• BASIC DRUG
    DISCUSSION
    Welcome to Bluelight!
    Posting Rules Bluelight Rules
    Benzo Chart Opioids Chart
    Drug Terms Need Help??
    Drugs 101 Brain & Addiction
    Tired of your habit? Struggling to cope?
    Want to regain control or get sober?
    Visit our Recovery Support Forums
  • BDD Moderators: Keif’ Richards

Stimulants and Heart-Rate Anxiety......

SilentRoller

SilentRoller

Bluelighter
Joined
Feb 9, 2012
Messages
972
Greetings all,
As the title suggests, I suffer from a rather 'consuming' anxiety concerning my heart-rate whilst on stims, due to the fear of impending cardiac failiure or something grim like that. I was wondering if anyone who has encountered the same issues could offer some advice on this, as it stops me enjoying substances (My drug use is limiited to a few times a year. Mainly bk-MDMAm shrooms and weed). I've looked into tryptamines, and recently got some 4-HO MET, but am too scared too try it for fear of something bad happening to my heart etc. Its rediculous I know, but it ruins my few drug experiences, and I really want to conquer this problem, but I'm not sure how.

I have no previous heart problems, have a resting heart-rate between 40-50 and low blood pressure. I'm also rather physically fit, and have an okay diet. My last drug experience was Methylone, where I basically nearly called an ambulence on the comeup, because my heart was beating at a million miles an hour, and I thought I was about to drop dead.

Please help me bluelight, its ruining my enjoyment.

Thanks

SR
 
With all drugs comes risks, that's a given. When it comes to stimulants, you need to be careful as too not put extra stress on your heart. From what you have said you have a great resting heart rate and low blood pressure. This is definetly a good thing when it comes to stimulant use.

If your worried about this it may be wise to monitor your blood pressure and heart rate once an awhile when on stimulants. You must also be aware that stims can increase anxiety and in turn up your HR and BP big time without being a big threat to your health.

Its expected that while on a drug such as mdma that your heart rate will be much higher as well as your blood pressure. Go to a local pharmacy sometime while on stims and check your BP.

My HR and blood pressure are both very low from years of athletics and heavy weight training. My HR last time I checked was 56 and BP 109/72
The last time I was on mdma I checked it and my HR was 133 and BP 149/81. This seems high, but you have to understand that some people live with chronic high blood pressure around these levels if not higher. So most likely a 7 hour or so increase wont cause much damage.
 
Last edited:
^ yeah - BP can vary a great deal and a reading that looks high will probably be fine for the duration of the stims (although if it is 200/100 or higher then get help immediately) - high blood pressure is bad for you in the long term but rarely dangerous in the short term, unless it shoots up. Individuals can vary in their capacity to handle high BP though so if you are worried, seek help.

Do you know how fast your heart is beating? As long as it is in sinus rhythm (the normal regular rhythm, with the electrical impulse originating and passing normally through your heart) then simply beating fast is very rarely dangerous. You usually get symptoms if it is going too fast or if it issn't pumping blood effectively (dizziness, fainting, numb/tingling peripheries). Stims make people anxious, and hyper-aware of their heart beat - yours may well be fine. Counting it properly might reassure you, or it might worsen your preoccupation with it - try it and see if it calms you down or makes things worse. If you are getting symptoms, or your heart beat is irregular, then seek medical help.

High BP and heart rate alone don't usually cause much harm, but it is possible for stims to give people heart attacks as they constrict blood vessels, reducing oxygen flow, while increasing oxygen demand. If you get central crushing chest pain sometimes accompanied with pain going into your jaw/left arm, nausea, pallor or sweating then seek help ASAP.

If you are worried at all about your heart then it is always worth getting it checked out; stims can make you anxious and paranoid, and as I said often it is fine, but they can also cause problems sometimes and no one could tell you if you were okay or not over the internet - you'd need to see a doctor face to face.

Don't try to self-medicate and take beta blockers. They only knock out part of the impulses, and can cause uncontrolled alpha-mediated vasoconstriction alongside reduced cardiac output. This can lead to severely reduced bloodflow to your tissues, causing a heart attack or peripheral hypoxia/gangrene.
 
Last edited:
Also try starting with very small quantities of the drug so it doesn't create as dramatic or rapid changes and try using techniques to calm your anxiety, as anxiety can increase your heart rate and breathing itself.
 
Cheers for the advice everyone. I have had ECG's in the past, and everything comes back as perfectly healthy; so much so, that when I was last put on a vitals monitor, the brachycardia (low heart rate: under 50) alarm kept going off due to my low resting heart rate.

My heart beats in a regular rhythm when on stims, and I have never felt an abnormal beat as such. The only time I got a heart flutter was when I smoked a load of some synthetic cannabinoid blend, and got overstimulated with a heart rate of 162. Never did that again. (I was shaking and sweating in the ambulence!)

I do have a question however. Last time on Methylone, I noticed my heart beat was quite forceful (as in you could really feel the beats), rather than massively elevated. My Girlfriend also reported the same thing. Is this a cause for concern? Or rather what does this mean?
 
one of the reasons is started taking benzos while on stims. the more you think about it the worse it gets. thats not really gonna help you but i just suggest taking something to take your mind off it
 
SilentRoller said:
Cheers for the advice everyone. I have had ECG's in the past, and everything comes back as perfectly healthy; so much so, that when I was last put on a vitals monitor, the brachycardia (low heart rate: under 50) alarm kept going off due to my low resting heart rate.

