OnlyFans star and stripper Briatney Portillo, 20, suffered a heart attack after “dry scooping” preworkout in a TikTok challenge.
“Dry scooping” involves taking heavily caffeinated/stimulant-laden preworkout supplements without any water or liquids. A recent trend on TikTok saw users “dry scoop” preworkouts for social media clout.
However, in Portillo’s case, she signaled that her intentions weren’t for clout, but for a vigorous workout session.
When Dry Scooping Goes Wrong
A male friend had given her a scoop of Redcon’s Total War at the gym before things went south.
The stripper experienced a myriad of nasty symptoms until emergency services were called.
She immediately felt the preworkout: “Right away I felt like I was suffocating,” she said. “I couldn’t breathe.”
“I was coughing a lot,” Portillo remembered. “I started chugging some water but my throat was just extremely dry and my gums were burning.”
“My chest felt very tight and heavy, I started sweating a lot again and the whole left side of my body hurt so bad,” she said.
The strip club manager called emergency services.
When EMTs arrived at the scene, they didn’t believe that she was suffering from cardiac arrest, given her age and energetic profession.
“I never thought something like this would ever happen to me. Especially because I’m so young,” Portillo told The New York Post.
Passing it off as a possible panic attack, Portillo recalled how emergency services approached her call: “The cops and EMTs were like, ‘Maybe it’s just anxiety because you’re about to dance.’”
“But I don’t have anxiety about dancing,” she continued. “At the time, I wasn’t sure what my body was going through but I knew something was way off.”
The exotic dancer had seen the craze on TikTok and wanted to give it a go herself.
“A lot of bodybuilders on TikTok were doing it and I thought, ‘If they can do it, so can I,’” she explained.
“It wasn’t for clout,” Portillo said. “I didn’t even record myself doing it. I just wanted energy to work out.”
In my personal experience, dry scooping isn’t very pleasant and I can’t understand why some lifters insist on doing it.
After dry scooping the preworkout supplement, it was revealed that she had suffered an NSTEMI heart attack brought about by a caffeine overdose, an EKG determined.
Dry scooping Total War’s hefty 350mg of caffeine per serving is the equivalent of 3-4 cups of coffee without any dilution.
“I called my mom and she was freaking out more than me,” Portillo said. “I just felt so stupid for doing that dumb challenge and ending up in a hospital bed.”
Portillo was kept overnight in hospital for observation following the dramatic incident to ensure that no further health complications occurred.
Other online challenges such as the Cinnamon Challenge and Tide Pod Challenge have caused concern and claimed victims in the past.
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