Almost getting a heart attack at the gym while on C4 Exteme

[btowenatc]

I'm 25 and I haven't had a history of heart problems until last Thursday at the gym when I experienced arrhythmia. Given that I'm typically pretty worn out after my 12-hour workday, I normally take a scoop of either Jack3d Micro or C4 Extreme to give me the much needed energy boost for the workout. That day, I completed my chest workout and started on biceps, when in the middle of the barbell curl I felt a sharp/irregular increase in my heart rate, which made me drop the weight in the middle of the set. Seconds later I realized that I had an extremely elevated heart rate and could feel my entire rib cage literally vibrate from how intensely my heart was beating. I could see my heart beating by looking at my stomach. I didn't feel any pain/dizziness/shortness of breath or anything like that - I was just freaking out at that point. I tried to slow it down by walking a couple of laps around the gym and drinking water - neither of this helped. Out of curiosity, I decided to get on the treadmill to find out exactly how high my heart rate was. So I set the treadmill to 2.5 mph and waited for about 30 sec for the reading to show up. When it did - it was 195bpm. I was scared out of my mind. Kept walking for another minute or two (by now it's been ~3-4 minutes since it all started) and the heart rate remained in the 190-200 range before dropping to 130 in NO TIME (it literally went from ~190 to 130 in an instant). I felt like my heart rate was totally back to normal. Walked on treadmill for another couple of minutes, drank some water, calmed down, and finished up my workout. Not until when I got home did I realize that I might've just dodged a heart attack or a stroke. Funny that it all happened just a couple of weeks after I read that NYT article about the 20 yo guy in the military who died from cardiac arrest that was induced on Jack3d.
Just for the sake of completeness, I did have one or two Keurig coffees earlier that day - a direct violation of what the label said. That day I was using 1 Scoop of C4 Extereme. I'm also supplementing with creatine monohydrate, therefore I do hydrate quite well (~1.5 gallons of liquids/day).

Sharing it with everybody for what it's worth. Just like everyone here, I had always thought that **** like this always happens to other people but never to yourself. My key lesson from this - always follow the directions on the label and never be cocky about your health. From now on, definitely steering clear of nervous system stims.

Seems to me like you had a panic attack after the irregular heartbeat. Also, don't trust a treadmill for accurate HR. Just feel your pulse for 30 seconds and multiply by 2.

[CallsignCrim]

Seems to me like you had a panic attack after the irregular heartbeat. Also, don't trust a treadmill for accurate HR. Just feel your pulse for 30 seconds and multiply by 2.

I'm not some huge body builder or anything, but taking caffeine or most pre-workouts during cardio days seems kinda dumb to begin with. Your HR is already going to be high, caffeine not only dehydrates but also is prone to giving irregular rhythms, and higher HR. higher HR is not always better for cardio. best to leave the prework out for those days.

That being said, I have bounced from Jack3D, NOexplode, and now C4. after about 12 months of C4 im pretty pleased with it, it gives me that extra 1 or 2 reps on chest day, the only downside is the warm tingly sensations on the skin, and the sweat. I have been taking 2 scoops every workout consistently, But I also stay incredibly hydrated. But I did take C4 once then decide at the gym to do a cardio day instead of a back day. and I felt like absolute crap and instead opted for swimming.