Palpitations triggered by cocaine
Hi to all, I explain my problem. I’m a 24 year old male and I had a very occasional use of cocaine for the past two years (I used it every 4-6 months). But the last time I used it (a month ago) I had chest pain and a sensation of tingling/electric shock in the arms. From that episode I already performed 3 EKGs that resulted normal but I started suffering of heart palpitations: now I can feel my pulse in parts of my body where I didn’t feel it before. For example if I join my thumb and my index, I can feel the pulse between the two fingers, or I can feel it in the fingers if I cross my hands, or I can feel it between my feet if I touch them with each other. Obviously I don’t want to touch that stuff again! I just wanna know if I will have these sensations for the rest of my life or if they will go away sooner or later. Does anybody had a similar experience? Thanks in advance for your replies and sorry for my bad english.
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@caden, I'm really glad you have taken steps to see a physician. As @afrobin and @colleenyoung mentioned, it is still important to stay on top of the symptoms. Early intervention is the best thing you can do for your heart, and you've started down that road. Please continue to keep us updated.
Hi @caden,
I'm also glad to hear that you have been checked out in the ER as well as with a cardiologist. The reports sound good so far. It is important, however, for these physicians to understand the history of your problems as it relates to drug use. They might want to look further if they understand the origin of the problem.
Can you inform your doctors about this?
Here is some information on the use of illegal drugs and their effect on the heart. This is from the American Heart Association. As you will read, cocaine is considered the "perfect heart attack drug." I'm glad that you are now drug-free for several months. Keep up the good work!
https://www.heart.org/en/health-topics/consumer-healthcare/what-is-cardiovascular-disease/illegal-drugs-and-heart-disease