OT: Heart Attack

[Kirk007]

Originally Posted by Clean39T

That honestly sounds cheap for everything you had done. Getting 6.5 hours from a specialist for under $10K is rare...

If the answer is yes to either of those two, it's money well spent.

Probably the best investment I've made in years; better than yet another bike frame but you know, we are who we are

[NHAero]

If you feel that as a result there are some things you needn't worry about anymore, and other things that you hadn't thought about that improve your likely longterm health, I think it's money well spent. I wonder if there is something similar near Boston (a health care backwater for sure)

Originally Posted by Kirk007

Take a gulp and a seat: $2400 for everything: intensive physical, all labs and physiological testing. Couple hundred more if you want a full nutritional assessment and plan.

That said I am assuming that I'll get a little back from insurance for the basic physical component, it was a 6 1/2 hour process, they provide breakfast and lunch, and then a 2 hour debrief, 70 page report and follow up plans. I think it was a lot more value than I've gotten out of a lot of medical expenditures.

[azrider]

Originally Posted by BobO

Just a PSA that I learned the hard way. Being fit does not mean that one cannot have a heart attack. I had been under an enormous amount of stress and drinking too much coffee for several months. That caught up to me in the form of a myocardial infarction yesterday. I have no blockages and the heart is healthier than a man half my age. The stress alone caused it.

Take care of yourselves.

Scary! Glad to hear from your other posts that you're ok.

Have you ever tried meditating? I work in a very high stress environment and a work 'buddy' was telling me about the benefits he's seen from transcendental meditation or meditation in general. I always viewed the practice as something hippies do, and dream catchers, and lots of "ohhhmmmm"-ing.

Definitely not the case. I've started practicing it (once twice week) and it's pretty crazy how many other benefits besides stress reduction that comes as a result.

Give it a try. Seriously.

[cadence90]

.... ..
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[Ken Robb]

Originally Posted by cadence90

It is in fact not that uncommon at all. But, there is always some blockage in a MI. It could be less than 50%, in which case an angioplasty (stent insertion) might not be performed immediately, which in the op's case it was not if he is already home today. I hope and guess that there will be follow-up exams soon.

Since the op mentioned being prescribed Zoloft (which is primarily an anti-depressant) I would guess that fortunately nothing extremely risky was found yesterday. Anti-depressants such as Zoloft in heart patients have been found to act also as minor blood thinners, helpful but less extreme than thinners like Plavix which would certainly be prescribed in cases of more extreme blockage.

Stay on top of the follow-up exams and recommended care, op.


Those incidents were probably cardiac arrests (i.e. Michael Goolaerts in this last Paris-Roubaix) rather than heart attacks.

Heart attacks are the result of arterial blockage (blood flowing); cardiac arrests are the result of electrical failure (blood pumping).

Cardiac Arrest vs. Heart Attack

Passing the treadmill test means one passed the treadmill test that day, and not much more unfortunately.

I could have passed a treadmill test one early afternoon, I'm sure. 12 hours later I was in the ER. The first angiograms revealed nothing but blood tests (for troponin) did. 48 hours later I had undergone a quintuple bypass.

Please do not take these early signs lightly, or worse ignore them completely; they are not innocuous at all.
.

Thanks for the info. I'll bet I'm not the only guy who didn't know the difference.

[benb]

Hope you're OK and doing well.

Scary stuff.

And the weird thing is while cycling can improve your health/fitness it can definitely cause stress as well if it's causing you to underperform in other areas of life.

[Likes2ridefar]

Originally Posted by azrider

Scary! Glad to hear from your other posts that you're ok.

Have you ever tried meditating? I work in a very high stress environment and a work 'buddy' was telling me about the benefits he's seen from transcendental meditation or meditation in general. I always viewed the practice as something hippies do, and dream catchers, and lots of "ohhhmmmm"-ing.

Definitely not the case. I've started practicing it (once twice week) and it's pretty crazy how many other benefits besides stress reduction that comes as a result.

Give it a try. Seriously.

agreed. it is encouraged where i work and have recently been doing it. i find it very rewarding for the 10-15 minutes a day required. we have calls daily we can participate in for guidance or just do it solo...great stuff.

we call it "mindfulness" here.

[Chris]

Originally Posted by Blown Reek

Medical marijuana (or any marijuana) is such a better option than nasty, dirty pharmaceuticals. Corporation-marketed poisons? Oof. Everything in moderation, though. And that includes stress and coffee.

