Do any of you experience heart Arrhythmias when you eat too much?

Not unless I wait until I’m superhungry, then “inhale” when I do eat.

I just did some googling and it looks like it can cause presssure on a nerve that can cause irregular heart beat. That’s this other guy’s experience anyway.

That should be a relief to you.

@janbb I just don’t want to feel it so much. I always have an irregularity. It is a relief if I can control what’s been happening the last few days by just not pigging out so much in one sitting. Last night I slept with my head more elevated, closer to a reclined sitting position, and it seemed to help the heart thing, but I woke up three times during the night, which is extremely unusual. Just not as comfortable.

What I read talked about an early beat, my usual problem is a missed beat, and then the heart resets and starts up again. I’ve read they can feel similar. I think it might be the extra beat though, because it does feel a little different. I hate it. It really feels like you could die, but it’s fleeting. I wonder if that’s what getting electrocuted feels like, but just not enough shock to kill you.

One day maybe it will be something to actually worry about, and I won’t address it because I have the pre-existing problem. I can’t rush to the doctor every time my heart feels funny, when it feels funny quite often. Still, I am considering getting monitored over night. Recently, I also was feeling my heart quiver, which I guess can be AFib. But, I think I was over medicated on my thyroid meds, so I reduced them a little, and it does seem better. We’ll see. It would be nice to have a cardiologist I like, who I think looks at all the factors, but I haven’t found that here yet. Tired of spending money for nothing on doctors appointments.

Please tell your doctor about what you are experiencing. A-fib is a crippling and life threatening condition.

I suffered with a-fib, a-flutter and rapid PAC episodes for 12 years. Even on anticoagulation therapy, the possibility of having a stroke was real and terrifying to me.

Yes eating was one of many triggers for an a-fib episode for me. It was so disturbing that I skipped dinner many times. I’d rather go to bed hungry than go to bed with a-fib and lay there wondering if a clot was forming in my LAA (left atrial appendage).

Good health to you.

@gondwanalon I mentioned the quiver, maybe flutter, to my doctor, but told her I had lowered my thyroid meds and it seemed to not be happening.

This is a different thing. My missed beat feels like everything in my body stops, and this recent problem feels similar, but even more jarring. Maybe it is related to AFib and not the extra beat? It feels different.

I’m aware AFib is a risk for stroke, it is scary. I have other risks for stroke, like genetic predisposition for clots, o also get shingles on my face, another risk factor. It’s a nightmare.

Thanks for your your response anyway, it’s very helpful.

Your AFib went away?

Sorry that you are having thyroid and heart issues.

We are all different. The heart is infinitely complex and a-fib can be caused by many factors (bad valve, damage heart muscle, enlarged atria, clogged vessels, thyroid problems, unknown problems, etc).

My a-fib had no apparent cause. Several echocardiograms and nuclear stress tests simply showed a normal athletic heart. Strong muscle, good valves and wide open blood vessels. One cardiologist told me that I have the heart of an Olympic cyclist and my heart is so strong that it laughs at a-fib.

I’ve been a-fib free for 5½ years now and am off prescription medications. But I had to go through 8 cardiologists most of which wanted to manage my a-fib with strong drugs that did more harm than good. In the end 2 cardiologists in Seattle wanted to ablate (destroy) my heart’s natural pacemakers (AV and SA nodes) and give me a man made pacemaker and keep me on anticoagulation therapy and my heart in a-fib for life.

I felt like a cornered rabbit. I was in absolute desperation mode. Luckily I found a heart expert in Indianapolis who had the skills and desire to help me. He developed an operation called the Wolf Minimaze that he told me has a 70 to 90% success rate. I told the cardiologists in Seattle about this and I was told, “You know what they say, if it sounds too good to be true.” But I went ahead anyway and had the minimize done and have been living happily ever after. One huge plus is that part of the Wolf Minimaze completely removes the LAA so that if a-fib comes back, I won’t have to worry about getting an ischemic stroke and there will be no need to be on anticoagulation therapy.

Good health to you!

^^Oh, I remember that story now. The thyroid issue is a constant thing for 15 years now. I recently raised my meds to lower my blood pressure, and it worked, but maybe too much meds, so lowering again. A fast thyroid can cause afib.

How did yours feel? Was it quivering, pounding? Did you have any other symptoms? I get pounding if my resting heart rate is too fast or too slow, which I don’t think is afib, I think it’s just pounding? I was monitored overnight two separate times. Once when my rate was way slow, I was going down to 46, and a few years later when I was hitting 80. Afib wasn’t found at that time, just my other electrical problems. That was a long time ago though.

I was told that the thyroid cause of a-fib is the easiest to manage.

Have you heard about AliveCor’s Kardia band for Apple Watch? It would let you know if you get a-fib any time that you wear it.

I could always tell instantly when my heart went into a-fib. Just felt the uneven pulses. Never any pain. Also my resting heart rate would go from the 50’s to the 80’s bpm. I generally felt OK while in a-fib if I wasn’t doing anything physical. But if I tried to jog it suddenly felt like I was trying to jog at 15,000 feet altitude while dragging a tire. Believe it or not, I completed the Boston and NY City marathons with my heart in persistent a-fib (also a couple triathlons). I was sick as a dog for a few hours afterward,

^^I’ve been able to exercise ok. I did hear about the Apple Watch monitoring the heart, but I didn’t realize it could specifically detect afib.

When you say you felt the uneven pulse, do you mean in your heart? Or, taking your pulse on your wrist? Or, just an overall feeling something wasn’t right?

I’ll have to take my pulse more. My pulse has been up, which I attributed to having increased my thyroid meds, but maybe it’s only sporadic, because I tend to be checking when I feel like something is wrong.

All good info. Thanks so much.

(Just don’t eat too much!)

@gondwanalon Have you seen this site? https://wolfminimaze.com/about

I thought you might be interested when telling friends about it.

I have a feeling this could have helped a friend of mine. She passed away a few years ago.

@JLeslie I could feel the irregular heart beats in my chest.

About 15 years ago I paid $400 for a handy dandy pocket size, battery operated ECG analyzer called, “OMRON HCG-801”. It helped me not only document how my heart was doing, it helped me identify the various different arrhythmias my heart was going through (a-fib, a-flutter, PAC’s). One time a cardiac nurse practitioner told me that my heart was in a-fib. I told her, “No I’m not, my heart is in rapid PAC’s”, and pointed out the distinct “P waves” on her ECG strip.

Yes I’ve seen Dr. Wolf’s web site. He performed my Wolf Minimaze.

Great information. I just ate, and I feel some pounding. I don’t know if it’s the food, or that I’m sitting still.

I am experiencing this so I thought I’d touch base.

It’s 4:00 and I just ate for the first time today. I had a Taco Tico bean and cheese burrito and a taco. I pretty much scarfed them. I’m stuffed, and yes my heart is pounding. I don’t think it’s at all unusual or a problem of any kind. If I hadn’t over eaten and gotten “stuffed” I don’t think my heart would have reacted like this.
But I’ll check it again the next time I go this long. I’ll be sure not to over eat and see if something different happens.