chest pain and difficult breathing a few days after drinking

Hi guys,

 

There may be slightly different symptoms we are experiencing... so I am not saying what I have found out to be wrong with me is the holy grail in solving this problem.

 

I have been monitoring this site since almost calling A&E in Portugal.

 

Once every 3 months or so I go on holiday with a few mates from work that like to party hard. I have had a number of very hard nights out with these guys, and successful holidays in Germany, and Turkey.

 

I had an absolute bender in Portugal during the summer.

 

Usually my body can take it - we were spending 200 Euros a night in a cheap country to go out in on booze... After three days and 600 Euros spent with absolutely nothing to show for it, and no I didn't spend any money on strip clubs or the like, just partying and eating..., I went to an Aqua park, came back and thought I was suffering from heat stroke... this was my first episode.

I thought I was going to die. Your eyes are shut but, you can't breathe properly and feel like there is something wrong with your heart/ your blood or your heart. Your automatic breathing response seems to have shut down and there's no getting away from your problems. I was a runner up until that point and if anything underweight. Putting it down to heat stroke a week later I pulled an all nighter in London. I had to take a whole work off week and the doctor diagnosed me with anxiety or Panic attacks and prescribed me Mirtazapine. Being in a long Court Case to see my daughter I put it down to that and listened to him. A few months later I found mysel out again and the same thing happened dizzy spells, hard to breathe, heart palpitations I though I would die and very nearly called A&E. It scared me stiff I could never go out on a hard night again - whats a boy to do to get his kicks?.

 

I have tried a number of tests/ health regimes since.... there is a good book on a miracle liver cleanse if anyone has issues there. Reading this, the logical answer would seem to be GERDS.I have read different threads, acid refux, tried gaviscon and tablets, tried liver cleanses etc but they didn't really work still found myself in really scary positions the night after drinking.  

 

Then finally the breakthrough. After coming back normal on every single heart, liver, hiv (negative), diabetes test, I have been diagnosed as Hypothyroid. My TSH Counts i 7.5 and normal is in the range of .4-3.0.

 

Question:- Out of your friends, do you most often struggle getting up in the morning even when you haven't had a night out? - Do you feel like you need a coffee in the morning to make sense? - Are you fit and otherwise not showing any weight gain or other usual symptoms of being hypothyroid - Do you notice your feet and hands getting cold/ more cold than others at certain points, but put it down to your low blood pressure? - Do you feel tired/ put it down to your lifestyle?  Has the doctor prescribed anti-anxiety drugs (don't really do much and if they do anything they reduce the symptoms rather than the cause)?

 

I bought a book on Hypothyroidism. Stress and overstressed adrenal glands causes a lack of Cortisol in the blood. This is the chemical that literally gets you out of bed in the morning. If there is not enough Cortisol to go around, your thyroid starts to slow down. Drinking, stressful lives and smoking weed can play having with your adrenal glands.Sometimes you can be hypothyroid but the tests come back normal. Treatment is not so bad, and usually lasts about 6 months of taking Thyroxin, or better still Thyroid Armour made from thyroid extract of real animals. Natural products are supposed to work better.I am starting on a course of Adrenal Supplements, and Thyroid Supplements, and I will let you know how I get on. Keep us posted on what is happening to you and whether this is helpful. Thyroid problems are very treatable, and you can be back to being your old self within 3-6 months.

It may well be GERDS for most of you but thinking this I tried Gaviscon, sitting up in bed when sleeping but still the same problems after a night out.

Best wishes, Jeff

I have checked out other problems. I used to suffer from Asthma, but this all checks out fine (peak flow is 550), I remember what it is like to have an attack and this is not it.

I am a non smoker and 33 yo, and I would like to say reasonably healthy if it wasn't for liking the odd drink.

I have tried eating lots of sunflower seeds and fish re: post about magnesium defficiency but this didn'treally have an effect on what was happening.

I have never passed out because of dizzy spells, but feel unable to work. Dizzy spells usually happen in the afternoon after a night out, but to be honest I have not been feeling well at work even when I am staying at home... I have pretty much given up on going out like many readers have said as the after effects are not worth it anymore, but would still like to treat myself once every other month, and to hang out with the guys again on the odd holiday would be ace.

How is everyone else doing, are any of the other theories working over the longer term?

Its the beer I went to the doctors for years with what I was told was asma none of the pumps ever worked it was all very worrying. it beer when ever we go on the lash I get it it lasts for about 3 days and goes when I stop drinking so there is your answere dont drink, :-(

wow, im so relieved to see this. here I am , googling "heart attack symptoms" when everything here is listed out perfectly. 

a) i have generalized anxiety disorder

and b) i am a heavy drinker. 