Spoken like a true kool aid drinker. You've just given the exact opposite of good advice in regards to marijuana and cardiovascular health. There is limited good clinical evidence for the use of marijuana as a self administered treatment option for much other than chronic pain, nausea/appetite difficulties, and glaucoma. There is lots of anecdotal evidence for other stuff, but the science just isn't there yet.

Where some good research does exist is in the realm of marijuana and heart disease. If you have any heart disease history and are trying to mitigate risk factors then you would be a moron to smoke marijuana or anything else for that matter. A.COMPLETE.MORON. People who have had had heart problems have chest pain sooner after smoking marijuana and people with heart disease are at a much greater risk for having an MI the hour after they have smoked marijuana. Jesus Christ it drives me crazy when people just throw out opinions as facts.

As for the OP, I hope you are doing better. The lack of blockage is great. Did the cardiologist mention a condition called Takotsubo? This sounds like what you could have experienced.

As for those who think they should get some testing done. Start with a heart scan. They are between $50 and $100 these days and are one the best predictors of future cardiac mortality.

[redir]

Dang BobO that sounds like a tough experience. One of my cycling teamates had a heart attack riding his bike to work, he was 35 years old at the time and in great shape. Thankfully he's alive for his 3 kids today.

Stress is a killer. What if you don't mind me asking, was causing it? If it's work then... get out! It aint worth it as I imagine you now well know given that's the case.

[nalax]

BobO - good to hear that you are on the road to recovery. How did they determine that there was no blockage?

I'm curious as I had severe blockage (over 75%) during a season of mtb racing and never knew until I saw my doctor for a routine physical. I had a stent put in my widowmaker (LAD) a few days after that visit. I was 60 at the time and they said my health was otherwise excellent. I had no warning signs other than on two occasions my heart was racing and took a long time coming back down during rest.

Cadence - you're right. A treadmill test may not detect heart problems.

Chris - thanks for the MJ response

[BobbyJones]

BobO- glad to hear you're ok.

The human body is an amazingly odd thing. Even the most fit athletes can have physical conditions that can result in an event- both Ryan Shay and Eddy Merckx come to mind. Physical screening is obviously important.

I was always under the impression that psychological and physical stress invoke the same physiological response in the body...some education a few years ago was a shocking eye opener as it's not that simple.
Theres a great book called "Why Zebras Don't Get Ulcers" that's a pretty good read if you're interested in learning more.

[Mark McM]

Originally Posted by Chris

Where some good research does exist is in the realm of marijuana and heart disease. If you have any heart disease history and are trying to mitigate risk factors then you would be a moron to smoke marijuana or anything else for that matter. A.COMPLETE.MORON. People who have had had heart problems have chest pain sooner after smoking marijuana and people with heart disease are at a much greater risk for having an MI the hour after they have smoked marijuana. Jesus Christ it drives me crazy when people just throw out opinions as facts.

I'm asking because I don't know, so here goes ...

Smoking anything is generally bad for you, but there are more ways to ingest MJ (or active ingredient THC) than just smoking. Is anything known about the effect on the heart for other ways MJ may be to ingested?

[Likes2ridefar]

Originally Posted by Chris

Spoken like a true kool aid drinker. You've just given the exact opposite of good advice in regards to marijuana and cardiovascular health. There is limited good clinical evidence for the use of marijuana as a self administered treatment option for much other than chronic pain, nausea/appetite difficulties, and glaucoma. There is lots of anecdotal evidence for other stuff, but the science just isn't there yet.

Where some good research does exist is in the realm of marijuana and heart disease. If you have any heart disease history and are trying to mitigate risk factors then you would be a moron to smoke marijuana or anything else for that matter. A.COMPLETE.MORON. People who have had had heart problems have chest pain sooner after smoking marijuana and people with heart disease are at a much greater risk for having an MI the hour after they have smoked marijuana. Jesus Christ it drives me crazy when people just throw out opinions as facts.

As for the OP, I hope you are doing better. The lack of blockage is great. Did the cardiologist mention a condition called Takotsubo? This sounds like what you could have experienced.

As for those who think they should get some testing done. Start with a heart scan. They are between $50 and $100 these days and are one the best predictors of future cardiac mortality.

Smoking isn’t the only route and there is very little science for obvious reasons.

[BobO]

My cardiologist did not mention Takotsubo, but is does sound interesting. I've been reading and I didn't see that it produces the enzymes, or did I miss that in my state?

[earlfoss]

so yeah go ahead with the huge bong rips and pot brownies