Ejection fraction 10%

[M@NU]

Sounds like the diuretics now are preventing the condition from getting any worse. Perhaps the fluid is mostly due to the infection and not heart failure. They did an echocardiogram to measure ejection fraction? Or maybe a MUGA scan?

What's your oxygen saturation at?

Oxygen saturation is mostly okay, but when i am lying down flat it gets worse.
yes, I had an Echo where the mentioned EF was measured.

@nothuman:
well, i am still in hosptial, so right now no. But ive ordered2x ubiquinol kaneka, and curcumin bcm95 today. Also D-Ribose

 

[M@NU]

first night where i did not wake up due to breathing issues (just 3 times to piss..)
i am a bit happy

 

[M@NU]

so i am still in hospital.
feeling slightly better but still weak.
docs told me i have to stay until they get an external defibrilator device (lifevest) because they do not want me to leave without one.
hope this vest arrives fast.

 

[M@NU]

okay semi good news, was pretty fast.
the woman from Zoll (the vendor of those lifevests) was here to measure my chest and shoulder.
I was amazed how fast she was there.
Also, she discussed with the docs about the parameters of the defi.
they will now start to make it for me and i will get it latest wednesday

also, ive discussed with my doc. i was open about what i did and that ill stop.
Now, he doesnt believe that my EF will come back but he has no experience with such cases. I believe in myself and will work to make it better.
Plan:
released as soon as vest is there.
Appointment 4 weeks later for EF measurement. If it is still very bad, then we will do a catether 2 days later (after pcr covid test..)
next appointment is 8 weeks from this date. if it is still bad, then i will get an ICD (surgery for implanted defibrilator)
Also, i get other medication
- to my candesartan, a beta blocker and a diuretic is added
and i will take my heart supps.
every suggestions apart from ubiquinol 400mg, curcumin bcm 750mg, d-ribose 10-15g a day,taurine?

i am happy about every help

 

[maldorf]

so i am still in hospital.
feeling slightly better but still weak.
docs told me i have to stay until they get an external defibrilator device (lifevest) because they do not want me to leave without one.
hope this vest arrives fast.

Yes, I wouldn't want you to be without that. If you go into V tach it could easily go into V fib and then cardiac arrest. Nothing to play with.

 

[maldorf]

okay semi good news, was pretty fast.
the woman from Zoll (the vendor of those lifevests) was here to measure my chest and shoulder.
I was amazed how fast she was there.
Also, she discussed with the docs about the parameters of the defi.
they will now start to make it for me and i will get it latest wednesday

also, ive discussed with my doc. i was open about what i did and that ill stop.
Now, he doesnt believe that my EF will come back but he has no experience with such cases. I believe in myself and will work to make it better.
Plan:
released as soon as vest is there.
Appointment 4 weeks later for EF measurement. If it is still very bad, then we will do a catether 2 days later (after pcr covid test..)
next appointment is 8 weeks from this date. if it is still bad, then i will get an ICD (surgery for implanted defibrilator)
Also, i get other medication
- to my candesartan, a beta blocker and a diuretic is added
and i will take my heart supps.
every suggestions apart from ubiquinol 400mg, curcumin bcm 750mg, d-ribose 10-15g a day,taurine?

i am happy about every help

That is a solid plan IMO! That's exactly what my doctors would do I think. I hope your heart recovers some. There was a time I developed cardiomyopathy and my EF was down to 35%. It got back up to around 55% after a year off all gear. It was a slow 1 year recovery. Just don't go back on the stuff like I did.

 

[M@NU]

Yes, I wouldn't want you to be without that. If you go into V tach it could easily go into V fib and then cardiac arrest. Nothing to play with.

thanks maldorf, you are right.
if i remember correctly you have an imlanted defi, right?
can you still workout with it?
squats? benchpress?
or did you have to completely stop bodybuilding.
in my case they told me "no heavy lifting" and i am not sure what they mean. Is pushups, band work, light rows (50kg?) considered heavy lifting?
not that i want to do (or could) right now but i could imagine in a few weeks..?

 

[maldorf]

thanks maldorf, you are right.
if i remember correctly you have an imlanted defi, right?
can you still workout with it?
squats? benchpress?
or did you have to completely stop bodybuilding.
in my case they told me "no heavy lifting" and i am not sure what they mean. Is pushups, band work, light rows (50kg?) considered heavy lifting?
not that i want to do (or could) right now but i could imagine in a few weeks..?

12 years ago they told me no weightlifting, and I've been weightlifting ever since. I had to modify what I do though. I try to keep reps between 8 and 20 reps and don't go too close to failure. It was really hard at first because I was used to working out really hard. Then I have to rest much longer between sets. Take your pulse periodically and don't let pulse get too high. Give it a chance to recover before you hit the next set.

