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402892 tn?1202007264

your heart and drugs

I'm a 19 year old female who expirmented with a new drug(meth) I took way more than recommended and I believe to have overdosed on it. I had all the symptoms of the meth overdose. I went to the ER and stayed there for 2 days and when I got back home I started havng really bad chest pains and pounding heart.  feel very fatigued and light headed very often and it's hard to sleep with my heart pounding so hard and fast. I know the doctors told me because of the drug I had a very fast heartbeat but since it's been three days I would think it would be gone. So my question is can I get a heart attack or have a major heart problem at the age of 19 because of an overdose on meth???
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Avatar universal
Save it!  It wont fly.  If people do not know the consequences of street drugs then I can't have sympathy for them.  I never said that they should not get help at the ER's, but I have a hard time when people go in and out of rehab which we taxpayers pay for and once out of rehab go right back doing drugs.

When people start doing illegal drugs they do not know whether they are the ones who can quit cold turkey or are going to be the ones who are in and out of rehab, if they are the ones who end up NOT caring about their families, NOT caring about their kids they have not seen in yrs, do NOT care milking out the healthcare system to get free healthcare because they cannot hold a job.  But hey, most of the Illegal Immigrants are getting free healthcare  why not our own drug addicts.

I say it again if lots of people of all ages out there are so afraid of the side effects of "prescription drugs" and NOT take the prescription drugs their doctor had "prescribed" to them because they are so scared of the side effects then why do so many  people of all ages have NO problem taking the most powerful illegal drugs WITHOUT a prescription and WITHOUT thinking of the conseqences and WITHOUT checking out the side effects.

How a mother takes street drugs over seing her child for yrs is beyond me.  And there are lots of them.

To take street drugs and think nothing will happen to you is being ignorant and naive after all its all over the TV, the news, in print what illegal drugs will do to people even to movie stars who can afford the best doctors and rehab clinics.

If you do drugs,play russian roulette and think that nothing will happen to you fine, but expect that you will ruin your life along with ruining your loved ones lifes, a big chance of getting a fatal heart attack or stroke at ANY age while doing drugs, and if you have kids leaving them without a father/mother because OF illegal drugs.

I'm glad "Calichick" quit and is seing the light.  She is one of the very few.  Very few people can do it.  There is a woman working with my husband who quit cold turkey after doing cocaine, heroine, hashish, and being an alcoholic.  She quit cold turkey because the drugs got to expensive she said, but she is in the minority and she admitted that.  She is now counceling people doing drugs, and she would be the first one agreeing with me if you'd ask her.

And don't even compare a possible "accident" I might should have down the road to somebody doing street drugs.  Its an ignorant comparisment.  The people who do drugs for the first time HAD A CHOICE!  Getting hit by a car out of the blue is NOT a choice a person would make especially if the accident was not his/her fault.

People have REAL heart disease, people who do NOT do drugs some of them are REAL scared of PVC's yet here are people ignoring all this and shoot or sniff up and are gambling with their hearts, their brains and the rest of their bodies.

Of course they get help I never said they shouldn't.  They get more sympathy and understanding and being listened to and talked to at the ER's than people being brought in with panic attacks, severe high BP or PVC's.  


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Avatar universal
Hi Calichick.  Thank you for answering my questions.  I was interested in finding out how you were.  I know we were all harsh with our comments, but I suspect that is because we have heart problems which have developed without reason, and it seems we are resentful of a healthy young person who could end up with heart problems due to self destruction.

I'm pretty impressed that you stuck around and read all the posts, also that you went to the doctor.  It seems you are serious about not taking drugs anymore.  I think you should find a forum with people who are also stopping drugs.  They probably won't be as critical as we are.

Anyway, I truly hope that everything works out well for you.  Try hard ok.  Step one seems to be to dump the boyfriend and stop hanging out with people who pressure you into doing drugs which could kill you or leave you with a severe heart condition.

All the very best.
Helpful - 0
Avatar universal
Calichick -
Very glad to hear you're doing better.  Its unfortunate that anyone decided to pass judgement against you. No matter the cause,- you had a problem and you were reaching out to people who might be able to help or reassure you.
The bottom line remains, tho and we cant argue with it - meth can kill.  It doesnt kill most people of course. And many get away with it, but its a big gamble. And being humans, we are prone to err on the side of curiosity sometimes, or give in to pressure.
Im really glad you are ok. You messed with one of the illegal drugs that is legitimately dangerous and you survived.  
I know people personally who developed chronic conditions like arrythmias and anxiety disorders presumably from meth use. Congrats on stopping before you became one of them.
Helpful - 0
216614 tn?1195665072
I sure hope you dumped the boyfriend
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Avatar universal
There were some pretty harsh comments and assumptions posted here. I'm new to this site and have been enjoying the posts and the knowledge, but I must say that some of you could have turned this person in a very negative direction by your attitudes.

