Fast Heart Rate After Drinking Alcohol

I have the same thing I stay out all night drinking with friends came home fall asleep the next day woke up find than started to watch a movie than it all happen my heart start to race my hands and feet was feeling funny and it feel like I was going to pass out

I have found that drinking a large glass of water, or two, before wine will keep me from waking up in the middle of the night with rapid heart beats. Stress/anxiety play a huge part in how wine affects your heartbeat.

I recently developed the same symtomes. I went to the ER didn't die, No explanation either. waited a month afraid to drink, then went to a dance had 6 rye and ginger about half of what I could normaly handle. bang 3 AM the pounding woke me rapid heart beat again.  But this time by the advice of the ER doctor I strained like trying a tough bowel movement and plugging my nose nad trying to pop my ears I slowed it down. This works and I know you will try it. I wouldn't try chemicals to adjust something that is already screwed up. I haven't had a drink in 4 months and its a life changer and I miss a drink.

57 yr old male, slightly overweight, but healthy otherwise. Two months ago awoke at 3 a.m. to racing, irregular heart....very severe and scary. I had about 6 glasses of wine throughout the previous afternoon and evening. Next day all was fine. Three days later, 4 or 5 evening cocktails..same thing about 4 hours after I stopped drinking.   Then a few days later once again, but....no prior drinking this time, so I went to cardiologist. Two months on metoprolol and no drinking at all, yielded no major episodes . Cardiologist then does a full workup, stress test, echo, holter monitor ( during which I drank a bottle of white wine as a test) Bam...4 hours later, severe reaction ...racing and irregular beating. Follow up next week with all test results and a final game plan, although it appears obvious already. Limited , to no drinking from now on. Question to the masses though....would anyone just use beta Blocker as a one-time fix for anything, rather than staying on it indefinitely ? I can't see taking it twice a day during all of the periods of "being good" drinking wise....( I also heard it can cause hair loss...great....another club I'll have to join)

Notice when I go on vacation, which includes flying for 4 hours return,increased alcohol and increase in temperatures my heart goes into turbo, and can continue for hours. Which is the culprit?

...just an update regarding my recent previous post ....After doing my own research on the whole aspect of heart function, and the electro-chemical interactions that make it "tick" ( correctly).... I have adopted my own ongoing regiment that seems to be working. I have stopped using all artificial sweeteners, I have stopped taking any statins, I stopped taking Metoprolol, and I have limited myself to only a few drinks at one sitting. I have also started taking a heart healthy supplement that has many of the elements that when depleted in our system for whatever reason, can cause arrhythmias. ( ie....CoQ10, magnesium, calcium, potassium, ...)  After 4 weeks I can report that I have not had a single episode of any kind...not even a "flutter" . We each know our own body and individual situation best, but for me ...this is a wonderful change of events. Time will tell ,...for sure. Just an FYI.....

Hi Elliem, I could relate to your post entirely as I get the exact same symptoms. In October of 2010, I went out for 3 drinks (and dinner) and, about 4 hours after, got a very strange heart rate (flutter) that was not the same as the type of rapid heart rate that happens with either fear or exercise. I also had bad indigestion (burning). Since that night, it has happened every time I had even a tiny amount to drink, to the point that I no longer drink at all (I don't even eat food that has alcohol added to it). Initially, I didn't relate it to alcohol and thought I'd eaten something bad. However, I soon realised. I have never been a big drinker - but I could easily have 3 or 4 drinks on a night out and experience absolutely no problems. I was never able to drink beer or wine really, however - though I didn't get this fast heart rate. Like you, any doctor I have seen has never heard of this and puts it down to anxiety, which it isn't. I am well aware of what an anxious heart rate is like, and, like you mentioned, it feels like the beat is happening at the top of my heart. It also doesn't feel like it's linked to any pounding blood flow (as you feel with exercise or anxiety). It's really not a nice feeling, I would take a normal fast heart beat any day. Anyway, I hate not being able to drink, but it has been the only way for me to avoid this. I wanted to mention also that you should be careful that any fruit juice you drink hasn't fermented as I recently reacted to what must have been a fermented pineapple juice. Like you, I have read up about thyroid possibly being involved. However, my blood tests show that my thyroid is apparently fine.. Although I am afraid to drink, I would almost like to do so and then have a doctor monitor my heart. I know he/she would find it to be different than a normal heart rate. It's an awful feeling when it happens.

