Aa
Aa
A
A
A
Close
Avatar universal

Heart palpitations after one glass of wine

I've noticed that after just one glass of wine, a few hours later, i get heart palpitations that last for a while.  It doesn't feel irregular, just a constant thumping.  I do notice that if I drink some water, it helps.  Also, last night, I woke up with my heart beating hard twice, then a couple of seconds passed (almost felt like it stopped), then once again hard almost out of my chest.  Also, sometimes if I'm laying on my left side, i feel like my heart flutters for a few seconds.  I have had a complete cardiac work up a few months ago including echo, EKG, sonogram/ultrasound, 24-hour monitor, and stress test and all were normal, except for a finding of benign sinus tachycardia.  I also have suffered from anxiety for years, so not sure if this is a factor.  Should I worry that the doctor possibly missed something?
16 Responses
Sort by: Helpful Oldest Newest
1182699 tn?1297574784
NO- My cardio said I should NOT drink any alcohol but if I did, white wine should have less affect than red wine. Some people continue to drink alcohol with no problems, but I still have PVC's and PAC's while drinking or not, so I choose to not drink any. I just drink Cranberry juice and the sugar gets my energy going....which also causes the palps (from the sugar I'm assuming).
Helpful - 2
1 Comments
I had PVCS I also stopped drinking  all alcohol it is a lousy feeling  having PVCS it the best not to drink any alcohol
1182699 tn?1297574784
My cardio said the same on red wine..he said I could have it but would probably suffer afterwards with palps...he told me white wine was better if I was going to drink. Also, some people can't have wine b/c of the sulfites. There is sulfite free or organic wines, but you may have to order it. We went to our annual Mardi Gras Ball last night, and I don't drink, but my husband has to dance EVERY dance. I did ok, felt some skips and flutters, but when I got home, could not sleep because of the rapid pulse and skips..it's very annoying..but I'm going to keep on dancing!
Helpful - 1
1534233 tn?1523388856
Hi, your symptoms sound so similar to some of mine! I have ventricular bigeminy, this is where I have a normal heart beat followed by a beat where the ventricle contracts on it's own, while it hasn't had chance to fill up with blood. The next beat is normal again and there is often a real thump! My doctor told me this is nothing at all to worry about and to ignore it. I do feel for you, it's so frustrating to have tests but no real explanation. I too worry deeply that the doctor has missed something. In my case it's several different doctors though, but I still worry. I've been having counselling and this has started to help a bit.

Worst of all is the alcohol though! It definitely makes my heart flutter and skip, but not every time.. Sometimes, like last Friday night, I have a few drinks and I'm fine! Makes me enjoy those nights even more :-).  On the bright side, if were drinking less we should be healthier!

Try googling cognitive behaviour therapy.
Helpful - 1
1 Comments
True, moderation in all things!
Avatar universal
I wrote you yesterday about 24 hr monitor also wine did not agree with the me Tachycardia caffeine  they put me on Metoproal witch is not very good med has lots of side effects I can tell you I don t drink anymore wine it is not worth putting your self in danger good luck and God Bless you Tony
Helpful - 0
Avatar universal
I wore a monitor for 14 days I think 24 hours is not enough after 14 days it showed Tachycardia drinking wine did bring it on
Helpful - 0
Avatar universal
Ok a LOT to unpack here. I have the same issues with red wine and sometimes any alcohol sometimes even one glass. Blood pressure support supplements have helped a lot but still have the issues. I was having afib every night after dinner with no alcohol. Both my partner and I have the same issue (red wine & sodium) which is Very curious. Its got to be something we are both doing or ingesting. We only have afib with too much sodium or alcohol. I find sometimes certain stimulants in smoothie greens also can trigger my afib. We have been on a journey with all of this. Exercise and weight loss have helped a little but we are not where we need/want to be on either yet. I'm guessing it will go away when we both drop 50lbs. It just irritates all of us, I'm guessing, that people we know who are 70 and 80+ years old can down a bottle of wine and have NO afib issues. WTH??? No fair! I'm only in my early 50's and still in ok shape. We have been seeing alternative and allopathic help and so far nothing has fixed the issue with alcohol. I've read that it could be the glycophosphates in American wines and to drink European wines. Tried that and its true but not 100%. I use to be able to drink 2 glasses of European wine. Lately only 1 glass, maybe. I'm guessing the answer is different for each of us. We have even tried hawthorn berry supplements with no effect. Google the history of that one. Some success there too but unless you work with an ND or MD that knows how it and knows how it works we are just guessing on our own. I feel lucky that I dont have afib unless I drink or get some weird stimulant. We have switched to THC for relaxing with no afib. I hear some can get afib from it but we dont. So, keep moving forward and trying different doctors of ANY type since we never know who will figure it out. I dont care if a frog figures it out as long as I get it fixed! Good luck to you all :)
Helpful - 0
Avatar universal
New to this forum.

I looked into it today as I had palpitations about an hour or so after having a single craft brewery (junk free) beer last night. I had the same thing not long ago but I had two beers and I was watching a fight on UFC... I was pretty involved emotionally so I did not suspect the beer as much as the fight.

The bottom line is that I will stop drinking beer. I rarely drink so that won't be a big deal. Switched from coffee to tea years ago. I liked my Starbucks a bit too much.

You said you had a few tests and you wonder if your Dr. might have missed something. Not sure for your case but the reality is that Dr. operates under a certain paradigm. They catch a lot of stuff, they missed a lot too.

