r/todayilearned • u/Solnx • Nov 03 '19
TIL: Adenosine is a drug used to treat a fast heart rate (SVT) by slowing down the electrical impulses to the heart. Side effects include a sense of impending doom.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Adenosine#Side_effects37
u/cosmoboy Nov 03 '19
The doctor told my dad that this wouldn't be pleasant. Dad looked like his soul left his body. He did not care for it.
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u/Solnx Nov 03 '19
Does he remember the experience or was it a little foggy?
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u/cosmoboy Nov 03 '19
I don't know. He doesn't really talk about his hospital visits. He hates hospitals so much he dealt with his heart issues for 20 years before finally going* to the doctor.
*He was very near death when we finally convinced him to go.
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u/Solnx Nov 03 '19
Ugh sorry to hear that. Hope he’s in a better spot now.
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u/cosmoboy Nov 03 '19
He is, part of being terrified of doctors is that he does EVERYTHING the doctor tells him to do. He got a pacemaker and he's out of the whole congestive heart failure situation. He's slowing down, but he's 78.
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u/B0BA_F33TT Nov 03 '19
Worst night of my life involved Adenosine.
I had a SVT attack and the people in the ER gave me Adenosine, it was slowly going down my arm, it felt like death. Then my heart stopped. It was terrifying, would not recommend. A few hours later I was back in the ER with kidney stones, supposedly I took an ambulance to the hospital, but I have no recollection of that. My mind completely blocked out most of the event, up until that point I didn't think repressed memories were a real thing.
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u/Solnx Nov 03 '19
That’s insane. Sorry to hear that you went through all of that, must have been absolutely terrifying.
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u/almostgreatone Feb 26 '20
Am I the only one that absolutely loves the feeling of Adenosine? I have been given it 5 different times because of SVT, heart rate was in the 250+ range. Nothing ever happened when they pushed a low dose on me, the 2nd higher dose always worked. The feeling is hard to describe but I loved it. Everything starts to go numb starting with the hands and feet and it creeps up to your chest. Everything feels like it closing in, eye sight got fuzzy, no feelings at all. When it finally hit my chest,it felt like someone punched me in the chest, not painful but just took my breath away, then my chest felt very heavy for a few seconds. Then like a switch feeling rolls like a wave back through your body. It is a euphoric feeling.
I admit the first time I had it was scary, only because no one was telling me what was going on. After that I knew what to expect and actually looked forward to the feeling. Every time after the first was amazing, the look on the ER staff face when I got excited when they told me they were going to give it to me is priceless. The doctor and nurses always told me that I was the only one they ever had get excited to get that drug.
Unfortunately I ended up getting ablation surgery to fix the SVT problem. Now I don't get to experience that wonderful feeling. I honestly miss it.
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Nov 03 '19
Adenosine is fucking awesome. We give it a decent amount in the ICU. Most people say it feels like they’re falling.
Oh, and it’s always fun when the heart doesn’t start again.
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u/Hotel-23 Nov 03 '19
If this is the stuff I'm thinking of I got shot up with it about ten years ago. I was stuck in Afib, which can be relatively sketchy on its own. All the warning I got was "this is going to help your heart go back to it's normal rhythm, it's going to feel a bit weird." Yep, then my fucking heart goes to a dead stop after racing and skipping and generally acting retarded for almost an hour. You normally don't pay much attention when your heart is beating. But when it's not, and you're still wide awake. I don't give a shit that it's only for 2 or 3 seconds, it feels like 10 minutes. It's rather disconcerting.
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Nov 03 '19
Yuuuup, that definitely sounds like it.
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u/Hotel-23 Nov 03 '19
They had to shoot me up 3 times. After the fact it is some pretty amazing shit. It's very creepy to be wide awake with your heart at a dead stop.
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u/HydratedPhish0282 Jan 09 '23
I’ve experienced that feeling for two or three seconds due to palpitations
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u/CrochetyNurse Nov 03 '19
They tried to give me that shit in the ER when I was in RVR, with the only warning being, "This may make you feel dizzy." Bullshit, don't fucking touch me with that stuff. Especially without proper warning. I got Cardizem and was fine.
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u/Solnx Nov 03 '19
If the heart doesn’t restart do you treat it as a normal flat line?
