Tough question...

My sister has improved her ejection fraction from 16% to 43% !

by Gemita - 2023-12-19 17:52:01

Janene, my sister 77 yrs of age developed heart failure about 2 years ago.  She was treated with medication alone despite her family's concern that she might be in danger without the support of a pacemaker/defibrillator in the event of a dangerous arrhythmia.  Her cardiac team decided to treat her with meds only because of her poor condition at the time.

She has made a miraculous recovery with meds and lifestyle changes alone.  I will post the medication separately later.  However I do sometimes wonder whether another acute illness caused such a drop in her EF or whether there was some difficulty with her original diagnosis?   She clearly has heart failure with severe left ventricular dysfunction, but she also has a lung condition.  When she presented to A&E she was tachycardic and struggling to breathe.  

Today she is fairly well although gets out of breath occasionally.  So you see, there is hope

Medication

by Gemita - 2023-12-19 19:26:07

Janene:  my sister's early meds were as follows:-

Forxiga

Entresto

Bisoprolol

Frusemide

Ivabradine

Epleronone

Inhalers Ventolin and Trelegy

Clopidogrel

Simvastatin

Ramipril

Candesartan

She has dropped a few of these now thankfully

Diagnosis

Severe LV dilatation. LV contraction is dysco-ordinate typical of BBB (Bundle Branch Block/intra-ventricular conduction delay)

Echo 01/11/2021: severe LV dilatation: severe global LV impairment, EF 16% with improvement of EF to 49% on echo 21/07/2022.

Her recent cardiac MRI showed slightly lower EF of 43%

Wow, lots of medications!

by R2D2 - 2023-12-19 19:30:56

I haven't even heard of most of those! I'm only taking furosemide, carvedilol, losartin, and potassium. They have talked about adding more, what with my recent VF episode. They recommended Jardiance,  but I won't risk that one, too many bad reviews and not enough positive results. 

improvement in EF

by Julros - 2023-12-19 22:56:14

My sister and I have an inherited type of cardiomyopathy. She improved her EF from 30% to 50% in 4 months. She takes Entresto, jardiance, Eliquis and amlodipine. She has been taken off of lasix and aldactone.

I have a CRT-D, and my EF increased from 50 to 55% after 1 year. I take metoprolol and lisinopril. 

It takes time..

by USMC-Pacer - 2023-12-19 23:13:45

My EF was at 20% at it's lowest. The DRs and I weren't sure if it dropped due to pacing induced cardiomyopathy, or having too much fun (drinking) :) At the time, I had NO symptoms. I was also having some aortic valve issues (again). They did some medication changes, and I stopped drinking and a followup EF @ 3 months was 40%. After receiving my CRT-D earlier this year and an AVR I was at 50%. I have another echo coming in February so I'm looking foward to that. I think you'll see improvements in time between your being syncronized, meds, and lifestyle changes. It takes time.. some longer than others.

EF Improvement

by Grateful Heart - 2023-12-26 20:04:42

I had a diagnosis of CHF, cardiomyopathy, SSS and LBBB.  My EF was 24%.  After my first CRT-D my EF went to 50% after 6 months or so and I worked on healthy eating and exercise. 

After 2 years in... my EF increased to 55% and has stayed there since 2010.  I am on my 2nd device now since 2018.  .     

Grateful Heart

Thank you Grateful heart!

by R2D2 - 2023-12-26 20:08:56

That is very encouraging,  all of the comments have really helped my mindset. I appreciate everyone sharing their succes stories. It means more than you know.