Hello doctor, Last weekend, I ended up in the ER department after an overdose on THC capsules. Very scary experience my heart was going crazy, very bad chest pain, shortness of breath, tremor, etc., for about five hours. I had an ECG done in the hospital which said sinus tachycardia. My blood was taken (all fine apart from low magnesium and potassium), chest X-ray was done (all fine). I was given Diazepam and on discharge had another ECG done and it said sinus rhythm although my heart bpm was still over 100 bpm. The doctor said it is probably due to anxiety and let me go. Two days after this experience, I started getting weird symptoms (slight pain in the chest, lightheadedness). So, I went to my doctor, he measured my blood pressure, heart bpm, etc., all fine but put this machine in between my hands and could see my heartbeat was irregular. He prescribed me Digoxin for five days to see if it would get it under control. I went back again because I was concerned about the lightheadedness, he again measured heart bpm, etc., all fine, listened to my chest and said it is back in more of a regular beat and prescribed Digoxin for five more days and to come back again but at the moment, he is not overly concerned. I think I do not have bradycardia or tachycardia but I think I could have developed Afib from my experience in the hospital, is this possible?
Hello. Yes, it is possible, but a likely possibility is of ventricular ectopics (or other causes) rather than Afib which could also cause irregular heartbeats on the machine. Even in normal individuals, the machine may falsely show irregular beats. Few points which are against are fibrillations are normal ECG especially if you had it done while having symptoms, even examination by a doctor for pulse and auscultation will help in diagnosing Afib. Also, the pulse rate is expected to vary to a large extent and cross the 100 bpm. You may also feel irregularly beating heart within your chest. Also, you can keep a finger over the pulse and feel irregularity and missing pulse. So, it could be an ectopic which is now settling. The only way to definitely confirm is ECG. If this continues, you may a get an ECG done or buy a home-based rhythm monitor like Alivecor Kardia device which records the ECG for interpretation. So, overall unlikely to Afib, but either ECG or examination by the doctor can confirm this. The other cause for pain in such settings is gastritis or reflux, which can commonly cause such symptoms. Also, ectopics may cause pain as well. Anxiety can also cause similar symptoms. Have plenty of water and adequate intake. If you are having these drugs for a long time then the possibility of withdrawal should also be kept. Hope this helps you and get back if you have any doubts.