causing great pain. This now had been present for about a week. sometimes the pain was so bad I would break into a pouring sweat sitting still. So one night (NEVER DO THIS) I decided to lay on my stomach with a pillow under it... I guess I thought I was trying to "force out" anything that was stuck. This was the trigger that sent me to the emergency room. Over the last year, I hooked up with a Doc that is well known as the best gastroenterologist in the area. When I saw him, right away I mentioned the heart issues. He didn't seem to have ANY knowledge of IBS causing this, though he diagnosed IBS with no tests. I was afraid of some kind of cancer because of family history. I was scared to death. So as it stands even now with this doc, he wants me to take fiber. He said there was only one kind of medicine he could give me, but because of my heart rate being fast and blood pressure being high, he didnt want to give it to me. So over the last year since my emergency room visit i've went from that pain-state, to nearly no pain (thank God), but I'm now facing increasing anxiety and increased freq. of IBS attacks. I've also had a very stressful thing happening in my life lately which I'm sure has made it worse. I've hit such low points in despair. I've spent a lot of time back and forth from despair, to anxiety. I really hope that someone else who has been through this reads this message. I think there is hope. The fiber has helped. Metamucil is what I've been taking. It seems that the fiber gives my belly something to do. At this point, I can't eat any vegtables or I will pay. Same with something as simple as red seedless grapes. Over the last week, I've had two bad attacks brought on by stress. I end up feeling like I have a knot and bloating just below my sternum. That's always where the problem seems to be centered, and where the "pinch" seemed to happen that would trigger the racing heart. To try to clear it out i took phazyme for gas which is pretty good. There are limits on how much you can take, and also it can interact with other meds, so please do check with your doc before you take it. But i still had a knot. Last night, I went to the local health food store to look for peppermint oil since i read a bunch that it can help. I've taken 3 of them now. After the 1st one last night, the knot was gone right away, i'd say 20 minutes tops and i was on the potty right away. Gas was leaving fast and there was diahreah. This was an improvement since i was just feeling all blocked before. Diah. was preferrable to the traffic jam i had going. It flushed me out RIGHT! I was woke up in the middle of the night with some anxiety and bloating. I took another and it helped again. I took another this morning and it helped again. I'm about to take a 4th. Oh, and I hadn't eaten much of anything but soup and crackers and pretzels over the last week during the last attacks. I actually ate some chicken last night and some rice after taking the 1st one and it didnt get blocked. I've ordered a bunch of other stuff too, so if I find more things that help I'll post again. the product I got is called "pepogest" by a company called "natures way". It has some sort of shielding on it to stop it from coming out in your belly and it then discharges in your intestines. from what I read, that's supposed to be better. since it's only been a day, i'll also post again if it turns out to not work or has any side effects.
To summarize my thoughts, I think the medical community is just now getting their arms around it. I'm STILL shocked that this doc (I mean he teaches at the university, top top credentials) didn't have ANY idea about the heart related issues. He was even afraid to prescribe this med he mentioned (didnt tell me the name) BECAUSE of my heart palpitations. Heck, the med may have even helped. I have another appointment in 2 weeks and I'll be bringing up a bunch of this then. any new info I will post. I think that with as many people that are suffering from this IBS, the drug companies HAVE to start paying attention soon. In the mean time I'm going to continue to explore stuff like peppermint. I ordered some fennel tea which is also supposed to help. I see a cycle. Stress=IBS=IBS symptoms=more stress= more IBS. I'm really trying to take my stress to the Lord while I deal with the physical aspects of this. I know that Jesus doesn't want me living in fear. I also feel that I've sinned in not taking it to Him more. His peace drops my blood pressure and heart rate immediately to normal levels time and time again. Yet time and time again I get wrapped up in the anxiety and I dont' just STOP and look to Him for comfort. so that's something else I'm working on, to be strong in the Lord. If you are a person of faith reading this, please pray for me to trust Him and please do the same yourself. Easy to say, hard to do in the middle of an attack. Tuesday night was probably the worst night of the attack. I had palpitations for about 3 seconds straight. Normally it's just for a second unless i get to that pinched state that just sends the heart off to the races. I started to get light headed and I really thought that was the end of the road. I stomped my feet on the ground and exclaimed God please help me! the palpitations passed, but it still scared the heck out of me. I need to turn to Jesus with my anxiety. the body can be managed by medicines and natural remedies. the heart and mind only finds true peace in the Lord in my experience. Take care of your body, and your heart and mind both. I hope that this will help someone else that has been through what I've went through. I went into detail here since when I 1st started researching, it seemed like I was the only one that has experiences this with the heart racing and skipping beats. It's good to know I'm not the only one, and I hope someone else facing the despair and stress relating to the effects of IBS on the heart will see this thread and have some piece of mind. God Bless, Eric

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