Heart health questions.

[WorldWarMe]

Firstly, if this is in the wrong section, mods please move it to the correct one, I couldn't think of what forum section this would fall under.

Alright, when I was younger I used to do a lot of MDMA. After quitting I now get heart palpitations and an irregular heart rate.

I've been extremely paranoid about it lately and have gone to the doctor multiple times. I've gotten three EKG's, all turned up normal with a slight irregular heartbeat. They all tell me this is nothing to worry about. The doctors have also used the stethoscope to listen to my heart countless times, all times have also been normal. My blood pressure has also been normal every time is has been tested.

Does this mean that I have a healthy heart? No matter how many times they say that my heart is fine I can't help but thinking their wrong.

I go rollerblading for about 30 minutes to an hour every day for general exercise. I smoked for five years but recently quit 71 days ago cold turkey. I was also a very heavy weed smoker (2-3 times a day everyday for several years), but I also quit that 71 days ago cold turkey. I stopped both smoking and blazing at the same time due to worrying about my health.

I've heard about doctors using stress tests to see if a heart is normal, and from what I've heard (I could be wrong) if your heart can get above 160 BPM without complications it's healthy.

Today I went out on my rollerblades and started riding around and decided to see how high I could get my heart rate, so on the way home I went as fast as I could for about 2-3 minutes and stopped. I checked my heart rate and it was at 171 beats per minute, and I felt perfectly fine. No nausea, nothing. Does this have any medical value or am I stupid for thinking this is good news?

Any help would be appreciated / input would be appreciated.

 

[Dr Pepper]

Dude all the docs are telling you are fine.
What are you tripping about? Take a real stress test if your still paranoid

 

[WorldWarMe]

Dude all the docs are telling you are fine.
What are you tripping about? Take a real stress test if your still paranoid

I'm a generally paranoid person. I have an anxiety disorder which doesn't help either. I did MDMA A LOT and it doesn't make sense how I could have done it that much and not done any damage to my heart.

 

[pr0d1gy]

Occasional irregular heart beats are not a big deal at all and if your EKG is good then there is likely nothing to worry about.

I can relate though, after I used MDMA heavily I noticed I developed long term sinus arrhythmia, not like thats a bit deal at all though.

 

[WorldWarMe]

Occasional irregular heart beats are not a big deal at all and if your EKG is good then there is likely nothing to worry about.

I can relate though, after I used MDMA heavily I noticed I developed long term sinus arrhythmia, not like thats a bit deal at all though.

Great, another thing to worry about haha. Just looked that up and I get the exact same thing.

 

[tommy34]

I get heart palpitations and in the last few months the palpitations have turned into a irregular heart beat. The first time that happened they took me to the emergency room and the nurse was stunned. She said she had never seen a heart beat like that in a healthy 20 year old. How old are you? I felt I got fussed over because of my age. By the way the thing causing my heart palpitations is called SVT. Look that up and see if that described your symptoms. If the docs keep saying your fine and your still worried, go see a heart specialist. They are bloody expensive an so are all their tests they will want to do but at the end of the day its your heart an thats priceless. Also anxiety could cause palpitations with excess adrenaline, try to keep yourself calm.

Good luck, hope all goes well for you.

 

[ro4eva]

@WorldWarMe

I used to live exactly the same lifestyle as you for several years (heavy smoker, mdma use, drinker, blow, meth, weed, etc.) and I stopped everything after thinking exactly the same thing as you (that my heart is fucked up). I had tons of tests done. ECGs, EKGs, Holter Monitors, Stress Tests, MRIs, CAT scans, etc. All those tests came back fine. In reality what happened was I developed Anxiety and then Panic Disorder and now I'm on Xanax (I've been on it for 5 years now). I was a mess before trying Xanax. I would constantly be paranoid about my heart and I was convinced even though tests turned up normal that my heart was damaged. But it's in my head. I'm not doctor, but I think you've ended up like me. And I think you need to start seeing a Psychiatrist and tell him that about your paranoia (I think you've developed an anxiety disorder) so that you can get the appropriate treatment. Best of luck to you. If you have any more questions, feel free to ask.

I wanted to add, anxiety and/or stress can cause palpitations and/or arrhythmias. A couple of weeks ago I had a real stressful day and my heart began skipping beats for about a minute. It scared the crap out of me. I began having a Panic Attack because of it. I quickly took my Xanax and lay down on a couch and began to take slow deep breaths. Eventually, my heart went back to beating normally and thank God I'm fine.

