any similar experiences with the drink ?

LegacyUser

ok, first off i know this isn't a medical board but im not looking to know whats up with me or even if there is something up, im just wondering if anyone has had similar happen to them

and before i say this im quiting today, i don't think it will be a problem to hopefully,
i've been drinking fairly heavily for the last 5 or so months, maybe 5 bottles of the bad stuff a week and over the last couple of weeks ive noticed my heartbeat is very irregular, every fourth or fifth beat it seems to do a double beat, instead of
Bum---buum it goes Bum-Bum----buum, it's also pounding away like a jackhammer, even sitting quietly in a chair it i can feel it pounding in my chest,

i assume its the drink and will stop after i quit, so has this kinda thing happened to any of you before ?

Victor

Yeah it happened me once when I had 15 (mixed*) shorts in 3 hours. If it is ongoing, definitely go see a doc.

* Not a good idea.

5 bottles of spirits? What size bottles?

LegacyUser

mon-fri half bottle, think they are 350 mils
sat+ sun a bottle, think they are 700 or 750 mils,
im not very big so this keeps me pretty much drunk all week out of work hours

Oriel

Most people think that you can head out, get locked, get up the next day (ok, with a hangover) and nothing's changed. Fact is alcohol is a drug and can have long-lasting effects on your body and bear in the mind that alcohol does kill people, albeit too much of it.

If you've been drinking as heavily as you say, then quitting won't be maybe as easy as you think, cause after all, alcohol is an addictive drug, although it's more because of habit rather than really "needing" it.

I wouldn't be so sure if it is alcohol alone having the effect on your heart, maybe there's some other factor involved?
Also, consider the fact that withdrawing from alcohol (even after a short period of time) causes varying degrees of paranoia, and over-sensitivity.

I am MAN

I just quit last week you should do too.

I would have beer during the week sititng at my computer and then id binge to the max on the weekend. I suffer with anxiety and alcohol does absolutely no favours for that I often have an irregular heart beat and palpatations im always aware of my heart and its very uncomfortable.

Has the discomfort gone away because i didnt drink this week?

Yeah i deffiently feel better, less anxious and my head is alot more clearer than previous weeks/months so give it ago!

bug

it actually happened to me last week after a nite on the piss...I'd like to find out what this is too...maybe blood sugars being lowered due to the alcohol...I dunno hold on till I find me a biologist round here somewhere....

eirebhoy

OMG this is exactly what has started to happen with me about 4 or 5 weeks ago. I went on a big binge session and when that happens I am stuck in bed for the Sunday morning. I noticed that I didn't have a usual hangover and I got sick at least 10 times. Then I got loads of palpatations and my heart was like it was tring to excape from my chest, this would happen once every half hour or so.

Ever since then my heart hasn't been beating properly. I only go drinking every Friday and Saturday but my heart doesn't act up until my hangover has worn off on the Sunday night. I really thought I was going to die one night and I had to sit up in my bed for most of the night. Its only when I really concentrate that it feels like its going to stop and I start to get blurry eyes and I have to jump up.

I have been to the doctor and and the hospital and they thought I was doing ecstasy until they took a urine sample and I got blood tests but they found nothing wrong with my heart. I am still having the problem but it is getting a lot better and I think have found out what the problem was. I left work at the start of the summer and I was doing no exercise at all but I have started back work last month (whch involes a lot of lifting heavy boxes up stairs) and it seems a lot better but not completely. When I would run up the stairs that usually made my heart beat faster but sometimes it hardly beats at all and when I relax it just pumps like it has been holding in. My heart doesn't seem as if it can control itself.

Captain Trips

Plenty of people have irregular heart beats and they don't suffer any consequences, maybe only run into trouble when over 40-50. Alcohol increases your heart rate, you may notice it after even 1 or 2 pints. Maybe adds 10-15 beats a minute. The risk of irregular heartbeats it that it can **** up smooth blood flow in the heart and this then predisposes to blood clot formation, which in turn can basically kill you by going to your lungs or brain.

With that amount of alcohol consumption, your body is used to having plenty of ethanol racing around, so stopping suddenly can lead to withdrawal symptoms. Go see a GP and he'll probably give you some medication to reduce the agitation and anxiety related to it.

Put alcohol in perspective: someone withdrawing from heroin will not die from the withdrawal, although they may certainly feel they will. Withdrawing from excessive and regular alcohol *can* kill (albeit the risk is small). Not to mention the constant damage to your brain and intellectual capacity.

The longer you go with no poisons/toxins which alter temporarily your bodys systems (to put it basically) the more your body can get control. It could take 6 months of no drink for you feel healthy again. I am willing to bet you don't feel healthy now so go to a GP, even if it means waiting, and get a health check. Tell him what you've been doing and the sooner you do the better you'll feel.

You are/were taking around 90-100 units a week if you work it out that a unit of alcohol if around 1 shot of liqour. Maximum weekly safe amount is around 20-25 (was 21, some say 28).

Paddy20

Try clicking here; www.alcoholicsanonymous.ie
for advice and guidance.

P.:ninja:

eirebhoy

Originally posted by Captain Trips
The risk of irregular heartbeats it that it can **** up smooth blood flow in the heart and this then predisposes to blood clot formation, which in turn can basically kill you by going to your lungs or brain.

Jesus, scare the death out of me why don't ye, I hate that word clot.:(

Ah no, thanks for the info CT, I had another blood test last week and the doctor will be around to the house next week. I really don't want to give up the drink though, I am not addicted but the only time I go out (except for work) is for a drink with a few mates. Although, I only drink between 4-6 pints now.

LegacyUser

Originally posted by Captain Trips

I am willing to bet you don't feel healthy now so go to a GP, even if it means waiting, and get a health check. Tell him what you've been doing and the sooner you do the better you'll feel.

no i definately don't feel healthy right now, sound advice, will take, thx