6502ASM

Coming up on my 5th day clean. I have been having heart palpitations for the last month. My GP noticed an irregular heartbeat too about a month ago and told me to go to a Cardiologist. Last night my heart was thumping quite a bit and I was just sitting watching TV. I have already had a heart attack about 5 years ago (I was only 42 years old!). I have an appointment with the Cardiologist tommorow (its tough getting appointments). I suspect the booze is involved, as the palpitations were worse after drinking. I have only been clean 5 days, so I feel like I accidently stepped into a pit of alligators and all I want to do now is never drink again and slowly back out of this danger. Anyone else have heart problems like this from drinking? I can tell you honestly this feels as scary as the heart attack did. I know booze can cause serious heart damage, I just always foolishly thought I was too young to be hurt.

Clean30

First, you don't need alcohol to have a bad heart. And second, alcohol does seem to make my heart jumpy during a tough hangover. I assume over time some sort of damage is occurring.

Be good to your organs! I hope you're fine.

Isaiah

I have left ventricular hypertrophy, which could've developed in association with drinking. I've only had it checked out once (maybe twice) by a cardiologist and they never found or told me of a definitive cause. The main thing has just been to keep my blood pressure monitored, as high blood pressure + LVH means even at 35 I have a real risk of having a heart attack or stroke.

And wouldn't you know what happens to create serious high blood pressure problems... alcohol! So I'm kind of in that position. Even if my heart condition may have only been exacerbated by drinking, not caused by, continued drinking would only make it worse and put my life at risk.

DesertDawg

6502ASM -- When I was drinking, at least for the last few years, I would occasionally (a few times a week) get a sudden, terrifying jab of pain in my chest (which I assumed was related to my heart). They were pretty scary, but were over as soon as they began, like maybe a quarter of a second, which is the only reason I didn't see a doctor about them. also had high blood pressure, not severe, but too high for my age.

I'm not saying there is a correlation, but I know this: After I quit, blood pressure is down, and I haven't had one of those jabbing pains in about a year, whereas it was a couple-times-a-week thing before.

biminiblue

My father died of a heart attack at age 41. He was a heavy drinker for at least 20 years.

Coincidence?

6502ASM

I am not sure if the drinking CAUSED the heart problems, but I suspect it is making it worse at a minimum. I do take blood pressure meds and the usual heart attack victim type meds like statins and beta blockers. About a month ago, I drank 6 beers. The next day my heart arrythmia was crazy. I debated on going to the emergency room. It calmed down after a few days. I had another couple of beers and the arrythmia started right up again. That's when I went to the GP. The arrythmia has not stopped since then. Just another reason to avoid booze.

thomas11

I've made an effort to try and be in shape most of my life (I'm 49), and the things my heart did when going through withdrawal scared me to the point of quitting. I have been sober 17 months and my heart works just like its supposed to. And my blood pressure dropped 50 points. Wish you the best.

6502ASM

Found a cardiologist talking about this online:

One of my favorite patients was an elderly priest in a small town church. He passed away a few years ago, but I still look back at our time together fondly. He was a relatively healthy person. I remember two things about him. First, he was an eternal optimist. There was hardly a time I saw him that when I asked how he was doing he didn’t reply with a smile and say “I am in great shape, for the shape I am in.” Second, he loved alcohol. He spent most of his time avoiding alcohol. However, about twice a year he would drink four to five glasses of wine.

Unfortunately, the outcome was always the same. Two to three days later he would end up in the hospital in heart failure with difficulty breathing and full of fluid. To me, these repeated heart failure hospital admissions made his example of optimism all the more impressive. Each time he came in we would start medications and in about one to two months his heart function would return to normal. He would then stop the medications and the process would repeat itself about six months later.

His case highlights an important aspect of alcohol consumption and the heart. In large amounts, alcohol can be toxic to the heart. This can occur with binge drinking or heavy drinking. After exposure to high levels of alcohol the cells within the heart can die, the heart walls may thin, and the chambers begin to dilate and weaken.

T. Jared Bunch, MD

Dr. Bunch is a native of Logan, Utah and graduated from the University of Utah School of Medicine with alpha omega alpha honors. He completed internal medicine residency and fellowships in cardiovascular diseases and electrophysiology at the Mayo Clinic in Rochester Minnesota.

Daucuscarota

Hi 6502ASM,

Congratulations on getting to Day 5.

I bet a lot of what you are feeling is anxiety, which is common while drinking and in the first week after quitting. Anxiety by itself can raise your blood pressure unbelievably, and cause heart palpitations. Then it's like a vicious cycle because as you become more afraid about your heart, your anxiety gets worse and produces more cardiac symptoms. You need to break that cycle.

It is smart that you are going to the cardiologist tomorrow, but you have a good chance that everything will be OK.
Try to calm yourself for now, until your appt. -----maybe a guided meditation on youtube for calming yourself would help (wear headphones), or distract yourself with a movie.

Sending you strength and best wishes. Let us know what the cardiologist says.

Ariesagain

One of my primary motivations for getting and staying sober is that atrial fibrillation runs in my family and alcohol consumption doubles my already high risk of developing that problem. My mother had a quadruple bypass at age 72 and has battled congestive heart failure and atrial fibrillation ever since...but she refuses to give up her wine. She had no other risk factors...was active, never overweight, ate well...but here we are. Last year she spent over six months in the hospital and finally had a pacemaker installed. It all scares me quite effectively.

Be straight with your doctor about your alcohol history, yes? It could save him/her chasing the wrong things.

Here's an article about alcohol and the heart I have bookmarked
Alcohol & Your Heart Health | Cleveland Clinic: Health Library...

Dee74

I'm glad you're seeing your cardiologist, 6502ASM
Keep us updated

D

6502ASM

Cardiologist detected an ectopic (extra beat) heart beat. It seems to come when I am sitting up. He said stay away from booze (he didn't have to tell me that). The concern is an enlarged heart so they are going to scan my heart possibly tommorow at the hospital to see if that is it. I have no heart disease in my family.

Dee74

wishing you the best for good results 6502ASM

D