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Do Acid Reflux And Hiatal Hernia Cause Sinus Tachycardia?
Question: I had a few episodes of afib with rapid ventricular response. i had a cardioversion. identified sleep apnea. been on metatropol 50x2 a day. fast forward a year which was fed 2015. severe episodes of sinus tachycardia mostly around eating. cardiologist felt i had anxiety. went to XXXXXXX clinic and doctor said i had a hiatal hernia with acid reflex and he said it was touching or irratating the atrium causing disturbances so he changed my medicine to nadalol 20 in morning and 10 at night. gave me nexium and within 2 days everything went away. its been 6 months and not one issue. pulse is 50-70 all the time. could it be that simple???
my ep called and wants a monitor to make sure there is no issue. my question is whether nadalol is the key or was my real issue the acid reflux and hiatal hernia? could my afib been caused by the hiatal hernia? i did lose 35 pounds. any comments
my ep called and wants a monitor to make sure there is no issue. my question is whether nadalol is the key or was my real issue the acid reflux and hiatal hernia? could my afib been caused by the hiatal hernia? i did lose 35 pounds. any comments
Brief Answer:
Nadolol, a beta-blocker
Detailed Answer:
Hello. Thank you for your question and welcome to HCM. I understand your concern.
Nadolol is a beta-blocker. This class of drugs, like calcium channel blockers, digitalis and adenosine, are drugs that prolong the electrical conductance through the atrioventricular node. However, these classes all contribute to rate control, and do not have any effect on converting the arrhythmia to normal sinus rhythm. Also, by controlling the rate, they also play a role in preventing another bouts of atrial arrythmia from happening. Most beta-blockers, not all of them, have these features. Therefore, I would recommend you to continue it. As I can understand from your description, you are feeling fine with it, not any complications using it whatsoever, so I would suggest you to continue using it.
There are a lot of reasons thaf can cause atrial fibrillation, and one of them is hiatal hernia, which, by producing constant gastro-oesophageal reflux, can trigger these arrythmias from irritation, since the oesophagus is in close neighbourhood to the atrium. At this point, I would recommend you to be put on a 24-hour rhythm monitor registration and, depending on its results, you can further discuss the options of treatment with your cardiologist. Since thyroid gland dysfunction is a common culprit of atrial arrythmias, I would recommend you to run thyroid function tests: TSH, fT4, fT3.
I hope I was helpful with my answer. If you have follow-up questions, I am ready and happy to help. If you do not, please close the discussion and rate the answer.
Best regards,
Dr. Meriton
Nadolol, a beta-blocker
Detailed Answer:
Hello. Thank you for your question and welcome to HCM. I understand your concern.
Nadolol is a beta-blocker. This class of drugs, like calcium channel blockers, digitalis and adenosine, are drugs that prolong the electrical conductance through the atrioventricular node. However, these classes all contribute to rate control, and do not have any effect on converting the arrhythmia to normal sinus rhythm. Also, by controlling the rate, they also play a role in preventing another bouts of atrial arrythmia from happening. Most beta-blockers, not all of them, have these features. Therefore, I would recommend you to continue it. As I can understand from your description, you are feeling fine with it, not any complications using it whatsoever, so I would suggest you to continue using it.
There are a lot of reasons thaf can cause atrial fibrillation, and one of them is hiatal hernia, which, by producing constant gastro-oesophageal reflux, can trigger these arrythmias from irritation, since the oesophagus is in close neighbourhood to the atrium. At this point, I would recommend you to be put on a 24-hour rhythm monitor registration and, depending on its results, you can further discuss the options of treatment with your cardiologist. Since thyroid gland dysfunction is a common culprit of atrial arrythmias, I would recommend you to run thyroid function tests: TSH, fT4, fT3.
I hope I was helpful with my answer. If you have follow-up questions, I am ready and happy to help. If you do not, please close the discussion and rate the answer.
Best regards,
Dr. Meriton
Note: For further queries related to coronary artery disease and prevention, click here.
Above answer was peer-reviewed by :
Dr. Chakravarthy Mazumdar
Answered by
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