GI Disorder and Internal Shaking

Posted by gigiraj @gigiraj, Feb 15, 2019

Hi all. I'm a 21 year old South Asian female and I have been having GI issues for about five years--mainly along the lines of constipation. I do have bowel movements every day but it takes a long time & I am rarely fully cleared out. These GI issues are always accompanied by other health issues (gas, pressure in head, etc). Recently, some scary new conditions have manifested: In the past few weeks, there have been times where my heart starts beating wildly and very fast. Sometimes, when I'm tired and constipated, my entire body feels like its vibrating internally; the shakes aren't visible but it feels like all my muscles are quivering. At this point, I feel a constant shaking/quivering within my body, especially in my heart cavity.

I have had TWO EKG's and both came back normal. All lab tests for diabetes, hypertension, cholesterol, etc came back within normal limits. I am very concerned about this internal shaking. My dad says he found something about how GI disorders can impact muscoskeletal system and since the heart is a muscle, it's contracting and being affected. But I wanted to know if anyone here can help!!!!!!! If anyone knows anything at all please please please let me know!!!!!

Interested in more discussions like this? Go to the Digestive Health Support Group.

@amandajro

Hello @hollyj89 and welcome to Mayo Clinic Connect. I see that you have found a member whose experience resonates with you in @gigiraj so will let the pair of you compare notes and experiences!

Have you scheduled your neurologist appointment?

Jump to this post

Yes I have been referred to a neurologist and am awaiting my appointment!

REPLY
@hollyj89

Hi I did send you a private message. But I am dealing with the same thing currently. Internal vibrations mainly. In my core. Stomach area and chest. It’s been going on a while now and I have been referred to a neurologist. What kind of tests did you have and I’m assuming you never got a diagnosis??? Glad to see it has stopped for you though. Gives me hope xx

Jump to this post

Hi, sorry, I don't check this forum too much and rely on email notifs....guess it didn't let me know I got a PM. I'm trying to remember and I think I got an MRI to test for Multiple Sclerosis. I also had several blood tests for iron deficiency, diabetes, and other general problems. They came back completely normal and the neurologists just said that it was stress. Not a helpful answer but it ended up being sort of true. I will say that I still get internal vibrations when I'm very sleepy or have a particular type of IBS going on. But the vibrations are very mild, and I used to literally physically shake from them sometimes.

In the end it came down to psychosomatic symptoms and emotional stress. That's not to say this will be the case for you, but that's what was going on with me. I'm still not ~well~, my GI system is definitely shot to hell. But the vibrations and palpitations at least are still there.

REPLY
@gigiraj

Hi, sorry, I don't check this forum too much and rely on email notifs....guess it didn't let me know I got a PM. I'm trying to remember and I think I got an MRI to test for Multiple Sclerosis. I also had several blood tests for iron deficiency, diabetes, and other general problems. They came back completely normal and the neurologists just said that it was stress. Not a helpful answer but it ended up being sort of true. I will say that I still get internal vibrations when I'm very sleepy or have a particular type of IBS going on. But the vibrations are very mild, and I used to literally physically shake from them sometimes.

In the end it came down to psychosomatic symptoms and emotional stress. That's not to say this will be the case for you, but that's what was going on with me. I'm still not ~well~, my GI system is definitely shot to hell. But the vibrations and palpitations at least are still there.

Jump to this post

Oh so you do still have the vibrations and palpitations? Yeah it’s annoying. Mine is mainly in my stomach and chest lately. It’s scary though as feels like my heart is vibrating. I had a 24 hour ecg which came back fine, bloods in December which came back with low vitamin d and iron so I’ve had supplements but everything again was fine. They keep saying stress and anxiety to me but they have now referred me to a neurologist just to shut me up I think. I am also getting tested for food sensitivities as not sure if it’s something like that. I don’t know. It’s just such an unsettling feeling.

REPLY
@hollyj89

Yes I have been referred to a neurologist and am awaiting my appointment!

Jump to this post

So question...:do you believe the vibrations were linked to stress/anxiety?

REPLY

....I have similar (and some other) health issues; but I have ib s-d and after c.diff 2018 now have fecal incontinence, and when i have internal shakes itss after i have taken Imodium anti diarrhea meds and it tightens up the fecal matter inside and then i go like rabbit poop (sorry)...so I have come to the conclusion its fecal matter pressing on something inside that gives me internal tremors (i have p.n.).. many years ago before i had to rush to toilet with diarrhea i would get a tingling top right of head - i looked it up on Internet and it said vagus nerve. Next time I was at dr for something else I asked him, could this tingling be vagus nerve and he snapped at me: NO. So that was that. I also once asked him if my problems were maybe from milk: NO! Another time, dry eyes and moth and dentist and optometrist said to ask dr. if I had Sojerns (misspelled)... NO! I am not kidding, and after he have me Norflox for a simple UTI and I got P.N. I left him after 20 years. Sadly next family dr. was just as bad.... so lucky are those who have family doctors or specialists who CARE, who are KNOWLEDGABLE, or who will refer to appropriate specialists: And I still feel some drs. treat women differently!

