I get the same thing, it used to be wine that did it, now its any drink. If I have more than one drink, I can count on my heart rate going up and not being able to sleep. It is scary. I do not know what the problem is. I used to drink a lot, but now only one or two nights a week and only one or two drinks at a time, but it still does it. I have thought I should not drink anymore, but would hate to never enjoy wine with dinner or a beer with friends again. If anyone knows why this happens and how we can deal with it, please share.
I am so glad to hear that I am not alone (but I'm sorry you all have to go through this too). Basically, the same thing started happening to me a few months ago, and it was like a lightswitch. Previously I could binge drink, and the only bad effect I had was a hangover. Now I always have a fast heart rate if I have more than 2 beers. This can occur immediately after I drink (if its already late at night), or I wake up from sleep 4 hours later and my heart starts speeding up after I wake up.
I have many details that are too long to share, but to make it short, I have no idea whats really going on. The good news is I have no physical or chemical issues that any doctor can find. I was on an EKG for 24 hours. I got an echocardiogram. I got the enzyme tests for heart attack. All negative. (I had one weird EKG so they thought it could be a heart attack). They wrote 2 things on my discharge form 1. No drinking 2. No cigarettes.
They also suggested that my symptoms were panic related and I started cognitive therapy for anxiety, which did help, but didn't solve the heart problem (I also had the racing heart in the middle of the night when I didn't drink for a few weeks). Specifically, they said that the waking up in the middle of the night with a racing heart is almost always caused by Nocturnal Panic Attack. I agree that I have panic problems, but I was also dubious that my situation was totally psychological. However, I have to agree that Xanax can indeed limit the symptoms of the racing heart when it occurs.
Anyway, I still drink occasionally, but my intake has continued to go down steadily, and for obvious reasons. I'm getting to the point where the benefits of drinking don't offset the impact on my body. I worry that my heart is getting weaker everytime I drink, but this could also just be my panic.
I think we are all looking for definitive answers and can't find any. No doctor can tell me WHY this happens when I drink alcohol. Their explanation is "it just does".
Has anyone tried the magnesium supplements to treat the issue?
I have many details that are too long to share, but to make it short, I have no idea whats really going on. The good news is I have no physical or chemical issues that any doctor can find. I was on an EKG for 24 hours. I got an echocardiogram. I got the enzyme tests for heart attack. All negative. (I had one weird EKG so they thought it could be a heart attack). They wrote 2 things on my discharge form 1. No drinking 2. No cigarettes.
They also suggested that my symptoms were panic related and I started cognitive therapy for anxiety, which did help, but didn't solve the heart problem (I also had the racing heart in the middle of the night when I didn't drink for a few weeks). Specifically, they said that the waking up in the middle of the night with a racing heart is almost always caused by Nocturnal Panic Attack. I agree that I have panic problems, but I was also dubious that my situation was totally psychological. However, I have to agree that Xanax can indeed limit the symptoms of the racing heart when it occurs.
Anyway, I still drink occasionally, but my intake has continued to go down steadily, and for obvious reasons. I'm getting to the point where the benefits of drinking don't offset the impact on my body. I worry that my heart is getting weaker everytime I drink, but this could also just be my panic.
I think we are all looking for definitive answers and can't find any. No doctor can tell me WHY this happens when I drink alcohol. Their explanation is "it just does".
Has anyone tried the magnesium supplements to treat the issue?
This is so crazy to find so many people who have this reaction to alcohol. I am a 33 year old healthy woman and I simply can not drink alcohol anymore or I'm up ALL NIGHT with a racing heart and insomnia. It just happened last night and my husband asked me to google it today. I'm rarely drink and I when I go out for a night I might only have 2 beers, but it still keeps me up all night. I'm sad that it seems that I won't even be able to do that. I'm glad I'm not alone, but sorry so many others have this problem too.
yeah im high strun anyway which is why i drink, then the next day i freak out ten times as bad with the nerves and anxiety.
i drink alot, but not nearly as much as other people and they dont have this problem, but i mainly drink scotch and beer and they drink vodka.
