So I had a heart attack.

[bonehouse81]

Glad to hear you're back on your feet, Jess! Thanks for the update, and do take care of yourself.

 

[Padreruf]

By fate of the calendar I had my annual visit with the cardiologist today. Everything was excellent. I am about 35-40 pounds overweight, but stay active. With light meds my bp is 117/82 and Heart rate of 72. My LDL is 68 and good is 40. All else is good...I am 61 and would not even think of living without this monitoring from both a cardiologist and a good internist. As my cardiologist said to me..."We assume you have placque in your veins!" (Too much barbeque over the years!)

Anyway, I am fortunate not to have sleep apnea...my biggest health risk is being in a high stress profession (ministry). I have had to learn to set limits and that I cannot solve everyone's problem or be everything to everybody.

BTW, a great stress reliever is my daily visits to Tidefans to read the daily posts. "Most" are quite informative and a good diversion.

So, here's the upside: get regular checkups, stress tests, cholonoscopy's, PSA, etc. They are really, really worth it. Yes, I am going to heaven and not worried about dying...but I don't want to tee off up there before I have to....got some more National Championships to watch!

 

[PaulD]

Jess, one of the things I appreciate you pointing out is that you didn't have the "classic" symptoms--crushing sensation in the chest, shortness of breath, and clammy sweat. Many people having a heart attack (like me) have none of those and the temptations is to blow it off. I knew something was wrong, but I didn't think it was my heart. Fortunately, I listened to my wife about going to the ER and it didn't hurt that it was a quiet Sunday afternoon in our small-town ER. I never even sat down in the waiting area.

 

[TIDE-HSV]

By fate of the calendar I had my annual visit with the cardiologist today. Everything was excellent. I am about 35-40 pounds overweight, but stay active. With light meds my bp is 117/82 and Heart rate of 72. My LDL is 68 and good is 40. All else is good...I am 61 and would not even think of living without this monitoring from both a cardiologist and a good internist. As my cardiologist said to me..."We assume you have placque in your veins!" (Too much barbeque over the years!)

Anyway, I am fortunate not to have sleep apnea...my biggest health risk is being in a high stress profession (ministry). I have had to learn to set limits and that I cannot solve everyone's problem or be everything to everybody.

BTW, a great stress reliever is my daily visits to Tidefans to read the daily posts. "Most" are quite informative and a good diversion.

So, here's the upside: get regular checkups, stress tests, cholonoscopy's, PSA, etc. They are really, really worth it. Yes, I am going to heaven and not worried about dying...but I don't want to tee off up there before I have to....got some more National Championships to watch!

Padre, I'm sure they've told you that the HDL count of 40 isn't really all that good, even with an LDL count which is admirably low. My HDL count is in the mid 60s, supposedly highly protective (in addition to having no other risk factors other than family history). IOW, what happened to me, particularly with a clean angiogram from six years ago and a good stress test from a little over a year ago wasn't supposed to happen. One thing I've been aware of for some time is that the particle size of your LDL is important. Small=bad. Big=good. One cardiologist in my own doc's group is running a drug study for a drug which seems to increase the size of the particles. I'm tempted to apply...

 

[Catfish]

I got my CPAP the weekend of A-Day. I would stop breathing over 85 times per night. The snoring isn't always the tell tale sign but if someone stops breathing, they need to go get a sleep study. Not everyone who snores quits breathing during the night. But snoring is a common sign of sleep apnea. Jess, it only took me the two days we were in Tuscaloosa to "get used" to the CPAP. You will feel a MILLION times better in the morning. I didn't realize I was barely sleeping during the night. Causing excessive tiredness in the mornings and the mid-afternoons. Glad to have you back and God bless.

Another note. A person doesn't "have to" be overweight to have sleep apnea.

I didn't have any idea I might have sleep apnea until I married Mrs. Catfish and she made me sleep in another room until I had a sleep study (no kidding). She also told me that I would stop breathing for 10 or 15 seconds and then gasp for air. The sleep study showed that I would stop breathing 8 to 10 times per hour. I got the CPAP a few days later and it's made a world of difference.

If you snore, and especially if you stop breathing during sleep, GET A SLEEP STUDY DONE! As Jess found out, it causes tremendous strain on your heart and can lead to a lot of other complications. And, it improves your overall energy and other "quality of life" factors. Know what I mean? Say no more, say no more. A nod's as good as a wink to a blind bat. DT_hug:

And, like Bamabuzzard, I didn't have the weight problem that is often associated with sleep apnea. So don't think that you couldn't possibly have it just because you're in good shape.

 

[Catfish]

Wow, Jess, glad you're doing OK.