Without repeating all the symptoms that I have that everyone else has too I thought I'd just provide all my physical/medical stats so that we might be able to trend this phenomenon by similarities.  To preface this I've had multiple ECGs, blood tests, and had a treadmill stress test too.  Everything came back fine.  Had thyroid tested a few years back and it was ok, although thyroid problems do run in the family:

Symptoms began at age 30, but less frequently.  Current age 36.  I am a 5' 10" male about 185 lbs.

metropolol 100mg - symptoms occurred years before I started this med and still occur 1 year later

omeprazole 20mg (OTC) - for frequent heartburn, been on for 3 yrs now

Daily multivitamin (includes D and B's)

nicotine - quit smoking 4 years ago

caffeine - quit all caffeine 4 years ago as well

Valium 5mg helps for the anxiety when you are blasted awake with a pounding heart

Gluten sensitive (perhaps celiac but have not been fully tested)

Blood Sugar is average for a non-diabetic

Recently after eating big meals for dinner, especially if I eat a dessert, I've been getting the same symptoms as from drinking (wake-up, anxious, heart pounding). 

Whatever this issue is compound no doubt.  I think a big part of it is stress, but not solely.  I think partly it has to do with alcohol being a vasodilator, blood sugar spike/crash associated with drinking/food, and changes in GABA in our brain chemistry which make the anxiety worse.  I think for me one of the triggers may be that the sweeter the drink the worse the reaction. 

First things I would do for most people would be to change some of your inputs to see if this is purely a reactive issue.  What I mean by this is you may want to cut out or lower your intake of certain things like nicotine, caffeine, sugar, salt, etc.   You may also want to switch beverages for a bit to see if your reaction has to do with fermentation or reaction to the type of alcohol you are drinking.  If you drink beer switch to wine or wine to liquor and vice versa for testing purposes(in moderation of course).   I wouldn't change too many variables at once though so you can determine which ones made a difference and to give your body a chance to adjust.

I haven't found the answer yet, but hope my hours of research and lots of $ in doctor bills can be of help you out. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I believe alcohol dehydrogenase has been linked to the problems with alcohol consumption in Asians. This may be the result of a mutation in the gene that regulates the production of the enzyme making the enzyme more susceptible to dose of alcohol. Could be that some have inherited the gene in a heterozygous form (one one copy of the DNA). Would be interesting to see if there are homozygous individuals (both copies of the DNA mutated) that cannot drink alcohol ever without getting these effects.

Yes.even i was scared like anything i m from india.i drink 8 to 9 large size beers.i m 33 after drinking the next day in afternoon it use to start very uneasy feeling like i m gonna get an attack.brain use to get slow down or blank.uneasy feeling in entire body.till the late night untill i woke up the third day.evertime i use to swear to keep away from beer coz this issue.may be bcoz of smoking along with it could be the reason. Yes but i have got a cure on it which will give u relief.try this drink 2or 3 ltrs hot water.and puck it out after 10 mins u will notice all the chemical and acid flowing out.now simult once u ve done that in another 5 mins u will feel pressure in ur azz.go for it n u will smell the worst waste flowing with truely unbareable bad smell.thats it feel the energy freshness and relief after taking bath. Truely helpfull. chew some tulsi or mint leaves for change of taste in mouth. And if ur real shameless like me go again to the bar to repeat the same mistake.hehehehehehe

