Ask HN: Coffee drinkers, did you have any heart problem associated to coffee?
In the last 4 years, I have had at least five times a problem where my heart had an irregular beat followed by a drop in blood pressure (not sure if because of a panic attack or a real heart problem).
I decided to look for a cardiologist, who asked me for several tests (doppler echocardiogram, electrocardiogram, exercise stress test, blood tests, holter test, etc.).
I'm still waiting for the holter test result, but all the others are within the normal range. Looking at what might have caused this, one thing I remember that happened in common in all these episodes was, perhaps, I took too much coffee (6+ cups).
I read that some people are more sensitive to coffee than others, so my question is: Does that make any sense? Has anyone else here had a similar experience?
27 comments
[ 3.9 ms ] story [ 67.8 ms ] threadNote that caffeine is an inhibitor of
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Adenosine
which has a powerful effect on the heart and you'd think caffeine would have stronger effects on the heart than it does. (That is, it kinda surprises me it is safe to drink at all... There is very little pharmacology of Adenosine other than caffeine, maybe like the way that cannabinoids that aren't structurally related to THC, CBD, etc. all seem to be pretty dangerous.)
The level of increase they found was, at most, 0.48 mmol/L, which is around a 5% increase (convert from mmol/L to mg/dL, then based on a 200 mg/dL ideal).
So my TL;DR: Even assuming all the S-TC increase was actually LDL (unlikely), you're a woman, and use the unhealthiest brewing method (what the study was about), it still isn't a health problem by itself.
Now can you consider coffee unhealthy? Perhaps, but I feel like that was the case without this info.
But, no, I haven't personally experienced irregular heart-beat followed by low blood pressure, but I also don't regularly monitor those metrics beyond my smartwatch. Consuming too much caffeine, for me, just results in the regularly reported side effects. I do choose not to drink too much after 3 PM due to the long (5 hr) half-life/improved sleep quality.
https://www.amazon.com/KardiaMobile-Personal-Device-Heart-Mo...
My suggestion is to just keep a journal, cut it out and see if it improves. If it does, then it likely has to do with the coffee.
https://www.webmd.com/heart-disease/news/20211115/coffee-can...
Lastly, ALWAYS consult your doctor before you change anything. They understand your situation and will be able to give you the best advice vs random people on the internet (me included).
For me though, no (or at least, not yet). And I'm a fairly heavy coffee drinker (maybe not by HN standards?) - especially since adding fatherhood to the mix, I'm generally 2-6 espresso shots of coffee a day, and some work binges much more.
Having said all of that, a focus for me at present is reducing my coffee intake. I'd like to get back to having a few coffee-free days each week, because it currently takes me 2 coffees to get back to 'normal' each morning and that can't be healthy now or for the long term.
In order to cut down a bit, i've been mixing decaf with caff when making Cafetiere coffee and it's helping me ween off it a bit.
Yes I had that happen EXACTLY. After a coffee a few years back. First I felt a little weird beat in my heart, like it skipped a beat. That sort of scared me which probably made it worse, then blood pressure dropped a ton. Almost like i might pass out. Lost fine control of my fingers as they cramped up into an eagle's claw position.
Then all was well after a few minutes of controlled breathing.
I strongly suspect caffeine played a role. But I only had my "normal" morning coffee, an XL cup from a gas station. Was nothing unusual for me. It's hard/impossible to confirm what my problem was. Regardless I drink decaff now and get the same enjoyment from it.
Now I don't take more than 1 cup on average, and not more than 2 cups on bad days.