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What Causes A Pounding Heart Rate At Night?
Question: Hi. I'm having some chronic symptoms that I can't explain.
Waking up in the middle of the night with a pounding heart,
then not being able to get back to sleep, RUQ pain and pressure,
major acid reflux, nausea, pale stools that sometimes smell like
ammonia, extremely dry/itchy skin. Huge bags under my eyes
and yellow skin. Had several tests done(CBC, CMP, Celiac Disease,
H Pylori test and others ordered by a Gastroenterologist) and all
were normal. But I sure don't feel normal, and symptoms like
RUQ pain, pale stools,etc sound fairly serious to me. I doubt
that the waking up in the middle of the night with heart pounding
is due to anxiety, because I try to stay relaxed, and meditate
every night. I'm at a loss for what the cause might be, and how
to treat it. I do take a lot of supplements, in an effort to help,
but I now suspect they may be part of the problem. Can you
please give me some insight as to what's going on and what
I should do about it? Thanks so much...
Waking up in the middle of the night with a pounding heart,
then not being able to get back to sleep, RUQ pain and pressure,
major acid reflux, nausea, pale stools that sometimes smell like
ammonia, extremely dry/itchy skin. Huge bags under my eyes
and yellow skin. Had several tests done(CBC, CMP, Celiac Disease,
H Pylori test and others ordered by a Gastroenterologist) and all
were normal. But I sure don't feel normal, and symptoms like
RUQ pain, pale stools,etc sound fairly serious to me. I doubt
that the waking up in the middle of the night with heart pounding
is due to anxiety, because I try to stay relaxed, and meditate
every night. I'm at a loss for what the cause might be, and how
to treat it. I do take a lot of supplements, in an effort to help,
but I now suspect they may be part of the problem. Can you
please give me some insight as to what's going on and what
I should do about it? Thanks so much...
Brief Answer:
Please, stop all supplements and let's see what is happening!
Detailed Answer:
Hi and thank you so much for this query.
I am so sorry to hear about these symptoms that you have reported. Waking up in the middle of the night with chest pain and a pounding heart is typical of anxiety attacks. If this occurs always, then I will recommend you get treatment for this. There are very safe and effective drugs to control this.
For the dry itchy skin, RUQ pain and pale stool could be suggestive of a gall bladder disease in which bile salts are retained. This can explain the pale stools, poor digestion and absorption which leads to diarrhea, and RUQ pain. If you didn't get an ultrasound of the RUQ done, I strongly recommend that you get one done.
For the supplements, I will encourage you to stop all supplements not recommended by a doctor. This will give us a window period to see whether it makes a difference or not. Supplements are not always without side effects as many manufacturers claim.
I hope this helps. I wish you well. Thanks for using our services and do feel free to ask for more information and clarifications if need be. Let me know what your thoughts are about the above plan and please provide me with updates.
Please, stop all supplements and let's see what is happening!
Detailed Answer:
Hi and thank you so much for this query.
I am so sorry to hear about these symptoms that you have reported. Waking up in the middle of the night with chest pain and a pounding heart is typical of anxiety attacks. If this occurs always, then I will recommend you get treatment for this. There are very safe and effective drugs to control this.
For the dry itchy skin, RUQ pain and pale stool could be suggestive of a gall bladder disease in which bile salts are retained. This can explain the pale stools, poor digestion and absorption which leads to diarrhea, and RUQ pain. If you didn't get an ultrasound of the RUQ done, I strongly recommend that you get one done.
For the supplements, I will encourage you to stop all supplements not recommended by a doctor. This will give us a window period to see whether it makes a difference or not. Supplements are not always without side effects as many manufacturers claim.
I hope this helps. I wish you well. Thanks for using our services and do feel free to ask for more information and clarifications if need be. Let me know what your thoughts are about the above plan and please provide me with updates.
Above answer was peer-reviewed by :
Dr. Chakravarthy Mazumdar
Hi. Thanks for the quick reply.
Forgot to mention that I did
have an Ultrasound recently(2 months ago)
of the RUQ area(when I was
having pain there), and they
said it was normal. The only
slight abnormality they found
was my Prothrombin Time
was about a second over the
normal limit. I also
had an MRCP about 1.5 years
ago(I was having the same symptoms
then) and it was also perfectly normal.
But I agree - the
symptoms really seem to point
to the gallbladder(or liver).
Are there any other tests that
might be more conclusive?
As for anxiety, is it possible
one could have a delayed reaction
to it? Because I've worked hard
to reduce my anxiety over my
health issues recently with
a good deal of success(at least
in terms of how I feel during the
day). So now that my anxiety's
much lower than it used to be,
could the waking in the night
be a sign that my body somehow
has not caught up with this
(just speculating)?
I will attempt to stop all supplements.
I've been taking these for years now,
and it's quite an ingrained habit, but
I will try my best(this seems to be the
only risk factor in my lifestyle, otherwise
I eat a very healthy diet,etc).
Thanks again...
Forgot to mention that I did
have an Ultrasound recently(2 months ago)
of the RUQ area(when I was
having pain there), and they
said it was normal. The only
slight abnormality they found
was my Prothrombin Time
was about a second over the
normal limit. I also
had an MRCP about 1.5 years
ago(I was having the same symptoms
then) and it was also perfectly normal.
