Enlarged Heart - Please help

[liquidanny]

from what I've heard its a genetics issue....you could have gotten it without using AS and simply training hard at a sport such as cycling or triathalon for example....don't stress too much and don't blame yourself. Look forward....BEST OF LUCK!!!

 

[40butpumpin]

Bro, high blood pressure, if left untreated for a long period of time will do the damage you've described here. So if your high BP is from anabolic steroids, then it would make sense that this is the link between your condition and anabolic steroids.

Please ty the following:

You need to first and foremost get your blood pressure down below normal levels ASAP to minimize the load that your heart has to undergo. This must be done with anti-hypertensive med's. Get on a beta blocker like Tenormin or Tenoretic to minimize how much your heart reacts to stress.

Next, after you've got your BP down to normal levels, start taking these heart strengthening supplements:

Hawthorne Berry
CoQ10
Magnesium
L-Carnitine
Carnosine
Vitamin C

Don't take those supplements I listed above lightly, they're powerful and do work.

Next, get on a *very* low calorie diet to slow down your metabolism giving your body its best chance to heal itself. It's been proven that the #1 life extension/healing medicine is caloric restriction.

This all will give your heart the BEST chance to heal.

All the best to you, brother, I pray the Lord will help you.

 

[NYStrip]

Hey DocTodd,

I always thought any organ damage was the result of years of abuse. This poor bro has trouble after just 4 cycles. Wouldn't that be considered unusual?

 

[DocTodd]

He probably has more of a medical history than has been described so far. Two different things that are very similar are cardiomyopathy and cardiac hypertrophy. Hypertrophy is from longterm hypertension. Cardiomyopathy is different...too long to get into here and there are different types. Easily searchable on the internet. Only cardiomyopathy has been directly related to AS. Hypertrophy is indirectly related due to the longterm high BP from AS.

Another thing he said was that he had a heart attack. This will cause scar formation of the cardiac muscle where there was normal muscle before, which will lead to a reduced ejection fraction.

If he did fairly heavy cycles, i would say it could have caused his cardiomyopathy. Some people are just more prone to it. Is it likely he got it from only 4 cycles?.......probably not if they were light. If he was already having some heart problems, the AS would accelerate it alot. Either way, the AS definitley did not help...not even a little bit.


T

 

[Shoot Me Up]

Hay Doctodd, would this be a hard cycle possibly cauising something like this?

1250mgs of test first 2 weeks, 600mgs of deca first 2weeks

weeks 1-8: 750mgs of test, 400mgs of Deca 50mgs ED winny



Also, wouldn't like every pro bodybuilder be dead right now if so little cycles could have affecton one another like that.?

 

[liftsiron]

Hamstuffer I'm sorry to hear that you have not gotten better since we last exchanged e-mails. But there is a lot of help for your condition. My last echo showed an EF of 15% that is not a typo. I have all the same problems more or less as you except all my blood lipids are low normal. I was having trouble catching my breath putting my shoes on. I went to a specialist who put me me on two meds, one quite new. I feel pretty good now and I'm getting some power back, right now I'm only allowed to use weights that I can rep for 20 or more times, but todey I got 25 reps with 90lb dumbells on the incline. Now back to the business at hand e-mail me and I will give you the name of my Doctor who is smarter than hell in these matters. I.m sure that if your Doc contacted him, he could get a real handle on helping you. I actually feel real good with a positive outlook. By the way roids had nothing to do in my case, I had a nasty viral infection in my heart caused by the goddam flu.

 

[NYStrip]

Good post Doc, makes sense. Six months ago when I had a chest xray, the doc said my heart was nice and thin. I thought that was a queer thing to say at the time but now I have a better idea of what he was talking about.

 

[Enigmaxxx7]

Good info on that post nordstrom. AS can definitely affect cardiomyopathy. I would think your AS days are over if you want to help prolong your life.

As Doc said, you just be prone to cardiomyopathy and AS may not have caused this at all, however, studies do show that it can affect it. I wouldn't take the chance any more if I were you. Good luck.

 

[embolicintent]

I am sorry to hear about your condition bro. It sounds to me like your EF reduction is quite possibly secondary to the myocardial infarction (heart attack). After an MI the heart often is left severely damaged with scar replacing what used to be functioning heart muscle. Unfortunately there is not too much you can do about that. The cardiomyopathy which I assume is what is called a hypertrophic cardiomyopathy because of your mention of a "thick" left ventricle is different from what is called dilated cardiomyopathy. The latter is what has been associated with AS. Therefore, I would tend to agree with Doc in saying that your cardiomyopathy is probably not related to the AS if it is indeed the hypertrophic type. Hypertrophic cardiomyopathy is something that pops its ugly head up in the news once or twice a year as sudden death occuring in young healthy athletes. It does seem to have a strong genetic link and prognosis is often determined by the specific gene mutation. The most common symptoms of the disorder are shortness of breath, chest pain and even passing out typically after exertion. The real danger lies in the fact that the disorder often causes an arrhythmia which can be fatal. The usual treatment is a beta blocker such as propranalol or a calcium channel blocker such as verapamil both of which will help control blood pressure. Other treatments including implanted defibrillator (sort of like a pacemaker) and rarely surgery are possible in severe cases. The prognosis is highly variable. In your case, I think that your MI may be related to the cardiomyopathy and most definitely was not helped by the AS. You absolutely need to worry not about weight training but more about getting your cholesterol and other cardiovascular risk factors under control. An ejection fraction of 29% is not good, but it is tolerable so long as you do not further injure your heart. Another heart attack might be deadly. You need to forget about AS and start watching your cholesterol levels closely. You also need to start very light cardiovascular exercise after you are cleared by your physician to do so (Get an ECG first). Your EF might very well improve with time. If it gets worse you are likely to begin having problems with congestive heart failure and that is a road you do not want to travel. Your condition is very serious and I wish you the very best of luck. I hope this information is helpful and if you have any questions I will try my best to answer them.

 

[NYStrip]

Shit, what a board this is. Great resources here. Good luck to HamStuffer and it sounds like this is the time for some serious positive thinking.