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Opioids How significant is a slow heart rate on opiates?

Altered Perception

Altered Perception

Bluelighter
Joined
Dec 13, 2010
Messages
414
As you all know opiates slow down your vitals such as blood pressure, heart rate and breathing but as long as it dosent cause discomfort there is usually no cause for alarm. However being a person with a pre-existing medical condition I usualy keep an eye on my vitals because I am already suceptable to fluctuations as a result of my neurological condition known as Autonomic Dysfunction. In the past I had a lot of weird and opposite effects to Oxycodone resulting in fevers and high blood pressures but this week I am experiencing something very different then I have in the past, I am no longer getting any of the other major adverse effects I have in the past, I feel I have achieved a good level of desensitisation but the only problem is I am now getting really slow heart rates.

This is new territory for me so I wanted to run it past you guys, every time I take my 25mg Oxycodone for pain my heart rate drops to around 41 bpm which was the lowest reading I had last night, this has me concerened because my usual heart rate is around 75 bpm, what I'm worried about is when my heart rate drops to the low 40's and I feel sleepy, nauseaus, dizzy with some headaches and all I want to do is go to sleep but I am reluctant to sleep with a 41 bmp heart rate incase it may be dangerous ? I'm not having repiratory depression so my breathing is fine, my blood pressure is fine too but this dam heart rate is fairly slow and it takes several hours to go back to normal so I'm wondering will my body naturally try and keep it at a safe level if I goto sleep? Otherwise can a cup of coffee help keep your heart rate in the safe level when you sleep?
 
I also wanted to add that whenever I do unwillingly doze off I keep being woken up by a fluttering and thumping sensation in my heart which would then resolve once I opened my eyes, its been happening all through this week everytime I begin to nod off from the Oxycodone and it stops soon as I wake up, is this some sort of safety mechanism that your body uses to alert you to whenever your heart slows down to a dangerous level?
 
Altered Perception said:
I also wanted to add that whenever I do unwillingly doze off I keep being woken up by a fluttering and thumping sensation in my heart which would then resolve once I opened my eyes, its been happening all through this week everytime I begin to nod off from the Oxycodone and it stops soon as I wake up, is this some sort of safety mechanism that your body uses to alert you to whenever your heart slows down to a dangerous level?
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It could be like you've mentioned. Does your heart slow down like this with every opiate you've taken? Opiates slow my heart rate down as well but ive never counted my bpm. When I first tried oxy, I would nod like crazy & when I tried to go to sleep, I knew subconsciously that I couldnt being scared if I didnt wake up. Your body has all kinds of ways to warn you that something isnt right & I believe that is whats going on with you.
 
that sounds really dangerous i would say you shouldn't use pain killers
 
My advice is to take a mild stimulant like caffeine alongside your dose. Some people are just more sensitive to opiates than others.
 
If I were you , with your medical condition and all the health problems that stem from it , I would just stop using. Definitely stop using opiates. I think you should think about this.
 
Thanks for showing concern and I know I shouldnt take opiates but it really helps with my pain so I'm willing to take the risk. I feel guilty now ignoring the safety advice but I'm just frustrated with my life and a part of me dosen't care what happens anymore, the part that does care posted the topic on the forums but still I'm going to go with the cofee advice, thanks all I apreciate the help.
 
Ok, I'll say it; please do not take the advise posted on BL do not/can not/and most definitely should not take any replies as gospel*!