AI came here to see what everyone else says about the reasons they can't sleep after drinking. There are a whole lot of "ironclad" falsities that I want to set straight: #1...it is not alcohol withdrawal. The first symptom of the DTs is sweating. #2...the reason anti-anxiety and antihistamine meds are contraindicated with alcohol are because of decreased respiratory function when combined. Slow respirations = fast heartrate (your body is expelling less CO2 than usual, so your heart is trying to circulate the blood faster to make those breaths count). Stop taking them, even if it makes you "feel better" when you sleep. #3...alcohol thins your blood. The thinner your blood, the faster your heart needs to pump to get O2 to healthy tissue, and to get rid of CO2 (unless you have COPD, you breathe to get rid of CO2, not to get more O2). People with high BP are often tachycardic. #4...alcohol is a sedative. If you sedate yourself for sleep and it wears off, so does the sleep. Natural sleep is so much better. Look into melanin if you have issues sleeping. #5...anxiety is a b***h. If one of the aforementioned happens once, you will worry it will happen again, which pretty much guarantees it will. Funny, I came here for answers and realized I have enough knowledge to provide them. And just for a giggle, I love that a person who calls him/herself "doctor" listed "reaction to histamines" and "allergic reaction" as seaparate things.

I have found that in the past year, I have quit drinking , I dont eat anything after 7 pm. It seems to be working, and if I slip and eat anything heavey after 7, I can be sure to wake at least once around 3 am with raoid heart beat. I have saved a lot of money on booze, and snacks.
I wish someone else would try the tricks the doc told me to do, listed in my preveous post and report.
I think dying must be easier than thinking you might at 3am.

I tried your straining thing and it didn't work for me. Actually seemed to make it worse. Possibly we have different issues with similar symptoms so it works for you. I switched from metropolol to propanolol recently and it helped somewhat. I can now drink 1 night without interruption of sleep, but I can't seem to do it 2 nights in a row.

Praise the Lord I found this page!!  Although I wouldn't wish this on anyone, it's beyond comforting to know that I'm not "crazy."  I have enjoyed drinking socially for over 10 years (I'm female, 29).  When I tell my friends now that say "Let's go grab some drinks after work" that I can't go and that I don't drink anymore they're perplexed to say the least...And when I tell them why, this is the #1 response I get: "It's probably just anxiety--it's all in your head."  I always think, yeah, right.  If it was all in my head don't you think I'd turn that off?!?!  Or do you think I'm making this up???  WHY would I do that?? 

It started in August 2013.  I woke up 4 nights in a row after drinking with my heart racing and pounding against my chest...out of a dead sleep...and every time at 4am.  By the morning after the 4th night I called my grandmother sobbing and she took me to the ER.  I checked out fine.  Well, I didn't drink at all until New Year's Eve and I did not drink much at all (1 shot, and one glass of champagne) and I'll be damned if I didn't wake up again with the same racing, pounding heart at 4am.  It makes me scared to even drink again ever, because I now associate drinking with middle-of-the-night faux heart attacks, and to me it's not worth the fun if I know I have to wake up during the night feeling isolated and scared for my life.  Ultimately, this sucks though, because I would really like to enjoy having some drinks with friends, and just because I've stopped drinking doesn't mean they have--and let's be honest, it isn't exactly the most fun thing in the world to be the sober friend surrounded by intoxicated friends :/ 

I must say...the thing that confuses me the most about all of this is that it happened out of the blue, and now continues to happen...why, why, why?  I mean, I had been drinking (not every day obviously) for over ten years...what triggered this and is it just something I'm gonna have to deal with forever???? UGH.  

update from original onset last summer. I have finally adopted a regiment of only having a few drinks and lots of water in between each. I have not had this happen once since last years onset, when I haven't had a drink earlier that night, so as far as I am concerned I know what causes it, and have learned to work with it. For me, if I have two drinks....no problem....if I have three I might get a little flutter during the night but tolerable....but if I have a  heavy drinking night ( 4 or more ...) I get the full tachycardia episode between 2 and 4 am. Unfortunately my stubborn / stupid mind never remembers just how horrible the episodes are going to be while I am deciding on having that extra drink or two, and always curse myself later. The only consolation is that I know it is temporary, and I know it isn't a heart defect ( per se)...so it comes down to a judgement call. Now I just need to work on having better judgement.