I am not a drug user myself but I have a family member who is now clean and sober. Her drug of choice was METH. She used it manufactured it and sold it. I hated that someone I loved was so careless with her life and the lives of others. The one thing I wanted to say was... People on the streets are so desperate to manufacture, sale and use this drug that they DO NOT care about the safety of those who are using it. I was floored when my loved one told me what they used to make this stuff!  My God, you would never consider putting these things in your system otherwise. This drug is a KILLER!!!! stay away from it. To you Calichick... Please don't hesitate to seek help if this happens again. People may judge you but you will be giving yourself a chance at life!  Take care!!!!
Helpful - 0
Avatar universal
You have done the right thing by going to see your doctor.  The electric system of the heart can be very vulnerable to so many things - be it drugs, caffeine, too much food, etc.  Hopefully once you are through your withdrawl, your symptoms will disappear.

But, if they don't, you will need a more extensive workup to confirm a structurally normal heart (this will most likely be the case).  If you continue to be symptomatic, you will probably be offered drug therapy of either beta blockers or calcium channel blockers.  Sometimes ablation is a consideration, depending on the type of arrhythmia.

My arrhythmia started after a bad bout with the flu.  My heart never did return to normal, except on occasion, after that.  I opted for the ablation route when the meds I was taking stopped working.  Have felt great since I had the procedure done.

This condition can produce incredible anxiety.  Dealing with that is a huge step towards dealing with the condition.  I still have PVC's (skipped and extra beats) but since I know that my heart is healthy, they are easy to ignore.  Ignorance is not bliss when it comes to arrhythmias.

I hope you do well and good for you for being proactive.
Helpful - 0
Avatar universal
Why do people experiment with street drugs? hrmmm that is a very good question!

And how dare they ask for help when something goes wrong!

If anyone plans to have any accidents in the future and injure themselves, dont go asking anyone for any help now because you should know the consequences before doing something.

One person can have no immediate negative reaction to a drug therefore other people feel they can take it and not be harmed. Not all people overdose from drugs and everyones body takes different amounts to overdose.

Getting upset that people are asking for help after they did something stupid is rediculous and absurd.

If a person overdoses, should they seek help? she we as the public help them? is it their fault these drugs are available on the street? is it that persons fault who overdoses that they dont have access to certain information regarding a drug or perhaps was peer pressured into it with false information?

Before posting like this, dont assume!

Helpful - 0
402892 tn?1202007264
Thank you for everybody's comments.

Thinline to awnswer your questions.

1. Yes I'm doing ok besides the fact of having withdrawal symptoms from the drug, but yes I know that's my fault and I have to deal with it.

2. No I plan on NEVER doing meth again and no I have not done any drugs since then.

3. Yes I take 2 non-prescribed drugs. I take a calcium pill and a iron pill.

4. Yes, I went to go see my doctor and she said that I am ok. She gave me meds for anxiety and said they should help with the withdrawal symptoms. She also gave me a breathing treatment because I had fluid in my lungs( I don't know if that was due to the drug or not). When I went to go see her my heart rate was still high and I had high blood pressure but she said it is due to the withdrawal symptoms so I guess it's normal.

5. The reason I smoked meth in the first place is because my boyfriend was doing it and I felt pressured to do it and once I felt the effect of it I smoked more and didn't feel the need to stop.

I know I'm stupid for doing it and you can bash on me all you want and I know it's my fault. I'm NOT here for sympathy all I was doing was trying to ask a question about side effects of the drug and thank you to all who have helped.
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Avatar universal
Hello Calichick.  Now that we have all shared our feelings on doing drugs, I promise this is not another preaching session, why don't you let us know if your symptoms have gone away, or are you still having a dodgy heartbeat?  

I would really like to know what has happened since your post, aside from the fact that most of us stated that we are clearly anti-drug, I personally would like to know a bit more, so if you are still reading this thread, please could you let me know the following:
1. Are you ok?
2. Are you going to do drugs again or have you since your post?
3. Do you take other non prescribed drugs?
4. Did you see a doctor?  If so, what did he say?
5. What was the reason that you took more than the "recommended" amount of meth?

As I said before, I'm interested to know what's happened to you.
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Avatar universal
I have a very difficult time having compassion for people who do drugs - especially a drug like Meth.  Maybe I am sounding selfish but do you really think it is possible that a drug like Meth WOULDN'T effect your heart when things like tobacco and alcohol do?

It makes me pretty angry when I was born with heart problems, had heart surgery when I was 4, I watch everything I eat and drink, I am extremely anxious over my heart and I hear of people who just completely disregard any of this and use drugs.

