<<Disclaimer: Verify this information before applying it to your situation.>> Thank you everyone for your most helpful suggestions and support. I will take some of these in to my cardiologist when I visit. Here are just some of the replies, I had many, it seems these are quite common and scary for many people. I hope this helps others with this problem, we all have to stick together. If I learn anything new on this problem, I will certainly post to all. Thanks again. Wendi _________________________ My doctor discovered extra heartbeats this past spring when I went for my checkup. Following a battery of tests including magnetic resoning, ultra sound and the holter monitor it was determined to NOT be related to my CD. My cardiologist concluded that I needed a beta blocker, a pill that I take with dinner every evening, and I have been fine since. Every case is different, however, and yours may be dissimilar to my problem. Good luck. __________________________________ Wendi, it is not uncommon in the general population. It can be controlled with medication, but I wonder if your thyroid has been checked. That can also lead to irregular heart beat. They will probably also suggest cut back on caffeine, stress, etc. Good luck. ___________________________________ My husband is the one with celiac and that is how his symptoms started about 15 years ago -- rapid heartbeat and elevated thyroid levels. Our daughter is having rapid heartbeat problems now and has been blood tested and came up negative for CD. Her doctor who happens to be our doctor, too, says that it is not CD related and has her on some medication that has greatly reduced the incidents. She also wore a holter monitor for 24 hours. I believe that the doctor has her on paxil. We will see how things go when she takes her off the paxil which will be soon. We were going thru some trying times this year and doctor seemed to think that was causing the problems. I can't say that I agree with the doctor, but we wlil see who is right pretty soon. Hope this helps, ___________________________ I am a celiac and I have this problem. The doctor said I have A-Fib and put me on Cardizem. The doctor said that he didn't know what the rapped and skipped heart beat were from. He said most have no reason or explanation. My idea is that, it is from non-absorbing my carbrohydrates. I also have hypoglycemia (low blood sugar) Sometimes I pass out in the early morning because my blood sugar is so low. I know this is caused by my celiac disease and I have helped myself somewhat by eating a 1/2 sandwich before bedtime. ____________________________________ Hi Wendi: This is getting much more common, the skipped heart beats, the rapid heart beats, light-headedness, dizzyness, any exertion will increase the heart beat as well. I have been having problems quite similar to yours for several years, and of course my doctor requests I wear a holter monitor and it shows nothing of any significance. It does make one very anxious. I have wore the monitor twice in the last 5 years and nothing showed up. It keeps me from sleeping many a night, so I am now on a sleeping (actually relaxation pill) so I can get some sleep. I am usually awake 3 - 5 times a night, only go to bed at 11 ish and am up about 7, so get very tired. We must keep pushing for an answer to our problem, as there is a university student in the southern states that has the same problem. Chat later. ____________________________________ I have mitral valve prolapse which causes PVC's and AVC's as well as atrial fibrillation. It is not specifically related to celiac disease that I know of. Many women (perhaps up to 20%) of the population and many men have this condition. It is usually benign but can be serious. The other symptoms sound like what I had when I had the extra beats, mine were atrial and not ventricular. I still have some occasionally. Your cardiologist may put you on medication. Make sure that it does not contain gluten if you are celiac. That is what happened to me. _________________________________________ Yes, I have a problem like this. It was pretty scary, but it was finally diagnosed as Type 1 A-V Block, which is very common and benign. It requires no treatment and is not dangerous. It has nothing to do with gluten, as far as anyone knows. I had the impression it was exacerbated by drinking caffiene, so I switched to decaf coffee and quit drinking cola. The cardiologist didn't think it would matter, and indeed if there is any difference it is marginal. There are many other possibilities for your symptoms, but if they're not going to bother looking at you for a couple of weeks it means they think it's not serious. One thing I learned when I was resolving this problem is that when you say "heart problem" to a medical person they spring into instant action and assume you are having a heart attack until they prove otherwise. _________________________________ I really hope he did an SMA 12 and a CBC and checked your electrolytes????? Lots of times with many malabsorbtion problems like Celiac we do not absorbtion potassium and magnisum and this will cause all kinds of dysrhythmia's. Darcy ____________________________________ Wendy, this won't help the skipped heart beats, but it will stop the tachycardia or rapid heart beats. A doc friend of mine told me this. When you feel a rapid sequence, just press LIGHTLY on your eyeball, of course with your eyelid closed. This should stop it immediately, like in 2 seconds. No other doc I've known knows about this, but my friend did. It not only stopped my episodes of tachycardia, but it gradually seemed to modify the behavior of my heart so I never have those anymore at all. -vance ___________________________________ I would start taking calcium and magnesium(1000/500) at least twice a day and 75 mg. of zinc. Add lots of potassium from orange juice and bananas to your diet. This will greatly reduce your extra beats. Also, walk, walk, walk. I have had this problem my whole life and can keep it under control with this regimen.I am also seen by a cardiologist--but who wants more drugs! Good luck, ____________________________________ Yes I had over 1000 extra beats when wearing the Holter Monitor, I believe it is from gluten since I no longer exhibit that symptom. A doc picked them up just