Heart Failure - Road to Recovery

[Sides]

hey guys,
thanks for your support.
Unfortunately, not really.
It seems "something" (docs wont say vaccine for sure, but for me the timing is proof enough) crashed my whole system.
Every blood value was more or less off (ALT/AST several 100, GGT over 100, creatinine high.. but those bloods were drawn after i got a contrast fluid for the MRT, so dont know how that affected them), i had nausea and very strong stomach pain from sunday to wendesday morning, high pulse, shortness of breath
My heart ejection fraction is back down to only a touch above 20% which makes me extremely sad since i was on such a good way. Ive felt strong, i had energy etc etc and now i am almost back to baseline, feeling sluggish etc.
On saturday ive released myself from hospital because the docs seemed to not know what they were doing.
on tuesday my lungs were x-rayed and they saw water (which i knew and heard). i got lasix 80mg morning 40mg midday to get it out.
By wednesday afternoon my nausea was gone and i had immense appetitet and ate like a horse.
to determine, if i still had water, they simply put me on a scale in the morning.
Thursday weight was up due to the eating and what did they do? 80mg more lasix, patient got more water again
Ive told them about the eating etc. but they simply didnt want to listen, they have their Schema and this is what they do.
friday and saturday ive felt like crap due to dehydration. Could barely stand up etc.
Also, i was put on entresto again although ive told them i didnt feel well the last 2 times ive tried. (ignored, i should try again)

the hardest thing right now is mental.
ive worked hard to get back to the novembre EF of over 40%.
now i am at 20 again. I was so happy what ive achieved, that i could do sports, was strong and full of energy.
now i am nothing but a shadow of myself from 2 weeks ago.

Best wishes and prayers for your recovery, my friend.

May God send His angels to watch over you, spread their wings over you to protect you and keep you from all harm.

Remember Psalm 91:

"He that dwelleth in the secret place of the most High shall abide under the shadow of the Almighty.

I will say of the LORD, He is my refuge and my fortress: my God; in him will I trust."

I just had open heart surgery myself last Sunday, 6 vessel CABG (coronary artery bypass grafting). The butchers may technically have saved my life, but they physically ruined me and killed whoever I used to be. I am not me anymore. This is not who I used to be.

If you can't be who you want to be anymore, what is the point of life?

Now I'm miserable, can't sleep because of the broken sternum and other endless pain, feel awful and weak all the time.

I honestly wish I never woke up from surgery at all, and that when I lay down tonight, I never wake up in the morning.

But if God still has work for me to do in the world, then I must abide here a while longer. For now.

If I could take your pain and put it on myself, truly I would. At least then my life would mean something.

God bless you and heal you and restore you to good health. I will pray for you. Please pray for me also.

Sides

 

[M@NU]

Hi Sides,
i am also sorry to hear what you went through.
I think we are in a similar situation, although yours seems even more serious.
I hope you get better. Life sucks when you are unable to do what you love.
i wish you all the best. we gotta stay strong although i am not strong myself right now. I am a mental wrack, no positive feelings etc.

 

[Flex500]

Best wishes and prayers for your recovery, my friend.

May God send His angels to watch over you, spread their wings over you to protect you and keep you from all harm.

Remember Psalm 91:

"He that dwelleth in the secret place of the most High shall abide under the shadow of the Almighty.

I will say of the LORD, He is my refuge and my fortress: my God; in him will I trust."

I just had open heart surgery myself last Sunday, 6 vessel CABG (coronary artery bypass grafting). The butchers may technically have saved my life, but they physically ruined me and killed whoever I used to be. I am not me anymore. This is not who I used to be.

If you can't be who you want to be anymore, what is the point of life?

Now I'm miserable, can't sleep because of the broken sternum and other endless pain, feel awful and weak all the time.

I honestly wish I never woke up from surgery at all, and that when I lay down tonight, I never wake up in the morning.

But if God still has work for me to do in the world, then I must abide here a while longer. For now.

If I could take your pain and put it on myself, truly I would. At least then my life would mean something.

God bless you and heal you and restore you to good health. I will pray for you. Please pray for me also.

Sides

I know I don't know you personally but I've read so many of your fertility posts I almost feel like I do! You are strong and you will make it. God will lighten the load you carry or He will help carry it. When my dad was 58 he went into cardiac arrest and had to have a very minor follow up surgery. Long story short he ended up paralyzed from the waste down. He didn't workout but was on his feet at work non-stop (he owned a funeral home). That was so devastating to him. A guy that was active, a self starting, hardworking his whole life was not confined to a wheelchair and a colostomy bag. By faith he was able to forge ahead but I promise you he did not think he could at first. He later died of cancer but he had an amazing five years in between and it was a true miracle he survived the cardiac arrest.

