heart failure

[Bassmansam]

I wish you well OP.
But more generally if your not someone that didnt hit mid 20s and realised that your health is support important and start cutting back on some of the vices in this world and replaced it with exercise, then well your screwed.

.

You say that like people are generally alcoholics slowly destroying their bodys. Why?

 

[DampDog]

Deleted.

 

[panthro]

Best of luck with your recovery OP. I struggle to drink 2L of water a day! I've recently had some health issues which has made me address my lifestyle. I don't drink or smoke but would indulge a lot on sugary foods, which in turn started giving me terrible headaches. Now I've cut out sugary foods like cake, ice cream etc I feel much better and am starting to exercise a bit more.
Slow and steady steps are the key to change I think. Completely overhauling yourself overnight is drastic unless the situation calls for it (like OP's).

 

[Luckystrike123]

Quit the smoking, and the drinking. Any age is too young for a heart failure.

Drinking really isn't that good, when you quit you realise how much more time it gives you to enjoy actual proper stuff. More time for cycling, that dopamine rush from biking is much better and with the money saved means you can afford a better bike! Best two things I've done, is quit smoking and drinking (well mostly, I do still drink a handful of times a year).

I'm not a cyclist but I've been really getting into kettlebells recently. A ***** day is blown away with a few swings.

Obviously kettlebells is not a good idea for someone with a poorly heart, but working on an exercise derived dopamine hit is a great way to avoid drinking.

 

[Yrkoon]

thanks for the heart felt response dampdog

other than cycling i was lifting dumb bells before as well, i would come in from cycling and do some lifting before my shower and while my legs were recovering i would use the weights.

i have screwed up tonight and drank a bit but much less than usual, i accidentally came across 2 cider bottles which were left over from my birthday and from seeing them there i struggled all evening and now i feel guilty as i drank them and now im crying for doing so

 

[DampDog]

thanks for the heart felt response dampdog

other than cycling i was lifting dumb bells before as well, i would come in from cycling and do some lifting before my shower and while my legs were recovering i would use the weights.

i have screwed up tonight and drank a bit but much less than usual, i accidentally came across 2 cider bottles which were left over from my birthday and from seeing them there i struggled all evening and now i feel guilty as i drank them and now im crying for doing so

You're welcome bud.

To be blunt you really need to get your drinking sorted out before it kills you. If you've you've got the mindset that I've found a couple of bottles, I have to drink them, you're in trouble. I'm sure you'll dismiss it as being a one off because you're down, depressed, hacked off, whatever but you need some professional support and guidance to sort yourself out. If you've not already crossed the level of becoming alcoholic, you are certainly dependent on having your usual "drink!" If you continue to damage your heart muscle through drinking your life will reach a whole new level of miserable.

As your heart fails you will start to become breathless and your exercise tolerance will diminish, it might be barley noticeable to begin with but it will become worse. As it worsens you no longer shift the excess fluids round your body, your lungs become congested and become susceptible to more frequent and severe chest infections. (congestive heart failure) If it becomes bad you won't be able to lie flat at night because your lungs will fill with fluid. It's not constrained to you lungs, your whole body will retain fluid (edema) you legs will start to swell, if it's bad so will your abdomen.

You're at the point where you have another chance now, grab it while you still can. While you may not be able to stop the symptoms, you may well be able to diminish them to a huge extent so they don't even bother you and push them far off into the future.

I remember being hacked off and depressed at having to take medication every day it's a big thing to get your head round. Over the years I've been there done that and changed my view to being thankful these medications keep me well. Did you say you now take 7 meds a day. LOL, I take more than that at breakfast.

I suggest you ask if you can be referred to cardiac rehab. They will talk you through most aspects of getting you head round living with a heart condition. Meds, diet, depression, exercise you name it. Following my heart attack I was warned off heavy weights and playing squash for life. They both place too much instantaneous load on the heart. What I would say is that was the advice given to me, I'm sure any advice you are given will be tailored to you. You need to start taking care of yourself bud, go steady to begin with exercise wise but make it part of your life. Try something new, I started hill walking, thought I'd hate it, loved it.