my reasoning for it is that obviously your blood pressure is changing, but when you drink you deaden nerves and as they reawaken the next day it can lead to panic when coupled with the unpleasantness of a hangover and the blood returning to its normal thickness. my blood pressure goes pretty high for a while... but im high strung as it is and have bad social anxiety (but who wouldnt when the world is total madness? haha)
you cant do one extreme without the other, ying and yang.
i usually go for a long walk and feel alot better.
i drink alot, but not nearly as much as other people and they dont have this problem, but i mainly drink scotch and beer and they drink vodka.
my reasoning for it is that obviously your blood pressure is changing, but when you drink you deaden nerves and as they reawaken the next day it can lead to panic when coupled with the unpleasantness of a hangover and the blood returning to its normal thickness. my blood pressure goes pretty high for a while... but im high strung as it is and have bad social anxiety (but who wouldnt when the world is total madness? haha)
you cant do one extreme without the other, ying and yang.
i usually go for a long walk and feel alot better.
Check out something called "Holiday Heart Syndrome".
I too am curious as to why alcohol causes my heart to race. Last night I had 4 glasses of red wine. I drank 44 ounces of water before bed and 4 hours later I woke up with my heart racing. It started to freak me out but I just went back to sleep and by morning it was gone. this has happened to me too. I'm wondering if it's the dehydrating effect of alcohol and with less blood volume for your heart to pump it may cause tachycardia (rapid heart beat) but I'm not too concerned. It's just best to limit your intake period.
I have had this problem for about 5 years, have to only drink a few beers after dinner and the problems occurs in the middle of the night, racing heart, well that what I thought but my doctor believes it' gastric related, since I have been tested for every heart related illness and all can back negative. Try this the next time it happens, turn onto your left side and go back to sleep, and surprisingly enough you will pass gas and the racing will go away, but since you can't sleep in this position all night it will reoccur. Water also helps...my general rule to stop it, before going to sleep, is 2 glasses of water for each normal drink.. but i think since your trips to the toilet will be numerous the gas will not get a chance to be trapped. It works for me, try it.
It is very odd that we all have the same, or substantially similar symptoms after consuming a few drinks...and yet after going to the doctor, we or at least I am told, "you're fine". I can drink a gallon of water before bed, after having had a few drinks (2 to 3) and it makes no difference; my heart will race and continue for many hours and sleep will be nearly impossible. At first I thought it was dehydration, but after downing mass amounts of water after every drink and before bed, I realized that can't be the issue. I still wake up in the middle of the night and continue to experience a rapid heart rate and difficulties returning to sleep.
I am a 30 year old female, in relatively good shape, although admittedly I do smoke (less than a pack a day) and consume coffee (2 cups), and rarely drink, but when I do, the same things described above happen to me.
If anyone here goes to the doctor and is told something other than "you're fine" would you kindly share your experience, as I find it a little strange that we all have this problem and yet there's nothing wrong.
I am a 30 year old female, in relatively good shape, although admittedly I do smoke (less than a pack a day) and consume coffee (2 cups), and rarely drink, but when I do, the same things described above happen to me.
If anyone here goes to the doctor and is told something other than "you're fine" would you kindly share your experience, as I find it a little strange that we all have this problem and yet there's nothing wrong.
I find my case a bit different. I am a social drinker. I usually go out one night a week, Saturday, and maybe another night if there is a special occasion. I would probably drink too much on that one night, although I don't consider myself an alcoholic because I don't have any urges or desires to drink other than the designated nights that I go out. For about the past month without fail, every Sunday morning I wake up, usually about 7 AM, with an accelerated heart rate. I usually get up and get a glass of water and set back down and usually settles between 10 minutes and a half of an hour. I have no other side effects, no anxiety, sweating, etc. Seems odd but when I go out I do drink a lot because I tend to have a high tolerance and don't feel the effects so much and also don't usually supplement it with any water or other non-alcoholic supplement. Also most of my friends work in bars and they are my designated drivers so I am often out until two o'clock in the morning. I have a trendy type of job and it would probably be in my best interest to continue to go out socially but I think I will limit my alcohol consumption, stop drinking by 1:00 AM or perhaps 12:30 and have a relatively healthy dose of water or other non-alcoholic beverages and go from there.