What you are going through...I cannot imagine...but I can almost hear my dad in your words. Remember, no matter how strong our human body is...it's weak. It's nothing. Your faith and mind will carry you.

My best to you sir. A lot of people on here care about you very much as well.

 

[broza]

Hello all,
so after talking quite a bit to @maldorf who also shared his story about his heart attack etc. he mentioned that it would be a good idea if i also did
something similarely.
So here I am starting my thread.
First a bit in general about me:
- 31 years old. Started working out in Octobre 2009. I was naturally the guy you would call "skinny fat", i had zero muscles but was quite chubby. @20 years old, ive looked like
a skinny fat 13year old. I was weighting 68kg @ 172cm but i had tons of fat, dont ask me how this is even possible..
- started some prohormone shit like 4-androstendiol in 2014. In 2015, ive took a course of epistane for 8 weeks and later this year halodrol for 8 weeks. Moderate dosages.
Heart issues run in my fathers side of the family and during 2015, ive discovered that i have high blood pressure. During this time, i also had a appointment at my cardiologist and EF was measured @ something like 49%.
in 2017, ive decided to check my test values after being off for half a year (i did pct for the epi and the halo) and it was pretty low, around 140 on a range from 340 to 950
It took around 3 andrologist visits and 1 endrocrinologist appointsments to get on trt and ive decided for gel trt. THis put me at a value of arund 600
Follow up appointments at my cardiologist showed EF back up to around 55%.
in spring 2020, ive added HGH to my trt at 2x 1,5iu daily. Everything was great.
in December 2020, ive decided to blast (which was stupid). I took 100mg T prop daily and gradually incrased my HGH up to 12ius daily (which was stupid again)
in March 2021, I had heart issues (bad breathing, easy out of breath et..) and went to my cardiologist. He found out EF was back down below 40% (around 38%).
Ive decided to REDUCE (again, stupid) my cycle to 50mg test p EOD, 50mg Primo E EOD and 3 IUs HGH.
It went way better but, being stupid and ive thought the culprit was the high test dosage, ive increased the HGH back to 6iu.
Problems arised again.
on the 5th May during the night, ive woke up and could absolutely not breath lying down. I made sounds breathing (water in lungs) and decided i have to go to hospital. I could not even go up 5 steps of stairs then without taking a break.
in the Hospital, they first thought i have pneumonia and gave me 2 days high-dosed antibiotics. Ive told them it is my heart and i need diuretics ASAP but they did not really care. I couldnt lie down, couldnt breath and was miserable.
on Friday the 7th ive finally got an ECHO (and you cant believe how hard it was simply lying down and putting my hand behind my head, it was harder than a leg workout 2 weeks prior) and the diagnosis is following (according to my letter)
- heart insufficiency with highly restricted EF (around 16%)
- Non-Compaction Cardiomyopathy (?) --> they assume but couldnt say 100% sure
- drastic mitral insufficiency ( vena contracta 5mm) --> according to my research, this is not drastic but more like moderate but i guess they know better=
- intense pulmonary arterial hypertension (85mmHg)
some measurements: septum 12mm, LVEDD 71mm, LVESD 63mm, heart wall 14mm, Aorta 28mm, LA 54mm
some blood values at my arrival: Quick INR 1,37, D-Dimere 0,73, CRP 0,41, Troponin I 69,10pg/ml, NT-ProBNP 833, TSH 0,00, FT3 3,42 (3,4 - 6,1), FT4 10,27 (9,8-18,8)

I was sent home on tuesday 11th with a Lifevest (external defibrillator). Follow up Blood work on 26th May. Follow up ECHO on 11.06.
if no improvement --> heart catether on 14.06. If then no improvement 8 weeks later implanted defibrillator.

I really hope that this is an acute heart failure. In March I had an infection and didnt recover long enough. Maybe it is something like a myocarditis. Also, the onset of the symptoms was pretty fast (i am talking i could train on monday intensely and on tuesday evening, i was not even able to walk upstairs..)

