Strange chest sensations as part of IBS

Diseases & Conditions Irritable Bowel Syndrome
1
Hi all,
   I have IBS-D, which is wonderfully controlled with calcium.  I have a question for you.  I have never had pain from IBS.  What is the absolute worst symptom for me besides incredible bloating is constant chest sensations that feel like there must be a small animal living in my chest!  For a long time, I thought it was irregular heartbeats, but it's not.  It's the sensation of rapid pressure changes in my chest.   Maybe it's gas that presses on my intestines, which press on my diaphragm, which presses on my heart, and then it suddenly  moves, and changes the pressure feeling??  It's a VERY uncomfortable feeling.   Have any of you experienced this?   These symptoms are also controlled with 1200mg of calcium a day, but if I skip one dose, those feelings return.    I haven't talked to anyone who has had this symptom, and it makes me wonder what's really going on!  When I'm not using the calcium, it actually takes my breath away.  Any ideas?  Hopefully it isn't really a small animal in there!   Thanks.
2
Cathy A,
No, I haven't had those types of chest pains but I have some pain in my chest especially when my gas is at its worst. Have you spoken to your doctor about this? If not it may be a good idea to mention it to him/her. It may be nothing but its best to find out.
Keep us posted.

Post Edited (jodi569) : 4/5/2005 4:48:45 PM (GMT-6)

3

Hi

I have some chest pain for almost 2 months and I am suffering from IBS C. 2 months ago when this symptoms started I was not sure what it really is so I went to a cardiologist and did all the check ups like echocardiogram, stress test, carotid duplex, holter monitor and some blood work, the only thing they found was a very mild aortic insufficiency which my doc says it has nothing to do with your chest pain cause it is very mild to cause the pain and he thinks that the pain is coming from the stress, he sent me home with some antidepressant. after taking those for 14 days I still have pain in my chest, not only pain but also sometimes it is pressure mostly on my left side under and above the left breast and somtimes in the middle of my chest. now I realized that when I have this pain I also have some spasms lower from my chest around stomach area which moves all around my abdomin and it reaches to my chest area. that's why I think all these pains and pressures which I tolerated for 2 months are coming from my IBS. so I have appointment with my cardiologist in two weeks and I want to tell him about my new discovery. hopefully he confirms that this  pain is because of IBS not because of any serious heart problmes.

4
Thanks Jodi and sahar,
Mine isn't pain, it's just sensations of movement in my chest. I've had a stress echo, and everything was okay. I think alot of GI sensations probably can be felt in the chest area, since the transverse colon sits pretty close to the chest. Thanks for your replies!
5

Cathy -

Is the funny feeling in the centre of your chest, in the middle of the breast bone? And is it a strange, almost fluttery sensation? If so, I think I might have the same thing. I also suffer from IBS.

 

6
Hi t_bag,
It feels like it's where my heart is, or a little lower. Yes, the sensation is a fluttery feeling.........almost like there's a bunch of air, which suddenly is withdrawn......almost like pressure, then vacuum. It also makes me feel like I need to burp alot.......but I think I just burp to make me THINK it releases the pressure, but it doesn't. To me, it feels like if it is in my intestines, it's in my transverse colon. (the small animal, that is. haha) The calcium completely gets rid of it for the most part......but if I miss 1 dose, it's back. It's so very strange and never-ending.
7
Cathy -
 
That sounds like what I've got. I can feel something 'moving' when I breathe. It seems worse when I lie down.
 
This is the second time I've had this now - the first time I tried to relieve it by burping, like you said. It did seem to make it feel a little better, but it didn't get rid of it entirely.
 
 
8
I've just missed two days of work because of a spell of IBS. I had pressure under the lower front ribs on the left side. Besides the rumblings and spasms, I also experienced some periods of irregular heartbeats. I checked this by feeling my pulse in the wrist and also in the neck. The irregular heartbeats seemed to be worsen while laying in certain positions. It would be interesting if others experiencing this could check their pulse and report back.
9
Hi Filmguy,
   One night after going to bed, I was having alot of fullness in my chest (from my GI tract), and was having alot of irregular heartbeats.  I finally changed from laying on my left side to my right side, and they all went away!   My cardiologist has said that some people only have their irregular heartbeats in certain positions. 
10
Since my last post a month ago, the 'sensations' in my chest worsened and I realised it was actually my heart that was causing the weird feelings.

When I'm resting, my heart pounds in my chest and every now and again I get a really big one, which scares me. I still get the fluttery feeling, as if my heart is vibrating. It's worse when I go to bed and am lying on my side.

I'm going to the doctor about it tonight, as it's gone on too long now and I'm really worried.
11
Hello CathyA,

Yes, I have found that changing position can reduce the irregular beats. I also have periods where about every 5th beat is slightly delayed and then harder than normal. Use of caffeine or decongestants makes this worse. I've found that if I get more exercise that this funny fifth beat goes away or at least is not noticable.
12
I've just come back from the doctor and he said that I have an extra heartbeat. He said it could be caused by anaemia, thyroid problems or high cholesterol. I am having a blood test for these tomorrow and am being sent for an ECG.

