Heart Palpitations On Gluten

[michayla]

Hi everyone-

So i was diagnosed via blood test in July as positive for celiac, but biopsy came back negative. went gluten-free anyway, and it worked for a bit - i was/am very strict on it - absolutely no cheating and even a possibility of cc and i won't eat it.

well it worked for a bit but then some of my symptoms came back. i had posted on this previously in a thread and took some of the suggestions on eating more whole foods as i am healing rather than processed, etc.

now, it is more like i have a good couple of days and then a bad couple of days. relatively speaking though, i am getting better. but still have major D in the mornings and enough bouts of not feeling well/having this interfere with my life to go back to another doctor for a second opinion and seek further tests.

well the whole point of this post - the doctor wanted to run more blood tests and due a complete panel - including retesting for celiac. therefore i have been back on a normal, gluten-filled diet for a week. it was hard at first, but they also put me on an antispasmodic which i think is the reason i am feeling better. but i have noticed (and i noticed this before i went gluten-free, too) that i can FEEL my heart pumping. i get random bouts of short breath and can literally feel my heart pounding through my chest. even now, as i sit here, relaxing and typing this, my heart, while not beating fast, is beating really forcefully.

i was curious if anyone else experienced this? is this because i am back on gluten for this week? or is it something more serious?

thanks for any help you may offer!

[mushroom]

This is a symptom I have had for years and years, and unfortunately it has not gone away gluten free. I think some of us just 'feel' our bodies more than others, although I feel mine to the extreme when I have atrial fibrillation and it seems my heart will jump out of my chest and my head throbs so badly I can't keep it on the pillow. I constantly have a really forceful heart beat and can feel the blood pumping through my body.

I have no idea what role the anitspasmodic may be playing in this - have you tried discontinuing it and seeing if it makes a difference? But you have gone back on gluten and we do tend to feel the gluten effects more after being gluten free.

Why do you and your doctor doubt the validity of the blood test even though the endoscopy was negative? If you have been reading this forum you will know that many have positive bloods and negative biopsy (they missed the damaged areas, don't take enough samples, you may not have villous atrophy,). Also, many find that after they go gluten free they learn of additional intolerances that were masked by the gluten, that now manifest themselves. That may be what is happening to you.

The first question would be, have you temporarily given up lactose also, because even though your endoscopy was negative it is still possible to have villous damage and intolerance to lactose. The second suggestion I would give is to eliminate soy because this is often a co-intolerance with gluten. The third suggestion I would give is to eat whole, unprocessed foods that you cook yourself, and don't eat in restaurants for a while, to give yourself a chance to heal. Don't use the gluten free replacement foods, but just stick to stuff that is naturally gluten free; many of us find that our digestive systems are unable to handle the gluten free grains initiallly.

If none of these suggestions help I would explore further. But I do not find anything yet to discount your celiac diagnosis. Mind you, I am just dealing with anecdotal evidence of people who have the disease, but I presume that is why you are here asking for help. Many of us find that our doctors do not know as much about the disease as we would like.

Many of us use probiotics and digestive enzymes to help out our digestive systems in the early stages of healing, and I wonder if you have explored these. The probiotics replace the good bacteria in the gut which tend to get killed off and the digestive enzymes supplement what the pancreas is (sometimes inadequately) putting out as a side-effect of the gluten load.

[dilettantesteph]

My heart palpitations went away gluten free and come back when glutened. They are disconcerting. My doctor told me that it was due to thyroid problems, but I tested negative. That was before my celiac diagnosis.

[Skylark]

Are you sure it's not a medication side effect?

[Mari]

I had what felt like heart palpatations for years but they were really spasms in my upper intestine. This was the first symptom to get better when I went gluten free but I still can feel milder spasms at night sometimes due to some irritation or inflamation from some other food. I have used strong peppermint tea, the spices turmeric and cinnamon, Milk of Magnesia to help this problem.

[julandjo]

I've also had this for years. My palpitations are PVCs (premature ventricular contractions), and going on an arginine supplement, as well as eliminating all caffeine, helped a lot. I've also had tons of left-sided chest/what feels like heart pain. I've been cleared by a cardiologist, so that put some of my fear to rest, but it's not getting better for me. I've seen 4 different doctors for this problem and nobody has any idea what is causing it. I have noticed though that the problem is much worse if I'm low on calories. Last month I had a 24-hour impedence study (where you have a tube inserted through your nose and down into your stomach for 24 hours to measure the acid levels in your esophagus), and a test I can't remember the name of - but it's a thicker tube put down your nose into your esophagus, and they pull it out in half-centimeter increments and make you swallow while they measure the pressure. Both tests showed no reason for my problems, and they HURT to have done. I'm so frustrated! Sorry I have no answers for you, but you're not alone.

[michayla]

i don't think it has to do with the medication, because it is something i noticed before i went on it. i have also been tested for thyroid issues (i guess just the general test, but apparently there are many specific ones that can create different results) which came back normal.

i kind of attributed it to gluten, as i am back on gluten-free now and haven't noticed it much (how one day makes such a difference!) i just wasn't sure if it was a gluten thing or potentially something more serious. or maybe i am just n tune to my body!

thanks for the help guys!

[Leah Banicki]

Hi everyone-

So i was diagnosed via blood test in July as positive for celiac, but biopsy came back negative. went gluten-free anyway, and it worked for a bit - i was/am very strict on it - absolutely no cheating and even a possibility of cc and i won't eat it.

well it worked for a bit but then some of my symptoms came back. i had posted on this previously in a thread and took some of the suggestions on eating more whole foods as i am healing rather than processed, etc.

now, it is more like i have a good couple of days and then a bad couple of days. relatively speaking though, i am getting better. but still have major D in the mornings and enough bouts of not feeling well/having this interfere with my life to go back to another doctor for a second opinion and seek further tests.

well the whole point of this post - the doctor wanted to run more blood tests and due a complete panel - including retesting for celiac. therefore i have been back on a normal, gluten-filled diet for a week. it was hard at first, but they also put me on an antispasmodic which i think is the reason i am feeling better. but i have noticed (and i noticed this before i went gluten-free, too) that i can FEEL my heart pumping. i get random bouts of short breath and can literally feel my heart pounding through my chest. even now, as i sit here, relaxing and typing this, my heart, while not beating fast, is beating really forcefully.

i was curious if anyone else experienced this? is this because i am back on gluten for this week? or is it something more serious?

thanks for any help you may offer!

My mom had similar 'heart palpitations' from random things for a few years. Doctors couldn't make heads or tails of it. She thought she would die cause it would pound so hard, but nothing was wrong with her heart. It turned out she had a Hiatel Hernia and her stomach was poking through the hole in her diaphragm. It bumped against a bundle of nerves connected to her heart causing the palpitations when she would eat. She uses a small indoor trampoline every few days to exercise her organs into the right place and gets some physical therapeutic massage to help too. She is seeing improvements. You may want to get your diaphragm checked out. Just for giggles. It was a long shot strange diagnoses.

Hope you feel better.