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

[archum]

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.

[volkstyle]

I go to the gym at 1am after an 8hr shift most of the time, so I know a pre workout really shines at that moment. I take Platinum Pre-Optimum 1 scoop and no issues. What about just a small cup of black coffee? Could you go early in the day and not take any supplements at all?

[BlueRev]

a lesson was learned that day.

[VICgotgame]

Never felt that way cause I've got no heart problems but pre workout does make you feel like **** at times. I only take it when I am weakest, rarely. This way I can avoid stuff such as that. Stay safe bro

[Del1nquent]

That's crazy man I take the same pre workout and after a 12 hour day I take 2 and a half scoops mixed with nitric oxide. Been taking pre workouts for awhile now but never experienced anything like that before, I would get your heart checked out after having that happen as it could of effected you quite badly

[mmherzog]

took cellucor c4 after using jack3d, super pump max and 1mr in the past..workout started normal was doing chest db bench and my heart literally started racing...pulse was 190 when i got to the doctor...neveragain.com

[liuzhoudragon]

That's crazy man I take the same pre workout and after a 12 hour day I take 2 and a half scoops mixed with nitric oxide. Been taking pre workouts for awhile now but never experienced anything like that before, I would get your heart checked out after having that happen as it could of effected you quite badly

you mix it with nitric oxide?

[mmherzog]

you mix it with nitric oxide?

no water..they gave me some pill it felt like my heart rebooted and went down to normal..was crazy as fuuuuuuuuuu

[Providence94]

a lesson was learned that day.

spicy talk

[Del1nquent]

you mix it with nitric oxide?

Yeah man pill form basically like a oxygen pump but I take pre workout and everything's levelled

[epekarik]

I'm taking 1 scoop of C4 for about two weeks 3 times a week before weight lifting. Every time I take it, in about 40 minutes I feel like someone shoves a knife into my heart. First I thought it is coincident but today the seventh time the sharp pain like clock work. I must stop taking it. Shame because it really gave me energy after the long day in office. I was so excited that finally I was not lethargic during workout.

[MikeCellucor]

A lot of these issues has to do with additional caffeine or stimulants on top of the stimulants already contained in the product. Simply, if you are sensitive to stims 2 K-cups and 1 scoop of C4 would def. take you over the amount of caffeine that most people can handle comfortably.

At the end of the day, we are always very concerned about the reports like this by our customers. So, Archum if you want to call into to our support desk, and or email me at mulisse@cellucor.com to give us some details and or arrange a refund/exchange for a non stim product, then please feel free to hit us up at cellucor.com live chat, or the 866, number on the website to talk to a live Results Team Rep.

[epekarik]

Mike. Thank you for the reply. I'm glad cellulor is monitoring threads where their product is mentioned and provides advise.
Endre

[PuZo]

I took C4 and I'm very stim sensitive and got no negative effects that were mentioned.

[nelsoncsilva]

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.

Well now you know

[MuayQis]

tasted great; but thought i was going to keel over and die. just a single scoop.
not felt that bad on- craze/noXplode/usn hyperdrive/ mesoporph.

maybe try 1/2 scoop next time...

[Bigcity1980]

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.

Do yourself a favor. Go to a dr and get everything checked like cholesterol, homocysteine, etc... If you have insurance go to a cardiologist and explain the situation. They will most likely give you a Monitor to track your heart rate at all times. When you go back to the dr they will go over everything with you to make you feel more at ease.

Most likely your problem was from not paying attention and taking in the extra caffeine. Either way do not listen to someone tying to diagnose your problem without knowing anything about you. Go to a dr to make sure that Everything is running 100 percent. Bodybuilding.com is saturated with children of all ages whose knowledge comes from other inexperienced people who appear to be knowledgeable. Be careful and use your head. Full checkup of everything, blood, heart, etc... Good luck.

[Injen03tibby]

I realize this is an old thread but tonight I had a wake up call with a buddy who takes C4. I had received C4 in a packet as free sample from bodybuilding.com. when I first tried it I only had half a packet and it made my heart race. I'm 26 with no heart problems. Tonight while working a buddy of mine literally fell to the ground unconscious. His breathing was elevated and he was unresponsive. We got him back by sternum rubbing him. I felt his pulse and it was sky rocketing.
All he could say was "I can't feel my arm." The other guy there said, he took this.... And held up the cannister of C4. I said, that's it! Its a stimulant and his heart rate is high. EMS showed up and he was taken to the hospital. Now we all can argue, he's sensitive to stimulants, he took too much... Whatever we want to say. This guy works out every day, is very lean and muscular, religiously takes protein and other stimulants. I seriously thought I was going to lose him over a pre-workout. So any future takers on this... Be wise, this product is intense. Naturally there are people everywhere who take it with no problems, but when you do have a problem.. it involves the heart. That's kind of an important organ that should be taken care of. No point in working out if your heart turns to crap. I take preworkout but BSN non caffeinated. Just my two cents, be careful on this stuff.