right now:
- situation improving daily. After getting out of hospital, ive started low impact walks on the outside as long as the weather allowed me to.
Ive started with 2500 steps daily and right now, i am at between 10 and 12k daily.
- no weightlifting. I stretch a bit 1-2 times a week and use my massage gun.
Until yesterday, i was off everything. After talking to my cardiologist on the phone, he recommended to get back on Gel trt at half the dosage ive used before and gradually increase to my full dosage over a week (not easy with the gel)
- coffee is allowed, no other stimulants
- I am trying to lose a good amount of weight now. Ive went to hospital with 102kg @ 172cm and right now i am down to 96. Trying to get down to around 88 in the first step.
- Doing IF (18/6). Mainly doing 2 larger meals a day. 250g protein, 125g carbs, 40g fats. I take a maximum of 3,5g sodium daily. I know kcals are very low for my body weight but i really NEED to drop it down..
- medication:
16mg candesartan daily, should be gradually increased to 24mg
15mg torasemid (diuretic)
25mg epleronone
125µ T4/12,5µ T3
-supplement stack:
8g D-Ribose + 2g creatine + 2g Taurine x3 Daily
400mg Kaneka Ubiquinol
1300mg Curcumin bcm95
100mg pycnogenol
Black garlic, Arjuna, Bromelain, VitD3, Zinc, Magnesium, Green tea extract,...

I will update regularely

you recently get a covid vaccine?

 

[M@NU]

you recently get a covid vaccine?

i got my third shot on 5. january and on 8. january ive started getting immense stomach pain and nausea, followed by shortness of breath and very low energy

 

[broza]

i got my third shot on 5. january and on 8. january ive started getting immense stomach pain and nausea, followed by shortness of breath and very low energy

Myocarditis and heart injury are rare but VERY serious complications. See a heart doctor ASAP.

 

[Golden]

i got my third shot on 5. january and on 8. january ive started getting immense stomach pain and nausea, followed by shortness of breath and very low energy

Hopefully mate you’ll get back to where you where. You’ve done it before so you can do it again. Must be really hard to stay motivated but hard down and dig in, you’ll get back.

 

[Golden]

Best wishes and prayers for your recovery, my friend.

May God send His angels to watch over you, spread their wings over you to protect you and keep you from all harm.

Remember Psalm 91:

"He that dwelleth in the secret place of the most High shall abide under the shadow of the Almighty.

I will say of the LORD, He is my refuge and my fortress: my God; in him will I trust."

I just had open heart surgery myself last Sunday, 6 vessel CABG (coronary artery bypass grafting). The butchers may technically have saved my life, but they physically ruined me and killed whoever I used to be. I am not me anymore. This is not who I used to be.

If you can't be who you want to be anymore, what is the point of life?

Now I'm miserable, can't sleep because of the broken sternum and other endless pain, feel awful and weak all the time.

I honestly wish I never woke up from surgery at all, and that when I lay down tonight, I never wake up in the morning.

But if God still has work for me to do in the world, then I must abide here a while longer. For now.

If I could take your pain and put it on myself, truly I would. At least then my life would mean something.

God bless you and heal you and restore you to good health. I will pray for you. Please pray for me also.

Sides

What is your long term prognosis? Can you expect to get back what you have lost at the moment?

 

[Golden]

After reading all of @maldorf thread and what he’s been through, I’ll admit it shook me quite hard.

Reading the first part of that thread, you’d never believe he’d still be here and updating it all these years later and the man still has all that grit and grind in him that he keeps going. I’m not a big motivational type but that should inspire you to keep your head up

 

[M@NU]

Hopefully mate you’ll get back to where you where. You’ve done it before so you can do it again. Must be really hard to stay motivated but hard down and dig in, you’ll get back.

Yeah this is the goal.. I just have to get my drive and focus back and most importantly, think positive again. Because tbh, right now i am in a pretty dark place
mentally..
Sleep is crappy since my mind is going through everything constantly. Docs will not prescribe me anything that helps (i can understand that on one hand, in hospital they gave me lorazepam which worked like a charm but my doc tells me no way).
The doc gave me 5 tabs of a drug called mitrazipine or something like this which i took yesterday but it made my sleep even worse and today i feel totally "off"

After reading all of @maldorf thread and what he’s been through, I’ll admit it shook me quite hard.

Reading the first part of that thread, you’d never believe he’d still be here and updating it all these years later and the man still has all that grit and grind in him that he keeps going. I’m not a big motivational type but that should inspire you to keep your head up

yeah, he is someone i am totally looking up to. He always has an open ear and talks about his journey which helps alot if you are in a similar situation..

 

[pheenix]

Best wishes and prayers for your recovery, my friend.

May God send His angels to watch over you, spread their wings over you to protect you and keep you from all harm.

Remember Psalm 91:

"He that dwelleth in the secret place of the most High shall abide under the shadow of the Almighty.

I will say of the LORD, He is my refuge and my fortress: my God; in him will I trust."

I just had open heart surgery myself last Sunday, 6 vessel CABG (coronary artery bypass grafting). The butchers may technically have saved my life, but they physically ruined me and killed whoever I used to be. I am not me anymore. This is not who I used to be.

