i keep having heart palpitations. are energy drinks to blame?

trulyhealy
trulyhealy Posts: 242 Member
in Health and Weight Loss
i’m not sure if it’s my current high sugar diet or the energy drinks. i know monsters are bad for you but i love them so much and i drink about 5 a week maybe less sometimes

do you think it’s the energy drinks that causing it? i don’t drink coffee so it’s not like i have loads of caffeine (also will 5 lobsters a week reduce my life expectancy?)
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Replies

  • middlehaitch
    middlehaitch Posts: 8,486 Member
    Thanks for that @TakeTheLongWayHome.
    Just what I needed on a rainy day.

    Cheers, h.
  • trulyhealy
    trulyhealy Posts: 242 Member
    or it could bc bc i was oil painting and around paint thinner idk
  • PAV8888
    PAV8888 Posts: 14,300 Member
    Well, paint fumes are definitely worse for your health than either lobsters or monsters!
  • middlehaitch
    middlehaitch Posts: 8,486 Member
    Do you have good ventilation in your studio?

    If not work with an open window and if you are an artist working primarily in oils look at investing in a separate from the rest of the house ventilation system.

    Oils and their thinners can play havoc with your health if you breath them continuously short or long term. Palpitations are not at all unusual.

    Oops, if you were just painting house trim, ignore the above and stay away from where you were painting.

    Cheers, h.
  • Redordeadhead
    Redordeadhead Posts: 1,188 Member
    Do you mean up to 5 energy drinks a week, or should it have said per day? If it's really per week then you're drinking less than 1 per day, I highly doubt it's that.
  • yirara
    yirara Posts: 9,985 Member
    lgfrie wrote: »
    Being a person with palpitation issues, here are things you can do to try to self-manage them, after you talk to your doctor, because it goes without saying that palpitations should be discussed with a doctor. Often (in fact "usually"), they are not indicative of a serious underlying health condition, but they CAN be. So go get it checked out. That said, the usual culprits for palpitations are:
    • Caffeine
    • Nicotine
    • Stress, poor sleep, and things of that nature
    • Alcohol
    • Electrolyte imbalances - potassium, magnesium, etc.
    To the extent you can greatly reduce or eliminate those things, you'll likely find the palpitations reduced.

    I think it goes without saying that the first thing to do is eliminate caffeinated energy drinks completely for a few weeks and see what happens. While doing that, maybe take some over the counter magnesium pills at the recommended low dosage and keep your alcohol intake very low.

    But get with your doctor. Sometimes palpitations are indicative of a problem.





    And you can add acid reflux to it, especially the laryngopharyngeal type because a big nerve is running around there towards the heart and might get annoyed by the acid.
  • yirara
    yirara Posts: 9,985 Member
    lgfrie wrote: »
    yirara wrote: »
    lgfrie wrote: »
    Being a person with palpitation issues, here are things you can do to try to self-manage them, after you talk to your doctor, because it goes without saying that palpitations should be discussed with a doctor. Often (in fact "usually"), they are not indicative of a serious underlying health condition, but they CAN be. So go get it checked out. That said, the usual culprits for palpitations are:
    • Caffeine
    • Nicotine
    • Stress, poor sleep, and things of that nature
    • Alcohol
    • Electrolyte imbalances - potassium, magnesium, etc.
    To the extent you can greatly reduce or eliminate those things, you'll likely find the palpitations reduced.

    I think it goes without saying that the first thing to do is eliminate caffeinated energy drinks completely for a few weeks and see what happens. While doing that, maybe take some over the counter magnesium pills at the recommended low dosage and keep your alcohol intake very low.

    But get with your doctor. Sometimes palpitations are indicative of a problem.





    And you can add acid reflux to it, especially the laryngopharyngeal type because a big nerve is running around there towards the heart and might get annoyed by the acid.

    Indeed, I frequently get palpitations from acid reflux, but it didn't sound like this was afflicting the OP so I didn't mention it. But for me, yes, keeping that acid reflux under control makes a huge difference with the skipped heart beats.

    Well, TO is stressing out a lot. Plus fumes. Both could exaggerate or cause reflux.
  • sijomial
    sijomial Posts: 19,809 Member
    "do you think it’s the energy drinks that causing it?"

    If you also feel palpitations on days you DON'T have Monster energy drinks (or other caffeine sources) then probably no and you (and your Doctor) should consider other triggers.
    If you only feel palpitations ONLY on days you have caffeine then probably yes.

    You could annotate your diary for a few weeks to check the correlation or simply exclude for a while as a simple experiment.


    FYI - my daughter had to exclude caffeine due to the same problem and although it's not been a complete cure the incidence has vastly reduced. In her case stress is also a factor and your issue may have multiple factors too.

  • Jodear2122
    Jodear2122 Posts: 70 Member
    Energy drinks have way more caffeine than coffee, don’t drink them at all of course they can give you palpitations, you should seek medical attention for this just to rule out anything worse.
  • ThatCookieGurl
    ThatCookieGurl Posts: 42 Member
    edited May 2021
    Do what is right.
  • Theoldguy1
    Theoldguy1 Posts: 2,496 Member
    Redordeadhead wrote: »
    Do you mean up to 5 energy drinks a week, or should it have said per day? If it's really per week then you're drinking less than 1 per day, I highly doubt it's that.