Definitely take it all on board but in the end, your local GP (or the specialist - surgeon, 80+yo man, like *thats* supposed make that is, should be telling/discussing to you
 
I'm no expert but I don't think you should have that coffee, mixing uppers and downers would only increase the danger in my opinion. Let the drug wear off aand your heart rate should return to normal, it's very normal for your heart rate to drop when you're on opiates. Although, I sniffed a line of heroin last night and I was convinced my heart was beating irregularly, too fast initially and then too slow. And everytime I checked my pulse it was the same - 78bpm - which isn't low at all. Now maybe I wasn't fit to check my pulse, but I thought I was having chest pains too. In the true nature of the drug, however, I could not give a fuck and I drifted off to sleep all the same. I'm a Type 1 diabetic though, so maybe I should take note in future.
 
class-a-team
You sure coffee can be dangerous with opiates? How does the danger exist, just curious, but thanks for the advice, I'l refrain from doing that if it is risky.
You said "it's very normal for your heart rate to drop when you're on opiates" but then when you checked your heart rate it was 78 which is perfectly normal, my hearts 78 at the best of times , how come yours didnt drop ? You have me even more worried cause yours stayed at 78bpm and mine drops to 41bpm, I was hoping it was normal for everyone but from what you told me it seems I'm the odd one out?
 
Well, as I said before, I am no expert on opiates. But what I do know is that opiates are 'downers' that slow your heart rate while caffeine, a stimulant, would be classed as an 'upper' and uppers accelerate your heart rate. It is said that you shouldn't mix uppers and downers.

After doing a bit more research, I realised I was talking absolute BS and that there would be no risk in having that coffee. This upper/downer threat is only associaated with more powerful stimulants. Sorry about that!

I can't really answer why my heart rate didn't drop, it probably has a lot to do with the shit quality gear in Dublin these times. Otherwise, effects vary from person to person and a lower heart rate is perfectly normal when you're on strong opiates.

I would advise you to ask your GP about this for the sake of re-assurance!
 
class-a-team, thanks for getting back to me on that . I had my Cardiologist appointment today and I asked him about the low heart rates, he said it was normal for it to drop on opiates just like what you said although he felt mine was alittle too low so he requested a 24 hr ECG monitor. He said its not really the low number to worry about its more the fact that if there is any abnormal activity , arhythmias or any other disturbance associated during the low heart rate which will be visible on the graph of the ECG.

He also explained the reason why I get the fluttering and thumping occuring everytime I nod off during the opiates and slow heart rate, apparently your heart has various chambers and areas that are usually dormant during your usual heart rate but when your heart slows down too much it activates the dormant areas that take over the normal rhythm and the change in electrical activity causes the disturbed sensation I keep waking up to. So when I nod off during one of my slowed heart rates it is in fact a safety mechanism kicking in as I suspected and if I didnt get the activation of those other chambers causing the thumping that wakes me up then it could potentially continue to slow down and be fatal according to my cardiologist.
 
Did he say that thumping/fluttering was anything to be worried about? Maybe a sign of cardiovascular damage? I get it too and I dont think my heart is in good condition.
 
class-a-team said:
....
After doing a bit more research, I realised I was talking absolute BS and that there would be no risk in having that coffee. This upper/downer threat is only associaated with more powerful stimulants. Sorry about that!
....
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Glad you said it! ;) :p Jks man. I have heard mixed reports regarding mixing stimulants and depressants - that is, I haven't read any paper which definitively say one way or the other (I'm more then happy to be proven wrong if you have a link you can point me to! :) ).

For curiosity's sake, wiki "Brompton Cocktail" (I personally call it "heaven" myself! ;) :p)
 
I tried methadone with a decent dose of MDPV and didn't notice any change in heart rate, MDPV alone though gave me tachycardia
 
Hey so here's the deal when you take any type of opiate it slows you heart rate....now the fact that your nodding out is a sign that your dosage is a little too high. You should try splitting your dose in half, if this doesn't work then talk to your doctor and see if he can provide something with a lesser strength. Although depending on the level of pain you may not be able to, in that case you need to allow yourself to fall asleep......if you weren't intending on sleeping your may be "waking yourself" up because you realized you are dosing off. In any case I don't suggest a stimulant to increase your heart rate it may have an adverse effect making u feel wierd and confused on weather your tired or awide awake.......either way in any case as long as there is no prior health issues concerning your heart or breathing sleeping with a low heart rate is no reason for panic.
 
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