Heart Failure

[Steve Squire]

Type 2 and just been diagnosed with Heart Failure :-(

Any members diagnosed with this and can offer any advice??

Been put on 3 types of meds starting low then building up

Felling gutted at the moment

 

[Clivethedrive]

Type 2 and just been diagnosed with Heart Failure :-(

Any members diagnosed with this and can offer any advice??

Been put on 3 types of meds starting low then building up

Felling gutted at the moment

Hello steve squire, no no knowledge of this but sending you large man(((((hug)))) they can do marvelous things these days so keep posting and were here for you , clive

 

[Steve Squire]

Thanks Clive, much appreciated

 

[Enclave]

Hi Steve, I am sorry to hear of your heart failure .. it comes as a bit of a shock .. I know .. I had my heart problem at the age of 40 and only just succumbed to T2 diabetes. First I will say don't stress out too much .. as stress will not help your heart or blood sugars .. o that is so easy to say and not so easy to do. I will add I had my first heart attack just before I reached 40 .. it was not treated so have damage to my heart .. my second heart attack was also dismissed as a panic attack and again not treated ... so more damage done. Then I changed Drs .. was told I had unstable angina and put on a heap of tablets .. 24 years ago I had a bypass .. and it was not a brilliant success .. Have had 'official' heart failure for over 10 years now .. BUT I am still here ... do you have any questions .. PM me if you need to

 

[Steve Squire]

Hi

Thanks for your reply

I have my first appointment with the Cardiologist on Wednesday. Still in shock at the moment I guess. Part of me is glad to have a diagnosis as to why I have been feeling awful for a few months

I am 42 with 3 kids and I think it's when I think of he kiddo worry most

Thanks for the offer of asking questions, I'm sure I will have some soon
Thanks
Steve

 

[Enclave]

Take things one step at a time .. I am lucky that I have a wife who is very proactive and very positive about my health problems. She has one regret .. that we followed the diet advice given to us by the heart hospital .. you know the high carb low fat way of eating ... but thats history now.. Don't scare yourself with the what may happen .. focus on how to overcome or at least live with your heart failure.. Sending positive thoughts ..

 

[Steve Squire]

Thank you

 

[lindisfel]

Hi Steve,
I have had problems with my heart but they fixed me up with a pacemaker.

Have they put you on Spironolactone?
Usually they put you the above drug or Eplerenone to stop sodium via aldosterone damaging your heart further.
best wishes
Derek

 

[A1c8]

Ask your doctor about adding CoQ10 supplement to your treatment protocol. There is strong research linking this supplement and increasing heart strength and the force of heart contraction. Because the heart primary burns fatty acids for energy, coq10 works as a good fuel for the heart to use.
http://www.mayoclinic.org/drugs-supplements/coenzyme-q10/evidence/hrb-20059019

Coenzyme Q10 deficiency
CoQ10 is made naturally in the body, but deficiency may occur due to disease, low dietary intake, or high CoQ10 use by the body. Symptoms of deficiency include heart failure, high blood pressure, and chest pain. Depending on the cause of deficiency, supplementing with CoQ10 or increasing dietary intake may be effective.


Heart failure
Early evidence suggests that CoQ10 may be effective for chronic heart failure. Low blood levels of CoQ10 have been associated with this condition. CoQ10 has been used in combination with other herbs and supplements for chronic heart failure.

 

[Steve Squire]

Thanks for the replies

They have put me immediately on Spironolactone along with a beta blocker and an ACE inhibitor. Low dosages but will build them up gradually

Will enquirer about CoQ10, thanks

 

[lindisfel]

Hi Steve,
If you have any hormonal problems with Spironolactone the much improved drug Eplerenone is better.
If you take a lot of salt it needs more of an aldosterone antagonist to compensate.

It took me over six months getting up to a therapeutic dose of eplerenone due to side effects but there is no alternative and I had to take one of the two meds.
regards
D.

 

[Enclave]

I find the CoQ10 put my bs up

 

[lindisfel]

Hi Steve,
In heart failure the body produce 5x the normal amount of aldosterone. That is why you are on Spironolactone.
My position with Aldosterone is far worse, I have Conn's syndrome and my body, due to an active adenoma on an adrenal gland, produces 20x the normal amount of aldosterone.
By cutting down on salt (sodium) and taking one of the two aldosterone antagonists one reduces the problems for the heart.
Aldosterone has caused fibrosis in my heart thats why I have a pacemaker and take warfarin for Afib.
Spiro and eplerenone, in time, can help reverse heart problems if it has not gone too far.

