Rapid Heart Rate only during Bowel Movement

I don't know if anyone still reads this but I thought I'd post this anyway. I'm 32 yr old female with one child. I have been experiencing unexplained tachycardia for the past 15 months that would occur right before, during or after a bowel movement. The first time it happened, I called an ambulance because I thought I was having a heart attack. Another episode happened a week later, then a few months later, then a few months after that, and so on. Then over the last two months, the episodes became more intense and more often. I would have a heart rate in the 130's and my blood pressure would be up. I was dizzy, thirsty, weak, extremely fatigued, sleepy and sometimes nauseous. A few times I would be extremely cold and shaky. Over the past 15 months I saw every damn doctor I could starting with a cardiologist. My hormones, cholesterol, diabetes, EKG, sonogram, endoscopy, colonoscopy, stool samples, thyroid, potassium, and so much more were all checked. All results came back clean with the exception of a small hernia in my stomach. Some doctors said I was just tired due to chronic fatigue syndrome which I don't even have or from my sleep apnea (mine is very mild case). ER doctors all diagnosed me with dehydration each time. My gastroenterologist said my frequent bowel movements were due to my lack of gall bladder. His medicines never worked and he said it was normal for your heart rate to increase during bowel movements. Well last month I had to take a leave of absence from my job because I could no longer cope with my heart racing and the fatigue. I refused to eat because then I would have to have a bowel movement which would then trigger an episode. But then the episodes began occurring even if I got out of bed so I just stayed in bed. For 2 weeks. My new family doctor finally witnessed an episode in his office and ordered more tests. He tested me for POTS which I do not have. He also repeated more of the tests and again my EKG was good and my stool samples were fine. He placed a Holter monitor to monitor my heart for 24 hours. My heart rate was reaching 155, and this was during my bed rest days so it should've been well under 100. My doctor finally found I have Addison's Disease. I've been on prednisone for a week and I have finally returned to work. It has been such a dramatic change. I'm 90% back to normal. However, I still have frequent bowel movements and on some of them my heart will race still. Usually before I even feel the bowel movement and that's how I will know there is one coming. But it only lasts a minute or two and my heart rate won't get too high. Maybe 108. Normal blood pressure. And it's not every bowel either. It's been about once every other day. I had an episode today and went to see my doctor. We are waiting to see if it improves as the prednisone accumulates in my body. He also gave me probiotics today to see if that helps. I take an immodium a day for now to keep my bowels no more than 3 times a day. For over a year now I had doctors looking at me like I was crazy. I was made to feel stupid when I would ask "why does my heart beat so fast when I poop". After being told again and again that I was healthy and that my lab results were all negative and that it was just stress or anxiety or all in my head, I even began seeing a therapist thinking the doctors can't all be wrong. But it wasn't in my head and still isn't. I'm grateful to feel way better than I have in a long time even though I still have my problem. Dont give up and don't let anyone tell you it's all in your head. Only you know your body and what feels right and what feels wrong. Change doctors if you have to. If you have similar symptoms have your doctor check your cortisol level. No doctor thought to do that in 15 months until last month. Had someone done that sooner it would've spared me a lot of my ordeal. If anyone wishes I can update later if the prednisone helped or if anything else was found to cause or eliminate the tachycardia during my bowel movements.

I have the same symptoms........just about every day.........I do have a under active thyroid........and take meds for this and on blood pressure meds and zanex ..........nothing really seems to help............and I also have a high hernia..........thanks

I have this when i don't eat right, e.g. Correct carbs, protein and nutrients. It seems as though if i miss one of these macronutrients I end up feeling weak quickly, with bowel movements and heart palpitations. Sometimes the palpitations feel heavy I think its ready for a heart attack and to lie down, but I have to convince myself its OK and it will pass shortly. When I'm eating and drinking correctly my body functions fine. The minute I Have something unnatural.to eat e.g. McDonalds, beer, man made food, I'm not helping my body. I noticed my burps got better and bowels when eating right ALL the time, that slight slip just messes it all up. My advice to everyone on here is to seek advice from a nutritionist as your first step, then seek advice from a fitness instructor and get Taylor made exercises to suit your body. If you keep a record of what you eat and drink and then if you get palpitations soon after consumption e.g. Coffee. Eliminate coffee and start again, keep doing this until you eliminate anything that starts a palpitation. Drink water, water and more water, forget all the cokes, man made drinks. Milks good too! All veg, all fruits, all NATURAL meats / fish etc and no junk e.g chocolate, crisps, biscuits these have unnatural fats that clog up arteries and will NOT be beneficial to anyone at all. Be careful, stay relaxed and listen to your body all the time and work a plan around your current life. Be truthful to yourself and never lie to yourself about what you do e.g. "O, itll be alright". Hope this helps.

