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What Causes Sudden Drop In The Heart Rate?
Question: Hi, is it normal for my heart rate to drop when I take a hit of crack cocaine. I usually take a hit, and then my heart rate stays at baseline or goes lower than baseline. After about 5 minutes or so it goes back up to higher than baseline and stays there. Is that normal? I though stimulants were supposted to increase your rate.
Brief Answer:
cocaine increases heart rate,
Detailed Answer:
Here I would try to explain how cocaine affects your body and how harmful it could be without giving any alarming signs
Acute effects of cocaine.
Cocaine affects the cardiovascular system through 2 major pathways:
1. increased sympathetic output and
2. local anesthetic effect.
Through increased sympathetic tone and catecholamine levels, cocaine increases heart rate, blood pressure, and myocardial contractility, all of which increase myocardial oxygen demand. Myocardial oxygen supply is decreased through coronary vasoconstriction and enhanced thrombosis. Myocardial oxygen demand may exceed myocardial oxygen supply, leading to ischemia or infarction ( heart attack).
Cocaine affects cardiac myocytes directly by blocking sodium channels, which decreases left ventricular (LV) contractility and is arrhythmogenic.
3. Cocaine also acts like a local anesthetic by blocking sodium and potassium channels, which depresses cardiovascular parameters like heart rate, blood pressure leading to fatal arrhythmia.
It's highly advisable that you should refrain yourself from the use of cocaine.
I hope this information will be of help and guide you on right path. If you have any other doubts you can ask me back or else you can close the discussion and kindly rate the answer.
Wish you good health
Kind Regards
Dr Bhanu Partap
cocaine increases heart rate,
Detailed Answer:
Here I would try to explain how cocaine affects your body and how harmful it could be without giving any alarming signs
Acute effects of cocaine.
Cocaine affects the cardiovascular system through 2 major pathways:
1. increased sympathetic output and
2. local anesthetic effect.
Through increased sympathetic tone and catecholamine levels, cocaine increases heart rate, blood pressure, and myocardial contractility, all of which increase myocardial oxygen demand. Myocardial oxygen supply is decreased through coronary vasoconstriction and enhanced thrombosis. Myocardial oxygen demand may exceed myocardial oxygen supply, leading to ischemia or infarction ( heart attack).
Cocaine affects cardiac myocytes directly by blocking sodium channels, which decreases left ventricular (LV) contractility and is arrhythmogenic.
3. Cocaine also acts like a local anesthetic by blocking sodium and potassium channels, which depresses cardiovascular parameters like heart rate, blood pressure leading to fatal arrhythmia.
It's highly advisable that you should refrain yourself from the use of cocaine.
I hope this information will be of help and guide you on right path. If you have any other doubts you can ask me back or else you can close the discussion and kindly rate the answer.
Wish you good health
Kind Regards
Dr Bhanu Partap
Note: For further queries related to coronary artery disease and prevention, click here.
Above answer was peer-reviewed by :
Dr. Yogesh D
Answered by
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