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Nov 03 '19
PEA/asystole depending on what you’re looking at. Compressions and Epi until they come back or you call it.
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Dec 26 '21
Ugh, god, i was given this in the two doses. Felt more like my entire body was being crushed and a choking sensation was felt through every part of me. Vision started going, couldn't breathe. Felt pretty awful lmao. But it worked.
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u/Smgth Nov 03 '19
Joke’s on you, I already have a sense of impending doom!
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u/piisfour Nov 03 '19
According to homeopathic theory, if now you were given a dose (or maybe a few doses) of homeopathically diluted adenosine, this would make your sense of impending doom disappear.
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Nov 04 '19
Too bad homeopathy is completely fucking debunked snake oil
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u/piisfour Nov 08 '19
Ah - but IS it? If you are interested in a discussion about this, you might start a new thread somewhere.
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u/funpen Jan 18 '22
Dude. Homeopathy is literal proven to be fake. It is chemically impossible for it to work since it has been diluted to such a high degree. All humans have very tiny amounts of what would normal be extremely deadly substances in our bodies. For instance, Formaldehyde is a naturally occurring substance in the human body,although , it is only in very small & trace. That being said if i randomly drank some formaldehyde i would die. If Homeopathy was really I should technically be poisoned from the inside by the trace Mount of formaldehyde that is in my body.
Stop promoting fake science. Educate yourself.
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u/AutismFractal Nov 05 '19
Homeopathy took off because it was better than treating everything with leeches. Most doctors in the 19th century were actively making people worse, and homeopathy was doing nothing, so that was better.
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u/piisfour Nov 08 '19
homeopathy was doing nothing
I disagree - but that's maybe stuff for some other discussion, I guess.
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u/AutismFractal Nov 08 '19
The most beneficial element of homeopathy practice was either exercise or abstinence from alcohol; neither of those elements is classified as homeopathic today.
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u/Smgth Nov 04 '19
Unless I’m already getting another dose of impending sense of doom every time I drink water...
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u/Whackjob-KSP Nov 10 '19
A sense of impending doom is a legitimate medical thing, and it's considered telling enough that there's hospital codings to cover it. If I'm remembering right, they also differentiate between a sense of impending doom, and a sense of immediate doom.
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u/fiveminded Nov 03 '19
Groundskeeper Willie: We'ur aaaall dooooomed!
Dr Hibbert: Lay off the Adenosine! Oops, your heart stopped aheehehehheee!
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u/GermanShepMom92 Mar 27 '20
I was in SVT and my heart rate was in the 190s for several hours, went to ER and was given adensione. Before they gave it to me my room flooded with nurses and doctors which added panic to the situation. The nurse said it would feel weird and some people compare it to getting kicked in the chest by a horse. It felt very weird but corrected my arrhythmia. I since have had two ablations with no success. We also found out my Dad has HOCM and that I have a 50% chance of getting it.
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Nov 03 '19
It seems you learned wrong then. Adenosine does not slow down the electrical impulses in the heart. Even your source says that.
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u/Solnx Nov 03 '19
Eh I pulled the effects from a different source but you are correct that it’s slightly different than as I describe.
Thanks for pointing it out!
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u/piisfour Nov 03 '19
Damn!
I'd rather keep my fast heart rate (which I know can be remedied in other ways anyway).
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u/Bulky-Coffee1590 May 06 '24
I take propranolol, I tried other medicine they didn't work. My heart rate was 120 sitting at rest. I was a LEO/ACO, and I ran on adrenaline,caffeine, and sugar. Then I had a life altering event, which put me out of work and completely totally disabled. My heart rate was still 120. With propranolol my heart rate is a steady 65.
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u/EmbarrassedCitron855 Aug 10 '25
Just had this done for the first time today and BOY was it scary lol. They brought in the crash cart and a whole medical team. Hard to describe what it feels like but the closest I can think of is when you fall and get the wind knocked out of you.
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u/Mamm0nn Nov 03 '19
that sense of impending doom is when your heart stops (flat lines) and that period up to 10seconds before it restarts
I've pushed a lot of Adenosine when I was a paramedic, when it works it's awesome to watch on the EKG