Yet another heart attack in our membership, this time it's mine

[nothuman]

^^^ Unfortunately medical malpractice is one of the leading causes of death in this country

 

[11111]

Robert, I'm terribly sorry for the loss of your brother; that is awful and I couldn't image what you and your family are going through right now.

I pretty much agree with what you've said here except for the bolded parts. GI bro made a great post in the metformin thread a few threads down about how most doctors these days treat things (you can't really blame them, it's just the way the healthcare system works), rather than taking the necessary steps to prevent them in the first place. I actually do believe that it IS our responsibility to "be our own doctor" so that we stay on top of things in a proactive way in order to give ourselves the greatest possible chance of preventing these deleterious events from occurring in the first place or again (again not 100% in our control, but there is a ton we can do to prevent them).

Obviously Arko should be listening to his doctors, absolutely, however there are a number of things he can do in addition to what they are saying in order to help his heart (a slew of beneficial compounds, etc..) that we all know very few doctors will recommend.

I know guys like Dante and Stewie aren't doctors, but those guys have spent a ton of time researching/studying/experimenting (trial and error) with various preventative measures we can take to "lessen" some of the risk we choose to take while playing this game. They even have bloodwork/heart scans, etc... to prove the efficacy of what they're doing/recommending. I would take their advice on how to optimize health for a bodybuilder over the average doctor who has probably never spent any appreciable amount of time working with PED using athletes/bodybuilders.

Again, very sorry to hear about your brother, Robert.

Also, you have guys like Nothuman (who had a cardiac event occur in the past) who has absolutely taken the bull by the horns in order to ensure optimal cardiac health (at least as much as you can while still using PEDS) and I highly doubt he is getting these tidbits of advice, health supplement recommendations, getting frequent bloodwork etc.. from his doctor. Shit, every other post from his is talking about resting heart rate, other predictors of mortality, etc... You can tell he's really immersed himself in the "health" side of things.

He's the type of guy I'm talking about when it comes to "being your own doctor". It's an excellent thing.

 

[LK3]

Seriously. Oxidative stress and cortisol are two things I honestly never really put any thought into. After reading Dr. Kim's post, I got lost for an hour researching them on Google to learn more and has me rethinking that I train far too often.

well they are boring! lol
aas are way more fun to talk about! lol

I been saying basically the same shit for the last 5 years or so regarding this stuff.

I started talking about it here back then as I realized that most/many of the issues that we deal with in this life style are related to stress/oxidation/inflammation...

most here train too much and do things that are very counter productive to long term health. they obsess on the drugs, well the ones that make you bigger, but neglect real training which is tied to real recovery. if you cant recover you cant train!

so much more to all this.

arko, thank you for sharing...
im sure a lot of us can relate to your usage and we should all try to learn from it in regards to blood work n such. I am totally guilty of neglecting mine and been weighting heavily on my mind...

good luck!

 

[whiteman]

Had a guy I know at work go down with a heart attack at 37.. He lived .. But this " skinny" little guy found out that he had cholesterol in the 400 s... Never had blood work done.. Why ? He said " heck I'm not fat.. Never thought it was a big deal"..

I was 43 and had a heartattack. 100% in one artery and 60% in another. 5 stents in one artery. had a stroke during during surgery. did 8 shows prior. never had bloodwork done. thought I was in shape. obviously I wasn't. everyone should get bloodwork done. it will only save lives. glad ur ok.

 

[Thebigone]

How did you contribute the opiates and ibprophen/Tylenol to the heart attack? I thought those only effect the kidneys and liver.

 

[Arko.]

I applaud you for sharing. Respect. And all the best with your health going onward. Questions: In the 25 years or so that you were on, did you ever get bloodwork before the painkillers usage and if so did it show awful cholesterol and HDL/LDL ratios? There must have been bloodwork from the 8 years of injuries/painkillers, do you have reference to that? From 2010 (off the painkilers) til now have you had bloodwork showing what your cholesterol HDL/LDL was until the most recent bloodwork given to you after your heart attack? Do you remember what your cholesterol reading was in 2010 when the doc said it was the highest he had ever seen?

Hi D.C,
I did have some blood work a couple times before the painkillers, not sure what the numbers were but cholesterol was moderately elevated I assumed at the time because I used winstrol so often. The doc mentioned it but didn't seem to alarmed by it so couldn't have been that high.
After the painkillers when they said my cholesterol was highest they'd ever seen I don't recall the numbers but I'm going to try to get my records so will let you know.
I haven't had blood work done since then, other than when I got pneumonia, but not sure if my cholesterol was even tested.
I chose to live in denial, and thought I was doing a decent job of making healthy choices eating fairly clean and never taking orals other than the proviron at times when whatever masteron I bought ended up being something else which happens more often than it should.

Definitely worth noting that I almost never did cardio over the years. Though i have a very physical job so i suppose it can be sorta cardio like at times..I've been able to maintain great shape with as little as 2-3 x 1 hour workouts per week, though I mostly attribute that to GH/masteron/test. And over the past few months I've added aromasin and adex at times which could probably account for some of the cholesterol issues.
I've always been extremely sensitive to aromatizing compounds like test, DECA, and so on where even 200mg/test/week causes excessive bloating and gyno. Which is mainly why I added in masteron year round years back because it controls this problem extremely well.
But seems that more and more often any masteron I get is just not real masteron, and even 10 days on a new masteron that isn't real my body starts to get bloated and gyno starts to become apparent. I assume that the masteron is being substituted with either test or even deca because even a single 200mg shot of DECA bloats me and actually gives me much worse gyno than test... This is why I've added in the anti-e's lately..
Sure would be nice if every supplier out there could do a bunch of testing on their masteron aka drostanolone on raw lists. Because I assure you at least 75% of the masteron out there is not masteron.
When masteron is real it is a night and day difference in terms of every aspect of trt.
Sexdrive is great, body fat stays low with little effort, energy is great, and wellbeing is great.
....anyway my point I guess is maybe without the recent addition of adex/asin my cholesterol levels would actually be noticeably better.
I've been taking 25mg asin / eod ug brand not pharma and it does seem to keep things tighter and zero signs of gyno. Before that I was using .5-1mg adex / EOD but I really noticed it effected both my moods and joints, didn't like it.

 

[Arko.]

Can anyone convert my ldl/hdl #'s above into the u.s. #'s ?
When the doctor prescribed lipitor, plavix, aspirin, amlodipine and bisoprolol they said this is the standard protocol for heart attacks. I said I'm not to keen on taking the lipitor because of its many side effects one of which is muscle disease and/or muscle strains, kidney/liver damage and increase of type 2 diabetes. They said its up to me if I take them or not, so given that my cholesterol isn't even high, and given that the rest of my arteries are clear with no sign of narrowing shouldn't I be first trying to control cholesterol through diet, dropping anti-e's, taking niacin/garlic and/or other helpful cholesterol lower supplements, and doing cardio daily?
I haven't mentioned but my kidney function is also not great, they said its about 60-70% of where it should be so I'm afraid of lipitor further effecting/damaging my kidneys too. I think my kidneys are likely damaged because I've had uncontrolled bp for 6+ years, so I'm hoping with controlling bp, and dropping gear dose to less than 60% what it was my kidneys will be OK with any luck.
Im not going to take advice from here as what I should do, I'll discuss everything with my doctor ofcourse but I'd like to know opinions here from anyone that has any insight.

 

[nothuman]

Also, you have guys like Nothuman (who had a cardiac event occur in the past) who has absolutely taken the bull by the horns in order to ensure optimal cardiac health (at least as much as you can while still using PEDS) and I highly doubt he is getting these tidbits of advice, health supplement recommendations, getting frequent bloodwork etc.. from his doctor. Shit, every other post from his is talking about resting heart rate, other predictors of mortality, etc... You can tell he's really immersed himself in the "health" side of things.



He's the type of guy I'm talking about when it comes to "being your own doctor". It's an excellent thing.

Thanks man, your words really mean a lot to me and I appreciate you paying attention. As for AAS, I think I'm done with that for good. Just a little more test than TRT (no more than 400mg) and a little HGH (2-3iu) is all I ever feel comfortable with anymore, but I'm almost always on 150-200mg test and that's it. My idiotic mental state tried to be ballsy again with some things like a little tren and had thoughts of using other stuff, but mentally they made me feel guilty and I couldn't tolerate them anymore so I pulled the plug after four weeks. It's hard to kick the mental feeling of still wanting to be a bodybuilder, so I choose to be the healthiest bodybuilder I can be (regular bloodwork and echo cardiograms), and learn from a lot of people who are much smarter than me.

 

[nothuman]

Can anyone convert my ldl/hdl #'s above into the u.s. #'s ?

When the doctor prescribed lipitor, plavix, aspirin, amlodipine and bisoprolol they said this is the standard protocol for heart attacks. I said I'm not to keen on taking the lipitor because of its many side effects one of which is muscle disease and/or muscle strains, kidney/liver damage and increase of type 2 diabetes. They said its up to me if I take them or not, so given that my cholesterol isn't even high, and given that the rest of my arteries are clear with no sign of narrowing shouldn't I be first trying to control cholesterol through diet, dropping anti-e's, taking niacin/garlic and/or other helpful cholesterol lower supplements, and doing cardio daily?

I haven't mentioned but my kidney function is also not great, they said its about 60-70% of where it should be so I'm afraid of lipitor further effecting/damaging my kidneys too. I think my kidneys are likely damaged because I've had uncontrolled bp for 6+ years, so I'm hoping with controlling bp, and dropping gear dose to less than 60% what it was my kidneys will be OK with any luck.

Im not going to take advice from here as what I should do, I'll discuss everything with my doctor ofcourse but I'd like to know opinions here from anyone that has any insight.

It's no secret that I hate statins because they do bad things, but for what it's worth, maldorf takes one and seems to be doing ok. I really think lifestyle changes are what's really going to turn things around for you along with certain medication, but Im no heart attack survivor and can't imagine what you're going through, so you're doing the right thing to research what your best options are going forward.

 

[Arko.]

On the day of the heart attack I was at the gym and oddly enough doing the exact same workout I did weeks before when I had the other incident.
Though this time I was on set 2 of pullovers and only using the 100's because between that workout and this I'd only done 3 workouts in the month because we're working long hours again. By the end of the set I began to notice the exact same burning feeling albeit only about a 5th as bad, but I decided I'll just quit while I'm ahead and head home.
It Crossed my mind that it could be my heart, and even though there were no other symptoms whatsoever I remember thinking 'if its my heart please let me make it out of the gym the last thing I want is to have a heart attack here at the gym' ...looking back on that thought I realize how idiotic that was, and how I've heard many times that people having heart attacks tend to go to the bathroom at work or in public places for fear of everyone seeing it which is exactly what I was thinking.
I left the gym and drove a few miles, and actually didn't feel any worse, and not even remotely as bad as I had weeks before with the bad heartburn. But I remembered my wife and kids had gone out for awhile, and as I came up to 4 way stop where I could either turn to head home or go straight to the hospital I decided 'why not just go sit in the hospital parking lot until whatever this is passes just incase' .... I know without a doubt if my wife would have been home I would have headed home instead, but knowing she wasn't provided me with enough common sense to know if it was my heart I'd end up home alone with no one there to help...
I arrived at the hospital and parked just outside the emerg doors, and layed my seat back trying to calm my body down with deep breathing but not even 1 minute later I felt my heart start to beat irradically not just usual palpitations but much worse followed by some odd pressure, and the cold sweats started immediately thereafter.. I texted my wife, "at hospital" and got out and just as I started walking it felt like someone plunged a knife in the middle of my chest.. Something to note is that I've always heard your heart is more to the left side, but this pain just like the burning a Month before was in the exact center..
I walked up to the emergency doors where ambulances bring patients but they wouldn't open, and I remember thinking I might not make it around to the front doors but it was only 20-30 steps and I was in. I approached the intake desk keeling over, and said something like "my heart" and she said OK just come over and have a seat in the waiting room, I thought to myself is there something they're missing here??? But remembered people often mistake anxiety attacks for heart attacks, and it seemed like that's what they chose to believe so I said "this is not an anxiety attack", then a nurse came out and brought me into emerg.
They got me on a bed and took off my shirt, and seconds later it felt like someone dropped a few thousand pounds on top of the knife that was in my chest, the pain was excruciating and non relenting. I begged for something to control it, and they said not until we get an ECG we need to know what's going on before we do anything else...

 

[Arko.]

It seemed like it was taking forever but was likely seconds or minutes.. They got the readout, and said "you are having a massive heart attack sir, we're going to give you a clot busting medication that will break up the clot in your heart but you need to be aware the risks from the drug are stroke, and death". I asked if there was something different they could use and they said no. I then said my wife should be on the way can we please wait until she's here just in case it goes wrong - i atleast wanted the chance to tell her and my kids i love them...and the doctor said absolutely not, we are not waiting!
To hear " you are having a massive heart attack sir" was intense, I expected to maybe hear "your having a heart attack, but the words massive heart attack" was surreal and shocking.
But just as I was accepting that statement, to then hear the drug we're about to give you could cause a stroke or death firmly grounded the idea that I might not make it through this..

 

[Kendrxck]

wow...

 

[warlock]

Arko,

I'm so glad you are ok. Reading your story is giving me the chills.

Wishing you a speedy recovery.

 

[Arko.]

I'll continue a little later, writing it is kinda reliving it and stressful and my left hand was going a little numb.. It always does when I'm on my tablet keyboard, mostly because of GH but just in case I'll take a break.

