Okay, you're going to be fine. I'm not certain of your dietary patterns, but here are a few points to consider when eating meals.

Eating fast: Many people tend to eat very fast and in doing so, swallow copious amounts of air along with their meal. This translates to the buildup of trapped air in the lumen of the intestines and subsequently presses upward against the diaphragmatic muscle. Such a scenario greatly increases the potential for vagus nerve-induced palpitation events to occur. Generally, it should take you about 30 to 45 minutes of casual consumption to eat a normal meal.

Drinking beverages throughout the meal, particularly from a bottle or cup: Drinking large quantities of liquid during the meal, ie "washing it down" is also capable of trapping air that gets swallowed as well. Most of the mealtime beverage should be consumed following the meal, with only small sips taken during eating. Carbonated beverages should also be avoided during meals, as should milk, both of which create difficulty with digestion in most persons.

Eating Large Meals: Many people habitually eat very large meals and "clean their plate." This habit can produce abdominal distention and again, produce the likelihood of palpitation events. Proper meal portions should be maintained and heavy gravies or thick syrups should be avoided as they tend to prevent gas or air from easily escaping.

Eating late supper meals: Eating late at night, or generally past 6pm is not a good idea for persons experiencing GI difficulties. Also, once the meal is eaten, you should take a casual stroll, not exercise, but slow relaxing walk. This aids in digestion and typically permits the release of trapped air or gas.

Dietary choice: In most all cases, it's not what you eat but how it is consumed. There are, however, certain food choices which can produce unwanted gas and although I won't list them here, they should be restricted within the diet.

The "blind spots" in your central vision are commonly termed tunnel vision and it is caused be momentary decreased perfusion to the brain as a consequence of a run of palpitation events. In other words, blood pressure momentarily falls below the threshold necessary to maintain adequate perfusion and you begin feeling light-headed and experience tunnel vision. The quickest method by the body to recover from these circumstances is to increase cardiac force and rate, which you experience as pounding heart. Brief occipital headaches are also common under such conditions. These are all normal physiological responses.

You're not developing any type of dangerous arrhythmia. If you experience a run of palpitations, simply remain seated and wait for them to pass. Although frightening, absolutely nothing more than the symptom itself will ever occur and the palpitations are entirely incapable of causing any type of cardiac event.

Follow the dietary suggestions and determine whether you experience any improvement.

Best regards,

Rutheford Rane, MD (ret.)