Hi Clare, no you are not the only one. There are many posts here that speak of burping. You are right it is pressure and vagus nerve from what RLR says - burping relives the pressure. Some people drink water to produce burping for relieve. I aslo get thumps when I slump forward or press against my left side. So weird but it is the pressure on my stomach. I often cough too, but then the vagus nerve would be involved with that too.

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Had this myself too.   I think with anxiety I tend to gulp air with my food.

Thank you to all of you for replying to my post, it has really helped me to relax a little about these. I am wearing my 24 hr holter monitor now, due to give it back this morning so hopefully all will be ok with the results, if it is then I know I will feel reassured. I guess I will have to face facts - I may always have these horrible things! But if i'm to move on then I have to let go of this fear and learn to react less to them. If they are Vagus nerve related then I wonder what can 'trigger' this to start being 'stimulated' at some point.. where it wasn't before?

When I don't have these for a few days I feel as happy as ever... but then BANG out of the blue and it feels like the end is nigh!

Feeling more positive now, thanks again people.

xx

Okay, this is a very common complaint. Remember that the vagus nerve innervates the GI tract as the pneumogastric nerve and when air becomes trapped in the lumen of the intestines or bowel, it can sometimes produce stimulation which produces an evoked potential or impulse which travels along the vagus nerve until it reaches the terminal endings.

Although all innervated areas respond as they normally do when stimulated, the heart is especially affected due to its constant motion and activity. It's very, very important to remember that this type of response happens to everyone's heart under circumstances wherein you have been suddenly startled or frightened. The difference in cases where no startle response occurs is that the vagus action on the heart occurs in the absence of any known cause to the person experiencing it and therefore, it mistakenly becomes a symptom that something is wrong.

It's also critical to realize that some people have increased sensitivity, which in this context simply means that the sensory processes of these persons respond to certain internal or environmental stimuli and produce feedback to the nervous system and brain. Remember that the senses can be visual, auditory, gustatory(taste), olfactory(smell) and tactile(touch), so feedback can be either represent a more singular sensory response or multiple depending upon the stimulus.

As part of the increased sensitivity, the nervous system in general responds more dramatically in such persons so the incidence of palpitations due to vagus nerve stimulation can be quite prominent.

The presence and increase of palpitations can also be due to the presence of generalized anxiety disorder, but it must reach levels wherein it is chronic rather than acute and must be elevated to the extent that it produces a sub-threshold state of apprehension and fear necessary to invoke the fight-or-flight physiological response by the body. This is the case for many sufferers who appear on this forum.

So while there are several underlying circumstances responsible for the palpitations in this regard, they constitute and entirely harmless event in all instances and should not in any context be erroneously associated with heart disease or some type of imminent failure of the heart to perform as necessary. This type of disturbance is completely non-pathological and is incapable from placing you at risk.

Best regards and Good Health

Okay, the impulses from the vagus nerve are a natural physiological response taking place at inappropriate intervals. It's not as simple as putting a stop to the signals reaching the heart because the heart depends upon stimulation by the vagus nerve.

You need to realize that increased stimulation of the nervous system due to stress and or anxiety are producing the events.

The ability to diminish the palpitation events has to do with reducing anxiety and or stress. Many persons who experience palpitations of this type are either unable to define the source of their anxiety and stress or alternatively refute the existence of the anxiety and stress altogether, claiming the cause to be anything otherwise.

A reduction in the stressors and anxiety which stimulate the nervous system to the extent that palpitation events become likely, directly correspond with a reduction in their frequency.

Best regards and Good Health