FEELING A HEARTBEAT AT THE TOP OF MY ABDOMEN

Tentative reply

by Repero - 2024-11-01 16:45:36

Hello Heartily. I am just an ordinary PM recipient and not in any way medically qualified. However, this sounds like something I have experienced, especially after a meal and when reclining like yourself. In my case it seems to have something to do with extra pressure on the vagus nerve from a full or bloated stomach: it has never caused me harm.

Hopefully some of our more knowledgeable members will reply to your posting. I obviously cannot know if it is the same thing happening with you, but our symptoms sound very similar.

hello repero

by heartily - 2024-11-01 17:50:16

Thank you for your thoughts....I hadn't eaten when I felt fluttery etc, but hopefully it's something and nothing. I feel fine at the moment!

get checked

by Tracey_E - 2024-11-01 18:12:58

It's unlikely it's anything serious, however if they do an interogation they can see if your leads are pacing like they should be. Sometimes leads can pace the diaphragm, it's possible that's what you're feeling. 

What feels like a missed beat is more likely a small beat between the stronger beats. The pacer is not going to let you skip beats, however some beats can be stronger than others, or the heart can do little half beats between the full beats (PVC or PAC). These are generally considered annoying but harmless.

Hi 🌺

by Lavender - 2024-11-01 19:09:17

Your private cardiologist said that your heart is working perfectly. 
Your bedside monitor is watching over you. 

Let that knowledge allay your fears. Do report this to your doctor who placed the pacemaker. Might be a simple adjustment of settings. Don't let your brain go to alarm stage. Wait and see what they say. Easier said than done! Pick up a kitty cat and let their purr relax your worries. 🐈

Heartbeat in the abdomen is a common symptom for me too

by Gemita - 2024-11-02 05:19:17

Heartily, now don’t start me off on the subject of feeling heart beats in the abdomen.  I had them before and after pacemaker placement.   A lot of us feel them.  I see you have been given good advice already.

Firstly, there is indeed a strong gastric-cardiac connection because of the proximity of the oesophagus and stomach to the heart.  Having gastric symptoms from reflux disease, oesophageal spasms or a hiatal hernia for example, can indeed be important triggers for many unwanted symptoms, leading to heart rhythm irregularities which may be clearly felt in the epigastric area.

I have arrhythmias and I first feel these in the epigastric area.  These start as a “sinking feeling” followed by regular or irregular fibrillating/fluttering sensations.  Don’t forget we have a strong pulse there and it is normal to feel your pulse in your stomach.  The aorta is the main artery that carries blood from the heart to the rest of the body. It runs from your heart, down the centre of your chest, into your abdomen.  

I too would get this checked just to be sure that it is not something serious like an injury or an abdominal aortic aneurysm.  My thought is that this is a heart rhythm disturbance which is being felt in your stomach area which should settle as you get used to pacing.  The other thought is that it could be due to over pacing and that once your settings have been adjusted at say 6 weeks, this should stop.  They set our lead settings higher initially while our leads are settling in.  Having higher lead settings can cause quite severe vibratory/pulsating symptoms for some of us in the diaphragm/epigastric area until our lead settings are turned down, so you could ask about this when you have other checks.

If your symptoms continue, additional holter monitoring may help to detect what is going on in the way of heart rhythm disturbances that may not automatically be picked up by pacemaker monitoring.  For example, although my Medtronic pacemaker monitors premature ventricular contractions, it sadly doesn't monitor premature atrial contractions which can equally cause distressing symptoms when they are prolonged and frequent, so additional event holter monitoring can be valuable.

BLESS YOU ALL FOR YOUR REASSURING COMMENTS.

by heartily - 2024-11-02 06:59:43

I feel SO much better reading all your comments - thank you all SO, SO much. At the back of my mind I know it's more a mental thing rather than physical (probably!) and although stroking one of my cats obviously helps, it doesn't sort the issue out entirely!

I'm on 2.5mg of Bisoprolol (beta blockers) twice daily, and have been counting the minutes until I can take the next one so I feel "safe" for another 12 hours.

I was not an anxious personal pre heart block, in fact I was glass overflowing, a bon viveur and extrovert, but the shock and trauma of how it happened has left me feeling like I need to get my affairs in order. I've never been seriously ill in my life nor am I a hypochondriac but I wonder if some anti anxiety meds might help or perhaps counselling but I just can't face raking the horror up again...