Re: Supplement caused me a 25 hour ER visit!

[Guest guest]

Wow that crap could have killed you I just don't know what to say I pray you

feel better if you don't see your Dr.

Co-Moderator

Phil

> From: uu1845 <uu1845@...>

> Subject: Supplement caused me a 25 hour ER visit!

>

> Date: Thursday, November 4, 2010, 5:04 PM

> Hello, I thought to help with fatigue

> issues, I would take a herbal supplement. I researched and

> then brought an energy supplement from GNC.

> _________________________________

>

> Guarana Seed Extract (linia cupana)(36% Caffeine 108

> mg) 300.00 mg

> Panax Ginseng Root Extract (3% Ginsenosides = 3 mg) 100.00

> mg

> Rhodiola rosea Root Extract (1% vins = 1 mg) 100.00 mg

> Gotu Kola Leaves Extract (Centella asiatica) 100.00

> mg 

> _________________________________

>

> Little that I knew this would land me in the Hospital!

>

> ___________________________________

>

> I ate late the prior night(Monday night) heading to bed

> around 2 AM. I do this because in the morning, I will burn

> off that very low calorie / fat sandwich or soup via

> treadmill. This caused minor ingestion as well.

>

> I did not eat (and do not eat when I wake up) Tuesday

> morning. I took two of GNC Energy Formula

(http://www.gnc.com/product/index.jsp?productId=2133937)

> instead of one as directed.

>

> I knew something wasn't right, but I continued until I felt

> my heart racing more so than what it did. I regularly burn

> off 220-230 calories in 30 minutes. I got up to 220 when I

> stopped and then sat down.

>

> I immediately felt pressure and then anxiety with shortness

> of breath. This continued. I have lost around 55 pounds

> since March! Weight loss is important to me.

>

> I then went upstairs, freaking out, I could not reach my

> door so I knocked on my neighbor's door. This is why I had

> no wallet, etc and I was wearing my exercise clothes. My

> neighbor called 911.

> ________________________________

>

> All the tests concluded it was not a heart attack. However

> they do not know what was the cause.

>

> I research and out excessive caffeine from the herbal above

> can cause:

>

> 1. Shortness of breath

> 2. Chest pressure

> 3. Lots of Anxiety

> _______________________________________

>

> I tried to go to class this evening but I could not make

> it. I am still experiencing all of the above.

>

> I just brought and now taken " Gas X " to see if this can

> release some pressure from my chest area.

>

> I have no idea when Ill feel better or exercise. I have

> gained 5 pounds since this ER visit and I am not pleased.

> But folks, be careful what you take and always remember to

> read!!!!! And eat healthily.

>

>

>

>

>

> ------------------------------------

>

>

[Guest guest]

Here is a very good reason I do NOT mess with herbs. Vitamins are one thing, but

herbs are totally different.

First off I have no doubt the combination of caffeine and ginseng is not good. I

know nothing about the other ingredients, but if you looked for side effects on

each one it is probably cumulative.

If you have a congenital heart issue that you are unaware of,.....this is a good

way to kill yourself. Personally I would flush the rest of the bottle myself.

[Guest guest]

I'm glad to hear you came through the incident OK, and hope the continuing

effects are very temporary. You learned the hard way the lesson you pointed out

about not taking things you don't know about--Even with things the pharma

companies say are safe, we too often find out differently (after a few years).

Without taking my time to research this further, what I know about Guarana would

have set off alarms--your data mentioned how high it was in caffeine, and you

got double that dose. I wouldn't be surprised if that was responsible for your

reaction,though I would have expected the ER people to be more savvy. The other

ingredieants I know of, but not any real details. Perhaps the combination made

things worse.

What caveats or disclaimers did the label of the product have?

Thanks,

________________________________________________________________________________\

_____

>

> Hello, I thought to help with fatigue issues, I would take a herbal

supplement. I researched and then brought an energy supplement from GNC.

> _________________________________

>

> Guarana Seed Extract (linia cupana)(36% Caffeine 108 mg) 300.00 mg

> Panax Ginseng Root Extract (3% Ginsenosides = 3 mg) 100.00 mg

> Rhodiola rosea Root Extract (1% vins = 1 mg) 100.00 mg

> Gotu Kola Leaves Extract (Centella asiatica) 100.00 mg

> _________________________________

>

> Little that I knew this would land me in the Hospital!

