Has my past caught up with me?

[JohnA422]

Okay here I go. Growing up in the 90s, I was given LARGE amounts of ritalin from age 5-15. During this time I would wake up almost NIGHTLY with paralysis AND frequent stopping of breathing that would wake me in panic. Most of this went away after age 15 and I said STOP giving me ritalin. A few years, a little bit of partying, smoking and a little bit of Hollywood modeling later, I started Adderall therapy this spring when I decided to clean my life up. Almost as soon as I began adderal, I developed unfamiliar and SUDDEN DAILY heart irregularities that show up on my home BP monitor but conveniently werent caught at ER. NOTE however in 2002 an isolated similar collapse inscident produced an "abnormal" EKG but we didnt have $ to purdue. My sister has a mild regurgatory valve heart. For me, These arrhythmias seem closes to atrial fibrillation or a BAD case of skipped beats...All the time. The arrhythmias seem to vary in their forms and often comorbid, but not every symptom happens every time: Shortness of breath, fatigue, momentary altered vision, vague sites of bad circulation or numbness, infrequent mild pooling of blood in feet/hands, anxiety, and VERY erratic fluctuations in BP/heart rate, correlated to postural dizziness. The ER visit did EKG, some blood work, and casually diagnosed me with Anxiety disorder which was comforting and made sense...UNTIL these cardio symptoms marched on WITHOUT anxiety as I entered Benzodiazepine therapy. Now instead of panicking I'd go "Oh yeah there goes my heart pattern and I'l feel hella faint and nauseated but I wont mind". so Il go about business. My psychiatrist ordered comprehensive lab work before i began adderall but the results mysteriously NEVER MATERIALIZED and after pursuing both through her and the labs, ive given up on that.  My anxiety is gone now and was a short lived condition of quitting street drugs, but these heart issues remain and its been 6 months now. On days I omit my adderall, but take my Ativan, it sets me up for return of SEVERE central sleep apnea independent of position. Adderall may be the subject here but It prevents me thoroughly from every evil such as drugs, smoking, and without it I found myself UNABLE to move on. Any suggestions? I CANT see a cardiologist/doctor due to financial situations so instead I can only do my best to discuss with others what is most likely, pool the answers and draw my own outcome to handle it until I can get seen. Whats Ironic is I never ever had any symptoms like this during my "hollywood lifestyle parting" if you will.... which consisted of fun far more unhealthy than just adderall therapy. Maybe the electrical changes triggered specifically by adderall exposed the previously hidden damage done by the my history? In recent weeks Ive noticed a gradual decline in mental reasoning, and ability to "do the little things in life" which scares me. Oh yeah. LAST NIGHT something WEIRD happened unprecedent. I had a modest decrease in my visual quality but nothing major except when I'd look left, Suddenly I get double vision. Look forward or look right everything is normal but look left, I see stuff twice. Creeped me out. This was in accompany to a BAD arrhythmia I had last night, during which my general balance was way off and I found myself stumbling around my apartment for a hot minute. Aside from mild sleep deprivation and stress, little reason that would occur but I think its related to arrhytmia. The left side double vision did not last for more than a few hours but today my vision is still off, in a way things around the room seem to jump out at me if you will, subdle change in perception of surroundings. Stuff like that. I am 25, 6ft 1, Male with LOW cholesterol. Thanks again so much! Here are some of my last readings from today and yesterday:

BP 129/83 pulse 93. Arrhythmia: NEGATIVE [---] BP 137/93 pulse 85. Arrhythmia: POSITIVE [---] BP 99/70  pulse 127. Arrhythmia: NEGATIVE [---]  BP 127/88 pulse 87. Arrhythmia: NEGATIVE [---] BP 118/88 pulse 152. Arrhythmia: POSITIVE  

[ptadvoc8]

ALL of the drugs you mentioned, prescription and otherwise, have been implicated in arrhythmia, irregular heart beat and problems with both high and low blood pressure. Adderall and benzodiazepines are very tricky drugs to deal with. Adderall causes arrhythmia in many patients and Ativan is well known to cause sleep apnea -- even those who have never had it before, but something many people don't know is that withdrawal symptoms from Ativan (and other benzodiazepines) can include arrhythmia, irregular heart beat, fast or slow heart rate, visual disturbances (things too bright, double and blurry vision) unstable blood pressure, feeling spacy or "out of it", and a HUGE list of other strange and disturbing symptoms you might not expect. Google benzodiazepine withdrawal symptoms and take a look.

You really should see a cardiologist, but since you say you can't, I would suggest you make an appointment for an evaluation at a free drug rehab center in your area -- I suspect that whatever may or may not be going on with your heart, you might also be experiencing problems from taking and/or withdrawing from some of the drugs you have been using. A good drug rehab center should be able to help you sort of some of this out, give you a physical and maybe even get you a referral to a low-cost or free cardiology appointment, which again, you really should follow up with as I can't see how you can ascertain what, if any of this, is directly heart related without a cardiology consult -- and at your age, you have a lot of living left so being healthy seems like a great goal. Good luck!

[StephieK82]

wow so sorry to hear all the trouble you have been having. I know you mentioned that you cannot afford a trip to a cardiologist at this time, but you really really need to save up some money or figure out a way to be seen. All your symptoms are disturbing and with the vision changes and dizziness, it seems like it could be more than just a case of occasional pvcs or palpitations. You mentioned street drugs, if by chance that included in kind of hallucinogen (such as LSD) then maybe your visual disturbances could be flashbacks. I guess it's not uncommon for people who have taken LSD to have occasional visual disturbances/hallucinations. You might want to research that. Also, it could be that you are having bad effects from the medications you are on, which is why I say you need to be seen by a doctor to determine if maybe you aren't having all of these problems due to the meds you are taking- it's a great possiblity.
I wish I could help you more, but I'm not a doctor, so the only thing I can tell you is to do what you can to see a cardio doc asap!