Thank you to everyone who has posted. I'll address everything here.
DANTE: Thank you for the posts. I have been taking Ubiquinol/CoQ10 at 200mg this entire time. Never went above that dose though (was using Ubiquinol for a long time and eventually when to Qsorb). I have not tried Pycnogenol, I recall reading about it though. I do not remember my thought process in not purchasing it. I HAVE been taking 5g l-citrulline per day for the last few months though. I have also been taking Arjuna as it's in the Abana supplement I was taking. AND I was taking 2-3g taurine per day.
So that makes me feel even worse. If citrulline really
does increase ejection fraction and taurine and arjuna are so great (which is why I was taking them) that means I'd be even
lower without them?
So even with all of these supplements that are supposed to help, it went down! and my cardiologist has now said "I know you've done a lot of research on them but I'd like you to come off of the supplements you're taking"
Honestly I would not worry to much about a 50% EF. Maybe just keep a eye on it and see if it gets worse year after year. If your super concerned have your doctor put you on Beta Blockers, but you most likely will not like the side effects.
For me, my ejection fraction is 24%. this causes my resting heart rate to stay in the 90bpm most of the time. I can't do much to fix this due to damage to my heart from a aortic dissection 2 years ago (genetic, nothing I did in my past). I have been to about 5 cardiologist , because 4 of them would not take me off the beta blockers because of was having severe side effects and ended up in the ER due to allergic reaction to one of them. What EVERY SINGLE cardiologist told me though was this.... "Their are a lot of people in the world with low EF, most don't even know they have it, and most live a perfectly normal lives" so I would not worry to much about 50%... just my two cents, I hope this helps comfort you some.
That is somewhat comforting, thank you. They have talked about putting me on beta blockers and something else (can't recall at the moment, I was pretty flustered trying to take everything in).
Now when you say "live a perfectly normal life" do you mean a normal lifeSPAN? That is my biggest concern, that I'm going to be 50-60 and croak, leaving my future wife and kids behind without a father. Not to mention for my own selfish reasons I of course want to live as long as possible.
I'm really sorry to hear this unfortunate news. You should try the new supplements that Dante just recommended, especially the pycnogenol and use the highest doses necessary. You didn't mention your diet, but make sure you buy grass fed/free range meats and eats tons of veggies/fruits (if you don't have a good blender, buy one pronto and make shakes a few times a day). Also, you really can't slack with cardio anymore.
Well now my doctor wants me off all of these supplements. I can't say he's got a good basis for it other than "they can have potential side effects" but at the same time they sure didn't seem to do anything to help. I'm honestly amazed. Like Dante mentioned a lot of the ones I've been taking have a lot of support for them and I've been taking almost all of them. I can't believe it not only didn't go up but actually went down.
As for my diet, I eat a ton of fruits and vegetables per day. 1-3lb per day. I have some sort of "junk" 1-2x per week but on the whole I eat very healthy and my blood work is fantastic now.
Here it is if anyone is interested:
Glucose: 76 (65-99 mg/dL)
Urea Nitrogen (BUN): 23 (7-25 mg/dL)
Creatinine: 1.15 (0.80-1.35 mg/dL)
Bilirubin: 0.6 (0.2-1.2mg/dL)
Alkaline Phosphatase: 79 (40-115 U/L)
AST: 23 (10-40 U/L)
ALT: 54 (9-46 U/L)
eGFR Non-Afr Am.: 89 (> 60 mL/min/1.73m2)
eGFR Afr Am.: 103 (> 60 mL/min/1.73m2)
TSH: 5.24 (0.40-4.50 mIU/L)
T4, Free: 0.9 (0.8-1.8 ng/dL)
T3, Free: 2.8 (2.3-4.2 pg/mL)
Estradiol: 51 (< 39 pg/mL)
Testosterone, Total: 1022 (250-1100 ng/dL)
Testosterone, Free: 260.6 (35-155 pg/mL)
DHT: 72 (16-79 ng/dL)
C-Reactive Protein: <1 (<8 mg/L)
Cholesterol, Total: 164 (125-200 mg/dL)
HDL Cholesterol: 66 (> 40 mg/dL)
Cholesterol/HDL: 2.5 (< 5.0)
LDL Cholesterol: 85 (<130 mg/dL)
Triglycerides: 67 (<150 mg/dL)
Non-HDL Cholesterol: 96 (30 more than LDL target)
Apolipoprotein A1: 145 (94-176)
Apolipoprotein B: 70 (52-109 mg/dL)
Lipoprotein (a): 33 (<75 nmol/L)
WBC Count: 6.1 (3.8-10.8 Thousand/uL)
RBC Count: 4.59 (4.2-5.8 Million/uL)
Hemoglobin: 14.5 (13.2-17.1 g/dL)
Hematocrit: 44.5 (38.5-50.0%)
RDW: 14.4 (11-15%)
Platelet Count: 177 (140-400 Thousand/uL)
I was messing around with trying to bring down E2 while keeping Test at 125mg, but now I'm not even going to bother. I'm just going to bring it down to 100mg right away.
