Not good, but not bad echo results

Hey ladies and gents... for anyone that was curious about my echo results from yesterday; it turns out that I'm still a 16. Not surprising considering my hurdles over the last 5 months. I thought I'd be really upset about it, but actually was grateful that it didn't go down. I'm sustaining...holding my own. That is good. 

The next step will be to up my Carvedilol to 12.5mg twice daily, as I'm on a pretty low dose right now. I'm not willing to experiment with a bunch of drugs because my intestines just don't react well to that. 

Another interesting thing I learned from my echo technician that worked in the field of heart transplants for more than 30 years, is that she said I was right about my electrolytes. She said there aren't random attacks and episodes with the heart. It's reacting to the environment in your body which can be unfriendly at times. She said it would be good to keep drinking electrolyte water and do that the rest of my life because lasix really depletes electrolytes in our bodies. I was glad to hear that I can do something to hopefully prevent another shock, but also glad to know that if it happens, my defribrillator will have my back. 

Stress.... there's another issue. I wish I could turn my brain off and not think overtime about everything and anything. But that's not the way I'm wired. She said if I can manage to get a  handle on my stress level, that would greatly improve my health and wellbeing, not to mention get me going in the right direction and strengthen my heart. So I'm determined to work on that. LOL! You guys are all a BIG help! 

Thanks for caring! 

3 Comments

Not bad news at all

by Gemita - 2023-12-30 08:10:51

Dear Janene,

Your update was welcome news, to know that things have stayed the same, despite your traumatic shock.  Your ejection fraction will be stubborn to move but its owner has other ideas to help out and I think I know who will win this battle. 

I am confident that your echo technician was well qualified and has given you excellent advice about your electrolytes.  I know only too well the difficulties abnormal levels can cause and in certain circumstances if not caught in time, may even lead to a fatal event.  I wish we could check our own electrolyte levels and a lot else, like we do with blood glucose levels.  With healthcare going the way it is, we may need to do more in the future to help ourselves.

The extra beta blocker Carvedilol will support your heart and help prevent any serious arrhythmia from starting, hopefully preventing a future shock.  It will also calm you and help you to overcome any anxious thoughts.  A beta blocker is certainly a safer option than an anti arrhythmic med in the treatment of a tachy arrhythmia and I would feel comfortable increasing the dosage.

Stress yes that is indeed another issue. I wish too I could turn my brain off sometimes and not to over analyse everything.  But that's not the way we are made.  The over thinking, over analysis is okay and not detrimental, might even be helpful, since we both seem to need to do this to come to terms with what has happened.  We have to control though where these thoughts are leading us, whether our thoughts can be of positive outcomes rather than negative ones.  Apart from your heart failure and your arrhythmia, I see a young patient with no other significant health condition.  This encourages me to remain optimistic for a good outcome and quality of life

Electrolytes

by islandgirl - 2023-12-30 23:22:40

Do you take prescription potassium?  I take bumex and also take potassium citrate to help with my electrolytes.  I also take spironolactone 37.5 mg at night.  

Yes Islandgirl

by R2D2 - 2023-12-31 00:47:06

I do take prescription potassium as well as a quality magnesium supplement. I've been super careful about those and even recently had a blood test to make sure those levels are good. My problem was I wasn't drinking enough fluids a day, then would have days when my lasix worked so well I would pee too much without replacing my fluids. I've got that under control now, thankfully. But it took my own research and homework to diagnose the issue. 

You know you're wired when...

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