I get exactly the same - I only really notice the thumping in my chest when I am resting - especially when I'm lying down. I mentioned this to the doctor and he said that in patients with healthy hearts, it will disappear when exercising. If you had something wrong with your heart, you would become short of breath and your heartbeat would get worse.
13

Good luck with the tests.

While I don't have solid evidence of it, it also seems that my blood pressure goes up during IB episodes, but I have only tested my blood pressure a few times during an episode. Has anyone else noticed this?

 

 

14
I agree with you filmguy. I would venture to say that most everyones blood pressure goes up durning an "episode." It's the stress. For me, anyway, it's like "Here we go... how bad is it going to get? When's it going to pass?" And so on, and so on. It's terrible. Especially if you're not in the comfort of your own home when this happens.
15
Your right 7Lil, stress would account for some increase but even when I'm not feeling stressed, at home relaxing, my pressure can be up 10-20 points during a bout. My feeling is that it may be the result of increased adominal pressure pressing against the heart, thoracic aorta, or inferior vena cava. Just a guess. Has anyone else tested their blood pressure during a IB bout?
 
 

Post Edited (filmguy) : 5/16/2005 2:36:35 PM (GMT-6)

16

Hey everyone,

Just thought I'd throw an idea out there...I've had PVCs (preventricular contractions) for at least a decade, since I was a teenager.  These feel like skipped heartbeats - but it's actually a premature beat followed by a long pause - and they are very noticeable and very annoying.  They are totally benign, however, and usually stress-related.  When you think about them you are bound to experience them more.  What I do - a cardiologist recommended this to me when I was in college - is when I start getting a run of them, I get up and do about 50 jumping jacks, or run around the block, or do something to get my heart rate up.  This sends a signal to your heart to freakin' cut it out, and you'll generally feel much better afterwards!

17
Sarita -
 
I've been doing similar things to make me feel better, like jumping or jogging on the spot. You do look a bit silly when you're in the supermarket though...
 
I think it's my body's way of making me do more exercise. :-)
 
Do you know why you get them and why you've had them so long?
18
Cathy,
You have described to a T what has been happening to me today. And it just started today! I thought I was having serious heart problems or something. I had a panic attack this morning (which I have them every so often, I'm not taking meds for them). Afterwards it felt like a fluttery sensation in my chest and it went all the way up to my throat. The feeling went away just as quickly as it came but minutes later, it came back again. And kept coming, and coming and coming. It's been going on all day. Every few hours I get that feeling in my chest, it travels up my throat but the past few times it's been making me cough a lot like I'm being choked. I also coughed up a bit of mucus. I plan on going to the doctor next week but after reading this thread, it made me wonder if I had IBS as well or some sort of heart problem. My mother has IBS, I wonder if this is hereditary?
19
Hi Nikki,
I'm wondering how old you are? The reason I ask is I know of several women who, when they start going through menopause (and that can be from late 30's on), start feeling weird chest/esophogus/neck sensations. Lots of things can be heriditary, so I wouldn't be surprised if you "inherited" it from your mom.
I definitely go through spells of this, and I'm pretty sure it's connected to my hormones. (as are panic attacks!). Of course, you want to be sure it isn't your heart, and I'm glad you're seeing the doctor next week. I think some of us are very sensitive to sensations in our GI tract and chest. The same is true for the heart. My cardiologist said that some people can be having TONS of irregular heartbeats, and never know it........and some of us can have them, and feel like they're going to knock us over.
I'm also wondering about reflux with you. My esophogas goes through spells of being weird too, and can make for alot of strange sensations.
When I started going through perimenopause, I would get these weird sensations in my chest......especially at night, where there would be pressure in my chest, then a strange, tingly, warm wave would quickly go outward through my whole body. It's easy to freak out with these things!! So much has calmed down for me since I've gone through menopause. I could always tell when my hormones were misbehaving, because I would get heartburn so easily.......and all those other weird symptoms. If you think it might be reflux, just try not to eat foods that make it worse (chocolate, tomato products, caffeine, etc...........all the good stuff!), and see if that helps. Also, try not to lie down for several hours after eating.
20
I just turned 28 a week and a half ago. I don't know what in the heck is going on but I hope to find out soon. I haven't had any of those problems since the day I wrote my first post but I'm still going to go to the doctor just to be on the safe said. Well, I take that back. I was on the treadmill yesterday and it started up again. But it went away when I switched from breathing through my nose to my mouth. LOL, who knows what's going on. Trying to self-diagnose myself over the Internet is only going to cause me to have another panic attack. I have problems with ovarian cysts and I read yesterday having excess gas can be a sign of ovarian cancer. Even though I had a pelvic ultrasound in November and February, I'm made myself very scared, lol. I will let you know what the doc says.