Wel just got a stent placed in my heart....

[zephyr22]

Well i had a stent placed in my heart due to angina(chest pain) brought on by activity. It seems my circumvential artery on the rear of my heart was only 1/3 size it supposed to be. Also it had som pretty heavy plaque in it. The baloon angioplastied it open and placed a stent. It sucked heavily. My cholesterol was way out of wack........ This was a serious scare for me. Im going to go back to work in 3 weeks im scared as helll to work out ever again. However the cardiac doc told me i had no noticeable heart damage at all because we caught it so quick. He just thinks there is no reason to lift weights again. Cardio he said i cant do no prob but no weights other than some light curcuit training. Im not sure but the problem is this guy is an avid runner and is very thin. Im just wondering why it doesnt appear to be a problem to me....... Oh welll im alive so all is well. Im at least at home now too. Im so beside myself......quite depressed actually

 

[zephyr22]

This is a word to the wise keep an eye on your cholesterol....

I know it is a pain in the ass but it can save your heart and your life. Be smart about using aas as well. Not worth dying over. Im not one to get on a soap box but i thought i would just warn some folks. Im 31 yrs old and i got a stent out of the deal. Not good by any means. However i get a second chance. It has changed my perspective on aas use. I may just do some low dose hrt and i was contemplating using a little hgh for my joints. I dont want to live my life like a drone but there has to be a happy medium ......Right??????

 

[chris250]

Well i had a stent placed in my heart due to angina(chest pain) brought on by activity. It seems my circumvential artery on the rear of my heart was only 1/3 size it supposed to be. Also it had som pretty heavy plaque in it. The baloon angioplastied it open and placed a stent. It sucked heavily. My cholesterol was way out of wack........ This was a serious scare for me. Im going to go back to work in 3 weeks im scared as helll to work out ever again. However the cardiac doc told me i had no noticeable heart damage at all because we caught it so quick. He just thinks there is no reason to lift weights again. Cardio he said i cant do no prob but no weights other than some light curcuit training. Im not sure but the problem is this guy is an avid runner and is very thin. Im just wondering why it doesnt appear to be a problem to me....... Oh welll im alive so all is well. Im at least at home now too. Im so beside myself......quite depressed actually

Did the doctors say it was related to AAS ? Even with my issue's my doctors said I could workout hard, but to just back off, if my heart felt pain or just funny...I have been doing great, and my weight is back up to over 255lbs...but Im going to have to lean up, cause this weight affects my B.P. and my sleep apena...So im going to get leaner and try to hold it, if possiable...otherwise I'll just get a very lean 230-235lbs

 

[zephyr22]

Yeah.....

Im sure it was part of cholesterol issue however it is familial as well. My grandpa on my dads side died at 55 of massive heart attack. My father died in a car accident so i have no idea what his cholesterol was like. My mother is on some sort of statin drug. I was so bummed about all this stuff. It was really odd.....I had a bad devorce about a year and half ago. Then my girlfreind od 6 months breaks up with me about2 weeks ago then this Im thinking WTF..... I was told before i should have been placed on statin drugs however i didnt want to be pumped full of meds at such a young age. However i had the wake up call of a lifetime by this event. Holy shit did it hurt.....Nitroglycerin did nothing to relieve it.......The only thing that helped with the pain was the iv Morphine......Which totally kicked the shit out of me. It was a scary ordeal. Im glad i had no resulting heart damage but they said i had pretty heavy plaque build up in my vessels now its time to not have them get any worse. Ive since been started on crestor and plavix of course for the stent. also on coreg to keep my BP in check also i had been placed on lisinopril for bp as well. I feel like an idiot though. The physicians i work with saw me in the bed and i cried like a baby because my god im only 31yrs old. It was just so scary.

 

[zephyr22]

yeah i need to be leaner too...

Ive since changed my eating habits. No more fatty meats etc.... so i hopefully will lose some weight in my stomach and what not. Im not by any means fat but i could afford some loss.

 

[PHIL HERNON]

Well

Ive since changed my eating habits. No more fatty meats etc.... so i hopefully will lose some weight in my stomach and what not. Im not by any means fat but i could afford some loss.

I am glad you are alive man.......stay lean year round, lower the carbs..........keep in the healthy fats.........I cant believe someone comes on your thread talking about how big they are now and how lean they will be at a certain weight.........it never amazes me how fuckjed up some people think about thier life and just for this sport??

 

[wasp]

im guessing this is more a family thing but, what cycles have you done just out of curiosity......................and hang in there

 

[zephyr22]

Ive done some bombers in my early days.....