    Question not asked how much other caffeine is the OP consuming while drinking the energy drinks. If I had to bet, I'd say it's not the only source and the total intake may be causing the issues.
  • Lietchi
    Lietchi Posts: 6,881 Member
    Theoldguy1 wrote: »
    Redordeadhead wrote: »
    Do you mean up to 5 energy drinks a week, or should it have said per day? If it's really per week then you're drinking less than 1 per day, I highly doubt it's that.

    Question not asked how much other caffeine is the OP consuming while drinking the energy drinks. If I had to bet, I'd say it's not the only source and the total intake may be causing the issues.

    She does state she doesn't drink coffee.
  • BarbaraHelen2013
    BarbaraHelen2013 Posts: 1,941 Member
    Always worth having palpitations checked out by a doctor rather than speculating as to possible causes.

    I’ve only suffered them once in my life, thankfully, and it turned out to be due to an untreated strep throat infection that had migrated to the tissue of my heart. Potentially serious but very easily fixed with a course of antibiotics.

    Get it looked at!
  • trulyhealy
    trulyhealy Posts: 242 Member
    Theoldguy1 wrote: »
    Redordeadhead wrote: »
    Do you mean up to 5 energy drinks a week, or should it have said per day? If it's really per week then you're drinking less than 1 per day, I highly doubt it's that.

    Question not asked how much other caffeine is the OP consuming while drinking the energy drinks. If I had to bet, I'd say it's not the only source and the total intake may be causing the issues.

    the only caffeine i consume is monster u less there’s caffeine in other things i don’t know about. is there caffeine in zero calorie fizzy drinks?
  • trulyhealy
    trulyhealy Posts: 242 Member
    BarbaraHelen2013 wrote: »
    Always worth having palpitations checked out by a doctor rather than speculating as to possible causes.

    I’ve only suffered them once in my life, thankfully, and it turned out to be due to an untreated strep throat infection that had migrated to the tissue of my heart. Potentially serious but very easily fixed with a course of antibiotics.

    Get it looked at!

    what if i phone the doctors and they’re like well obviously monsters are to blame and then look at me like i’m dumb. it’s not all the time it happens for example it was at night about 8-10 hours after drinking the monster and today it happened pretty much as soon as i started drinking it

  • Theoldguy1
    Theoldguy1 Posts: 2,496 Member
    trulyhealy wrote: »
    Theoldguy1 wrote: »
    Redordeadhead wrote: »
    Do you mean up to 5 energy drinks a week, or should it have said per day? If it's really per week then you're drinking less than 1 per day, I highly doubt it's that.

    Question not asked how much other caffeine is the OP consuming while drinking the energy drinks. If I had to bet, I'd say it's not the only source and the total intake may be causing the issues.

    the only caffeine i consume is monster u less there’s caffeine in other things i don’t know about. is there caffeine in zero calorie fizzy drinks?

    Could be, depends on the drink.
  • Diatonic12
    Diatonic12 Posts: 32,344 Member
    edited May 2021
    Most La Croix flavors do not have caffeine but some drinks like Sparkling Ice do. Normally, it says so on the front of the can under the branding. Almost every brand of sparkling waters has at least one or two with caffeine now.
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    Walmart brands
  • Redordeadhead
    Redordeadhead Posts: 1,188 Member
    Theoldguy1 wrote: »
    Redordeadhead wrote: »
    Do you mean up to 5 energy drinks a week, or should it have said per day? If it's really per week then you're drinking less than 1 per day, I highly doubt it's that.

    Question not asked how much other caffeine is the OP consuming while drinking the energy drinks. If I had to bet, I'd say it's not the only source and the total intake may be causing the issues.

    She did write she doesn't drink coffee and is not consuming lots of caffeine.
  • sweetdaisy13
    sweetdaisy13 Posts: 357 Member
    I had a spell where my resting heart rate became abnormally low (even though I exercise and am quite fit) and I also had heart palpitations. I rarely drink coffee, but drink around 4 cups of tea a day (something I've always done).

    I went to the doctor and had an ECG which didn't pick up anything, but had my bloods done and turned out I was anaemic and had a prescription of iron tablets for a month. I'm no longer on prescription medication but take an over the counter slow-releasing iron tablet (with added Folic Acid and Vitamin B12) every other day and this seems to have done the trick. Also, I increased the amount of iron in my diet.
  • BarbaraHelen2013
    BarbaraHelen2013 Posts: 1,941 Member
    trulyhealy wrote: »
    BarbaraHelen2013 wrote: »
    Always worth having palpitations checked out by a doctor rather than speculating as to possible causes.

    I’ve only suffered them once in my life, thankfully, and it turned out to be due to an untreated strep throat infection that had migrated to the tissue of my heart. Potentially serious but very easily fixed with a course of antibiotics.

    Get it looked at!

    what if i phone the doctors and they’re like well obviously monsters are to blame and then look at me like i’m dumb. it’s not all the time it happens for example it was at night about 8-10 hours after drinking the monster and today it happened pretty much as soon as i started drinking it

    Pretty sure it wouldn’t be the dumbest thing your doctor has ever heard, so don’t even worry about that!

    Also sure that if you give him/her the timelines of the episodes of palpitations and the times you’ve drunk an energy drink they’d be interested due to the apparent lack of direct correlation of the timings.

  • Diatonic12
    Diatonic12 Posts: 32,344 Member
    @trulyhealy You've told us your backstory and no one in their right mind would think that about you. I've read all of your comments and I've got your back. I care.

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