Anyone riding with a heart condition??

Mad Mike said:
At 50 had a Widowmaker. Got to the hospital inside 5 minutes where they hit me with clotbusters. 30 minutes later, I was in the catch-lab at another hospital - blockage vacuumed out, stent in. Been all good for 10 years

Cause: stress, ****** diet, high bp, smoking, drinking, sedentary lifestyle (quit hockey and football 2 years prior thanks to worn knee).

Remedy: sold business (remove stress, )meds for BP, no prepared or fast food (diet), drinking limited. 10k steps a day , and 10 hot laps in the pool during warm months. Quitting smoking was the hardest - took a few attempts.

All good now.
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Late to this party, but feel the need to weigh in...

I was a firefighter for over a decade; electrical before (and after) - in decent shape, not ripped but not a sedentary pile of goo, either.

2 weeks after my 42nd birthday; I was cutting my lawn, on a cool late April morning - sweating like I'd run a marathon... stopped, had a glass of water, went out to finish the lawn, and then came the big white party bus.

Transported to the hospital; mildly elevated troponins. Sent me to the cath lab, where they discovered I was in way worse shape than anyone thought... 100% block of the LAD, 95% block of the circumflex, and 85% block of another artery. The cardiologist wasn't entirely sure how I was walking and talking. They sent me by ambulance to a larger hospital (shout out to The General in Hamilton!) where I was scheduled for open heart surgery the next morning. Triple bypass with LIMA.

6 years later, I take a handful of skittles daily (beta blocker, blood thinner, BP and cholesterol meds) but generally OK. Had to fight with the MTO to keep my truck license, but that's a separate issue... Bad genes was the biggest issue (heart issues on both sides of the family) - but I'm sure my diet didn't help much. In hindsight, I'd had some symptoms over the previous year or so, that I'd not taken seriously or recognized properly, which is ironic given the number of heart attacks I'd seen/attended to as a firefighter!

I ride when I can, I've never been super aggressive; it's an escape for me, and that's super important.

Lot of words to say that you need to listen to your body, you need to advocate - if you don't make time for your health and well being, you'll have to make time for illness and recovery... and I do not recommend that route, if at all possible.
 
MacDoc said:
Took the first beta blocker yesterday morning and the first 50mg amitriptyline for sleep last night before bed.
Watch reported anomalies.
Lower than average heart beat over night into the 60s.
MUCH longer sleep - 8 hours 45 min !!!!
Now that made up for the too short the night before - just under 5.
I was tired - was out riding for a bit - but my evening nap turned into an all nighter.
Will see tonight tho I'll be stressed from dental and urology today.... :(
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Jeeze md. You're falling apart. So many concurrent issues is tough on a fella. Glad to hear you are making progress on issues.
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