Someone analyze my ventricles.

August 8, 2008 12:38 PM

I'm going to ask my doctor, but what might it mean if laying on my back specifically rather than in other positions for extended periods can leave my heart feeling congested for days afterwards?

I can also get pretty substantial palpitations in this position which go away when I take a deep breath. This all started when I got this to lay in my bed using my laptop, and eventually I started feeling so morbidly unhealthy that I got this. It isn't that I am morbidly sedentary, I just started using that to give my back injury some rest. I have definitely pinpointed it to laying on my back specifically rather than laying on my side or sitting around all day etc. It's annoying because I have had my heart checked out for so many legitimate concerns such as this one and it's always checked out fine, but this one I feel is probably the worst yet. Does anyone know what this laying down heart congestion thing might suggest?

posted by GleepGlop to health & fitness (10 comments total)

How old are you? I will say that you should be open to the possibility this could be reflux. Lying on your back can trigger reflux, and the symptoms can last for days since reflux is essentially esophageal damage. I've found that the symptoms of reflux are really vague and can feel very much like heart palpitations / heart fluttering. Why, I have no idea; maybe the nerve bundles into the thorax are not wired well. I've seen a doctor about it, had EKGs, blood work, etc, and they've found nothing. I took some Gaviscon and cut out alcohol and carbonated drinks for awhile and it all went away after a couple of months.

Coincidentally this was at a time when I was having small amounts of coffee. That of course can cause heart symptoms, but since I was getting clean bills of health and no other cardiopulmonary symptoms I'm inclined to think the coffee just aggravated the reflux rather than my heart.

Yes, see a doctor and all that, but anyway maybe that tidbit will help.
posted by crapmatic at 12:49 PM on August 8, 2008

I am 26, and I'm not sure I know what reflux feels like, so I suppose it's not impossible... I do know that things which you may think are heart related can actually be other things. Let's hope this is one of those things.
posted by GleepGlop at 1:03 PM on August 8, 2008

I can add that this isn't a feeling of pain or burning. More of a feeling of coronary cloggery.
posted by GleepGlop at 1:05 PM on August 8, 2008

No offense, but if you're 26 and your heart has always checked out fine, how would you know what coronary cloggery feels like?
posted by jon1270 at 1:31 PM on August 8, 2008

IANAD, but the folks I've known that have required bypass surgery weren't aware of their condition until after a stress test and that test where they inject dye into your veins. For example, my dad had quintuple bypass surgery back in 1996, and his only symptom was being out of breath after simple activities like climbing the basement stairs or bending over to work in his garden. He didn't feel any sort of chest congestion. Even when he suffered a mild heart attack in 1992, his main symptoms were a feeling of indigestion and discomfort in both his forearms. No mention of "heart congestion."

I suffer from occasional acid reflux, and my initial symptom (when I was first diagnosed) was pain/heaviness around the heart area. (I'd had pericarditis in the past, and rushed to the doctor when I had this new chest pain.)

I'm not sure how coronary cloggery feels - can you be more specific? Just a heaviness in the chest region?
posted by Oriole Adams at 1:32 PM on August 8, 2008

Definitely try some acid reflux meds, like Pepcid or Prilosec. I had a weird bloated feeling in the upper left of my chest, and I'd tend to burp if I pressed on that area. I didn't have any pain or burning either. A few days of Prilosec decreased the problem dramatically.
posted by Reverend John at 1:44 PM on August 8, 2008

Esophagitis. This is when acid reflux gets up in your esophagus and it (the esophagus) goes into spasm. Mild forms feel like heart palpitations. When it gets bad it can feel like a heart attack. Laying down, especially after eating or drinking can aggrevate this condition.

And let me tell you, when it gets bad it feels like death is immenent. Or, at least, as close as I'd like to get to that feeling for several decades.

So I asked my doctor, "If this feels just like a heart attach, how am I supposed to tell the difference?" He answered simply, "You can't. You have to get tests."

The good news is that if you get diagnosed and treated it can improve dramatically. After several years I'm now even off my Nexium except as needed, which is once or twice a month.

Or, it could be something else entirely.
posted by trinity8-director at 1:51 PM on August 8, 2008

Oh, right. In the ER when this was first diagnosed (yes, it was that bad), one of the things they did was give me Malox with an anesthetic mixed in. The Malox was for the reflux but the anesthetic was for the spasms.

They wanted to see if that combination had a positive effect, which it did, but getting those last swallows down with a numb mouth was challenging.

The ER doc said they see esophagitis a lot in people who think they're having heart attacks.

Please don't use that to as an excuse avoid the ER if you have chest pains!
posted by trinity8-director at 1:57 PM on August 8, 2008

Oriole: a heaviness in the chest region might describe it...
posted by GleepGlop at 2:54 PM on August 8, 2008

Hiatal hernia, perhaps.
posted by neuron at 2:56 PM on August 8, 2008