Addictions ...

[Chook]

Over the past few months I have had disturbing heart palpitations (auricular fibrillation) on occasions of stress or sudden physical exertion.

Sometimes I could run up a hill; other times I had to be careful or the heart irregularity would occur.

It worried me! I have always been very fit, eat well, don't smoke, drink very little grog, and enjoy a very happy family life.

I went to the quack (doctor) who referred me to a cardiologist, who performed tests. Result: nothing physically wrong with the heart, in good condition actually. The problem was the auricles (top chambers) somtimes get out of sinc. with the bottom chambers (ventricles) which stuffs up the efficiency of the pumping -resulting in the feeling of palpitations and weakness.

What the hell!! He prescribed Noten tablets - one or two a day, depending on how I felt.

The irregularity diminished almost completely, except at night, when I would lay down to sleep.

The other day, however, I was playing trumpet for a gig and had to give up - I had raced up the steps, resulting in palpitations which just would not diminish. Not good, mate!

I thought - I have just come back from visiting the son in Perth, had hiked for bloody miles every day, climbed a 61 meter-high tree and loved every minute of it! I'm physically fit, but what's wrong?

A brilliant insight that came from heaven - MAYBE I'm drinking too much tea during the day - 10 to 12 cups.

SO ... the next day (5 days ago) I decided to completely knock off drinking tea, and drink water instead.

The result - NO fibrillation - but horrible headaches EVERY DAY - even vomiting with the pain. (If I'd had a gun I would have used it!)

I had stopped too suddenly, so I had a cup of tea in the morning, yesterday, and NO headache, so that is the answer I think. Had one this morning too - no headache.

I would never had believed that caffein can be so addictive, and the withdrawal so bloody painful - but it will be worth it! In a few days I will try not having the cup of tea in the morning and see if the headaches return. Hope not :unsure: .

Had anybody had a similar experience?

[Algenon the mouse]

10-12 cups of tea? Oh my god! How is your bladder?


I drink four cups of java a day cutting down from the eight because I had a racing heart....but 10....gads..

[bossman20081]

My family are big tea drinkers, but weve never had that happen. My mom drinks like 2 pots of coffee a day-about 8 cups each-still no problem. Must be some powerful stuff.....

[damienpaul]

Coffe and Sweetened condensed milk were my demons...but like, Chook, when I tried to release from the suddenly I had a very bad turn and blacked out from the pain...so I am easing off of them...I used to have 10-15 coffees a day using Sweetened condensed milk, now I am down to 3 a day, 6 months later.

[Josh]

Hey Chook,

If you find that the headaches don't go away and you still are determined to get off the tea (gives a whole new meaning to tea totaller) then perhaps you should try and apply the smoking theory to it. Start drinking teas that have less caffiene in them and herbal teas, or weak teas until you reduce it to an insignificant level.

I'm currently trying to stop drinking Coca Cola altogether. I used to - way back when I was 13, 14, 15 - drink about 3 or so litres a day. now I have it only vary rarely (where very rarely means more than i'd like) but it's still so good. I keep telling myself I can stop anytime I want to ... that's how I know I'm addicted :P. For me though I think it's the sugar, not the caffiene.

Anyway ... good luck with it.

[damienpaul]

Admittedly another 2 addictions of mine are pepsi and studying

I am currently doing 3 degrees simultaneously, which i have been assured by those in charge that it is okay, just drives my bill through the roof. So here I sit, with research, info etc and a bottle of pepsi next to me on the desk....

[bossman20081]

Man Damien, how do you have time to post on this forum?

[damienpaul]

the same way that i have time to work full time as a school teacher, do volunteer work and be able to go buy my pepsi :P I just am organised

[Chook]

Thanks for the advice fellas :) . It has been a new experience for me - having absolutely no inkling, whatsoever, that such a widespread and innocent drink as tea could do you injury.

But there it is - addicted to tea!

I wonder how many others, out there, are suffering with various and different allergies and problems that are unknowingly caused by something as seemingly innocent as tea, coke, pepsi or whatever.

I guess what makes me annoyed is that my doctor should have enquired about my drinking habits during the first consultation.

I e-mailed him a couple of days ago:
==================================================
"G'day Robin,
A fellow attended his doctor complaining of dizziness and the inability to think clearly, and was given a prescription.

Ultimately the fellow decided that maybe the grog was causing his problems, gave it up and - bingo! - he recovered.

I have had a similar experience with the pesky auricular fibrillation.
I have eaten well, kept off the grog, exercised regularly and well, and been a good boy and taken the 2 Noten tablets and 1 Asprin every day. Nearly always I felt on the verge of heart-beat irregularity.

But it struck me - on our holidays away I always felt much better and could (with tongue-in-cheek) go climbing mountains and successfully and energetically engage in hikes of 10-15lms length, and enjoy it.

Answer - I drink much less tea on our holidays, rather than the dozen or so cups of tea drunken every day at home.

So I haven't had a cup of tea for a couple of weeks and all symptoms of AF have vanished. Bloody marvellous!

Thought I'd let you know the good news (for me). See you Sunday.

Warmest regards,
John Fowler"
================================================== ==
He replied:
"It's the caffeine effect, makes the cardiac muscle more sensitive and
sparks off too fast. Alcohol can do the same in some people. See you
Sunday, Robin"
================================================== ==
So - here is a doctor that KNEW that caffeine can cause Auricular fibrillation but didn't ask me how much tea or coffee I drank every day. He's rather give me tablets to treat the effects.