What I found out recently is that many times in the past when I had palps, I had a tight belt. I am 6 foot 1 and 240 pounds I should be around 200 as I have a strong built. I ended up at the hospital the other day for a test as I had palps in the morning on my way to work on a Friday and I had no stress on my mind... the only thing I found out is that I had gotten pair of jeans out of the dryer, they were fairly tight, then I tightened a large leather belt tight as well. After a five minutes walk I started to have many palpitations while there was nothing to panic about. To make the story short, it dawned on my that many times when I had palpitations at work... I had my belt pretty tight. So now I am exercising more with (Kettle bells) and I make sure my pants are lose at work... Don't worry they are not at knee level... ;-)

In my case, palps were often triggered by some mental fears. I had good resolve with a mix of techniques like pranic healing where the chakras and some channels are cleared from psychic gunk that has been piling up. Also I have been doing a fair amount of work on the consciousness level in order to get in touch and release some of my mind programing. The hindus call some of this stuff vasanas/samskaras, an homeopath I deal with from time to time uses a different terminology for the same thing. Keep in mind that for the hindus... the samskaras are located in the heart area... I can't  go on and on on this forum with this but this is a pointer that the heart is more than a pump...
Helpful - 0
Avatar universal
Test
Helpful - 0
Avatar universal
I always have some pvcs but they werent that bad when i was drinking white wine and I switched to red this last month,  pvcs have gotten so much worse,  I'm switching back to white, I 'll let you know how it goes.
Helpful - 0
Avatar universal
Hi. Im bri. Im 19. I can relate to alot. my heart flutters and it scares the s*** out of me. I had a few EKGs done in recently a sonogram on my heart. of course everything came out normal. the few days before I got my sonogram the doctor can hear a slight murmur in my neck. now when I was little my doctor told me I would grow out of it. because my old doctor when I was a baby also found a slight little murmur. I've been smoking cigarette since I was 15. definitely not as heavy as I used to be. I have called the ambulance on myself a couple of times..  because I would get in the stages so where if I was cleaning or mopping are picking up my laundry to put it in the washer. I would bend down really fast in pick something  up in my heart would go crazy fast and irregular. also if I lay on my left side on my right side or on my stomach my heart will flutter also. when I exercise and when I don't smoke that much I feel so much better. I've cut down a lot and I'm proud of myself. I'm trying  to eventually get rid of them.
sometimes my heart will be fast and skip.
they've done  ekgs and sonograms my doctor claims it's from stress and anxiety. and I believe her. she trying to diagnose me on anxiety pills. my moms and dads brothers heart flutters to.  
but I'm guessing if it was that serious and they would have seen something. just sharing my story some can relate some cannot. in my eyes they say that its normal then let it go.
you're going to be okay
Helpful - 0
Avatar universal
Wow, I never realized how many things have an effect.  I eat a lot of chocolate and sugar.  I'm sure that's part of the problem.  Time to change my diet, I suppose.  It's a little disheartening (excuse the pun) because I feel the few joys I have are being taken away from me, but I guess it could always be worse!  
Helpful - 0
1182699 tn?1297574784
I do have recovery PVC's after I exercise. Many people don't, but they are profound after I haven't exercised in a while. You should always get your doctors consent before you exercise. My doctors told me my heart was a muscle and needed exercise. I do find I feel better the day after I walk on the treadmill as long as I got enough rest the night before. I believe anxiety plays a HUGE part in my palps. I am waiting on that miracle cure and hopefully one day they will find a cure for PVC's...I just hope it's in my lifetime! When I begin exercising again, I start very slow...1/4 mile for 2-3 nights, then 1/2 mile and so on. The first day is the worst with the recovery PVC's. I also can't eat MSG, fried foods, caffeine, a lot of sugar, and carbs are hard on me.
Helpful - 0
Avatar universal
So exercise causes these reactions as well?  What CAN we do??  I found it odd that after my stress test which raised my heart rate significantly, I had palpitations for hours after that.  My cardio didn't think anything of it when I called him, but it scared me nearly to death.  I want to start exercising, but I'm scared of that same reaction!
Helpful - 0
1534233 tn?1523388856
Hi, I drank Vodka Schnapps on Friday night (its 20% alcohol I think), previously tried beer and that caused PVCs. So was your cardiologists advice that white wine is best of any alcohol? Im not an alcoholic, lucky because I darent drink most of the time, but... Frankly, if i knew it was not going to cause PVCs id consider anything (short of anti-freeze lol)
Helpful - 0
1137980 tn?1281285446
If you are talking about red wine...you may want to do research on it...red wine is one of the big no no's when it comes to heart rhythm issues......just a thought.
Helpful - 0
Avatar universal
Thank you so much.  It's so scary when that happens.  I feel better knowing i'm not alone.  I do enjoy having at least one glass of wine with dinner once a week.  I'm just hoping I don't need to stop that all together!
Helpful - 0
1 Comments
It is scary when it happens. I had an incident on vacay after drinking some sangria (more than one glass), and I had palpitations for 30 minutes or more. Ugh! Sometimes it is like a rush to the head once the heart releases that overflow that happens during the pause. My doctor also says it's pretty normal, nothing to worry about. So, I guess it is down to limiting my alcohol consumption. All things in moderation!
Have an Answer?

You are reading content posted in the Heart Rhythm Community

Top Arrhythmias Answerers
1807132 tn?1318743597
Chicago, IL
1423357 tn?1511085442
Central, MA
Learn About Top Answerers
Didn't find the answer you were looking for?
Ask a question
Popular Resources
Are there grounds to recommend coffee consumption? Recent studies perk interest.
Salt in food can hurt your heart.
Get answers to your top questions about this common — but scary — symptom
How to know when chest pain may be a sign of something else
A list of national and international resources and hotlines to help connect you to needed health and medical services.
Herpes sores blister, then burst, scab and heal.