However as of late i was using maybe 500mg of test witn some sort of either nandrolone or some boldenone. I have however gone to a gram a week many many years ago. So im sure the aas had a huge part in it. Also familial history is not good so its not good at all. its the old 'i should have listened and just taken my meds" song and dance. I fear there are others out there who may have the same problem as i did but just dont know it.

 

[JETHRO TULL]

Zephrr22, I remember you used to post all the time.

Holy crap, I bet you were freaked out. I am glad you made it. I don't know about the whole thing, but no heart damage sounds awesome!

With those statin drugs can't the amount of plaque actually begin to diminish after a while?

Maybe that circuit style lifting won't be all bad? It's sort of what I have been doing frequently.

Today we did stations: T-bar rows followed by Pulldowns followed by pullovers, followed by rear delt raises. All sets were in the 15-20 rep range. We did 4 four of those and the weights were manageable. No strength records. I do cardio 5 days a week.

Hell, maybe it will all workout. You may not be as big as you wanted to be but you can still probably look awesome and lift.

Again- thanks for this post. It scares the heck out of me all over again!

 

[rAJJIN]

Damn Zephyr sorry to hear this man.
I haven't got to chat with you much lately but it sure seems you have had some bad luck. Hang in there buddy. I Hope things turn around and start getting better for you.

 

[Emery]

Try to keep the stress levels in check too. Stress can wreak havoc on a person and it sounds like you have had plenty and then some in the last several years. I would listen to your doctor and follow his plan for now. Maybe you can find another that knows more about lifting and the heart. I do know that lifting heavy greatly increases blood pressure during the lift.

You are alive and without heart damage. That is wonderful news. Don't take it for granted and not saying you will, but we only get one shot and I think your future is wide open. My father had his first heart attack at 46, he is 64 now and recently cycled 100 miles in one day on a 100 degree day. He has turned his life completely around.

As Phil mentioned above, my dad eats like that year round!

Good luck and best wishes brother!

 

[BALDNAZI]

Zephyr

Glad to hear your ok brother. You know my deal, been there done that with my liver. Live life bro, enjoy it as much as you can. Do the cardio as soon as your able and be out in the sun in the mean time. Don't crawl in a hole and let depression get you, you are in the driver's seat from here on out.

If you really want to, Im sure you can return to the weights eventually, but right now rest and reevaluate life. Its as simple as that. God Bless man...

 

[MR. BMJ]

Keep your head up bro, you have a lot to be thankful for i'm sure

Congrats on just being alive, that sounds like a GOOD deal to me

You are understandably freaked out right now, I know i'd be too. However, continue to go to doctor and cardiac check-ups, and get second opinions on whether you can continue to lift weights.

Either way, congrats on being able to post up here. There are tons of things you can do, use, and follow for a healthy heart.


BMJ

 

[maldorf]

I'm so glad you were smart and went in to get looked at.

At least you didnt suffer a massive heart attack like mine. The docs were shocked I was still alive after seeing my angiogram and my blood tests. Now my heart is working about about 1/3 of its normal capacity and they know I will someday need a heart transplant. You caught this thing early, be smart and do the right thing now so you dont end up like me. I was only 38 yrs old when I had my heart attack. I almost died about 2 months later when I went into an arrythmia. They had to shock me 2x to get my heart going right again.

You have a second chance now. I blew mine.

 

[maldorf]

Here is a link to my thread about my incidents. http://www.professionalmuscle.com/forums/professional-muscle-forum/37736-just-survived-heart-attack-age-38-follow-up-phils-post.html

Now as far as not doing any more weight training at all, I dont think that should have to be the case. There still is a risk lifting though. Hell, I had my heart attack while doing reps with 450lb squats. Shit can happen. Even with my weak heart I am able to lift with light to moderate weights and my heart hasnt gotten out of wack yet. You really have to watch your breathing so that you dont do a valsava maneuver too much(holding your breath increases intrathoracic pressure which raises your BP).

 

[chris250]

Here is a link to my thread about my incidents. http://www.professionalmuscle.com/forums/professional-muscle-forum/37736-just-survived-heart-attack-age-38-follow-up-phils-post.html

Now as far as not doing any more weight training at all, I dont think that should have to be the case. There still is a risk lifting though. Hell, I had my heart attack while doing reps with 450lb squats. Shit can happen. Even with my weak heart I am able to lift with light to moderate weights and my heart hasnt gotten out of wack yet. You really have to watch your breathing so that you dont do a valsava maneuver too much(holding your breath increases intrathoracic pressure which raises your BP).