I went pretty hard on New Years Eve (about 2 days ago), and woke up the next morning and puked 3 times. (classy, i know). Now, im sitting up in bed at night with chest/back pain,  that extends into my right arm. (I know that's not the heart attack arm, but whatever lol). After reading this blog im fairly certain that the pain is caused by the recent distress of forceful vomiting.. which probably strained my diaphragm among other local muscles. That, coupled with my history of anxiety/panic disorder (which as im sure most of you know, is pretty much like throwing gasoline on a fire) is causing me to sit here and freak out. wow, i feel a lot better just being able to type all of this out. im a 24 y/o female in otherwise great health. 

as a side note, i've decided to try to quit drinking... i went pretty hard in college and have been gradually phasing out the nights of binge drinking with my friends. I've noticed that during periods where i drink less, my anxiety becomes a lot more manageable. When i'm hungover/withdrawing from alcohol, it triggers my anxiety and panics, which are responsible for the majority of the physical discomfort i experience (numbness, tingling, feeling like im going to die, chest pain, dizziness, etc). I also have a history of childhood asthma, so it can be difficult to differentiate the two (when youre hyperventilating vs. when you actually need an inhaler). 

For people who are new to the concept of anxiety/panic disorder, I want to take a minute to explain it, since it took me a very long time figuring out what it actually was, and accepting that I had it. When the people on this blog say they are experiencing anxiety, it is not the normal kind of anxiety that everyone experiences before a huge exam, or a gymnastics competition, or what have you. That is NORMAL, healthy anxiety. The type that we are talking about is a clinical disorder, that can manifest itself in a very physical way. In fact, it tends to occur most frequently when your body and mind are seemingly at rest. For example, the first time I had a panic attack was during brunch with my two best friends after a night of heavy drinking. There I was , in a relaxed, casual atmosphere, when all of a sudden my head felt like it was filled with cotton, my whole body started tingling and I felt like I was about to pass out/die. I put my head down on the table and made my friends call me an ambulance, where I spent the rest of the day in the ER. I was convinced that I was either having an asthma attack (which was the only thing I could think of that explained the trouble/choking sensation I was having when I tried to breathe). I was also convinced I had some sort of brain tumor at one point (which I thought explained the dizziness and sensation that I couldnt remember to breath) .... I was a mess. Finally, I  set up doctor appointments with a cardiologist, a neurologist, my allergist (for athsma), etc.... and the last appointment that my dad insisted on was seeing a psychiatrist (which at the time, i thought was pointless). Thousands of dollars in medical bills later, with nothing but clean reports, i sat down in the psychiatrist's office. He diagnosed me within ten minutes . I was absolutely stunned and in disbelief that it was my own mind controlling all of the physical chaos i had been experiencing. I felt defeated that it wasnt something i could just "snap out of" or shut off on my own. What you need to understand is that it's an imbalance in chemicals, which is what causes the disorder. If you think you're experiencing what I've just described, it might be useful to make an appointment with a psychiatrist. Of course, there's always the possibility of an actual health problem,  (not to scare you/make you nervous!) but you should probably also set up an appointment with your family doctor to cover all of the bases. Good luck, and what I would suggest in the meantime, until you figure everything out, is to avoid known triggers (such as caffeine and alcohol, especially if youre a regular user of both, like me) , and to get lots of rest , water and exercise. Just do everythnig you can to get your body back to the most natural, healthy state it can be in. If that doesnt help, you may need an SSRI. (I take the lowest daily dosage of lexapro, and it seems to help). 

Hope this helps! You're not alone. 

Thanks Bem!

I just went to last page of this post and saw what you've put down. It's extremely helpful and i have experienced the exact same things. I was on a holiday in Europe and after a lot of drinking there would be days were my body went numb and it felt like i was sinking into the ground plus all the heart palpitations and the fun you guys have described :P I was panicking but i'm used to going through moments of discomfort, like work for example ;)

None the less i am healthy and it is most likely the fact that i was just having a panic attack. I had one day where i was just wrecked for 5 hours and was in this bad state of mind. I eat a paleo diet (www.marksdailyapple.com) but at the end of the day alcohol deprives your body of all vitamin b's and a lot of other vital vitamins. Water is great and exercise helps but i also find a supplement milk thistle helps with alcohol damage. It's a herb that reduces liver inflammation. Investigate it!