>

> ___________________________________

>

> I ate late the prior night(Monday night) heading to bed around 2 AM. I do this

because in the morning, I will burn off that very low calorie / fat sandwich or

soup via treadmill. This caused minor ingestion as well.

>

> I did not eat (and do not eat when I wake up) Tuesday morning. I took two of

GNC Energy Formula (http://www.gnc.com/product/index.jsp?productId=2133937)

instead of one as directed.

>

> I knew something wasn't right, but I continued until I felt my heart racing

more so than what it did. I regularly burn off 220-230 calories in 30 minutes. I

got up to 220 when I stopped and then sat down.

>

[Guest guest]

Thanks and Phil and another person for commenting. I may go back to the ER

this evening or in the morning. I am still experiencing shortness of breath,

pressure on the chest, and anxiety which makes it worst. Not so much but enough

to make me stop typing and walking then go to rest on the bed.

I am only 33 and they concluded with the tests it wasn't a heart attack but I am

not sure if they ruled out other issues with the heart.

I couldn't give them the herbs but now I have them printed out and will also

take the bottle if I decide to go back to the hospital.

I did this from the fear of fatigue. I read from reviews that you could take two

in the mornings and then exercise! It's on the GNC review selection for the

supplement.

This is scary. Now I have to stop my " life " for this. I was pretty depressed

over what hypogandism took from me. Depressed I couldn't find someone, Derm

issues, etc all of this was effecting my school work. I even said maybe being

dead would help me find someone in heaven; even be a dad up there- things I

couldn't do on earth. I had no idea I would be saying, I did not want to die- at

least not by this. But I did. Does that make me a hypocrite?

I guess this lesson if I get out of it healthy, is about acceptance even if I

have to put on makeup until things get better on my scalp or this acceptance of

my penis or that acceptance of my weight now at 205-6 with the weight gain of

hospital food and food I ate here to see if it would help. On Monday I was 200

and feeling OK.

I may just wait tonight and go in the morning. Rest more and see if I can move

my insides and blurb tonight.

God bless to all and it's a great thing to have been included in your lives so

far.

[Guest guest]

Have you not been referred to a cardiologist, or at least sent for a stress

test? You should followup to be sure that your heart is healthy, in my

opinion. Be careful of losing weight too quickly. This can stress the heart.

If you are continuing to lose quickly, then I think it is even more

important to get on a treadmill for a stress test.

How did they determine that you had not had a heart attack? I hope that they

at least took a blood sample to determine that. It would be normal also to

take an EKG, although a resting EKG is not very useful unless there is

serious morbidity.

On Fri, Nov 5, 2010 at 1:08 PM, uu1845 <uu1845@...> wrote:

>

>

> Thanks and Phil and another person for commenting. I may go back to

> the ER this evening or in the morning. I am still experiencing shortness of

> breath, pressure on the chest, and anxiety which makes it worst. Not so much

> but enough to make me stop typing and walking then go to rest on the bed.

>

> I am only 33 and they concluded with the tests it wasn't a heart attack but

> I am not sure if they ruled out other issues with the heart.

>

> I couldn't give them the herbs but now I have them printed out and will

> also take the bottle if I decide to go back to the hospital.

>

> I did this from the fear of fatigue. I read from reviews that you could

> take two in the mornings and then exercise! It's on the GNC review selection

> for the supplement.

>

> This is scary. Now I have to stop my " life " for this. I was pretty

> depressed over what hypogandism took from me. Depressed I couldn't find

> someone, Derm issues, etc all of this was effecting my school work. I even

> said maybe being dead would help me find someone in heaven; even be a dad up

> there- things I couldn't do on earth. I had no idea I would be saying, I did

> not want to die- at least not by this. But I did. Does that make me a

> hypocrite?

>

> I guess this lesson if I get out of it healthy, is about acceptance even if

> I have to put on makeup until things get better on my scalp or this

> acceptance of my penis or that acceptance of my weight now at 205-6 with the

> weight gain of hospital food and food I ate here to see if it would help. On

> Monday I was 200 and feeling OK.