I am also upset that I have to pay for these types of things through high taxes and insanely high health insurance costs.

How much information and education has to be published for people to understand you are not just hurting your heart or your skin or your parents, etc. you are effecting every single one of us.  When you make an appointment for a cardiologist, you might be pushing back the appointment for a 4 year old child with a hole in his heart.
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Avatar universal
hello,
i am a nurse and have afib. but i can tell you this much i have treated many patients that have od'd on meth and many some have died form herat complications.  STOP THE METH NOW!!! we dotn need to lose another soul from this horrid drug.  one thinkg about meth that some dont know is the first time, can do as much damage to the body as the 100th time.  one time is to many for this drug.  

hopefully your symptoms go away... i would get under the care of a dr. if you are not already, and go see a counsellor if you are open to that, the more you can do to ensure you dont do it again the better

Chris
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177337 tn?1310059899
VERY WELL SAID!!!!!

Same for you Calichick

Frenchie
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Avatar universal
You know what I am really tired of people "experiencing" and then are surprised when they get side effects and ask "how long it will take to get over the side effects" or if it will kill them.

So many people are so afraid of taking "prescription" drugs, afraid of the side effects, some people wont take prescription drugs even if they have very high BP and don't even get me started on the statins.  So many people will never take them.  But when it comes to illegal drugs or over the counter stuff people put together to get "high" all of a sudden the "side effects" don't matter and are not being looked into.

As for the "meth" you do NOT have to educate me on this.  You see I have a neighbor whose daughter is doing meth.  When I was shocked her mother said "meth is no big deal all kids do it now a days".  Guess what??  The daughter is in and out of Rehab for which we taxpayers pay for, she has a 7 year old son she had not seen in 6 yrs.  As soon as she is out of Rehab she is going back doing meth.

This is a public forum.  If people do illegal drugs without checking out the side effects and come on here to ask about it they have to be ready for the feedback.

I asked Calichick "why she/he did experiment"  I also could have told her/him that when I worked in the hospital and saw occasionally people as young as 23 yrs old being brought in with strokes and heart attacks caused by illegal drugs.  And I didn't tell her/him how many came in with serious arrhythmias, heart attack symptoms.  I didn't tell her/him that because I cannot understand how somebody does not check out the consequences before they take illegal drugs and then when their heart beats out of bound they panic.

I love coffee.  If I go and drink ten cups of Espresso and end up in the ER because my heart is going nuts I blame only myself for it and I know that I caused this myself.  

Sometimes it takes a wake up call and sometimes not even that will stop them.

I know what I am talking about, and making light of meth only shows how uninformed you are about meth.








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Avatar universal
I don't mean to preach... but I am going to. You said that you took more than recommended. Who recommends the dosage? My 20 year old son has two friends whose lives are totally ruined after trying meth ONCE. One of them is in a nursing home and the other is working with mentally handicapped people because that is what he is now. These were two nice boys from good families who made a bad choice.
The answer to your question is yes, meth and other street drugs can cause your heart to stop dead in its track.
Please don't do any more street drugs or any drugs for that matter.
Life is short! Make the best of it.
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Avatar universal
Barbarella, I'm kind of with you on this one, I'm of the "JUST SAY NO" school, but lets not get into that.

Calichick, there are drugs which can make your heart beat fast, a friend of mine who was a cocaine addict, says his heart used to beat hard and fast for days after taking a bit too much.  I think a lot of "uppers" have that effect.

There is always a chance that you might have damaged your heart by taking the meth.  I truly and honestly hope and pray that this has not happened to you.  I would suggest you go to a GP and be truthful about the episode, and let him/her check out what is going on with you so that if there is a problem, it can be sorted out quickly.
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Avatar universal
Barbarella- I dont think its necessary to be critical of how she arrived in the condition shes in. Many people have made this "mistake", and it doesnt mean the problem is any less significant.  Meth, by the way, is actually a legal stimulant that can (almost never is) prescribed under the name of Desoxyn. Most anything you put in your body is a "drug" and potentially both good and bad.  Separating out what is good from bad ought to be a little more complex than passing moral judgement.

Calichick- All I can offer is that you look up the half-life of meth. Over how long a period did you take it.. "overdose" on meth tends to sometimes be a cumulative thing where people stay up for days doing it sometimes, not just smoking too much at once.

That being said it is extremely dangerous(as you now know) but I would offer that I believe your heart-rate will go down as the substance clears your body. I think most metabolites of drugs clear in about 5 days or so. I would go back to the dr. if I were you if its been this long.


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Avatar universal
Why didn't you ask the doctors this question while you were in the ER?

Why are you "expirementing" with street drugs?
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