Alcohol and my "skipping heart"
Hello. I'm a first time poster on here, although I have often visited this site for help and re-assurance.
Is there anybody else out there who suffers from a skipping heartbeat when they drink alcohol? I could write at length about this but the basic problem is that I often sense the pause/thud of premature beats when I drink.
After a nightmare panic attack (my first) in late 2003 I have been acutely aware of my heart and its activities and from time to time it has really got me down. I had the full range of tests following that incident and they showed nothing abnormal.
However, since then I have noticed two things about booze. The first is that it raises my pulse and if I overdo it, it can go from a normal 60-70 to over 100. I can live with this as it is a common effect of booze.
The second thing is the one that drives me mad. It doesn't always happen but when I drink alcohol I sometimes feel skipped beats coming on, almost immediately. On Friday I had half a glass of wine before stopping when I felt the annoying pause/thuds - they lasted for the next couple of hours. The same happened recently when I was half way through a pint of Guinness.
On Saturday we went out for a party and I think I felt the odd "skipped" beat after my first beer. I must confess that I went on to have quite a lot of beer but I didn't feel any more skipped beats.
I have a theory that the introduction of alcohol to my bloodstream causes an initial variation somewhere in my heart and that this settles down after a while. I sometimes - not always - suffer the same problem for a short while the next morning if I have had a heavy drink and I suspect this might be the end of the cycle, ie. the skipped beats occur at the beginning and end of having alcohol in my system.
The obvious solution is to give up drinking. However, I do enjoy a drink - socially, that is - we don't drink much at home. Most of my friends drink and I don't drink simply to keep in with them - it is a good social experience and I like beer and wine (no spirits).
On the one hand I think an obvious solution is staring me in the face - I don't get this problam at any other times (except occasionally if I have an upset stomach) so giving up booze could avoid this phenomonally aannoying and stressful occurence.
On the other hand I don't want fear to dictate my life. I don't get any other symptoms during these episodes and I've read that most skipped beats are not a problem.
Whilst I'd be glad to hear people's opinions, I am more interested in knowing whether anyone else suffers with this. Everyone I mention it to looks at me blankly as if I am mad - my mother-in-law even thinks I bring them on myself!
This has been doing me in for about 3 years and any help would be greatly appreciated. Thank you for listening to my rant.
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