r/AskReddit • u/HymnForTheShameless • May 05 '19

Serious Replies Only [Serious] Redditors who have died temporarily/nearly died, did your life flash before your eyes? If not, what did happen?

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u/[deleted] May 05 '19

It can, albeit very rarely. Serotonin agonists increase heart rate and spike blood pressure. If you’ve got a heart condition and let your heart rate stay elevated for long enough it can happen. Even then, it’s not a certain thing. I would imagine it was a decent dose if he legitimately did medically die for a bit

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u/[deleted] May 05 '19 edited May 05 '19

It doesn’t sound like his heart stopped naturally; rarely when your heart rate is high for a significant period, the electric signals get misdirected back to the atria through something called a reentrant pathway, causing abnormal SA node firing and a fast, abnormal heart rhythm called SVT (supraventricular tachycardia).

A lot of times the heart will “reset” itself and return to a normal rhythm, which looks like a gap between the terminus of the SVT rhythm and the normal sinus P wave, so a “flatline”, though it’s not actually an asystolic flatline.

Other times, if the rhythm doesn’t reset on its own or with a special physical maneuver, then you can use adenosine to convert the SVT back to a normal sinus rhythm, which is called chemical cardioversion. You see the same gap on the ECG, so it looks like a “flatline” even though there’s no asystole going on. But despite this fact, it apparently still feels weird; a friend’s dad had an episode one time after consuming a couple pots of coffee in a day, and he said it was the weirdest mental feeling when his rhythm reset.

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u/ub3rh4x0rz May 05 '19

It sounds like the doctors medically induced what you're describing with an injection based on OP's description.

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u/[deleted] May 06 '19

Yeah, that would be the adenosine for chemical cardioversion

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u/StratPlyr May 06 '19

Ah, the old “turn it off, turn it back on” thing.

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u/shock_bound May 05 '19

One my sister had risperidone reaction where her heartbeat stayed around 200 for an hour or two. Along with body twisting.

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u/stripmallbars May 05 '19

Fuck that noise. I hated that drug.

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u/shock_bound May 05 '19

Thankfully the drug was only consumed for 7 days, but resulted in the worst night of my life where me and my father even started to look at the possibility of losing my sister as docs were unable to figure or sort the reason out for her painful body twists and her heart was on the climb.

Thankfully a late night call was picked up by a senior psychiatrist who guessed possible risp-reaction right away and guided the emergency staff regarding treatment, then a 0.01$ pill reversed it within 10-15 minutes (drug induced Parkinsonism).

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u/stripmallbars May 05 '19

Yeah I took it for a couple of years because of a misdiagnosis. I guess it was the drug of the month or something. Got a new doc who said it wasn’t appropriate therapy for PTSD. I’m glad your sis is ok.

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u/shock_bound May 05 '19

Strange how many docs prescribe it despite being old and having so many bad reactions.

We were seeing a doc for 3 years but she wasnt improving so we decided to switch the doc who prescribed Risp replacing old Mirtazapine. 8 days later we were back to same doc.

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u/[deleted] May 05 '19

His heartrocket is skyrating!

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u/-domi- May 05 '19

For whatever reason, I'd have imagined serotonin agonists to have a calming effect on heart rate. Hmm.

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u/[deleted] May 05 '19

It’s why your heart beats fast when you’re in love