A 20-year-old woman says her attempt at the so-called “dry scooping” challenge resulted in her suffering a heart attack.
Briatney Portillo, known on TikTok and Instagram as @brivtny, recently shared a pair of clips in which she warned against others who might be considering giving the challenge a try.
“Putting this out there so y’all don’t do what I did because I’m the type of person to try anything and everything I see here w/o questioning it,” Portillo said when sharing one clip.
“Dry-scooping,” as its nickname makes clear, simply means dumping dry pre-workout supplements or protein powders into one’s mouth instead of diluting them with water.
In recent months, some have taken to TikTok to document their experiences with this practice, which experts have warned could result in a problematically concentrated amount of caffeine being consumed in a rapid fashion.
In subsequent clips, Portillo—who also runs an OnlyFans page—expressed frustration at people who were accusing her of fabricating the heart attack story. She also revealed the specific powder she says she used for the challenge, naming it as a Redcon1 Total War pre-workout supplement, and fielded questions about what symptoms inspired her to see a medical professional.
“Symptoms in particular that made me go to the ER were, when the pain in my chest went to my left side and my left arm went kind of limp,” she said. “That’s when I knew it wasn’t anxiety and it was actually like a heart attack or I thought, maybe, and I was right.”
In an interview with Daniella Emanuel for BuzzFeed News last week, Portillo provided more insight on the experience, saying she first started to feel “tingly and itchy,” but found out that was a typical side effect and proceeded to go ahead with her planned workout. She then felt a heaviness in her chest with slight pain, assuming it was anxiety or a panic attack. According to Portillo, she felt better after taking a shower and decided to head to work. In the locker room of her place of an employment, where Portillo works as a dancer, she began to feel hot and started profusely sweating. At this point, Portillo said the chest pain returned with greater intensity.
A hospital visit resulted in the revelation that Portillo’s troponin levels were measuring at a higher-than-normal rate. She was kept overnight by hospital staff, followed by a round of additional tests the following day. Ultimately, the hospital concluded that she had experienced an NSTEMI, i.e. a type of heart attack that typically does less damage to one’s heart.
Complex has reached out to Portillo for additional comment.
As mentioned above, a number of health experts have spoken out against the proliferation of any “dry scooping” trends, citing the potential for reactions of this nature in some people.