>

> I may just wait tonight and go in the morning. Rest more and see if I can

> move my insides and blurb tonight.

>

> God bless to all and it's a great thing to have been included in your lives

> so far.

>

>

>

[Guest guest]

I pray you feel better you have been through enough and yes if you don't feel

better go to the ER better to be safe then sorry. I took some yohimbe that had

all kinds of crap in it like ashwagandha,ginkgo,L-arginine just a mess of crap

they put in it.

I got very sick after taking this felt like I was having a heart attack and it

gave me a full blowen Panic Attack. I ended up in the ER nothing they could do

but tell me give it time to get out of my body.

I felt like crap for a good 5 days.

Co-Moderator

Phil

> From: uu1845 <uu1845@...>

> Subject: Re: Supplement caused me a 25 hour ER visit!

>

> Date: Friday, November 5, 2010, 4:08 PM

> Thanks and Phil and another

> person for commenting. I may go back to the ER this evening

> or in the morning. I am still experiencing shortness of

> breath, pressure on the chest, and anxiety which makes it

> worst. Not so much but enough to make me stop typing and

> walking then go to rest on the bed.

>

> I am only 33 and they concluded with the tests it wasn't a

> heart attack but I am not sure if they ruled out other

> issues with the heart.

>

> I couldn't give them the herbs but now I have them printed

> out and will also take the bottle if I decide to go back to

> the hospital.

>

> I did this from the fear of fatigue. I read from reviews

> that you could take two in the mornings and then exercise!

> It's on the GNC review selection for the supplement.

>

> This is scary. Now I have to stop my " life " for this. I was

> pretty depressed over what hypogandism took from me.

> Depressed I couldn't find someone, Derm issues, etc all of

> this was effecting my school work. I even said maybe being

> dead would help me find someone in heaven; even be a dad up

> there- things I couldn't do on earth. I had no idea I would

> be saying, I did not want to die- at least not by this. But

> I did. Does that make me a hypocrite?

>

> I guess this lesson if I get out of it healthy, is about

> acceptance even if I have to put on makeup until things get

> better on my scalp or this acceptance of my penis or that

> acceptance of my weight now at 205-6 with the weight gain of

> hospital food and food I ate here to see if it would help.

> On Monday I was 200 and feeling OK.

>

> I may just wait tonight and go in the morning. Rest more

> and see if I can move my insides and blurb tonight.

>

> God bless to all and it's a great thing to have been

> included in your lives so far.

>

>

>

>

> ------------------------------------

>

>

[Guest guest]

With the come-ons we get about herbs in all sorts of magazine artilcles, and

online, and from others, we just gotta remember that, while Rx drugs are poorly

regulated in too many cases...Herbs aren't regulated at all. We don't know how

contaminated they may be...We don't know whether they are the precise herb the

label says...We don't know whether a given dose is safe for us as

individuals...We don't know what may happen to us when we mix things...For

starters.

Europe has made a good start on regulating herbals and other non-traditional

products.

They have something called Kommission K in Geremany (though it covers other

countries as well). It's done at least 400 monographs on different herbs, which

were translated into English about 10--15 years ago by the American Botanical

Council in Texas and published in a large book some libraries have. Since then

the company that publishes the PDR (Physicians Drug Reference) has taken that

info and put it into 2-3 books--The PDR for Herbals...The PDR for (can't

remember the terms)...You can check these books out on Amazon, etc, and maybe

consult them at a library near you. The abstracts generally tell you the

specific product/formula/company used in the research they discuss, so that, in

the case of ginko, you can go and find there are two products or more sold here

that are either imported from Germany, or made here under license. The

Europeans are much more into herbals, and never got as far away from them as we

have with our insane emphasis on synthetic pills. BUT WE GOTTA KNOW WHAT WE'RE

DOING--or it can easily be worse than taking nothing.

Most of us do things from time to time we learn from--or need to. Let's hope

those lessons aren't too severe, or too frequent!!