You need to make sure you don't hold your breath too, don't do a Valsalva maneuver. Try to breathe in during the eccentric part of lift and out during concentric. It's vital you don't ever hold breath doing big compound movements like squats. I still squat. Holding your breath will raise your BP a lot more and make it harder for your heart to pump. It could trigger V tach, pvcs etc.

My EF is around 20% and I've been ok mostly when lifting. I would NOT lift without a defibrillator implanted or attached to you in the vest. After my heart attack I went about 4 weeks without any exercise. Go by how you feel. Cardio can be dangerous as well. I would also not workout alone anywhere, be sure there are others around to help if something goes wrong. I feel relatively safe because I have an implanted defibrillator and it has fired off countless times now to save my life. If I don't have it for some reason, I'd not exercise at all and certainly not lift weights.

Don't take any risks without that vest. Start out with real easy cardio and slowly work back to weights if you want. Real light weight and low intensity. Keep that heart rate down low. Personally now I can't go much over 100 bpm now. A year ago I was able to go up around 135 bpm or so. I need a new biventricular pacemaker I think, and Hopefully I will be back to where I was.

Get a heart rate monitor. I have a Garmin wrist watch that works with a chest band. It works well. You can set an alarm to go off if the rate gets too high. Sucks for me now though because after my last surgery, my pacemaker is pacing 75% of the time and the monitor can't deal with it. It gets no read out now. It should fine on you now.

That vest you have must not have any pacing ability, so that's something you don't have.

Take some time off exercise and rest for now.

 

[maldorf]

Here is my thread for reference. Lots of detail in here.

https://www.professionalmuscle.com/forums/index.php?threads/just-survived-heart-attack-at-age-38-follow-up-to-phils-post.37736/

Send me a PM if you have personal questions you'd not want to air publicly.

 

[nothuman]

12 years ago they told me no weightlifting, and I've been weightlifting ever since. I had to modify what I do though. I try to keep reps between 8 and 20 reps and don't go too close to failure. It was really hard at first because I was used to working out really hard. Then I have to rest much longer between sets. Take your pulse periodically and don't let pulse get too high. Give it a chance to recover before you hit the next set.

You need to make sure you don't hold your breath too, don't do a Valsalva maneuver. Try to breathe in during the eccentric part of lift and out during concentric. It's vital you don't ever hold breath doing big compound movements like squats. I still squat. Holding your breath will raise your BP a lot more and make it harder for your heart to pump. It could trigger V tach, pvcs etc.

My EF is around 20% and I've been ok mostly when lifting. I would NOT lift without a defibrillator implanted or attached to you in the vest. After my heart attack I went about 4 weeks without any exercise. Go by how you feel. Cardio can be dangerous as well. I would also not workout alone anywhere, be sure there are others around to help if something goes wrong. I feel relatively safe because I have an implanted defibrillator and it has fired off countless times now to save my life. If I don't have it for some reason, I'd not exercise at all and certainly not lift weights.

Don't take any risks without that vest. Start out with real easy cardio and slowly work back to weights if you want. Real light weight and low intensity. Keep that heart rate down low. Personally now I can't go much over 100 bpm now. A year ago I was able to go up around 135 bpm or so. I need a new biventricular pacemaker I think, and Hopefully I will be back to where I was.

Get a heart rate monitor. I have a Garmin wrist watch that works with a chest band. It works well. You can set an alarm to go off if the rate gets too high. Sucks for me now though because after my last surgery, my pacemaker is pacing 75% of the time and the monitor can't deal with it. It gets no read out now. It should fine on you now.

That vest you have must not have any pacing ability, so that's something you don't have.

Take some time off exercise and rest for now.

Basically the reason they say "no weight lifting" is because they are guessing. They have no evidence that weight lifting makes the issue worse.

 

[maldorf]

Basically the reason they say "no weight lifting" is because they are guessing. They have no evidence that weight lifting makes the issue worse.

It's the high blood pressure that can develop during a lift they are concerned about. If you breathe right you can minimize that, but its still going to go up. A reason why you don't want to lift extremely heavy. A few years after my heart attack, around 2010, I was still squatting with 315 lbs to 355. I don't do it now because I've had more heart troubles.

 

[M@NU]

blood pressure is absolutely no issue for me, mine is right now with diuretics around 110/70.
also got a completely new medication, eplerenon. Similar to spironolacton but less side effects.
blood tests also revealed i have secondary hypothyroism. I take 150µg T4, TSH was 0,00 andft4 and ft3 both slightly below the range.

