Resolved question:
I'm a 27 year old male. 7 days ago I was showering and not long before drank 3 tablespoons of salt in hot water (thought it was good for sore throats, later learned you're not supposed to drink it). During the shower my heart suddenly began beating hard and fast even though I was calm. After I felt really tired and sleepy and had a sort of squeezing feeling on the left side of my chest. The squeezing feeling continued, especially when I stand up from sitting quickly. I went to the E.R. the next day and they did an EKG and blood test and said it's not my heart. Since then I've been tired all the time and get lightheaded from any sexual activity. I went to a walk in clinic and they also just booked me for an EKG. I guess it wasn't a heart attack since the symptoms lasted so long, although I have heard of heart attack symptoms appearing weeks before an actual attack. Lately I've noticed some tingling and stinging pain in my left hand fingertips that comes and goes, also a few times noticed pressure in my neck and upper chest. My main concern is some clot or artery inflammation or heart related, should I be concerned about this and take some other measures or just let it be and hope it resolves on its own? I have a history of Viagra, cocaine and Steroids and my father needed a quadruple bypass in his early 50s. Although I haven't used any Viagra or Steroids for 2 years and haven't used cocaine for 6 years.
Submitted:
4 Days
Category:
Cardiologist
Hello
Thank you for your query at doctorspring.com
The symptoms that you describe cannot be attributed to salt intake. Also cocaine intake 6 yrs back is not responsible for any of them unless you had a recent go at it. was the fast heart beating present when you got the ecg done. Or had it subsided by the time you got your ecg done?
Did you measure your pulse rate when you got the feeling of increased heart rate?
From the description it looks like an attack of supraventricular tachycardia. But if the ecg was normal and you still had the sensation of increased heart rate during the ecg then probably it is all non cardiac possibly anxiety.
Still since you get these symptoms on stressful activity like sexual activity you could undergo a stress ecg to replicate the stress and see whether you have any increase in heart rate beyond normal limits. This test can also effectively answer your fear of having blockages in your heart arteries. The second test which I would like to recommend is a 24 hr holter in which a device will record your cardiac activity over 24 hours and find out if something is going wrong intermittently.
You are 27 years old. The likelihood of having a heart artery blockage at this age is extremely low. Not that young people do not get heart attacks but tye probability of you having an heart attack is very low.
I would rather suspect something like a paroxysmal supraventricular tachycardia and hence the tests that I have advised. They can rule out blockages in heart arteries as well
Regards
Dr Vivek Mahajan