If you can't be who you want to be anymore, what is the point of life?

Now I'm miserable, can't sleep because of the broken sternum and other endless pain, feel awful and weak all the time.

I honestly wish I never woke up from surgery at all, and that when I lay down tonight, I never wake up in the morning.

But if God still has work for me to do in the world, then I must abide here a while longer. For now.

If I could take your pain and put it on myself, truly I would. At least then my life would mean something.

God bless you and heal you and restore you to good health. I will pray for you. Please pray for me also.

Sides

Prayers out, you and M@nu May God bless and heal you both. Fill your hearts with everything positive in your lives, start small. Eventually your focus will change.

 

[2001bullitt]

such an amazing thread. so do you feel the main factor was excessively GH?

 

[M@NU]

such an amazing thread. so do you feel the main factor was excessively GH?

no - the main factor is a genetic cardiomyopathy (Non-Compaction cardiomyopathy) which is when your heart does not "evolve completely" in your embryonal phase.
BUT
the wreckless GH dosages of low quality/high dimer GH combined with higher test (--> massive water retention) led to switching from a non-detected cardiomyopathy into acute phase (decompensated chronic heart insufficiency).
And this acute phase probably led to more damage to the hearts valves (esp mitral valve in my case)

 

[M@NU]

Hey guys,
brand new update and i am pretty happy!
had my cardiologist appointment yesterday and had a double "opinion" since i was checked by a student who is currently writing his doctor thesis (about mitraclip, something that was suggested to me to fix my mitral valve, so we had some interesting talks) and by my cardiologist.
Compared to November when i had my last appointment at this doc, so same device and same doc:
- EF improved again, i am up to close to 40
- what makes me even more happy is that the size of my heart in every aspect got smaller. This is a very good sign according to him and i am "on the right direction"

what did i change since november:
- got completely rid off my test gel and switched to a sesame oil based test cyp with 15mg daily
(in the past,before my heart issues, ive always used MCT and test E but ive always felt like i either dont go well with enanthate or MCT..)
For the gel, i had the thought that the very short half life and the "up and down" hormone wise couldnt be really good for the whole system.

- switched strictly to pharma grade hgh, 1,5-2iu daily, never more
in the past, ive often used tested generics. But there is definetely something different with pharma HGH, it just feels different and the sides are less although the
test result is not that much different (HPLC)

- higher carbohydrates
- ive DECREASED my medication since my blood pressure was always very low. Last year, my BP often hovered around 95/60.
now with the decrease, my BP is around 110/70 to 115/75. Feel much better overall.
The only thing i didnt decrease are the diurectics because i tend to water retention due to stress etc and this is not good if you have heart issues

 

[hollaback6]

Hey guys,
brand new update and i am pretty happy!
had my cardiologist appointment yesterday and had a double "opinion" since i was checked by a student who is currently writing his doctor thesis (about mitraclip, something that was suggested to me to fix my mitral valve, so we had some interesting talks) and by my cardiologist.
Compared to November when i had my last appointment at this doc, so same device and same doc:
- EF improved again, i am up to close to 40
- what makes me even more happy is that the size of my heart in every aspect got smaller. This is a very good sign according to him and i am "on the right direction"

what did i change since november:
- got completely rid off my test gel and switched to a sesame oil based test cyp with 15mg daily
(in the past,before my heart issues, ive always used MCT and test E but ive always felt like i either dont go well with enanthate or MCT..)
For the gel, i had the thought that the very short half life and the "up and down" hormone wise couldnt be really good for the whole system.

- switched strictly to pharma grade hgh, 1,5-2iu daily, never more
in the past, ive often used tested generics. But there is definetely something different with pharma HGH, it just feels different and the sides are less although the
test result is not that much different (HPLC)

- higher carbohydrates
- ive DECREASED my medication since my blood pressure was always very low. Last year, my BP often hovered around 95/60.
now with the decrease, my BP is around 110/70 to 115/75. Feel much better overall.
The only thing i didnt decrease are the diurectics because i tend to water retention due to stress etc and this is not good if you have heart issues

Your cardiologist is ok with you being on hgh? do you notice an increased resting heart rate while on it? i know when i ran the rips black tops it would increase my heart rate. You're on a beta blocker correct?