I agree with maldorf here to..I think you will be able to train again..You might not train as heavy or as hard..but without heart damage..I think you could train pretty hard...I still go somewhat heavy, but I take more time in between sets to get my heart rate down or my breathing normal again...I do about 45-60 mins of cardio daily (or 5 x a week) to keep my heart healthy...take my BP meds daily and im living a pretty normal life again...

 

[zephyr22]

Thank you all again....

I know i have to seriously to look at my life and prioritize. I need to slow down a little and enjoy myself. Im taking this thing as serious as i can. The diet and cardio i can do no prob. Its just tough realizing that im not superman nor am i indestructable. I think that my work outs will be just fine though. Im not going to lift heavy for sure maybe just go for a quick pump and burn...... Ive actually been training like that for the past few years.....

 

[Cosmicdrifter]

This is all relevant to a point I've been making in several posts. AAS drastically reduces HDL - which is the cholesterol that scours-out and cleans arteries.

We know that certain AAS (and other supplements) are less detrimental to HDL than others. The problem is that that AAS have never been ranked in order of HDL reduction, nor have their been any studies as to how aspirin, mono-saturated oils, and other tactics have improved HDL - while on a cycle.

Since low HDL is the nemesis of bodybuilders (those who use AAS), it should be on the top of the list for research and exploration - to learn how to keep it high while on cycle.

If this problem can be solved (part of the solution is having some hard data about which AAS have the most and least negative effects on HDL (perhaps one might even increase it) then then body builders will not have to worry about decreased longevity and premature aging.

 

[Pekkerwood]

I know i have to seriously to look at my life and prioritize. I need to slow down a little and enjoy myself. Im taking this thing as serious as i can. The diet and cardio i can do no prob. Its just tough realizing that im not superman nor am i indestructable. I think that my work outs will be just fine though. Im not going to lift heavy for sure maybe just go for a quick pump and burn...... Ive actually been training like that for the past few years.....

Zephyr:

I know it does feel like it right now but you have received a gift. Instead of it being discovered due to you lieing on the floor in pain, turning smurflike (blue) with its resulting damage, you have come out with no damage.

Depression is normal. You are not superman, in fact I was actually Superman until I learned I wasn't so you could not have been! You caught your problem at a manageable stage. I too got the no weight lifting advice. (In cardiac rehab the max weight I trained up to was 5lb dumbells!)

I cut Anabolics and HGH cold Turkey and started TRT after one year with all doctors knowledge and under a doctors care. I started training again but made concessions.

I do not train to strain. I do not train to failure. I do not lift more than 315 on any lift. I do not squat, I do not do deadlifts, I use no dumbells over 100 and I do not do sets with less than eight reps and usually do 12 to 15. I also do not make any large gains. I do not need to. I am about 245 and relatively fat compared to my 265-280 days. I can live with that. Key word being live. I have to get to 225-215 but it has been a struggle working against these beta blockers, which result in lethargy and weight gain for many patients.

You can live a "normal" life. The problem is bodybuilding is not a normal life. This results of this event in your life are in your control. I'm betting you will make a positive out of it.

Good luck to you.

I am taking the approach to avoid the heaviest strain/blood pressure/adrenal response, lift. I've done this for two years now with no reduction in heart function.

 

[maldorf]

Zephyr:


I do not train to strain. I do not train to failure. I do not lift more than 315 on any lift. I do not squat, I do not do deadlifts, I use no dumbells over 100 and I do not do sets with less than eight reps and usually do 12 to 15. I also do not make any large gains. I do not need to. I am about 245 and relatively fat compared to my 265-280 days. I can live with that. Key word being live. I have to get to 225-215 but it has been a struggle working against these beta blockers, which result in lethargy and weight gain for many patients.

I am taking the approach to avoid the heaviest strain/blood pressure/adrenal response, lift. I've done this for two years now with no reduction in heart function.

Wise words. Do not lift until failure, even if the weight is light. I made the mistake of thinking that it would take heavy weight to make my heart go into an arrythmia, but I was wrong. The one I had that almost took my life happened when I was squating 225 lbs, but I went to 30 reps in the one set! Now I aways stop short of failure even though I could get out another 2 reps or so.

Those beta blockers sure do suck for weight loss. I am too fighting the fat gain and the lethargy. Some days its hard to get out of bed. After while though you become accustomed to feeling like that and it becomes "normal" for you. Like Pekkerwood said, the key word here is alive!

YOure going to be just fine since you didnt suffer any damage. This was your wake up call.