listening to my heart and ordered the monitor. The beats were in the lower left chamber if I remember correctly but for sure the lower. and that is where I felt the extreme bloating. I figure my bowel was so distended it was pressing on my heart. Or possibly a big artery. ...... I forgot to mention if I have a gluten accident my heart pounds like crazy. ______________________________________ My husband has atrial fibrillation as one of his major symptoms after accidental gluten ingestion. We spent many hours in ERs while they tried to figure out if he was having a heart attack or not...he is normal if he stays off gluten, extreme amounts of sugar, or caffeine. Hang in there-- _____________________________________ In Feb. 1996 I started having rapid heartbeat. Sometimes up to 200 BPM. Cardiologist had me wear a monitor for several weeks. When I had rapid heartbeat I would call 1-800 and they would record it from the monitor and forward it to him. He decided to try me on blood pressure medication. I do not have high blood pressure but because of allergies I have that was his choice to see if it would take care of the problem. I wasn't able to stay on it as it lowered my blood pressure too much and made me too tired. He then had me have a heart ablation. They went in and zapped a dozen times the area they thought was causing the problem. It did not help. He then sent me to Atlanta to have it done by a doctor who is a pioneer in doing that procedure. He could not get the rapid heartbeat when he was doing the ablation. When I got home I found out about CD and decided to go on the GF diet as I had been having so many problems. I immediately started the diet and stopped the blood pressure pills. I never had the problem again. You did not mention how long you had been on the diet but you wonderred if you might be getting some gluten that could be causing the problem.........possibly. I know Drs. will think gluten could not be the cause but this has been brought up in this group before and it did cause this problem in several people. I do not remember if it caused skipped heartbeats. I know what you mean about it bothering you so much. It really did bother me when it happened. Best of luck to you. ______________________________ Hi, I have the same symptoms. I went to a cardiologist and had a sonogram test where you run on the tread mill and then get to see your heart in action. They said my heart was healthy. Also had blood tests to show mineral deficiencies. They were normal. I don't know what is causing it, but it drives me nuts. I have noticed that since I have started taking a 1/2 tsp. salt in water at night before bed this seems to help. Maybe my sodium gets low. I tend to have low blood pressure. I wouldn't do the salt thing if you have high blood pressure. Oh well, let me know if you find out anything different. Good luck, ________________________________ I have a similar condition--discovered a few years ago during a regular office visit. After 3 days in the CCU and many tests including a cardiac catheterization, it was decided that it is a benign electrical problem. I was given a choice of medication or living with it. There is also a surgical procedure that can correct it but it sometimes "over-corrects" the situation. Then it is necessary to resort to a pacemaker. I opted to do nothing for now. I don't know how old you are, but this seems to be more than common in women after menopause--I have many friends diagnosed with a similar condition. Some have decided to take beta-blockers to lessen the symptoms. I hope your problem is also benign. I checked with a well- known "celiac" doctor and he did not feel there was any relationship to celiac. I was advised by the cardiologist to wear a monitor for all exercise since the heartrate goes up suddenly and I am not always aware it is happening. Good Luck, ______________________________________________ I had similar issue just two weeks ago. I was laying in bed and watching a cooking show. All of a sudden my heart started skipping (palpitating) I had terrible nausea, dizziness and hot flashes/ waves that would come over me- (like fire in each hair follicle and pore on the body) at those points I felt I was about to pass out. I was taken to the ER after one hour of these symptoms continuing. The doctors there ran an EKG and blood test then monitored me overnight in the hospital when I arrived my heart was at 160 beats per minute almost like hyperventilation speed- way to fast for resting rate. They came back asking If I ever had cancer or if doctors ever thought I might have it... I said no?? It scared me and made me feel very anxious and nervous, later that night the doctors said my Potassium level was at 1.8- normal is 3.5-6.5 and that they believed I am malnourished and dehydrated (to my surprise I eat three times daily and drink fluids all day)- I went home and still feel mild dizziness to really bad spells of it. The nausea has not gone away and I am now taking horse pill sized Potassium- I went in and they checked the level its now at 3.5. I am going to have the doctors do a biopsy to make sure I am not having malabsorption issues. My heart is still palpitating through out the day but has never woke me up at night, it must be very nerve racking. The Potassium helps the heart, brain and nervous system function correctly. Hope you get it figured out. I am still doing detective work on this my self. _________________________________ I had it before I went gluten free. I went from no symptoms (a little gas was all), to chest spasms for 6 months until I was diagnosed. I was told not to go on the diet until I was "well" (they didn't think my chest spasms were related to the Celiac). About a month after my diagnosis, PVCs started (they are very, very scary and hurt). They got so bad, I went unconscious. Even the doctor didn't think it was related to the Celiac. Anyway, came out of the emergency room, went to a local food store and bought all gluten free and started my diet. Within 1 day the PVCs stopped, and within 3 days the chest spasms stopped. I'm still not well, because my stomach/chest are so sore and I can eat very little, but I think I am healing. Been gluten free now for 4 months. Don't know if your PVC's are related to hidden gluten, but sure worth looking into.