 

[M@NU]

Your cardiologist is ok with you being on hgh? do you notice an increased resting heart rate while on it? i know when i ran the rips black tops it would increase my heart rate. You're on a beta blocker correct?

im openly talking with him about the stuff i take and he is okay as long as i dont suffer from the water retention or the increase in HR.
Yes, 6,25mg Nebivolol right now in the AM.
my heart right right now is 50-55 during the night, 58-60 after waking up and around 65-68 during the day. We both are very happy with it.
With generic hgh i had issues with HR in the past. Right now i am strictly taking pharma which has much less sides, less water retention etc.

there are also positive effects of low dose HGH on the cardiac system. There are several studies where it was investigated as a treatment in heart failure.
In my opinion, as with everything, the dosage makes the difference between beneficial and not.
i am 100% sure most men would benefit from daily test 10-15mg. Do 2g a week and you do your body harm

 

[M@NU]

Hey guys,

i thought i give another small update:
this is now the longest time since my heart issues arised (MAY21) that i did not suffer any breathing issues during the night due to water in lungs.
Its 5 weeks now non stop that i could sleep pretty well. (i still wake up several times to piss due to medication but no breathing issues)
Also, i feel extremely well, i would say i also have not felt this good for such a long time since it started.
All this makes me extremely happy and also positive that it will further improve.
I do 5-7 times LISS cardio in the morning for 40-70 minutes (sitting on my bike right now) and i do around 4 times weights.
for weights i am extremely obsessed with keeping the training session a maximum of 60 minutes.
Ive learned over the time that everytime i train 90min+ my body is completely exhausted afterwards and also the day after.
keeping it to 60mins i feel fresh after and also the next day which shows me that this is what my body likes.
Still, no heavy free weight excersises like heavy deadlifts, squats, bb row..

for drugs/medication:
- test dosage is the same with 10-15mg Test cyp in sesame oil daily (i pin my shoulders with insulin syringes, sometimes 9mg, sometimes 12mg, sometimes 14mg, but it shouldnt really matter due to the long ester and daily pinning)
- 1,8 - 2iu pharma hgh daily (right now jintropin 2iu. for 36iu pens i do 1,8iu)
- 5mg cialis daily

i could also lower my medication again and am now taking:
- 20mg jardiance
- 5mg nebivolol
- 1/2 entresto morning, 1/4 entresto evening (49/51mg dosage)
- 25mg epleronone
- 15mg torasemid morning, 10mg torasemid evening
- 12,5mg hctz

as you can see, the only thing that is still on the higher end are the diuretics. This is something i am scared to lower and my doc accepts it since it is still on the
"low to moderate end" for my condition.
What i would like to ask my doc is to switch the afteroon dosage of torasemid to furosemide due to the half life. Maybe this would help me to get up less time to piss during the night.

diet:
right now i am more or less maintaining. I am finally under 90kg (88,4 in the morning after shitting).
its more or less 250g carbs, 250g prot, 40g fats.
Main sources of carbs are Oats and blueberries, proteins are 400g meat, 750g "Magerquark" (dont know the english word, it is a high protein joghurt (12g/100) with low fat and 4,1g carbs/100g) and a bit of protein powder for flavoring. fats are fish oil, krill oil, olive oil and the fats from meat. I also eat 300g salmon twice a week)
I had birthday on 28th february and got an airfryer from my parents as a gift.
I can only advise everyone that has not already got one to buy one. This thing is truely a gamechanger to a diet!!
Also, we celebrated my birthday yesterday with the closer family but going to a chinese bufett.
This was the first time since my heart issues arised that ive went to a bufett and i was scared tbh since they are loaded with salt etc. But ive still wanted to try it and enjoy it.
focused mainly on sushi (ate a ton) and also some fresh made food (you can pick the ingredients and they cook it right before your eyes with a sauce of your wish).
--> absolutely no issues with massive water retention or breathing which makes me happy

ah, almost forgot to tell you about the supps:
- Ubiquinol 300mg daily
- bmc curcumin 600mg daily
- 4g creatin + 750mg l-carnitine tartarte daily
- 750mg tudca daily + 1g nac daily (this is something ive just introduced recently (mid january) due to all the health benefits ive read
- 2g vit c daily
- 750mg magnesium biglycinate daily
- 1g ALA daily
- 1,5mg semaglutide weekly split in 3 injections a 0,5mg
- 12000iu vit d until now, will change to 6000 as soon as the dark weather is gone
- 15mg zinc picolinate

thats all for now, have a nice sunday!
regards,
Manu

 

[broza]

You got this bro!!!

 

[maldorf]

Sounds like things are going to improve back to what was normal for you. Dont forget what got you here to start with. I do think you are being foolish taking the gh, but its your decision. Be safe.

 

[M@NU]

Thanks guys
@maldorf:
maybe, maybe not.. i do not know either if it is damaging or not, same with the docs.
There are studies showing positives from ghrp/hgh usage but also negatives