Palpitations triggered by cocaine

Hello @ronn3 and welcome to Mayo Connect,

I can certainly understand your concerns and I appreciate your sharing them on Connect. Please remember that getting a second opinion is always an option for every patient that is having symptoms such as yours without a resolution.

Have you had a complete cardiac workup with a cardiologist? That might include a stress test, echocardiogram, wearing a halter monitor, etc."

Yes I went to cardiologist I did stress test and echocardiogram and I took the 24 hours halter monitor the doctor said eveything looks normally with my heart and the only problem is the blood pressure which is high,
The Doctor Gave me a medication called hydrochlorothia which doesn’t bring my blood pressure down
I still have that feeling my heart is pounding (palpitations) and I feel like my pulse is strong and couple of times in a day I feel dizzy

I am sorry to hear that your current BP meds are not bringing down your blood pressure and you say that it is still high. Are you comfortable sharing what your BP numbers are? Does your doctor who prescribed the BP med know that your numbers are still high?
If not, I would certainly phone his office and let them know what the numbers are and ask if a change in BP meds might be helpful.

Please know that a second opinion is always appropriate if you have concerns about your health and the treatment being provided.

Have you considered a second opinion, @ronn3?

Hi, usually my BP is around 140-150 I told my doctor the medicine that my cardiologist gave it doesn’t work my bp is still high and have palpitations and strong pulse and my doctor told me to schedule another appointment with the cardiologist which is 2 mounts later (appointment time) . I still have those symptoms dizziness,palpitations (heart pounding),and I’m Having strong pulse
I don’t know if it’s a forever thing or it can gett better or go away...

Sounds alot like myself , I now suffer from panic disorder from a bad turn I took while taken coke . My heart was beating for hours on end and I just kept getting sick it triggered so much adrenaline that now any time my heart races just a tiny bit I triggers that feeling again which sets into a panic attack. I just notice my heart so much more now it's crazy I think it's just my brain on high alert

I feel Like I'm experiencing some panic disorders too. how long been passed since the day you used cocaine? Do you know if panic disorder can cause heart palpitations, heart racing, weak pulse? is there any treatment for them?

The last time I used was August last year, yeah can cause all them symptoms. I always felt like I was going to die. I am now coming out of it I still have panic attacks but not as bad. The best treatment is to start of trying to get on medication like beta blockers these will help with physical symptoms then think about doing a course in CBT , doing that is the reason I know have this under control

hi my names Caden, and i’m gonna throw myself under the bust for something i should never have done at my age, but i’m 16 and back in december (4 1/2 months ago) i was as doing cocaine with some friends, and i wasn’t addicted, although i did do it almost every other weekend, but it was only on that basis for about a month or 2, with some of those weekends me not doing it, but point is i was doing it often, infact i was doing other drugs in between which didn’t help the situation i might be in now, those drugs being MDMA, acid, mushrooms, ketamine, xanax, hydros, just occasionally smoking weed, and being addicted to nicotine. but anyhow, that night in december i was really stupid and told myself to just full send and plow through as much coke as i could cause i was told that it’s borderline impossible to overdose from powder cocaine, i mean i went through a lot, but i was just straight up doing enough to make me die, like i was being kinda smart with how much i was doing, but nevertheless the night obviously ended up with me thinking i was gonna have a heart attack and i got to this point where i was trying incredibly hard to keep myself from passing out, i was going in and out of being dizzy and it was just all bad, my chest was hurting and all i could hear was my heart going a million miles per hour, i made it through the night without passing out, i mean after my hour long death scare i fell asleep from just being tired, but later in the day after that happened, i started having random spurts if palpitations with my heart going crazy fast for no reason, i could be laying in bed or just be walking, and it would happen, and it would be like that for the next 2 months, slowly getting kinda better, and right now i’m in a boat that sucks, because it’s difficult for me to play sports without my chest hurting or me hearing my heart or feeling dizzy, and that’s taken a toll on my life cause i revolves around soccer, was on the varsity soccer team, had the biggest passion for it ever, and now my life’s fucked, i can’t play long amount at a time of soccer, i can’t run much endurance like, and even when i’m in my room i’ll just feel my chest kinda hurting or my heart beating, i can even feel/hear my pulse in my arms and hands slightly most of the time, i don’t really have palpitations anymore, but it’s almost like this permanent feeling and hearing of my heart, and slight to bad chest pain at times, really hoping i’ll get better and life turns around for me, one thing that situation has taught me was to never take things i can do in life for granted, cause to be unable to do them is the worst pain i have felt, i’ve obviously stopped doing all drugs since this situation to avoid any point of death, i occasionally drunk being around the influences i’m around, but that’s basically it. have you gotten and better @daxrrr ? just wanna know if i should keep my hopes up or not that this will get better

OMG...what a horror story! First of all, thank God you have learned your lesson, albeit the very hard way, not to do drugs and that you are not invincible. Drugs are dangerous and can mess people up for life...or kill them. It makes me wonder what was going on in your head to take you to that point where you would engage in such risky and suicidal behaviour. There has to be a reason that you feel that 'life' and living it in a healthy way is not good enough.
You have not mentioned anywhere that you have seen a doctor or been to the hospital...or spoken to your parents. You have pushed your heart to the edge and you are lucky to still be alive. Your heart needs to recover from this assault. You may need to be on a medication (possibly a beta blocker) to stabilize your heart and give it a chance to heal. You need tests. Never mind soccer, friends, school...STOP everything and get yourself to the hospital and be seen by a cardiologist....TODAY before it's too late.
You need to also see a psychologist to see why life is not good enough without drugs. Maybe now with this scare, you will learn to appreciate good health, the beauty of nature, living in a free society, the educational opportunities that you have in front of you etc.. A psychologist will help you get your head screwed on properly. Ask your parents to help you find a psychologist who specializes in dealing with teens suffering from drug and alcohol abuse. GOOD LUCK, Caden!

@caden Hello Caden,

I am sorry to hear about your drug use and the health problems that have resulted. How frightening that must be!

You don't mention seeing a doctor, but you really must do so as soon as possible. It is important that you be evaluated for the possibility of heart damage. This heart damage could be temporary or permanent, but you need to find out. It also might be that the doctor can give you meds to help with some of your current symptoms. Since you are just 16 and involved in sports you need to be evaluated soon.

Please be honest with your parents and let them know that you need to see a physician. Will you do that?