Rapid Heart Beat. Take Colace Stool Softeners. Had Anal Fistilictomy. Any Relation?

Posted on Fri, 18 Oct 2013

Medically reviewed by Ask A Doctor - 24x7 Medical Review Team

Fri, 18 Oct 2013 Answered on

Thu, 7 Nov 2013 Last reviewed on

Question : My son is 18 years old and he suddenly experienced a rapid heart beat along with lightheadness and has episodes in which he gets a weird rubbery smell, this just started about 45 minutes ago he also feels pressure in his forehead area. The only medication he takes are colace stool softners. Last week he had surgery ( anal fistilictomy) but he had been doing fine.

Answered by Dr. Ram Choudhary (-4 hours later)

Brief Answer:
ECG ECHO and referals needed

Detailed Answer:
Hello XXXX
Welcome to health care magic.
Rapid heart rate and lightheadedness along with the abnormal sense of smell may be a result of abnormal heart rate that is called a Cardiac arrhythmia.
Or it can be due to a particular type of epilepsy called temporal lobe epilepsy which can cause abnormal sense of smell.
It is highly advisable that he should get an electrocardiogram and echocardiogram and a review to a cardiologist should be done.
Regarding abnormal sense of smell a neurologist consultantation should be sought.
The history of recent surgery and the use of laxative is unlikely to cause all this.
I hope the advice will be helpful for you.

Above answer was peer-reviewed by : Dr. Chakravarthy Mazumdar