The Roemheld Syndrome - When The Stomach Gets The Heart Out of Rhythm And No Doctor Recognizes What´s Going on.

I still remember very vividly that day in November 2018 when I sat at my notebook and worked when I suddenly had the feeling that all my blood was sinking from my upper body to my legs within a second. I became terribly dizzy, and I had to lie flat on the floor.

I was sure that this condition would be over in a few minutes because in the past weeks, I had such dizzy spells again and again. My doctor had examined me and found no cause for it. She suspected low blood pressure and gave the all-clear.

Such a thing could be very unpleasant, but it would not be dangerous.

That's why I was relatively relaxed on that day when the time had come again. I've known this before. But this time everything should be different.

The dizziness didn't go away. It grew stronger and stronger. After all, it was so extreme that I was afraid I would faint if I even closed my eyes for a moment. But that was still not enough.

Suddenly my heart began to race. It was a feeling as if it was running amok and hammering from the inside against my chest. My chest hurt, and I was sure it was a heart attack.

Panic-stricken I crawled towards the telephone because I was sure that it was now a matter of life and death. I had to crawl because it was now impossible for me to stand up or sit up.

I managed to make the emergency call and crawl to the front door to open it for the rescuers soon to arrive. Then I lay down flat on my back again and tried to breathe calmly.

Instead, my breath suddenly went faster and faster. My body had gone into panic mode, and I fell into hyperventilation.

Until that day, I didn't know what it was like to be scared to death. I've known it ever since and never want to have to experience it again.

But I seemed perfectly healthy.

When the emergency doctor arrived a few minutes later, the heartbeat and breathing had almost returned to normal. The EKG showed no abnormalities, and my blood pressure was normal. The paramedics regretted that they could do nothing for me and advised me to see a doctor.

The next day I told my doctor what had happened. She was very worried and referred me to a cardiologist.

But the heart specialist listened to my story and only said: "That sounds harmless. You'll have to live with that.

At my insistence, he did an ECG and cardiac sonography, but nothing turned out either. He made it clear to me that my problems were probably caused by psychological factors and dismissed me home. He prescribed beta-blockers for me, though.

So he didn't have a sound diagnosis for me and still had no qualms about providing me with strong medications. I doubted if this doctor really deserved my trust.

Two days later, after another, less violent episode, I was back with him.

He gave me a portable ECG device to take home for three days and said I should discontinue taking the tablets, provoke a seizure, and then record it with the device.

I didn't have to wait three days at home. The next day it started again. Unfortunately, the device was in a cupboard in the living room, and I was lying on the sofa. I had no chance to reach the device because of intense vertigo. Fortunately, I had purchased an ECG app for my smartphone a few days ago, and my phone was within reach.

So I used it to document the seizure. The result: acute tachycardia. The next day I brought the unused device back to the doctor's office and talked to the doctor. I told him why I couldn't use the tool, but showed him my own record. However, he declared them irrelevant and advised me not to think any further about my problems.

It's just doubtful that I'd die of a seizure like that, he said. It was not excluded, but a cardiac catheter examination or a long-term ECG was still considered excessive.

I informed the doctor that I would ask for a second opinion and asked him to send my documents to me. On the same day, I made an appointment in the heart center of our university clinic. That should be in two months.

Of course, I was not prepared to do nothing for two months and decided to investigate for myself what would be wrong with me and how I could stop these seizures.

Self-diagnosis, aberrations and the final breakthrough

I knew my vitamin D levels were shallow. A blood test recently showed that. I never thought about it, though. But now I found out that heart problems can also be accompanied by a vitamin D deficiency. Immediately I started a high-dose vitamin D therapy with 30,000 IA a day.

The positive result of this cure was quite noteworthy. I became more awake, more resilient, more relaxed, and more balanced. Only my heart problems didn't get any better.

But meanwhile, I was on the trail of another connection. I had noticed that a dizzy spell or a racing heart was always preceded by an unpleasant feeling of fullness. Then I ever burped a lot and loudly, and my whole upper body seemed inflated.

So far, I had only noticed this on the side, because I didn't really care about stomach problems. After all, I thought I had an undiscovered, potentially fatal heart disease.

But how wrong I was. During my research, I found the Roemheld Syndrome (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Roemheld_syndrome)

Roemheld syndrome is characterized by so-called reflective inflammatory complaints. If too much gas forms in the stomach or intestine, or if there are anatomical abnormalities in the gastrointestinal tract, this gas can cause the diaphragm to bulge so strongly that the vagus nerve becomes irritated, causing cardiac arrhythmia.

I went back to my doctor with this suspicion. She referred me to a gastroenterologist for a gastroscopy. But since this could only take place in May 2019, she recommended something else beforehand. I had had an untreated belly button fracture for almost twelve years, which could also be responsible for the complaints, she said.

I got a surgery appointment pretty soon. I had surgery and hoped it would alleviate my discomfort. The operation went well, I suddenly had a beautiful belly button and still the same trouble as before.

So my last hope was on the gastroscopy. Until then, I tried to keep the bloating under control with natural remedies from the pharmacy, which also succeeded quite well, although not entirely.

A week ago, I had my gastroscopy. As expected, the stomach and intestines were healthy. The doctor, therefore, suspected excess of H. pylori bacteria as the reason for my complaints and sent a sample to the laboratory. The test results are still pending.

He also advised me to undergo a four-week therapy with a celandine preparation. Besides, I use 2x daily healing clay.

Since then, I'm finally well again. It's been a long road where the doctors weren't always helpful.

Of course, self-diagnosis via Google is a double-edged sword, but in my case, the doctors would have searched in the wrong direction for a long time without my help or would have given up the diagnosis altogether.

If you have unexplained heart problems that your doctor doesn't take seriously, talk to him about Roemheld Syndrome. Maybe that's the explanation for your suffering.