This Just started happening to me as well. I am 33 female, social drinker and smoker, in good physical condition but three times in the past month I have woken up scared because my heart rate was outta control! So one morning I went to the doctor and he said it was dehydration. I had numerous test done EKG, Xrays, blood work and everything was normal. With the exception of a little acid reflux and dehydration I was fine. I am so freaked out about my condition I have limited it to very little drinking, and LOTS of water. However, i don't think that is the solution for this mystery problem.
Maybe it has something to do with laying down, the reason i say this is because I have recently (last 3 weeks) have had the same symptoms. So i am ultra cautious about driking now. Have seen a doctor (and all the test assoc. with heart attack) and he said I was fine except for a little indigestion and dehydration.
I went to brunch Sunday with some friends had 4 mimosas and a glass of wine in about 2.5 hours and consumed lots of water, went home around 4pm and continued on with the rest of my day had no trouble sleeping. My heart accelerated a little during the day but nothing to the extent like the night time, and being awake and knowing what was going on is less scary than waking up in the middle of the night thinking your are having a heart attack.
It does seems 4 hours is a common time (after we have gone to bed) before waking up with a high heart rate.
I went to brunch Sunday with some friends had 4 mimosas and a glass of wine in about 2.5 hours and consumed lots of water, went home around 4pm and continued on with the rest of my day had no trouble sleeping. My heart accelerated a little during the day but nothing to the extent like the night time, and being awake and knowing what was going on is less scary than waking up in the middle of the night thinking your are having a heart attack.
It does seems 4 hours is a common time (after we have gone to bed) before waking up with a high heart rate.
The same thing has been happening to me lately. I could drink around four beers and have no trouble, but I started getting a fast heart rate after a few hours of sleeping. It scares the c**p out of you when you wake up and your heart feels like it's pounding out of your chest. Anyway, I cut down to three beers, then two and now it seems I am going to have to completely quit if I want this feeling to go away.
I wondered too if it may have something to do with dehydration, but I always drink lots of water after drinking alcohol. I don't know. It sucks though that we can't enjoy two or three beers on occasion.
I wondered too if it may have something to do with dehydration, but I always drink lots of water after drinking alcohol. I don't know. It sucks though that we can't enjoy two or three beers on occasion.
wow...I am so glad that I have company on this subject! Not only my heart would race after a few drinks...it would beat so hard I can hear it in my ears. I think I will just take it easy on the drinks as hard as it may be at times.
I'm a 30-year-old female and also have an extremely accelerated heart rate after drinking, with it beating so hard i can hear it in my ears.
From what i have read, alcohol causes the peripheral blood vessels to relax, which allows more blood to flow through the skin and tissues. This means that the blood flows round a larger volume of the body, which results in a drop in blood pressure. Therefore, to maintain sufficient blood flow through the organs of the body the heart rate increases to accommodate for the increased volume that it has to send the blood round.
Alcohol's relaxation of the peripheral blood vessels and increased blood flow through the skin and tissues is also what causes people to feel flushed and warm after drinking. I get very flushed after drinking ("the Asian flush"), which I've heard is more pronounced due in people who have some difficulty metabolizing alcohol, so perhaps the two are related.
Also, many alternative practitioners have found that an increased heart rate after consuming something can indicate an allergy or intolerance.
From what i have read, alcohol causes the peripheral blood vessels to relax, which allows more blood to flow through the skin and tissues. This means that the blood flows round a larger volume of the body, which results in a drop in blood pressure. Therefore, to maintain sufficient blood flow through the organs of the body the heart rate increases to accommodate for the increased volume that it has to send the blood round.
Alcohol's relaxation of the peripheral blood vessels and increased blood flow through the skin and tissues is also what causes people to feel flushed and warm after drinking. I get very flushed after drinking ("the Asian flush"), which I've heard is more pronounced due in people who have some difficulty metabolizing alcohol, so perhaps the two are related.
Also, many alternative practitioners have found that an increased heart rate after consuming something can indicate an allergy or intolerance.
I was searching too for a reason why this is happening. I have a couple of beers, Corona with lime, go to sleep, and wake up a few hours later, heart racing & sweating. I am in good health, never had this problem in the past. It scares me so much I have trouble going back to sleep. What is up with that!?
I don't see any answers here. ugh.
I don't see any answers here. ugh.