Nowadays I tend to avoid stimulants. If I do decide to do something, I always make sure I have my Xanax handy.

One more thing, Weed tends to give people with Anxiety Disorder and/or Panic Disorder a very very bad trip. Be careful if you decide to smoke up again without some anti-anxiety meds.

 

[bjv07]

You should be fine if you've taken all those test and nothing came back to suggest you have problems. I was born without a pulmonary artery so I have to have a heart check up every year. I run all the test you gave taken plus a stress test. IIRC my heart rate gets upto 170 or 180 once I get to about 7mph running on the tread mill.

 

[WorldWarMe]

@WorldWarMe

I used to live exactly the same lifestyle as you for several years (heavy smoker, mdma use, drinker, blow, meth, weed, etc.) and I stopped everything after thinking exactly the same thing as you (that my heart is fucked up). I had tons of tests done. ECGs, EKGs, Holter Monitors, Stress Tests, MRIs, CAT scans, etc. All those tests came back fine. In reality what happened was I developed Anxiety and then Panic Disorder and now I'm on Xanax (I've been on it for 5 years now). I was a mess before trying Xanax. I would constantly be paranoid about my heart and I was convinced even though tests turned up normal that my heart was damaged. But it's in my head. I'm not doctor, but I think you've ended up like me. And I think you need to start seeing a Psychiatrist and tell him that about your paranoia (I think you've developed an anxiety disorder) so that you can get the appropriate treatment. Best of luck to you. If you have any more questions, feel free to ask.

I wanted to add, anxiety and/or stress can cause palpitations and/or arrhythmias. A couple of weeks ago I had a real stressful day and my heart began skipping beats for about a minute. It scared the crap out of me. I began having a Panic Attack because of it. I quickly took my Xanax and lay down on a couch and began to take slow deep breaths. Eventually, my heart went back to beating normally and thank God I'm fine.

Nowadays I tend to avoid stimulants. If I do decide to do something, I always make sure I have my Xanax handy.

One more thing, Weed tends to give people with Anxiety Disorder and/or Panic Disorder a very very bad trip. Be careful if you decide to smoke up again without some anti-anxiety meds.

Yeah, I have an anxiety dissorder. I was put on Ativan for my anxiety and Temazepam for my Insomnia. I got extremely addicted to both of these and had to get off the ASAP and I haven't taken any benzos in 24 days. (The withdrawals were absolutely horrible but I eventually got past them).

@Tommy: I've never had to go to the ER due to irregular heartbeats (infact I've never had any "problems" with it, I didn't even know about it until the doctor told me). Also, I'm 18 years old, turning 19 in thirteen days.

 

[Dr Pepper]

Yeah my heartbeat EKG looks like i have Wolff–Parkinson–White syndrome. I had a catheter run through my groin and they were going to do an ablation on my heart to fix the irregularity else i could drop dead at any second. Turns out its benign and didn't "conduct", so it will always appear irregular on an EKG, but my heart is fine.
Redirect your worries elsewhere

 

[BIGsherm7272]

Yeah my heartbeat EKG looks like i have Wolff–Parkinson–White syndrome. I had a catheter run through my groin and they were going to do an ablation on my heart to fix the irregularity else i could drop dead at any second. Turns out its benign and didn't "conduct", so it will always appear irregular on an EKG, but my heart is fine.
Redirect your worries elsewhere

I also have wolf-parkinson-white syndrome. I have had it since I was six 6 months old (at least thats when it was diagnosed). They have also wanted to perform and ablation on me, but mine has gotten better over time so I have decided against it for the time being. I only get a few supraventricular tachycardia episodes from it yearly, but it is kinda frightening each time, and my horrible anxiety only makes it worse.

 

[Dr Pepper]

I don't actually have the condition, it just appears like i do. Never had an attack or anything, but they went ahead with surgery as a precaution. Thank god for insurance, that sucker was 80 grand. Turned out to be for naught, but hey, better safe than sorry i guess? I wasn't ever even concerned, my back pain at the time eclipsed any other problems in my life.
Do you have insurance? Ablate that bitch! Get some fent in your IV

 

[BIGsherm7272]

^ yes I have insurance, but you never know what may happen during surgery (especially heart surgery). If mine gets bad enough again, I will consider the surgery. Of course smoking and drinking doesn't help ......or any drugs for that matter. I have never tried any stimulants except adderall once because of this condition (maybe a blessing in disguise).