REPLY

Did anyone ever find out what was causing this? Internal shaking? I have been having it for years. Now my granddaughter is having it and I notice I can feel it through her skin, so I know it's a real thing and now probably inherited. I don't believe it's related to 'gas', since we don't suffer from this, but have been studying 'lectins' and believe it could have something to do with ingestion of foods that cause blood agglutination and then when you are supine somehow that effects your heart? Because mine inevitably causes a tachycardia about the time that I reach REM at night, probably when my body temperature changes. I have worn a watch monitor to try to figure it out and know from a Kardia monitor that it's tachycardia. I have had a transverse myelitis in 2015 from a quadrivalent flu vaccine, so it was interesting that someone mentioned that. I believe that could be a contributing factor. I believe lectins exacerbate that. And give you GI problems. Dr. Gunderson has written some good books about how to have a diet that helps this GI & cardiac problem. I made a chart that works for me and post it to my twitter. I've tried to eliminate most lectins. If anyone has figure it out, please let me know, or if you've found anything to take that helps please let me know, my doctor has run out of things to check for! We're talking about DNA for hypokalaemia and RYR1. I have had a reaction to low potassium with sulpha which stopped when I began taking Diltiazem. But the shaking and tachycardia remains and disrupts sleep.This is much more info than I intended to share, but am just trying to get to the bottom of this internal shaking heart problem. It's like a vibration. It's not in your head. There has to be a physiologic reason, because I can feel it in my granddaughter and she's not making it up.

REPLY

Hi there. I’m brand new to this board. I was looking up essentially the same symptoms as I’ve seen here but in relation to Pepsid (Famotidine) use. I was wondering how many people posting here uses Pepsid (famotidine) for GI issues but then develops a whole list of side effects due to this medication. I was checking out the side effects of Pepsid a couple nights ago desperately trying to find out which of my symptoms could be attributed to its use or what else could account for the internal jitters; feeling like my heart is fluttering, but it isn’t; anxiety and panic attacks out the wazoo; depression getting worse; headaches; severe gas pain; upper right abdominal pain despite my gallbladder being removed around 8-9 years ago, and many more “mystery” symptoms. When I saw all my symptoms listed as side effects of Famotidine, I couldn’t believe it. But, you know who could believe it? My husband when I told him this revelation twice before. I asked him what he was talking about and he told me that this is now the third time I’ve realized that famotidine (at least) was causing me to have all these symptoms and more and then quit it. The reason I didn’t remember that and then went back to using it again when my acid indigestion and GERD flared up is because it fried my brain that much. I’ve been floating around in a haze for a couple months now wondering why my brain fog was so awful. Can’t find the words for simple things, forgetting what I was even talking about and forgetting the names of basic colours. I’m two days without any famotidine and already the horrific migraines and tension headaches I was suffering from everyday are almost gone right now. The jitteriness is going way down, I don’t have that feeling of complete emptiness that I’ve felt for months now and hopefully the fog keeps lifting. Anyhoo, to make a long story a tad bit shorter, consider your medications, especially the ones for GI conditions. Look up ALL their potential side effects and speak with your doctor. I will never go back on famotidine again. I’m not sure what I will try in its absence but nothing could be as bad as what I’ve felt this past couple months and those other times that my brain fog swallowed up. I hope this can help in some kind of way.
Stay safe and sending my best to all of you 🙂

REPLY

Hi, I am just wondering if you found an answer to your GI/Internal shaking?
I feel like we have almost same thing that is going on. I experienced gastro issues last year July. Had endoscopy done, Abdominal CT and Pelvic Ultrasound and everything came back normal and eventually I got better. Didn’t notice much apart from occasional indigestion. This year again, just 7 weeks ago I started having bad hyperacidity, abdominal discomfort indigestion despite that I am on omeprazole. My Dr. Increase the dosage for my omeprazole plus famotidine and domperidone. I been experiencing pounding heart rate and pounding and palpitations after meal most and when I feel my stomach needs food again my heart i racing as well. I get fatigue, achy arms even before I feel like I am hungry. 4 weeks ago I started getting this internal shaking at night when I’m about to sleep. Sometimes the internal shaking wakes me up. At times during the day I get internal shaking. I felt like it is connected to my gut. I had my heart monitoring done in 24hrs. Stress test and echocardiogram on my heart. I’m still waiting for my cardiology appointment next month. I’m getting quite anxious of what is going on with me.

