Salt Lake woman drinks an energy drink and falls over at her desk


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SALT LAKE CITY — Cheyenne Sandler had no idea she had Long QT, a genetic heart rhythm condition. But a few sips from an energy drink would help reveal the condition.

"And I wasn't much for coffee back then, so that was my one go-to was an energy drink," said Sandler, who is 25 and lives in Salt Lake City.

At work in San Diego in 2012, she had an energy drink and fell over. Doctors thought she'd had a seizure. At a softball game in 2013 she went into cardiac arrest.

"I just passed out," she said. "My eyes rolled into the back of my head, and that's the last thing I remember. I had a beat that could not sustain life. That's what they told me. A bystander, somebody on the other team actually gave me CPR."

Though energy drinks didn't cause her heart problem, they tipped doctors off to her genetic condition because the drinks pack a punch.

Some bottles or cans of energy drinks exceed 500 milligrams of caffeine, according to the University of Utah. That's equal to 14 cans of a common caffeinated soda.

The drinks are popular, with 30 to 50 percent of adolescents and young adults consuming the drinks, according to the Utah Poison Control Center. They contain high and unregulated amounts of caffeine and can cause serious side effects.

"The highest likelihood is somewhere in the atrium. They might cause some extra beats there, causing atrial fibrillation..." said Dr. Frederick Han of University Hospital in Salt Lake City. "That's a fast rhythm in the top chambers of the heart, and that would typically be in the left atrium."

Atrial fibrillation can be life threatening. Symptoms include a racing heart, shortness of breath, and chest pain.

"If it's not detected and somebody isn't appropriately started on a blood thinner, they can develop a stroke."

Sandler is off energy drinks for good, but said she is hopeful that after an upcoming procedure, she can enjoy her favorite.

"Hopefully, I'll be able to drink coffee again," she said. "I'm really excited about that!"

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Heather Simonsen

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