And he is a very good doctor. Makes you wonder. :blink:

[damienpaul]

I wonder if there is a cure for workaholism??

[Tinaa]

Several people know I've been trying to quit cigarettes. Talk about addiction. Not only does the nicotine get you, the whole ritual is tough to break. You pack your cigarette pack down, take one out, light it and take a deep drag. Ahhh... I've quit a few times and went back to it. Good luck to you Chook!

[Algenon the mouse]

Originally posted by damienpaul@Aug 21 2004, 10:20 AM
I wonder if there is a cure for workaholism??
Nope. I have tried to quit several times but then discovered that I could not handle to boredom or the lack ot money. There just is not enough good quality shows on TV to be lazy. (to be honest, when there is something on TV that is good, I usually read a history, or science book as well).

[Chook]

Quote Tinaa:
"I've quit (cigarettes) a few times and went back to it."

Different individuals, with different personalities and metabolisms, react to drugs with different intensities.

I had smoked since school days (behind the s***house etc.) but, after learning what it did to your lungs, gave it up instantly - cold turkey - with no reactions or problems. (But I'm a bit like that - black and white - make a decision and stick to it.)

I have a mate who recently tried to give up the fags but, after suffering for three weeks, just gave it up as too painfull. I am sure that part of the reason for his giving up the struggle was that he stuck on those patches, and was endlessly talking about the matter - how bad he felt, discussing the merits of different giving-up strategies which resulted in fags being always on his mind. (When you consider that he had a mild stroke several years ago because of fags; and that his son recently suffered a blood clot in the brain which required 8 hours of surgery - it makes you wonder why he didn't persevere!)

The key to addiction withdrawal is to make a firm decision in your mind and stick to it. You might have to go back and gradually withdraw if side-effects are severe but the unfortunate effect of this is that it requires you to think about the matter again instead of just immediately adjusting to the decision taken and concentrate on substitution instead - water for tea, chewing gum for fags, or whatever.

I would seriously like to hear people's opionion about the matter of "drug" withdrawal - whether it is the "innocuous" caffeine, or the more serious stuff like nicotine or harder stuff.

We could help somebody here ...

[jimmy]

O.K. Chook and Co. here's my story.

I smoked about 2 packs of cigarettes a day for about 25 years or so. Six years ago(January 7) I quit. It took everything I had in me plus nicorette (nicotene gum) for a year, zyban (which is wellbutrin), hard candies, sunflower seeds, a make believe cigarette that I had in my mouth and constantly puffed on and pretended to see smoke when I exhaled :lol: . I guess you get the idea that I was really really hooked on these things.
Here I am 6.5 years later and I'm smoke free. It's impossible to describe how strange it is to imagine that I ever smoked at all! I'm extremely grateful to be free of the necessity to smoke.
Of course I gained about 30 pounds, and go back and forth losing weight, but maybe that's another story.
What I don't understand is how many people who have quit sat that they HATE the smell of smoke now and how it bothers them. I can't say that; I play music in barrooms sometimes and it doesn't bother me at all. I do however smell the smoke on my clothes when I get home, but that washes out!

O.K. that's my addiction story.......oh by the way I like coffee too! I probably should stop drinking it in the afternoons, cause I'm noticing a jitteriness that wasn't there when I was younger.

[Chook]

Quote Jimmy:
"I'm noticing a jitteriness that wasn't there when I was younger."

That was what was happening to me too, Jimmy, and it was worrying me because I was wondering whether it was the beginning of the onset of the dreaded Parkinsons Disease (or something equally as bad), because I'm a nervous little fella by nature.

However - all that is gone now and I now literally feel 30 years younger.

That's why I thought this would be interesting to you guys - that something as seemingly-innocent as tea (an English Gentleman's drink) can cause so many problems, and anxiety, in a person's life.

As an example of what can happen - a neighbour's daughter had exactly the same symptoms as I had (irregular heart-beat, or auricular fibrillation) but she was an impatient girl and wanted it fixed pronto - so her doctor sent her to a large city hospital where they inserted a tube in her Carotid Artery (in the neck), stuck an electrical probe down into her heart and zapped a particular nerve that caused the auxilliary signals that cause the heart to jump (as in getting a fright etc.). She was immediately cured - but what a procedure to go through! And, possibly, unnecessary had she reduced her coffee intake. In my own mind - I was facing that! Yet, the simple solution was to reduce the intake of tea.

Thank God for thinking about this possibility, thus finding the solution.

[Victoria]

Sounds like a bit of toast may be in store :rolleyes: hope all is better :) Take good care and don't get caught up in the prescriptions. Mind over matter and of course nature will be there :ph34r: .

[kashi]

I think I would suffer simular symptoms if I stopped buying jazz CDs :P Like anything, I guess the trick is to come down gradually. I wonder how many people are addicted to the forum?

[Algenon the mouse]

With all the posts the members have made, quite a few. I would postulate a conspiracy theory in this forum with all our posts...but I think that is all been said.

[Chook]

Kashi's right - some personalities are addictive by nature. Addicted to the forum, jazz CDs, sex, grog, drugs, work, whatever.

Moderation is the sensible attitude - if you can.

Still - a good knife is a sharp one; and an effective performer is addicted, focussed and goal-oriented.

But it has its repercussions!!! :unsure: