D
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I started a thread a couple of weeks ago here ( http://www.professionalmuscle.com/forums/professional-muscle-forum/119373-chest-pain-ekg-issue.html ) regarding chest pain and a slightly abnormal EKG. Medic08 and others reassured me that the EKG was not really bad and my nurse was just wrong.
I went to a cardiologist and she confirmed with another EKG that things looked completely normal, so that was great to hear. However, I suggested we do an echocardiogram just to be safe.
I got this done on Monday and she called me today with the results.
Good news: No ventricular hypertrophy. To be honest this surprised me. 8 years of intensely working out and 2.5 years of gear, I expected mild hypertrophy
Bad news: Unexpectedly, she said that my ejection fraction is 50 (normal being 55-70). Also mentioned ventricle was slightly dilated but didn't seem concerned about this.
I was always under the impression that EF would be affected by an incident, like a heart attack drastically lowering it. But could AAS be slowly negatively impacting my cardiac tissue, lowering my EF?
I was never overly worried about liver enzymes and cholesterol because they were temporary changes, though I still took all precautions I could to improve them (milk thistle, liv52, NAC, cardio in the off season, fish oil, curcumin, etc), however here we are seeing a direct negative effect on my heart.
She said that an echo can give an error in the EF based on hydration, but that a higher hydration level would give a higher EF reading and I am always drinking a lot so if anything I feel like that means my real EF could be even lower.
We have a cardiac MRI scheduled but not until 11/26 as the earliest date. So as the title of the thread asks...
1. Do you think this is caused by my AAS use over the last 2.5 years. I am only 23 years old with no predispositions to heart issues.
2. Can I get my EF back up to a healthier number, or am I basically screwed for life now?
Thank you for the help
I went to a cardiologist and she confirmed with another EKG that things looked completely normal, so that was great to hear. However, I suggested we do an echocardiogram just to be safe.
I got this done on Monday and she called me today with the results.
Good news: No ventricular hypertrophy. To be honest this surprised me. 8 years of intensely working out and 2.5 years of gear, I expected mild hypertrophy
Bad news: Unexpectedly, she said that my ejection fraction is 50 (normal being 55-70). Also mentioned ventricle was slightly dilated but didn't seem concerned about this.
I was always under the impression that EF would be affected by an incident, like a heart attack drastically lowering it. But could AAS be slowly negatively impacting my cardiac tissue, lowering my EF?
I was never overly worried about liver enzymes and cholesterol because they were temporary changes, though I still took all precautions I could to improve them (milk thistle, liv52, NAC, cardio in the off season, fish oil, curcumin, etc), however here we are seeing a direct negative effect on my heart.
She said that an echo can give an error in the EF based on hydration, but that a higher hydration level would give a higher EF reading and I am always drinking a lot so if anything I feel like that means my real EF could be even lower.
We have a cardiac MRI scheduled but not until 11/26 as the earliest date. So as the title of the thread asks...
1. Do you think this is caused by my AAS use over the last 2.5 years. I am only 23 years old with no predispositions to heart issues.
2. Can I get my EF back up to a healthier number, or am I basically screwed for life now?
Thank you for the help