 

[DOGGCRAPP]

It seemed like it was taking forever but was likely seconds or minutes.. They got the readout, and said "you are having a massive heart attack sir, we're going to give you a clot busting medication that will break up the clot in your heart but you need to be aware the risks from the drug are stroke, and death". I asked if there was something different they could use and they said no. I then said my wife should be on the way can we please wait until she's here just in case it goes wrong - i atleast wanted the chance to tell her and my kids i love them...and the doctor said absolutely not, we are not waiting!
To hear " you are having a massive heart attack sir" was intense, I expected to maybe hear "your having a heart attack, but the words massive heart attack" was surreal and shocking.
But just as I was accepting that statement, to then hear the drug we're about to give you could cause a stroke or death firmly grounded the idea that I might not make it through this..

Brutal.....could not even imagine man

 

[robertfhub]

Thank you for your Sympathies. It's fucked up. We were close. I may not have expressed what I was trying to say. When it comes to life and death. And I mean up and close, in your face. I do what the doctor tells me. No disrespect to all the smart people
here at PM All my best advice comes from guys on these boards. Maybe that's what's keeping me alive.......
I want to know all the details of *Arko's situation. I want to avoid problems as much as possible. Thanks.

Robert, I'm terribly sorry for the loss of your brother; that is awful and I couldn't image what you and your family are going through right now.

I pretty much agree with what you've said here except for the bolded parts. GI bro made a great post in the metformin thread a few threads down about how most doctors these days treat things (you can't really blame them, it's just the way the healthcare system works), rather than taking the necessary steps to prevent them in the first place. I actually do believe that it IS our responsibility to "be our own doctor" so that we stay on top of things in a proactive way in order to give ourselves the greatest possible chance of preventing these deleterious events from occurring in the first place or again (again not 100% in our control, but there is a ton we can do to prevent them).

Obviously Arko should be listening to his doctors, absolutely, however there are a number of things he can do in addition to what they are saying in order to help his heart (a slew of beneficial compounds, etc..) that we all know very few doctors will recommend.

I know guys like Dante and Stewie aren't doctors, but those guys have spent a ton of time researching/studying/experimenting (trial and error) with various preventative measures we can take to "lessen" some of the risk we choose to take while playing this game. They even have bloodwork/heart scans, etc... to prove the efficacy of what they're doing/recommending. I would take their advice on how to optimize health for a bodybuilder over the average doctor who has probably never spent any appreciable amount of time working with PED using athletes/bodybuilders.

Again, very sorry to hear about your brother, Robert.

 

[nothuman]

I literally almost fainted myself reading that story. I've also walked to the local hospital "just in case" before because I deal with anxiety from worrying about my heart. Thank goodness you made the decision to drive to the hospital just in case. That decision saved your life.

How did they administer the clot busting medication? Orally or did they inject it into you?

 

[robertfhub]

Arko, your a lucky man. Live your life knowing that. Thanks for sharing.

It seemed like it was taking forever but was likely seconds or minutes.. They got the readout, and said "you are having a massive heart attack sir, we're going to give you a clot busting medication that will break up the clot in your heart but you need to be aware the risks from the drug are stroke, and death". I asked if there was something different they could use and they said no. I then said my wife should be on the way can we please wait until she's here just in case it goes wrong - i atleast wanted the chance to tell her and my kids i love them...and the doctor said absolutely not, we are not waiting!
To hear " you are having a massive heart attack sir" was intense, I expected to maybe hear "your having a heart attack, but the words massive heart attack" was surreal and shocking.
But just as I was accepting that statement, to then hear the drug we're about to give you could cause a stroke or death firmly grounded the idea that I might not make it through this..

 

[maldorf]

It seemed like it was taking forever but was likely seconds or minutes.. They got the readout, and said "you are having a massive heart attack sir, we're going to give you a clot busting medication that will break up the clot in your heart but you need to be aware the risks from the drug are stroke, and death". I asked if there was something different they could use and they said no. I then said my wife should be on the way can we please wait until she's here just in case it goes wrong - i atleast wanted the chance to tell her and my kids i love them...and the doctor said absolutely not, we are not waiting!
To hear " you are having a massive heart attack sir" was intense, I expected to maybe hear "your having a heart attack, but the words massive heart attack" was surreal and shocking.
But just as I was accepting that statement, to then hear the drug we're about to give you could cause a stroke or death firmly grounded the idea that I might not make it through this..

With it being so bad I am going to assume they implanted a defibrillator/pacemaker in your heart? I haven't heard you mention if you have one or not.

 

[dragonfire101]

Glad your ok Bro. I see to many people here lately with life threatening conditions its scary and hope gives everyone a reality check. I myself still trying figure whats wrong with my heart , but insurance refused to pay for a recent test.