Goes without saying I wish you well.
DD

 

[phonemonkey]

ive screwed up tonight and drank a bit but much less than usual, i accidentally came across 2 cider bottles which were left over from my birthday and from seeing them there i struggled all evening and now i feel guilty as i drank them and now im crying for doing so

I can understand this feeling. It's one I felt many, many times. I lost count of the amount of times I tried and failed to stop or control my drinking. I couldn't do it myself and needed help. You might be the same if this pattern of stopping and then restarting drinking despite at least part of you not really wanting to is a regular occurrence for you. There is lots of help out there that can help you to stop, please don't be too proud to ask for help if you need it.

I finally stopped drinking 5 years ago after many years of trying and failing to do it by myself. I'm only sober today because of the help I receive. My life is better today then it was when I was drinking and your life can be too.

Good luck

 

[psd99]

Good luck in your recovery.
You are far too young to have heart troubles but that was a hella lot of booze.

personally since March I have had more bad food, exercised less and
I have been drinking lots more and last night was the first friday in weeks where I was sober. Such a nice feeling waking up fresh, energetic and painless.

what do u all do to avoid the temptation of drinking booze? Sometimes I feel like I am addicted and really started to enjoy drinking at home.

 

[Yrkoon]

thank you guys for the support and advice, yep it is congestive heart failure that i have, in hospital i actually lost over a stone in fluids in about 3 days.

i have zero intention of bringing any drink into the house which will remove a lot of temptation like when i came across some the other night, really dissapointed in myself.

been buying loads of cheap games to keep my mind of stuff and been doing stuff with rc model cars, once the pandemic allows we can take the cars out somewhere instead of just the garden and outside house also wanting out on the bike once im allowed to

lol aye 7 meds a day got my normal 3 tabs antidepressant and gout etc then the new ones also found out i have diabetes type 2 as well when i was in hospital.

 

[DampDog]

If u fancy loading up with cheap games I think the Steam Autumn sale lands tonight at 18:00. (22/11/20) I've got a few on my wish list I wouldn't mind catching. Don't think Santa has any spare cash this year so a new PC, won't be under the tree this year. My tree is only 3ft anyway.

Scratch Steam sale kicking off tonight, site I normally check on is talking tosh.

I feel for you buddy, it's extra tough with all the Covid restrictions, so you can't just unload on you mates.

 

[Luke]

Heart failure is a very scary sounding term when in reality means, the heart isn't pumping as well as the body needs. It isn't like a hard disk failure which is imminent, sudden and terminal. The heart is weak and stiff. You were dependent on alcohol - and alcohol is very much toxic to heart tissue. Modern medications work by reducing the strain on the heart, the amount it needs to work and reducing your blood pressure to make everything a bit better.I'm sure this was all explained to you in the hospital but sometimes big news means you forget most of it straight away.

Was this diagnosed with a blood test or echocardiogram?

At 37 you have a) completely trashed your body but b) have a chance to make radical changes so you have many years left in you. If you've had a clinical diagnosis of heart failure, then it will never usually be cured, but good management and you won't even know about it. I have diagnosed patients with heart failure, I manage many with heart failure, and I have looked after the palliative patients dying of heart failure.
Think of this as a massive, massive wake up call. If you continue drinking, I'd say you have much less than 10 years left in you. On the flipside, reduce your alcohol intake slowly rather than cold turkey.

ps. also really keen to hear about your liver function blood tests

That's saved me a lot of typing, I was essentially going to say that I meet many patients who have had a diagnosis of heart failure for a very long time and due to lifestyle changes and an effective meds regime lead a perfectly normal and often very active life. It sounds terrifying, and I've been to the aftermath of a few patients where their diagnosing consultant has dropped the term on them, but not really explained it (or they haven't taken in the info) and they thought their heart was going to imminently stop.