________________________________________________________________________________\

______

>

> Thanks and Phil and another person for commenting. I may go back to the

ER this evening or in the morning. I am still experiencing shortness of breath,

pressure on the chest, and anxiety which makes it worst. Not so much but enough

to make me stop typing and walking then go to rest on the bed.

>

> I am only 33 and they concluded with the tests it wasn't a heart attack but I

am not sure if

[Guest guest]

Thank you Phil and others for commenting and showing concern. It means a lot. I

had four EKG's and one cardio-gram including blood work they said did not

conclude I had a heart attack.

I feel the same today; difficulty swallowing whole foods. Seems I have a lot of

gas in my system. Feels I want to burp a lot. I am hoping that is this pressure

I feel inside my chest. I still have shortness of breath when I walk and then

anxiety on top of this gas feeling. Now I also feel a knot inside my throat

which makes the anxiety worst when I freak out about it. I have missed three

classes always, this semester was a waste anyway and I shouldn't have entered it

but....

Hopefully Ill be OK even if I have no idea what is truly going on or what kind

of damage did this supplement cause.

Once again, thanks for the concerns.

[Guest guest]

I pray you don't have any damage and don't feel you do. You shocked your body

taking something that did not agree with it and it will take some time for your

body to sort this out. Then you will start to feel better. As for the anxiety I

use to have Panic Attacks nothing helped even Xanax until a young Dr. gave me

this book my M.D. Benson called The Relaxation Response. I read the book it was

a fast read and started to do this it took a little time but in a week I got

good at it. I could stop a Panic Attack cold doing this.

http://hrop.ucop.edu/employees/eap/relaxation.html

Co-Moderator

Phil

> From: uu1845 <uu1845@...>

> Subject: Re: Supplement caused me a 25 hour ER visit!

>

> Date: Saturday, November 6, 2010, 8:53 PM

>

> Thank you Phil and others for commenting and showing

> concern. It means a lot. I had four EKG's and one

> cardio-gram including blood work they said did not conclude

> I had a heart attack.

>

> I feel the same today; difficulty swallowing whole foods.

> Seems I have a lot of gas in my system. Feels I want to burp

> a lot. I am hoping that is this pressure I feel inside my

> chest. I still have shortness of breath when I walk and then

> anxiety on top of this gas feeling. Now I also feel a knot

> inside my throat which makes the anxiety worst when I freak

> out about it. I have missed three classes always, this

> semester was a waste anyway and I shouldn't have entered it

> but....

>

> Hopefully Ill be OK even if I have no idea what is truly

> going on or what kind of damage did this supplement cause.

>

> Once again, thanks for the concerns.

>

>

>

>

>

> ------------------------------------

>

>

[Guest guest]

The anxiety is stemming from the Caffeine from the herbal pills; it is not

psychological. It is a side effect. I felt all today, short sessions of my chest

literally moving and afterward, anxiety which made it worst. Appeartly, Caffeine

is still in my system.

I am fortunate they were not heart attacks!

I cannot eat whole foods yet for some reason. I ate calorie filled soft donuts

all day. Had to take my time eating them. I haven't ate this in almost a year.

I feel like my left chest area is bruised. Hate this feeling but it could be

worst.

Thanks once again for your concerns Phil.

[Guest guest]

I would think you would be feeling a little better if not see a Dr. call the

place you got this from and tell them what happened and if they have a number

you can call for help with this.

Co-Moderator

Phil

> From: uu1845 <uu1845@...>

> Subject: Re: Supplement caused me a 25 hour ER visit!

>

> Date: Sunday, November 7, 2010, 11:50 PM

> The anxiety is stemming from the

> Caffeine from the herbal pills; it is not psychological. It

> is a side effect. I felt all today, short sessions of my

> chest literally moving and afterward, anxiety which made it

> worst. Appeartly, Caffeine is still in my system.

>

> I am fortunate they were not heart attacks!

>

> I cannot eat whole foods yet for some reason. I ate calorie

> filled soft donuts all day. Had to take my time eating them.

> I haven't ate this in almost a year. 

>

> I feel like my left chest area is bruised. Hate this

> feeling but it could be worst.

>

> Thanks once again for your concerns Phil. 

>

>

>

>

>

> ------------------------------------

>

>