There's one nootropic i take called sulbutiamine. It was primarily made for thiamine deficiency (beriberi) in Japan and other Asain countries because their staple diet is rice & grains. Here's some information on it:

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmedhealth/PMH0001379/ <-- thiamine symptoms

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sulbutiamine <-- nootropic

http://smartdrugsforthought.com/what-is-sulbutiamine <-- more info on sulbutiamine

What sulbutiamine does is flood your brain with vitamin B's, this helps replenish what the alcohol took away. It also helps with chronic fatigue. Anyway this is just a suggestion to prevent further mayhem on your body if you do continue to drink alcohol. My lifestyle is not going to change anytime soon so i might as well do what i can to combat the negatives. Also i don't want to say you need drugs to fix your imbalances but i find nootropics very beneficial in my everyday life and do not view them as bad substance (e.g. coke, meth <--- neurotoxic to brain)

I do not want to say that YOU guys have thiamine deficiency and if you do it would only be mild (don't panic haha). I have shared with you what i do to combat all the damage alcohol can induce on an individual (i'm sure there better methods but i haven't found them yet however this is the internet :D ). Alcohol is just another drug on the shelf, it's just socially accepted and amazing for socializing. It is a toxin and should be treated like one though, i hope this helps everyone best of luck with your health! YOLO :)

Well ive posted previously with my findings and now its gone to a new level.

I dont have anxiety, and i dont have a drinking problem, this only happens after a heavy night drinking which is once in a blue moon nowadays.

I went out over xmas and drank a lot, i wasnt really hammered but i drank a LOT over a long evening and the next day i was hungover, sure enough the feeling faint, heart felt weak like it was going to stop, and kept needing to take a deep breath

THEN my heart started to flutter, a strange twinge, this was different, i called NHS Direct and NHS direct called an ambulance, the ambulance guys caught my heart giving short bursts of AF (atrial fibrillation) and i was admitted for monitoring, a day later my heart had settled and i have no need for medication and my rhythm is back to normal.

Excessive alcohol causes electrolyte and heart electrical signal issues, DONT binge drink, it was very scary and from now on i will be sensible.

Your body is TELLING you that it is suffering so listen to it, drink in moderation, dont dehydrate yourself.

Hi guys, Me again. New Years being New Years - went out...got drunk... went home at 3pm, was fine. Went to a party Saturday... had quite a bit to drink left at 3pm was fine. The anxiety/ panic attacks are all symptoms of warn out adrenal glands. Totally agree we have been all putting our bodies through too much. If your adrenals shut down for 3 days solid you will die or so said the expert i saw today. I have read a good book - The Great Thyroid Scandal By Dr Durant-Peatfeild. Basically having stressed out adrenals will cause the panic attack symptoms. Most Doctors just try and deal with the symptoms by giving you Xanax or something like Myrtazapine which is a good drug in itself. By why not deal with the cause - reduce late nights/ stress. Don't stop drinking but give your body more of a break and take adrenal supports. I used to go out once per week and will start by going out once per month again but things are looking up! I started taking my temperature each morning, and yes it was only 35.9 or 36.0 when it should be around 37.0 degrees - check yours to see if you have hypothyroidism/ overstressed adrenals as it may be what is doing this to you? Best wishes and good luck to all Jeffreyb

Sorry I meant 3am not pm - I am not that crazy any more!

Dr Durrant-Peatfield is your man, and what a nice chap he was he still runs clinics Nationwide in the UK, but you can pick up pretty much everything from his book. Good luck all and bottoms up!

just wanted to put across a few pts Alcohol will cause you to become breathless if you are sensitive to the histomines contained in it. Are your symptons worse when you drink wine, particularly red? if so this is the likely cause. Also if you are a heavy drinker, alcohol can increase the size of your heart which means that it requires more oxygen to supply it,hence again the symptons. The latter is quite bad and is a step along the path of heart disease, so consider lifestyle changes asap if this is a good fit. Frank

I would like to say that this has been the most helpful and honorable post i have ever read in any terms of health issues. I truly honor you for writing it out the way you have and it is hard to believe how i was not just close but almost exactly on the same line to cure my issues but you have been able to take it a lot further and found out a lot more which can help. People if you are in this page, this is the post you will follow if you want to bring your life back together.

three words come to mind

Holiday Heart Syndrome

Its associated with binge drinking and generally people who go on "lads/lasses" and binge drink, just take a look at the additional symptoms below...sound familiar, its the exact same as the title heading.

Symptoms of holiday heart syndrome
Common symptoms of holiday heart syndrome include a racing heart, sensation of skipped heartbeats, heart palpitations and heart fluttering. Atrial fibrillation or extra heartbeats feel as if the heart is racing or beating outside the chest.

In addition to these primary symptoms, people with atrial fibrillation commonly complain of unusual shortness of breath, fatigue, and feeling light-headed or dizzy

How about just stop drinking. Just a thought. You certainly won't die without it, but you could die if you continue. Sorry, but no merlot or pint is that good.