I am going to add in cardio for sure. I do wonder though how much it's really going to help when I'm sure I'm already getting a cardio-like effect from my trainng (Fortitude Training by Scott Stevenson). Additionally, I live in a city and average about 8000 steps per day, or ~3.5 miles. So between that and lifting I don't know how much more some standard cardio is going to help.
And as mentioned above the fact that I'm already doing all of these things just makes me feel worse. Like I'm already doing most things out there and it's still worsening so how bad would it be if I wasn't...
I have stuff ive studied I can recommend all the time....I just pick my spots to where I have the time and it pertains to what the thread is about. Show me the bloodwork or the problem and I usually have a fix. Ive been doing this "problem fixing" thing for a long time. Ive probably have looked at 35 pro bodybuilders bloodwork over the years...too many amateurs to count...I have fixed this stuff time and time again with supplements and tweaks....its what I like to do now.
That's awesome and I've seen you do this a lot over the years. Anything else you have to offer or help me along here is very much appreciated.
Unfortunately, it does seem like I'm already doing much of them with no benefit.
Wasn't you at one point a few years ago iron deficient, if I recall? Has this been resolved?
Have you ruled out the possibility of undiagnosed sleep apnea?
Both are related to low E.F℅
I have read several different literatures, there's an association of Crohn's Disease with subclinical cardiac dysfunction.
Hopefully you can narrow it down to the cause, instead of blindly throwing supplements down your throat.
Unfortunately my doctors have been of no assistance in helping me find the cause. I just assumed it was from my previous AAS use but I've dropped that for a while now.
Here are ALL of my blood work levels related to Iron:
3/3/12
Iron, Total: 54 (45-175mcg/dL)
Iron Binding Capacity: 325 (250-425 mcg/dL)
% Saturation: 17 (20-50%)
Ferritin: 40 (20-345 ng/mL)
4/10/12
Iron, Total: 33 (45-175 mcg/dL)
Iron Binding Capacity: 301 (250-425 mcg/dL)
% Saturation: 11 (20-50%)
3/3/14
Iron: 122 (45-175mcg/dL)
Iron Binding Capacity: 409 (250-425 mcg/dL)
% Saturation: 30 (20-50%)
Ferritin: 13 (20-345ng/mL)
7/7/15
Iron, Total: 71 (50-195mcg/dL)
Iron Binding Capacity: 352 (250-425 mcg/dL)
% Saturation: 20 (15-60%)
I have never gotten tested for sleep apnea. I have a thin neck, am only ~200lb, and no family history of it. But I should get it checked out, I wake up 1-3x per night, but it's always to go to the bathroom. Coincidentally there is a sleep study going on soon at my university but it's for women only.
And to be honest....Stewie could be 100% correct and you have seen me say it previously on this board too
All these guys who are dying in bodybuilding (outside of the high blood pressure kidney failure ones)....it very well could be they all had sleep apnea and every single one of them died from undiagnosed sleep apnea. It really could be that true and that simple. One out of every 10 adults in the USA now has sleep apnea of some kind....thats ALOT. You combine that ratio with football players (rampant) and bodybuilders with their large neck circumfrence and musculature....that very well might be the cause of all these guys dying of heart problems. I dont know for sure,,,but i do know this. If you do have OSA and you dont do anything about it....you are going to die....much much (decades) earlier than you normally would die. It will damage your heart beyond repair, diabetes, brain disease, strokes etc etc etc...but especially the heart....think about almost drowning 4 times a minute for 8 hours a night for years and years....thats basically the scenario. And if you dont do something about it (i cant stand the mask, i hate it..it has aged me greatly facially and carved lines in my face---I used to be accused of being 8-10 years younger than i was...that mask has taken that away from me) but the alternative is dying. So you pick your poison there...and I chose the mask and have worn it for 10 years now. Im not going to get surgery until i see something better than a 40% success rate and even when i was at my lowest bodyweight in 20 years I still had it....it is what it is. But if 1 out of 10 regular people have sleep apnea im speculating that the ratio for bodybuilders with any kind of enhanced muscle mass might be 1 out of 2
Very valid information, I'm just not sure how likely it is to apply to my. If you look at a guy like Adjos, I wouldn't be surprised if that was the cause. But I'm 6ft tall, and only 200lb. Biggest was 220 but now I keep it 190-210 most of the time, sometimes even lower. And my neck is like 15.5in lol even when I had 17in arms (I know...I'm small here), my neck was 16in max.
Having said that, at this point I think I should get it checked.
ALL: They have also brought up my thyroid. I was never truly hypothyroid but maybe subclinically so I got prescribed thyroid meds. I definitely abused T3 a few times in my past but not for 1-2 years. Even this past cut I did use it but stuck to 50mcg and that was it, came off, recovered low-normal levels as usual and that was that. So they have mentioned a few times how my heart issue could somehow be related to hypothyroidism but I don't think I really have that, and did finally tell my cardiologist today I do not take the thyroid meds anymore. Though my last blood work did have unusually high TSH (5.24)
Between this and my Crohn's...trying not to feel sorry for myself, I just want to get all of this handled. I found one study related to Crohn's and heart disease:
http://www.medscape.com/viewarticle/550992
I have a cardiac MRI scheduled for October 7th. Do you think I should add in the cardio and drop my TRT to 100mg asap or keep things the same until then to get a true reading of where I'm at before any changes?