heart problems? (alcohol related I think)

[jh1]

27 m, quite concerned about my binge drinking which ive been doing since around 19/20 ish. Binge drank throughout college th/fr/sat, often blacking out.  This has continued over the years. Just recently I went on a 4 day binger drinking large quantities of liquor till last wednesday morning.  After these binges I often go through I guess the withdrawal stage. This is where I'm concerned. I experience normal stuff like insomnia, lack of energy, some numbness and "tingling" throughout my body, random muscle convulsions. Now heart palpitations, taking lots of deep breathes with a lot of pressure in my mid left back. Usually after like a few days of the lessening of these symptoms im back to feeling normal-go to the gym 3/4 days a week-weigh about avg for my height 6-2 185.  I do usually 15-20 minutes of pretty extreme cardio fitness after lifting weights bout 60 mins when i go.  Usually feel fine, tho see my pulse can get way up to about 180 sometimes , i do go very hard though cardio wise for shorter periods of time, pushing myself.

So, I guess Im just interested to see if I could indeed have some form of alcoholic cardiomyopathy or something else w/ withdrawals.  Because it is odd i can just go back to working out fine without any pains or palpitations after i do cardio workouts, after a few days after i stop binge drinkin.  Light headededness comes sometimes if i really push it for like 20 mins, but usually no palpitations or pain or anything-just normal cool down.  Im going to seriously look to stop drinking completely for awhile and see how i feel. These symptoms have been around for quite some time obviously to different levels depending on how long I binge drink for. I dont smoke, chew tbco sometimes. The shortness of breath and tightness in back have gone down a bit, feel a bit lightheaded though, and still tingles-3 days sober now.   Clocking about 46-50 bpm resting which is concerning me quite a bit. Thanks for your help.

[Cleveland Clinic]

Your symptoms are most consistent with alcohol withdrawal.  Your body pains, tingling and lightheadedness are common with that.  I don't think that you have alcoholic cardiomyopathy, but you do put yourself at increased risk for developing it if you continue to drink that way.  Resting heart rate in the 40's to 60's is normal.

[jh1]

Thanks a lot for your knowledge. I ended up going to the ER yesterday because everytime i stood up i felt dizzy, lightheaded and thought i was going to faint.  I ended up getting an EKG, chest x-ray, and urinalysis all coming back fine.  They said i might have a pull/strain in a midback muscle connected to the spine which would create discomfort breathing and tightness, and maybe that coupled with the withdrawal symptoms explains my situation.  I'm feeling a bit better today but still am fatigued, lightheaded when walking around, and feet are still weird feeling but i still have only been off drinking for 4 days.  My bp when taken at a rest has been all over the place from 127-80 to 140-60.  Anyways, thanks again