I have had this problem off and on during my teen years, up untill Now. I believe it has to do with your blood sugar. I was diagnosed with hypoglycemia also in my teen years.  Hypoglycemia is an illness to where your steady normal function supply of sugar has become to low. The symptoms of hypoglycemia are usually with tachycardia, rapid heart beat. Usually along with this symptom I exp hot flashes on my arms, sometimes on my face and stomach. This is before I need to make a bm and after I make a bm. both symptoms can last some minutes, before it goes away. I also during the episode feel very agitated, nervous, shortness of breath, and have a bit of perspiration. What I notice, is when I take usually two teaspoons of sugar, it goes away faster, rather than waiting for it to eventually go away. I think this way, both ways of doing this May or may not affect the body in a negative way, but I feel, if you just let the heart race and eventually go away on its own, it would eventually put a lot of stress on the heart, the more and more it has to work harder, I feel it would affect the heart tremendously especially when you get much older. So I usually take two teaspoons of sugar when I feel it coming

It takes less than a min when you start noticing your heart rate slowing down to normal. I would suggest ppl to go to their docs and check to see if they are hypoglycemic to begin with, before trying this out. Also, I notice when I don't drink enough water, and not eat on time, or eat something sweet after I miss a meal, I get these attacks. Hypoglycemics have to keep their blood sugar balanced! I would also suggest you to seek out a nutritionist to help you balance your diet to hel your sugar levels stay at a balanced level at all times so when an episode happens again, it won't be as frequent. But at least you know what you can do about it right away. Try this out for yourself, and see how it works out for you. I hope it does! God Bless You with good health and long life! :-)

What is the cure...rapid heart rate every time I bare down to make a BM. And when I stand up after BM HR is still beating fast, then it settles. Very scared of BM.s now. SO tired of this.

I'm 40 and have the same symptoms as many of the guests on this topic. I have been sick with autoimmune problems for the past few years. I have a very inactive lifestyle due to the many illnesses that deplete energy. My biggest problem is that anytime I have a bm my heart speeds up so much and pounds really hard. It takes several minutes for it to stop afterwards. It is e xtremely uncomfortable and I feel weak afterwards. I have IBS and digestive problems since late 90's after my gallbladder was removed. I agree with some of the guests here that think it has to do with the vagal nerve. I actually think its inflamed due to some unknown reason and this is why it happens. I'm not sure, but I just know I hate going to the restroom now. If so many people deal with this, why don't doctors recognize it? So frustrating! Good luck & keep us posted on your findings.

Hi! My name is James I was born with IBS I'm 31 now and dealing with all the same symptoms my heart Dr says everything looks great all my #'s are in perfect range. I too had a bad accident 100mph head on (not my fault) I think its all the gas in the gas track and anxiety. 

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Your heart races before and during a bowel movement is because your gas track is swelling around the esophagus and placing pressure on the heart causing it to believe it suffocating. To release that pressure drink cold water easy it will help relax and regulate the pressure, relaxing the heart and having a smooth bowel. I have all the same issues I was born this way and worked on figuring out what works.

Did you get tested for H. Pylori infection of the stomach? Your symptoms indicate that's a possibility. Also Check for Candida ( yeast ) overgrowth in your intestines (stool test). I have both conditions, read for over 100s of hours about them and under treatment. Check those out. Also, make sure you are not undereating so you don't go in to ketosis, which I believe I did due to low carb diet I had to follow for these conditions, which made things worse and I felt like I was wasting away.

IMO this is mercury poisoning, likely from silver tooth fillings. I am recovering from the same issues.

This is chronic mercury poisoning and will not be helped one bit by drugs IMO. I suffered all the same issues, including crashed adrenals, hypoglycemia, CFS, etc. Woke up every night sick.. Fast heart beat. This is the liver performing its 24hr cycle IMO. You need to have your silver amalgam tooth fillings removed via a bio dentist. Search IAOMT.org to locate one nearest you. You need to start there, before you can begin detoxing the mercury & metals, which takes 1-3 yrs.

If you have lots of loose stools, you might be low in potassium, which can cause your heart to do crazy things.  I went into A-fib a couple of times and had palpitations for a few weeks before they noticed my potassium was low.  The ER wanted to start me immediately on statins...I basically said hell no.  Glad I did.  Have your doc check your levels...mine weren't extremely low, but just enough to screw me up.  Also, if you end up taking potassium, get the liquid form, the pills taken for a few weeks can screw you up intestinally, as they did me. 

I have similar symptoms. Went to see various doctors and the neurologist says he thinks its partial autonomic seizures. You might get that checked out. My starts with stomach cramps , diarrhea, heart pumps (up to 180bpm), tinggling hands and feet, vision distortion,dialated pupils and blood shot eyes. And I even passes out once.

ITS A MAN./
GET RID OF HIM./
REST / YOU WILL GET BETTER./

you just need to eat fibers and fruits more and more despite of meat and other hard food one more tablet will help you that is flagyl (but as per advise of your doctor) eat in small course five time a day and take much more fluid 

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