Hi guys,

            Hope you are all coping with this problem as best as you can. To follow up on my earlier post, I have been experimenting with how far I can push my body as far as the alcohol and smoking is concerned. I do not recommend trying this, I did this for my own benefit in order to try to understand this condition. I abstained from alcohol for 3 straight months and didn't touch a drop. The problem disappeared. This upset me a lot because I like having a drink, and I didn't want to think that I could never enjoy a few beers again while I'm fishing, watching footy, etc. I drank a few beers at Christmas time ( 3 x 700ml bottles of full strength beer ), plus I drank a lot of water in between, and the next day  -  nothing. Totally fine. I decided to push it a bit more over the New Year's period and drank 7 large bottles of beer in the space of 3 hours. The attack came a little earlier than usual this time, but with relaxation and panic management it went away after about 30 minutes. I pushed it even further, and drank a dozen large bottles of beer per day over a 3 day period, plus I smoked heaps of weed over this period. The attack was particularly nasty, but 3 days later I was back to normal. I decided to get off the grog again, but still smoked heaps of weed. No problem, and mind you, I only have one lung and it has a hole in it which complicates my problem further. The weed had no adverse effect on me at all, other than getting me really stoned  -  which is what I wanted. I'm not in any way condoning what I did, this was my choice. It seems that extended or excessive alcohol is one of the main causes, but if you don't do it every day and you keep yourself well hydrated there is no reason why you can't have a few drinks from time to time. The body needs time to detox each time after a big drink. This problem will never go away permanently, and will always return once the body can no longer tolerate the alcohol intake. I was told by a doctor in Shanghai that I had respiratory failure, and then later asthma, and I've seen the same diagnosis in London and Sydney, but the Ventolin I was prescribed with did nothing to help  -  and this ain't anything like asthma anyway. This is the body's reaction to being poisoned over a prolonged period  -  in my case 30 years of heavy daily abuse. I'm not a doctor, but from what I can tell this is a combination of what is known as "alcoholic lung", along with laryngopharangeal reflux and liver damage  -  which is probably why it is so commonly misdiagnosed as something else.  I won't be doing anymore experimentation. I'm satisfied that I have found the solution to my problem, and that is to stop heavy drinking on a daily basis and only drink once per month  -  and this works for me. I'm not saying that it will work for everyone, but periods of abstinence won't kill you  -  as difficult as it is, especially for me. I hope this has been helpful to all of you out there who are suffering or scared, and I hope you find what works for you.

   Just a footnote: To all those people who post comments like "Just stop drinking"  -  please remember; some of us are alcoholics and it's just not that easy. Would you expect a junkie to listen if you said "just stop taking heroin" ?  We know that we have a problem, and we are trying to deal with it in our own way. Constructive criticism is always welcomed, but stating the blatantly obvious is only a sign that one has absolutely no idea what one is talking about and has never walked a mile in these moccasins. Wishing you all good health, and hoping you find respite.

                                                                                           paulie.

Eshayy bra wat cunts I got the same sh*t poop symptoms I rekin drink an eat healthy sh*t work out an take inner health plus wat solution use got?

As said in previous posts, Its great to know that other people out there are suffering the same symptoms as me. Not great, but i'm glad im not alone.

Sex - Male

Age - 32

Age of first Symptoms - 28-29 yrs

History of Panic Attacks, general anxiety

Symptoms experienced - At 28-29 yrs tightness in chest, chest pains, more so under left rib cage.

31-32 Tingling sensations in arms, legs, hands and feet

Acute shortness of breathe (can never achieve full breathe) keep having to try and take deep breathes

Numbness

Disorientation

Pounding heart

In extreme cases blurry vision - Spasms on right side of face

Sleep Apnea 

Cannot fall asleep - Wake up gasping for breathe 

Poison of choice - Whiskey (Jack Daniels)

 

I am currently heading into day 4 alcohol free and symptoms still being experienced are heavy/tight chest, chest pain under left rib cage, tingling in my left foot, head pain when moving eyeballs left to right.

 

Symptoms usually felt after a heavy 2-3 day bender on Jack Daniels and whatever else in between. At least one 700ml bottle of JD/night.

Usually keep drinking to avoid feeling the symptoms described but after having a day sober, I feel ok then about late afternoon the tight chest ect starts to hit me and can send me into a state of panic/anxiety as these symptoms seem to come on so quickly and out of nowhere. I have been to the doctor and Emergency once, had ECG which came back fine. Apparently drinking 2L of Jack Daniels isn't so good for you in a 48 hour period.. Whoops.. After the current aftermath i've had enough of this. Time to get sober and stay sober. Will do a month to start with and see how I feel then. I don't like the fact that I'm paying excessive amounts of money on booze to make myself feel like this. So not worth it!!!