REPLY
@debbie0985

Hi, I am just wondering if you found an answer to your GI/Internal shaking?
I feel like we have almost same thing that is going on. I experienced gastro issues last year July. Had endoscopy done, Abdominal CT and Pelvic Ultrasound and everything came back normal and eventually I got better. Didn’t notice much apart from occasional indigestion. This year again, just 7 weeks ago I started having bad hyperacidity, abdominal discomfort indigestion despite that I am on omeprazole. My Dr. Increase the dosage for my omeprazole plus famotidine and domperidone. I been experiencing pounding heart rate and pounding and palpitations after meal most and when I feel my stomach needs food again my heart i racing as well. I get fatigue, achy arms even before I feel like I am hungry. 4 weeks ago I started getting this internal shaking at night when I’m about to sleep. Sometimes the internal shaking wakes me up. At times during the day I get internal shaking. I felt like it is connected to my gut. I had my heart monitoring done in 24hrs. Stress test and echocardiogram on my heart. I’m still waiting for my cardiology appointment next month. I’m getting quite anxious of what is going on with me.

Jump to this post

@debbie0985 , 7.5 years ago when my chronic digestive disorders started, I got a lot of quivering and shaking in my upper gut area . It was hard to explain to the Dr’s . I did have a lot of PVC’s with horrendous Gastric symptoms ( it’s still a problem here and there ). My biggest problem is that my body makes enormous amounts of Gas daily . I deep wet burp 3000-4000 or more times a day . My gut and intestines are always in a war zone in there . I’ve seen 4 Gastro Specialists over 7 years. I’ve had about every test done ✅ and redone . I think the shaking in there was definitely caused by the Vagus nerve . I have chronic Gastritis, Esphogitis , Class B GERD , small hiatal hernia , diverticulosis. The belching is horrendous the sound my gut makes if it had food ( I eat a very healthy diet ) or if it’s empty is horrible. I can’t even enjoy a dinner out w/ my husband anymore. I’m now taking antidepressant as of a week ago . I have anxiety meds too thanks to this . No Dr. can figure this out abs I live on Ultra Pepto daily . For the heart ♥️, I take Heart Calm a triple Magnesium I buy from Vital Biologics online ( or Amazon has it ). Over the years I’ve learned that this stuff is the best as it has 3 diff Magnesium and Q-10 to calm heart down . I’ve been on waitlist for Mayo Jacksonville for 7 weeks ,still no appts available they said last week .
This is my last hope .
Im a medical mystery and it’s hard to live this way . I feel for you and everyone on here . I hope you know that you aren’t alone nor are we crazy . This stuff is real and ruins our lives . Have you been to Mayo by the way ?
God Bless you … Rosemary

REPLY
@rozy288

@debbie0985 , 7.5 years ago when my chronic digestive disorders started, I got a lot of quivering and shaking in my upper gut area . It was hard to explain to the Dr’s . I did have a lot of PVC’s with horrendous Gastric symptoms ( it’s still a problem here and there ). My biggest problem is that my body makes enormous amounts of Gas daily . I deep wet burp 3000-4000 or more times a day . My gut and intestines are always in a war zone in there . I’ve seen 4 Gastro Specialists over 7 years. I’ve had about every test done ✅ and redone . I think the shaking in there was definitely caused by the Vagus nerve . I have chronic Gastritis, Esphogitis , Class B GERD , small hiatal hernia , diverticulosis. The belching is horrendous the sound my gut makes if it had food ( I eat a very healthy diet ) or if it’s empty is horrible. I can’t even enjoy a dinner out w/ my husband anymore. I’m now taking antidepressant as of a week ago . I have anxiety meds too thanks to this . No Dr. can figure this out abs I live on Ultra Pepto daily . For the heart ♥️, I take Heart Calm a triple Magnesium I buy from Vital Biologics online ( or Amazon has it ). Over the years I’ve learned that this stuff is the best as it has 3 diff Magnesium and Q-10 to calm heart down . I’ve been on waitlist for Mayo Jacksonville for 7 weeks ,still no appts available they said last week .
This is my last hope .
Im a medical mystery and it’s hard to live this way . I feel for you and everyone on here . I hope you know that you aren’t alone nor are we crazy . This stuff is real and ruins our lives . Have you been to Mayo by the way ?
God Bless you … Rosemary

Jump to this post

Hi@rozy288, thank you for sharing what you have been thru as well. I am from New Zealand hence I have pretty much limited option compared from you in the US. I hope you’ll find answer to your gastro problem. I could imagine how hard it is for you. My doctor told me that we will take one step at a time, if my cardio came back normal then I might suggest to see a gastroenterologist or someone that deals with vagus nerves. I hate living like this, I feel bad for my husband and kids. I am really praying that God uses my doctors to find cure for me. God bless you too@rozy288

REPLY
Please sign in or register to post a reply.