Vagus Nerve damage symptoms

Hi
The vagus nerves or 10th cranial nerve run from the brain down passed the larynx, heart, alongside the oesophagus and down to the stomach and digestive tract and has an effect on all those systems.

An overview.
This means that the vagus nerve is responsible for such varied tasks as heart rate, gastrointestinal peristalsis, sweating, and quite a few muscle movements in the mouth, including speech (via the recurrent laryngeal nerve) and keeping the larynx open for breathing (via action of the posterior cricoarytenoid muscle, the only abductor of the vocal folds). It also has some afferent fibers that innervate the inner (canal) portion of the outer ear, via the Auricular branch (also known as Alderman's nerve) and part of the meninges. This explains why a person may cough when tickled on their ear (such as when trying to remove ear wax with a cotton swab).

When stomach acid is continually washed or aspirated into the oesophagus and or upper airways stimilation of the vagus can happen.
I have had LPR GERD for 6 months
I have recently found I have palitations and some arrythmia combined with breathing difficulty and lower heart rate
(bradycardia under 60 bpm). All this despite Esomeprasole 2x60 per day to kill off the acid production.

I believe it is all connected to the Vagus nerve.
Does anyone know if this possible insult/damage to the Vagus nerve is repairable?
Anyone fixed this situation with surgery?
Anyone found any meds that help to heal the vagus?

Regards
JPT

Your vagus nerve isn't likely to be damaged by reflux, but you are correct in that this nerve connects lots of important things and something that triggers it in one place can result in symptoms elsewhere.

When I eat foods to which I am intolerant my esophagus and stomach can spasm, causing reflux (before my fundoplication). This spasming can trigger tachycardia (rapid heartbeat), and once even led to a heart attack.

There are several names for this: cardioesophageal reflex (not reflux!), aka linked angina. Also look up coronary artery spasm which is the result of what happens. There are new articles recently!

No, surgery will not fix the spasms! It WILL fix the reflux though. It may or may not be the acid triggering the other systems (heart, etc.). A real, known trigger is the foods you eat.

For free - you can keep a food log for a couple of months, writing down the foods you eat, times and any symptoms for a couple of hours. (With migraine headache it can take up to 2 days for a reaction to occur.) Then when you have a suspect food trigger list, you have to break it down to the components of the foods. For me it was not the waffle, it was the maple syrup, not the hamburger but the condiments .... Then google your food list with the words food allergies or food intolerances. I came up with my entire list on the sulfite intolerance pages.

I don't recommend surgery except as a last resort. If you can keep the acid under control with medications, and also keep the refluxing under control with modifying your diet, you may be able to avoid surgery. I did great, until I was in a bad wreck that caused my stomach to be pushed into my chest, requiring the surgery to bring it down.

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Alcie

JPT,

How would they look at the vagus nerve to determine if its been stimulated or irritated? Does anyone know?
I read a post on here that spoke about him him thinking he had LPR and the doctor treated him with elavil because it ended up being nerve damage, he didn't say it was the vagus nerve but I wonder if this elavil would help at all.... Might be worth a try.

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Thanks
Take care always!
Yolee

Post Edited (Yolee) : 10/21/2012 8:01:17 PM (GMT-6)

May not help, but.... I contracted an unknown infection outside of the US. It basically attacked many of my internal organs and put me in the hospital with an apparent heart attack, which they determined was pericarditis (ie. the infection was attacking the lining of my heart). As the infection progressed it was like my body came alive after I ate. My heart rate would accelerate to 130 bpm, I would sweat and I couldn't breathe after eating. (I also had many digestive problems and horrible pain in my left abdomen.) I was passed around from doctor to doctor and then to Emory, then to Mayo. By then the infection itself was gone but I was still having all of the reactions to eating and pain. The pain they determined was nerve damage from the infection as it attacked the nerve bundle in my left abdomen. They said it is very common in other infections like HIV. Finally, they did a test to see if my Vegus nerve was functioning. First off, they told me, at the Mayo Clinic, that they only did the test for it 1-2 times per year and almost every time was post stomach surgery. The test showed that my Vegus Nerve was "non-responsive," thus the reason for my accelerated heart rate, sweating and inability to breathe after eating. They said they had never seen this occur as a result of an infection and wanted me to come back for more testing. I declined, as the only treatment would be to take special insulin shots 15 minutes prior to eating each meal and it was very expensive. One thing to be sure to do, if you do have this problem, is to take B-12 supplements, as you can become deficient. Hope it helps.

jbat, I have been diagnosed with the exact same thing as you and would be interested in chatting with you.

I traveled outside the US, and sounds like the same issue. Had it now for three years, but comes and goes. I've learned to stay away from coffee and alcohol, which isn't easy. Tried a ton of alternative treatments, some helping, but never curing. I did notice that B12 does help, but I don't think it is the main issue. I'd like to hear jbat or nali's other notes or ideas.

google neurogenic cough.

you can try elavil..

A cough doesn't seem to be the main issue, but was very interesting. I don't understand why an anti-depressant would help though.