But I agree - the
symptoms really seem to point
to the gallbladder(or liver).
Are there any other tests that
might be more conclusive?
As for anxiety, is it possible
one could have a delayed reaction
to it? Because I've worked hard
to reduce my anxiety over my
health issues recently with
a good deal of success(at least
in terms of how I feel during the
day). So now that my anxiety's
much lower than it used to be,
could the waking in the night
be a sign that my body somehow
has not caught up with this
(just speculating)?
I will attempt to stop all supplements.
I've been taking these for years now,
and it's quite an ingrained habit, but
I will try my best(this seems to be the
only risk factor in my lifestyle, otherwise
I eat a very healthy diet,etc).
Thanks again...
Brief Answer:
For now, first stop the supplements!
Detailed Answer:
Hi,
With MRCP and an ultrasound, there are no better tests to investigate into this. If both didn't find an abnormality, there will be no reason to keep thinking so.
I am happy to hear you have been able to control your anxiety. Waking up at night in no way suggest that you are losing the self control you have gained. It might simply point to the fact that we may need to do more to address it.
This is a longstanding problem and we should not rush to action. Let's adopt little and logical steps to see what makes a difference. For now, let's stop the supplements, give ourselves 4weeks and see how your health turns out. Please keep me updated, regularly.
Until next, I wish you well.
For now, first stop the supplements!
Detailed Answer:
Hi,
With MRCP and an ultrasound, there are no better tests to investigate into this. If both didn't find an abnormality, there will be no reason to keep thinking so.
I am happy to hear you have been able to control your anxiety. Waking up at night in no way suggest that you are losing the self control you have gained. It might simply point to the fact that we may need to do more to address it.
This is a longstanding problem and we should not rush to action. Let's adopt little and logical steps to see what makes a difference. For now, let's stop the supplements, give ourselves 4weeks and see how your health turns out. Please keep me updated, regularly.
Until next, I wish you well.
Above answer was peer-reviewed by :
Dr. Chakravarthy Mazumdar
Thanks Doctor.
That just leaves me with one
question: if the gallbladder/liver aren't
causing the RUQ pain, pale stools, itchy skin,
then what could be? The RUQ MIGHT be
explained by ulcer/gastritis in the duodenal
area(I'm very sensitive to acidic foods and
get pain there and in the upper stomach after
eating them), but I never heard of this
causing pale stools or itchy skin.
I did have an H Pylori infection about 1.5 years
ago but that was treated successfully(and hasn't returned,
as a very recent stool test showed). This might have
left some lingering damage/dysfunction, but again
doesn't seem to explain the pale stools,etc.
Can we absolutely rule out liver or gallbladder problems
as the cause of these symptoms? If so, could ulcers
or gastritis cause them? What else do you know might
cause some of these(eg. gut dysbiosis)?
Thanks so much for you help with this. It's been
frustrating not knowing the exact cause of all
these symptoms.
I will follow your advice to quit supplements
and work some more on anxiety. These should
help regardless of the cause.
Best regards,
XXXXXXX
That just leaves me with one
question: if the gallbladder/liver aren't
causing the RUQ pain, pale stools, itchy skin,
then what could be? The RUQ MIGHT be
explained by ulcer/gastritis in the duodenal
area(I'm very sensitive to acidic foods and
get pain there and in the upper stomach after
eating them), but I never heard of this
causing pale stools or itchy skin.
I did have an H Pylori infection about 1.5 years
ago but that was treated successfully(and hasn't returned,
as a very recent stool test showed). This might have
left some lingering damage/dysfunction, but again
doesn't seem to explain the pale stools,etc.
Can we absolutely rule out liver or gallbladder problems
as the cause of these symptoms? If so, could ulcers
or gastritis cause them? What else do you know might
cause some of these(eg. gut dysbiosis)?
Thanks so much for you help with this. It's been
frustrating not knowing the exact cause of all
these symptoms.
I will follow your advice to quit supplements
and work some more on anxiety. These should
help regardless of the cause.
Best regards,
XXXXXXX
Brief Answer:
Difficult to tell what the exact cause of teh stool changes are!
Detailed Answer:
Hi,
I understand your worries and more so because no answers have been identified. However, not every possible symptom can be explained. I would have immediately said a liver/gal bladder disease and as you have noted, this is not the case at this time.
Acid issues could cause this pain but nit the stool changes. are you on any medications for gastritis? I will suggest we do the minimum recommended above in the hope of understanding more with time. At times, that may be all that is needed.
Keep me updated with your progress. .I wish you a speedy recovery.
Difficult to tell what the exact cause of teh stool changes are!
Detailed Answer:
Hi,
I understand your worries and more so because no answers have been identified. However, not every possible symptom can be explained. I would have immediately said a liver/gal bladder disease and as you have noted, this is not the case at this time.
Acid issues could cause this pain but nit the stool changes. are you on any medications for gastritis? I will suggest we do the minimum recommended above in the hope of understanding more with time. At times, that may be all that is needed.
Keep me updated with your progress. .I wish you a speedy recovery.
Note: For further follow up on related General & Family Physician Click here.
Above answer was peer-reviewed by :
Dr. Chakravarthy Mazumdar
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