On the horizon there are new drugs that can help you and I.
Aldosterone synthase inhibitors will be crucial for those of us with too much Aldo. they are just round the corner and a young man like you could well get on a trial if your doctors thinks its OK.
If you google the above there are articles that will help you gain some insight in the hearts problems and A.S.I.s use to inhibit aldosterone at source.

regards

Derek

 

[ulidian]

Type 2 and just been diagnosed with Heart Failure :-(

Any members diagnosed with this and can offer any advice??

Been put on 3 types of meds starting low then building up

Felling gutted at the moment

High steve, yes it can be a bit of a worry but the good side is that you know and can improve. I was diagnosed with Heart failure two years ago. Put on a symphony of drugs and the improvement was great. Then the bad news the cardiologist wanted me to have a triple by-pass. I didn't want that its like all in at poker and I felt it was not for me, luckily I was private and could ask to see various specialists eventually meeting a Dr Talwal who was a stenting specialist. After working with him he put 13 stents in my heart - now I can go up three floors and still be breathing - previously 1 flight and I was totally puffed. So don't worry too much.

 

[Steve Squire]

Thanks ulidian

 

[Biffo69]

Heart failure means basically your heart is not working at its full pumping capacity. This can be due to many different reasons. One of the main reasons is being over weight. The drugs you have been given will make your heart pump harder to remove the excess fluid your body has started to retain. You will be sent for many test to find out the cause of your heart failure. 90% of the causes can be reversed.

 

[wildswimmer]

I was diagnosed with heart failure back in 2001 and my "die by" date was expected around 2006, I'm still here although a bit creakier. A-fib caused clots to form in my atria one of which made its way to my brain which resulted in a stroke in '11. It was the upset to my system caused by the stroke that left me T2. I was hospitalised over Christmas '12/13 with Stage 3/4 heart failure, ejection factor just 20%. By dint of looking myself better when I had an MRI in summer '14 my ejection factor had improved to 27%. Meanwhile this year I've been fitted with an implanted cardioverter/defibrillator with 3-wire bilateral pacing to resynchronise my heart (ie CRT-D therapy). Basically my left ventricle wasn't being paced by my sinoatrial node but doing its own thing. The ICD has resulted in a great improvement in exercise tolerance, although I'm still having my programming regularly tweaked - yes, I'm officially a cyborg! I'm having an echocardiogram next week, but I understand my heart failure is now Stage 1-2: moderate to good! So yes, as has recently been acknowledged, heart failure can be reversed.

I still do what you can see in my avatar.

 

[johnmeredith]

Type 2 and just been diagnosed with Heart Failure :-(

Any members diagnosed with this and can offer any advice??

Been put on 3 types of meds starting low then building up

Felling gutted at the moment

Hi Steve
MY best advice is - stay positive. I was diagnosed Type 1 way back in 1959. I had a triple heart by-pass in 2001 and was then gutted in 2006 when I was diagnosed with heart failure. The term itself sounds devastating BUT is a generic term to describe a heart that is not functioning properly. After 9 years with heart failure - and with a cocktail of medications (on top of my insulin), I am still here to tell the tale! Nine years on, there are some bad days as well as good and very good days. but the bad days are handled with an increase in my medication. The heart failure team - if there is one in your area - is excellent in looking after you, making regular checks on your medical condition and changing your medication where necessary. It is now well over 3 years since I was last seen and examined by a consultant cardiologist so the heart failure team are clearly doing an excellent job in caring for me.

 

[JeanLesley]

Hi Steve.

If you do decide to try Coenzyme Q10, I'd just like to say that I have heard report that as we get older (40s and 50s+) the body finds it very difficult to process it to get any benefit from it unless it is in the form of UBIQUINOL which you can order over the Internet.

Live in the moment (that's all anyone has anyway) and take life in 'bite-size' manageable chunks.

I have just been diagnosed with T2 and am doing well on a high protein ' low carb diet. I don't know whether you may find the following book useful to take some of the worry out of the Diabetes aspect of your health (I found it very useful): 'REVERSE YOUR DIABETES' by Dr David Cavan.

Good Luck and god Bless.

Pat.

 

[tizzie2769]

Type 2 and just been diagnosed with Heart Failure :-(

Any members diagnosed with this and can offer any advice??

Been put on 3 types of meds starting low then building up

Felling gutted at the moment

Hi all will be ok i had a cardiac arrest in the kitchin in my wifes arms in nov 2007 was resussed 3 times and woke up in hospital with type 2 diabeties insulin dependent the pancrass did not restart properly hypoxic brain injury and a third of my heart severly damaged and heart failure in the last year i redused my insulin dependency by improving my diet via slimming world lost 2 stone and only take daytime insulin if i eat a naughty meal my levimar night time insulin is down from 44 units to18.I am on loads of tablets very strong statins and oxygenbecause my heart is not strong enough to pump it to my brain properly but am still here and have lots of plans for the future so dont give up there is a life to look forward to its just a case of finding your way to get there all the best Peter