 

[maldorf]

blood pressure is absolutely no issue for me, mine is right now with diuretics around 110/70.
also got a completely new medication, eplerenon. Similar to spironolacton but less side effects.
blood tests also revealed i have secondary hypothyroism. I take 150µg T4, TSH was 0,00 andft4 and ft3 both slightly below the range.

Well, it's normal for blood pressure to rise a lot during a heavy lift, even for someone that is not hypertensive. It's been measured during exercise.

 

[M@NU]

Well, it's normal for blood pressure to rise a lot during a heavy lift, even for someone that is not hypertensive. It's been measured during exercise.

true

so i finally got my lifevest now. The person from Zoll set all parameters and now i am good to go. Waiting for the letter to leave.
the vest itself is not really uncomfortable but i am a bit sweaty of course since its additional clothe with electrodes and battery packs.
Also some gel packs that the skin doesnt get burned in case of shock.
the vest+ the computer which i have to wear over my shoulders weights close to 1,5kg. I have not thought that this small weight makes walking that much harder xD

 

[maldorf]

true

so i finally got my lifevest now. The person from Zoll set all parameters and now i am good to go. Waiting for the letter to leave.
the vest itself is not really uncomfortable but i am a bit sweaty of course since its additional clothe with electrodes and battery packs.
Also some gel packs that the skin doesnt get burned in case of shock.
the vest+ the computer which i have to wear over my shoulders weights close to 1,5kg. I have not thought that this small weight makes walking that much harder xD

What heart rate is it set to go off, I think you said 180?

 

[M@NU]

yes, 180bpm.
i hope i am sleeping well tonight and this device+vest does not make it too hard to sleep xD.
I have an appointment at my family doctor tomorrow.
I will try to get an appointment in a sleep lab from him because i am quite sure i have sleep apnea since a while (waking up 5-6 times a night is almost guranteed)

 

[maldorf]

yes, 180bpm.
i hope i am sleeping well tonight and this device+vest does not make it too hard to sleep xD.
I have an appointment at my family doctor tomorrow.
I will try to get an appointment in a sleep lab from him because i am quite sure i have sleep apnea since a while (waking up 5-6 times a night is almost guranteed)

It's a good thing you're wearing that vest because sleep apnea can trigger arrhythmias.

I've had my defibrillator have to go off 3x to save my life while sleeping.

 

[M@NU]

good morning all,
so sleep was a bit rough due to all the cables, vest, monitor etc but i am happy that the reason for bad sleep was not breathing issues this time, hehe
Ive woke up and did a small walk (20min) and now i am drinking my coffee.
Later today appointment for all the medicine i need to take and maybe an appointment for sleep lab.
In the meanwhile:
are there any sleep aids that i can safely take? In hopsital i took something (cant remember 100%) like zopiclone? 1 tablet with writing 7.5, so i assume 7,5mg of this stuff.
but i have to admit the sleep was not really refreshing with this one.
does anyone have experience with something like diazepam? I know i took it for like 3 weeks in 2017 (prescription ofc) and ive slept quite well with low dosages (4mg if i remember correctly)
is this something i can ask my family doc for? any other recommendations?

 

[nothuman]

It's the high blood pressure that can develop during a lift they are concerned about. If you breathe right you can minimize that, but its still going to go up. A reason why you don't want to lift extremely heavy. A few years after my heart attack, around 2010, I was still squatting with 315 lbs to 355. I don't do it now because I've had more heart troubles.

Yes but they are just guessing that the momentary spike in blood pressure from proper resistance training will make the condition worse. I find this hard to believe given we have good evidence that weight training is beneficial for a normal heart. Until I see valid research, I won't just accept their theory. My own experience tells me it's fine, since I have not seen any worsening of my aortic valve leak in years.

 

[maldorf]

Yes but they are just guessing that the momentary spike in blood pressure from proper resistance training will make the condition worse. I find this hard to believe given we have good evidence that weight training is beneficial for a normal heart. Until I see valid research, I won't just accept their theory. My own experience tells me it's fine, since I have not seen any worsening of my aortic valve leak in years.

Well, Im pretty sure that I was fine from it. 12 years and still doing it. I did have problems though if I got my heart rate up too high. I could experience V tach if that happens. That happens though even with really light weight. Happened once doing bent over lateral for my rear delts! I got zapped. I dont go any lower than 8 reps on any lift now, just to be safe. No real reason for me to anyhow. The extra pressure does put extra strain on the heart while you are lifting and I think that can lead to arrhythmias. I personally too dont believe in long term detriment to the heart. I always feel good after I finish a weight lifting session, but cant say the same for while I am doing it.