My heart beats in a regular rhythm when on stims, and I have never felt an abnormal beat as such. The only time I got a heart flutter was when I smoked a load of some synthetic cannabinoid blend, and got overstimulated with a heart rate of 162. Never did that again. (I was shaking and sweating in the ambulence!)

I do have a question however. Last time on Methylone, I noticed my heart beat was quite forceful (as in you could really feel the beats), rather than massively elevated. My Girlfriend also reported the same thing. Is this a cause for concern? Or rather what does this mean?
Click to expand...

What your describing is quite common with stimulants. Its called heart palpitations (feeling your heart beat, or feeling like its pounding fast and hard) Heart palpitations are actually for the most part harmless. It can be unnerving, but its a common side effect of stimulants as well as anxiety. If your just experience a pounding heart or the sensation of your heart beat you aren't in danger. Just keep an eye out for out of rythym hear beats, that can indicate a problem.

A bit of advice, try not to fixate on your heart rate, its very easy to get obsessed over it.
 
I have heart rate anxiety as well. I used to get panic attacks where my heart rate would increase tremendously. The more I focused on my heart rate, the faster it seemed to go, and the less able I was to calm down. So try not to over think it.
 
You could try taking some magnesium supplements. Many people feel that magnesium reduces blood pressure. I have taken mag while on stim drugs, and maybe it was just the placebo effect, but it did seem to help with that heart-pounding feeling.
 
stims increase your heart rate.

if you can't cope with that, whether physically, or mentally, don't do stims.

Spending your time on stims measuring/checking/worrying about your heart rate is a waste of good stims IMO. Send all your stims to me and reduce your anxiety for the price of a fucking stamp.
 
When you say take the magnesium supplement, I have some magnesium citrate tablets, each containing 125mg each. However, each morning, I take an A-Z multi-vitamin which also contains 100mg of magnesium (33% of my GDA). If I were to take the pre-stim magnesium tablet also, do I risk 'Magnesium overdose' so to speak, as coupled with the magnesium intake from food, it could all take me over my GDA of magnesium.
 
First time I ever did a stim was when I was drunk and someone gave me 2 pills for 'being a ledge' and I wasn't worried about the drug itself (being completely wasted) but when I was sobering I started thinking about the ol' heart rate. The guys house we were at has a doctor for a dad and rolls himself, well anyway we tested heart rate over the night and I maintained 170-180bpm for just over 5 hours where then it dropped to about 120 until I got some sleep about 6 hours later again. BP was raised but not significantly over average.

My HR only started to drop after I told myself it's just a side effect of the drug and it will all be fine. Looking back now though I think I probably had right to worry if it was 170~ for 5 hours...
 
I have the same issues and it also causes problems with my drug use, or abuse I should say. It's annoying because it does take away from what should be a good time, but I'm also grateful for it because it's probably what's always kept me from long binges. My longest binge was crystal and that was only 12 hours. Coke I typically only party for 6-8 until I start feeling like crap and noticing the heart pumping and then the anxiety sets in. Everyone here is right though, the more you think about it the worse it gets.
 
Thanks for the advice everyone, I guess I'll just have to stop thinking about it. The answers "Just stop taking stims", whilst correct, is quite vague. Essentially, I just wanted to know, at what extent does a rapid heart beat become dangerous? My main problem with a increased bpm, is that I used to wait/expect the sharp "heart attack" pain to appear any minute. Perhaps, with what you know about my heart health from what I have told you, these fears are completely unfounded, I am just looking for advice.

Also,could anyone shine some light on my previous question about 'magnesium overdose' (if there is such thing). Would taking a mag sup before stims, if I already take a daily multi-vitamin containing 100mg on magnesium a bad idea?

Planning on doing bk-MDMA again in the next few weeks, so I'm looking forward to a good time :)

Thanks

SR
 
i think the worst you have to expect from magnesium in reasonable does is diarrhea
 
I thought a overdose of magnesium can cause heart issues, as magnesium levels are partly used in heartbeat regulation
 
Im fairly sure most doses of a magnesium supplement under 1g wont cause too much of an issue other than the loose bowel perhaps. Not 100% of the mag is absorbed esp if it's not chelated
 
It is true that it is possible to overdose on magnesium supplements, but it is very rare and even more rarely is it serious. It is more likely to happen under unusual circumstances, like if a baby ate a package of epsom salts or someone with kidney problems took several bottles of antacids or something like that. It is extremely difficult to overdose on magnesium from food and I wouldn't worry about trying to measure how much magnesium is in your food and including that in the daily maximums. As a rule of thumb it's best not to take more than about 400mg-500mg of magnesium supplements per day, however personally I do it often with no problems. The most common symptoms from taking too much magnesium include upset stomach and diarrhea. Occasionally taking way too much magnesium can cause serious health problems, such as severely lowered blood pressure, confusion, slowed heart rate, respiratory depression, deficiencies of other minerals, coma, cardiac arrhythmias, etc. The only serious cases (like heart attacks) I have heard of were when people injected like 20 grams of magnesium. If you are taking stimulants at the same time, which raise your heart rate and blood pressure, then it is unlikely that the magnesium's effects at slowing these things would be problematic. And as Hiltoniano said, when you take an oral magnesium supplement they often have poor absorption so you are not actually getting all the magnesium anyway.

You might want to try a lower dose of the stimulant when you are taking it with magnesium the first time as the magnesium might increase the absorption. It is also supposed to help keep you from developing a tolerance as quickly.
 
Last edited:
You must log in or register to reply here.
Top