Just when I was feeling great and looking just about better than ever I had a heart attack. It happened on July 18th, so it has been a bit over 3 weeks.
I felt healthy and looked great, on the outside at least. I was maintaining my bodyfat below 10% no problems, thanks to Phil's guidance. Working out 6 days a week and doing 20 minutes or more of cardio 4 or 5 days a week.
I did use AAS off an on for about 8 years or so. It is not possible to point the finger specifically at AAS and say they were the cause, but it would be ignorant to ignore it altogether.
I had blood tests run at least 2x per year, sometimes more. My LDLs were always low, but HDls were very low too. Had a HDL reading of 17 when I was admitted to the hospital right after the attack. Back in January I had a hematocrit reading of 62, and realized that was a problem. I was able to get that down to 50 by donating blood and cutting back on what I was using. The cardiologist doest not think the hematocrit had anything to do with the attack, since it had been under control for almost 3 months or more. MOre tests will be run on the clotting cascade and to test for factor 5 disorder.
I was doing squats at the gym when the heart attack happened. I had just finished doing 3 sets of squats. 455x12, 405x13, 365x14. After racking the weight on the last set I felt really dizzy and sat down. After sitting for maybe half a minute I broke out in a cold sweat and my heart was beating rather fast. I didnt think too much of it though because Ive felt similar many times in the past when I push really hard on squats. Been lifting since I was 16, so over 20yrs now and Ive felt sick enough in the past that I have thrown up. So i figured I had just pushed it too hard. I quit the workout and drove home at 9:30 pm. I rested at home hoping to feel better. I developed a heartburn feeling and took some antacids and 3 aspirin just to be safe if it was the heart. At 4am I realized it wasnt going to go away and I had my wife drive us all to the hospital. Had to drag my 6 and 4 year old daughters along.
They did an ekg and angiogram after that ,since the ekg showed signs of heart attack.Angiogram showed 100% blockage of my right coronary artery. they used an angioplasty type surgery where he used a mini "vacuum cleaner" like tool to suck out the blood clot. I had develped a large clot blocking blood flow.
I was in ICU from Friday until tuesday night, so almost 5 days. They had to pump me full of dopamine to get my blood pressure up. My heart was beating so weakly that my pressure was hovering at around 60/35. Once they got my systolic pressure up to 80 without being on dopamine they released me from intensive care. I then spent one day in a regular room and was sent home.
Not sure at this time how well my heart will recover. I will know more in 3 weeks when an ultrasound is done of my heart. After that heart attack my ejection fraction was down to 40%, so thats not really low. I am hoping for the best.
The cardiologist is telling me I can never lift as hard I as was, just lift light weights. Very hard for me to take this. My plan is to take it one day at a time and build up slowly. I am not ready to accept this, and cant see how he can make such a broad statement about my future since he hasnt even looked at an ultrasound of my heart after its had time to heal. Of course when I told him I was taking steroids I got the full lecture and he blames the entire episode on it. He did say that he has had 3 other young men like me have heart attacks, all bodybuilders on steroids. He is a young doctor too, about my age or slightly older so he hasnt been at it very long. Surprised me to hear this. He doesnt seem like the kind of guy that would lie either, he is very straight forward.
MAIN REASON I AM WRITING THIS IS TO MAKE PEOPLE THINK ABOUT WHAT THEY ARE DOING, TO CONSIDER THE RISKS WE TAKE WHEN WE ARE DOING AAS. I THOUGHT I WAS USING SAFELY AND HAD BLOOD TESTS DONE,BUT THINGS STILL WENT WRONG. I HAD NEVER EVEN COMPETED BEFORE, WAS PLANNING ON DOING A CONTEST IN MARCH 09 BUT THAT IS ALL OVER NOW. LOOKNG BACK, THE BENEFITS FOR ME OF USING AAS DID NOT OUTWEIGH THE RISKS. OF COURSE I DID NOT KNOW THAT, BUT NOW IT IS TOO LATE. I LET MY OBSESSION WITH BUILDING A MORE MUSCULAR BODY BECOME A PRIORITY OVER MY FAMILY. NOW I REALIZE THAT THIS WAS UNFAIR TO MY WIFE AND TWO LITTLE GIRLS. THERE IS A CHANCE NOW THAT MY HEART MAY HAVE BEEN DAMAGED ENOUGH THAT I WONT BE ABLE TO LIFT LIKE I USED TO EVER AGAIN. I PRAY THAT THIS IS NOT THE CASE, AND I HAVE NOT GIVEN UP HOPE. IT IS IMPOSSIBLE TO BLAME STEROIDS ENTIRELY, SO DONT TAKE THIS POST AS JUST ANOTHER ANTISTEROIDS CAMPAIGN. JUST TAKE SOME TIME TO STEP BACK AND LOOK AT THE BIG PICTURE. THINK ABOUT WHY YOU USE AAS AND WHAT YOU HOPE TO GET OUT OF IT. CONSIDER THE RISKS WE TAKE, ESPECIALLY WHEN USING AAS THAT ARE PRODUCED IN UNDERGROUND LABS. THIS IS ANOTHER THING TO BE CONSIDERED, SINCE WHEN USING THESE SUBSTANCES YOU DONT ALWAYS KNOW 100% WHAT YOURE GETTING AS FAR AS PURITY ETC.
My goal now is to recuperate and get back to being a better father and husband. To be natural and bodybuild like I used to. Since I wont be using AAS anymore, be able to accept that I wont grow much larger than a lean 225 lbs at 6 foot tall. There is a lot more in life that is more important.
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