[dundas112]

Adding to an old thread. Likely your heart was reacting to the stimulant. Likely something called SVT. People can go in and out if this rhythm, can be potentially life threatening as the heart is pumping too fast therefore not enough blood is moving throughout the body well. Just be careful everyone who uses pre workouts

[dundas112]

Oh, I also work in an Emergency Department.

[Coatal]

Did you see a doctor? Might want to get checked out.

[tallchick777]

I've been using c4 for a few weeks and no known heart issues, but there's been a few times where my heart just spikes up! Today was my eye opener, my heart spike from 150's to 227 then dropped to 121 then back to 160's...all within. 30 seconds..the feel that your heart is out of control scares the crap out of me. I didn't mix it with anything but protein, bcaa, glutamine, lcarnatine and a fast acting carb. I'm celiac so limited for the pre workout I take but maybe it's time to go stimulant free again.

[hereforhelp]

you guys are crazy

[Daemonium]

C4 isn't very high in stims. You may want to ask your doctor.

[xsiv]

I've been getting some strange pain and tightening in the chest also from taking C4. I don't believe it's from the caffeine anhydrous since there is only about 135mg per scoop. I've taken many other pwo with much higher stims in the past and it had never bothered me before. I'm starting to wonder if it's the synephrine or nitrates that neither of my previous pwo had... This obviously got me worried enough to do a google search which led me to this and many other threads with similar problems.

[MarineM249]

I took pre work outs for years and never had any effects like this until last year sometime. I had the same symptoms you did. I was taking C4 but it was already my 10th can. So I'm not blaming the pre workout only myself. All supplements are not necessarily bad but whatever supplement has the 1000mg of prosperity blend means you nor they have no idea what else is in it or they do know and they know it's banned from the FDA so they list it as the prosperity blend.
You my friend were having a panic attack. That's what happened to me and then I recieved an anxiety pill and I was all good. If your having a heart attack your not going to fight it or anything. It's just going to happen and there's no stopping it. Yes people have died from these supplements but they took it at their own risk as all of us do. I do recommend if taking these I would not be jogging or running for they are not meant for that.
I would always consult a doctor if you recieve any issues. But no matter how good your health your doctor will always say don't take any...

[iamjeffrey]

I took pre work outs for years and never had any effects like this until last year sometime. I had the same symptoms you did. I was taking C4 but it was already my 10th can. So I'm not blaming the pre workout only myself. All supplements are not necessarily bad but whatever supplement has the 1000mg of prosperity blend means you nor they have no idea what else is in it or they do know and they know it's banned from the FDA so they list it as the prosperity blend.
You my friend were having a panic attack. That's what happened to me and then I recieved an anxiety pill and I was all good. If your having a heart attack your not going to fight it or anything. It's just going to happen and there's no stopping it. Yes people have died from these supplements but they took it at their own risk as all of us do. I do recommend if taking these I would not be jogging or running for they are not meant for that.
I would always consult a doctor if you recieve any issues. But no matter how good your health your doctor will always say don't take any...

HeuhuehUEHeuHEUhEuheuEH

[iabs]

a lesson was learned that day.

yep.

stop wasting your money on shiit pre-workouts and drink a nice cup of coffee instead.

given the long list of products out there, 99.9% of supplements are utterly useless and will make zero difference in your training and body composition, apart from the placebo effect, if you must spend money on supps buy creatine monohydrate and maybe beta alanine.

[SasquatchHunter]

yep.

stop wasting your money on shiit pre-workouts and drink a nice cup of coffee instead.

given the long list of products out there, 99.9% of supplements are utterly useless and will make zero difference in your training and body composition, apart from the placebo effect, if you must spend money on supps buy creatine monohydrate and maybe beta alanine.

OR an ECA as a PWO cheap effective brought to you by your local drug store.

[Vinny82]

OR an ECA as a PWO cheap effective brought to you by your local drug store.

Gotta be careful with that chit too.