When you describe pain in the right flank, please be more specific. That description would be more consistent with kidney rather than gall bladder problems. Tell me more precisely where you sense the discomfort. It's also important to realize that cholecystitis is asymptomatic in the majority of patients. You mention having "always had stomach problems" and I would ask you to please describe in more detail what the problems constitute.  

With respect to the function of the vagus nerve, it possesses a singular action upon the nervous system and, secondarily or indirectly, a response upon the vascular network. There are many factors which can induce primary hypertension and most are unassociated with vagus nerve function.

Please provide an average of your blood pressure readings.

Best regards,

Rutheford Rane, MD (ret.)

I too believe that gallbladder disease caused 90% of my pacs and pvcs.  I have had palpitations for the last 20 years which increased greatly over the last 12 years.  I also had  acid reflux and heatburn everyday.  I had a lone episode of afib in 08 so have been under care of cardiologist since.  After thorough heart exams, with nothing serious found,  was put on beta blocker.  Continued to have frequent palpitations (numerous episodes daily).  I have found through experience over the years, there are several things that I feel cause the palpitations, i.e. cold medicines, dental anesthetics, over full stomach and always after eating.  Sometimes the palpitations would start while I was eating, a couple of times, so sever I felt I would faint. In Jan. of 2012  I started having pretty severe pain in my back, right side, midway between shoulder blade and waist, some tenderness under ribs in front.  The pain would start at night when I would lie down.

To make a long story short, because of increase in palpitations my cardio dr. had me on a heart monitor when my pcp sent me for scan because of back pain.  Found I did have gallstones and sludge.  I had surgery in April 2012 for removal of gallbladder.  

About three months after surgery my palpitations had improved by , at least 35%.  As I write this, which I am now 9 months post surgery, I can say the number of palpitations I have, has gone from too many to count daily (and always some of them  after eating) , to one or two daily (usually these occur when I get hungry) .

So, I have to say, maybe not scientifically proven, but according to my experience, a diseased gallbladder most definitely effected my palpitations in a negative way.  WOW-I am so SHOCKED.

I believe 20 years ago I may have been where you are today.  

Hope this helps you.

I have the same thing as well. Just had my HIDA scan done, I dont know what my ejection fraction was, but they said I had bilary dyskensia, whatever that means. All I know is I wake up in the morning and I feel okay, by evening I have a horribly bloated stomach, chest pains, back pains and my heart skips. Meeting again with the surgeon on Thursday. He wanted me to get a CT scan first to rule anything else out.

Do you get bloated? I think the gall bladder when its not functioning properly, can cause bad bloating and pressure, which can cause palpitations.

My biggest fear is that my gall bladder is removed and I still get the same pains. Or that I find out afterwards that it was my anxiety causing all the issues.

Hi ncmimi:

Was it chest pain you were experiencing or chest pressure? Thinking about it now, I get mostly pressure in my stomach that radiates into my chest. Always worse after eating. It feels like someone is wrapping a huge elastic band around my chest and stomach.

Your symptoms could be associated with duodenal stasis, which is a rather archaic clinical term describing pressure against the retroperitoneal portion of the duodenum where it joins the stomach which can produce sometimes dramatic discomfort and symptom patterns quite similar to cholecystitis, including referred pain to the right scapula in some patients. Hyperacidity is also experienced with this syndrome as well.

The ejection fraction is below the threshold and in accordance with best practice standards, surgery is among the options considered. I stand clearly on the side of conservative treatment measures, however, and always advise such an approach prior to any decision regarding surgery. In some cases, surgery is the best course but it's always wise to proceed with lesser measures to be certain that it constitutes the last viable option.

When is the last time your doctor had clinical labs performed to determine your liver enzymes while taking the statin being prescribed?

Best regards,

Rutheford Rane, MD (ret.)

The things you talk about are good and valid "reasons" for pvc's to exist.  But the bigger question is - "what can we do about it?"  This is where I spent 7 years researching the topic.  There are many organs that can contribute to a level of function that helps to create conditions where palps can exist.  Our task is to change the environment so that palps are just not an option.  To that end, my work in the area of internal inflammation has show tremendous potential.  If you know how to reverse the damage that creates the palp friendly environment, then you will be palp free like i have been for the past two years.
8-)

RLR wrote on Feb 22^nd, 2013, 5:07pm:


I would add that those on statin drugs, if they are taking them for the purposes of reducing the chance of heart attack, should research Dr. Kilmer McCully.  

Lowering cholesterol as means to reduce this risk only one of the ways to achieve a reduced risk.  But doing it is not without collateral issues.  For example, the body is NOT going to do without cholesterol and will manufacture it at a greater rate if we try to artificially reduce it.  Taking statins will virtually guarantee the patient develops related health issues which would necessitate the addition of more pharmaceutical drugs.

Patients should be advised that they can achieve the same effect by lowering homocysteine levels.  To do this, you require about $8 worth of folic acid per month!  This will allow you to keep your cholesterol and thereby NOT get arthritis and other related complexes associated with statin use.