I was just diagnosed with moderate obstructive sleep apnea, but I'm honestly having trouble with the idea of wearing a CPAP device every night.

For those of you who have one, are you able to sleep without it, if you need to? What if I want to go camping or something? I don't want to have to drag that everywhere I go... but does your body get used to sleeping with it, so much so that if you sleep without it, it is difficult?

In my experience, it depends on how long you go without it. If I don't use it for one night, I really don't see a huge difference the next day. If I go longer than that, it starts to really affect me. I've never gone more than three nights without it and God willing I'll never have to. After three nights, I feel like (as a freind of mine says) "death creepin' off a soda cracker".

 

[JBama_in_PCOLA]

I pray you continue to get better!!

 

[dadleyblane5]

Praying for you Jess!

 

[TIDE-HSV]

This thread has had an interesting divergence into the apnea area. My BIL (admittedly, he's a contra type of guy, since he refused surgery for prostate cancer 7-8 years ago and is still living at 80) decided for surgery to remove the excess tissue and he actually had it twice and has no symptoms at all now. He was far from overweight when he was dxed for apnea. He doesn't use a CPAP and never considered it. Did any of you guys with the CPAP consider palate surgery?

 

[MDBSnare]

Godspeed, Jess! You gotta do whatcha gotta do!!! Being alive is pretty cool - Just ask your loved ones!!

 

[Padreruf]

The Doc says for me to exercise more...my genetic makeup is low HDL. What is good is my ratio -- between the two. What is not good is that my grandfather died of a heart attack at 53 and my slim father had one at 76. So, off to the eliptical I go...

 

[crimsonbleeder]

Great to hear from you Jess. Glad youre still with us. Maybe your story will inspire a lot of us to live healthier and be more "attuned" in the future. The only way to stop a heart attack is to recognize it early...thank God you did!

 

[RogueElephant]

Thanks for posting Jess and glad to have you back.

 

[Catfish]

This thread has had an interesting divergence into the apnea area. My BIL (admittedly, he's a contra type of guy, since he refused surgery for prostate cancer 7-8 years ago and is still living at 80) decided for surgery to remove the excess tissue and he actually had it twice and has no symptoms at all now. He was far from overweight when he was dxed for apnea. He doesn't use a CPAP and never considered it. Did any of you guys with the CPAP consider palate surgery?

I checked into it a little on-line. Just to see what it entailed. But, I had no problems adjusting to the CPAP and have had good results with it, so I never seriously consisdered it or consulted with a physician about it.

 

[Bamabuzzard]

This thread has had an interesting divergence into the apnea area. My BIL (admittedly, he's a contra type of guy, since he refused surgery for prostate cancer 7-8 years ago and is still living at 80) decided for surgery to remove the excess tissue and he actually had it twice and has no symptoms at all now. He was far from overweight when he was dxed for apnea. He doesn't use a CPAP and never considered it. Did any of you guys with the CPAP consider palate surgery?

Yeah I considered it, but I talked to two people who's spouse had it and they both said if they had it to do over again they wouldn't. They would just get the CPAP. The recovery was miserable and very painful. My doctor said that much like tonsil surgery on adults compared to a child, this surgery was the same way. It is very tough on adults. So being the sissy I am I opted for the CPAP. :biggrin:

 

[Florida Tom]

Thanks for the posts Jess, glad you are better.
their are 3 stages to a mans life:
Youth
Middle Age
& Boy you are looking good.

 

[GulfCoastTider]

God Bless, Jess.

My Doctor told me to either start exercising or start making plans...

We're not getting any younger.

 

[RTR91]

Found out the son of a church member died of a massive heart attack today. He wasn't 45.

 

[cuda.1973]

I was just diagnosed with moderate obstructive sleep apnea, but I'm honestly having trouble with the idea of wearing a CPAP device every night.

For those of you who have one, are you able to sleep without it, if you need to? What if I want to go camping or something? I don't want to have to drag that everywhere I go... but does your body get used to sleeping with it, so much so that if you sleep without it, it is difficult?

Mrs. Cuda was diagnosed with sleep apnea, around the time I met her. They discovered it when they did a routine EKG, and found she had heart damage. She will not take a nap, without it on.

On nights when she can not use it, like a during a power outage, she can not sleep very well. Of course, that is about where she was, when she first got it.

Recently, she changed from the typical mask, to some nozzles she crams up her nose. The mask left marks on her face, and would come lose, all night long. She does not seem to have any problems, with the nozzles. Even if she could sleep, without it, the thought of having a heart attack keeps her on her toes. And her CPAP.

 

[STONECOLDSABAN]

Hey jess, glad to know your ok...get well soon..