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[athlete with cardiomyopathy]
Author: Todd Crocker (141.238.15.---)
Date: 04-30-02 12:57
I'm a 26 year old competitive bodybuilder with cardiomyopathy. my EF is 25% and i would like to find out some info regarding this. My current Dr. isnt specific on what my course of action should be. he told me that i could continue, with some differences, with my way of life while on meds. I want to know for sure. is there anyone else out there with the same problem?
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[Re: athlete with cardiomyopathy]
Author: lisa (208.47.172.---)
Date: 04-30-02 13:04
Cardiomyopathy is a general term, from the sounds of your case it is likely dilated cardiomyopathy. do you know the cause of your condition? does it run in your family, did you have a virus, have you used any "body enhancing" drugs/steriods or have you had your thyroid checked out?
Detirmining the cause may assist in looking at the future course. I would stay away from the weights until you get a better picture of what is going on.
If you need help finnding a good doctor feel free to call the HCMA. While we do specialize in HCM we have many members with DCM.
All the Best,
Lisa Salberg
President
HCMA
973-983-7429
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
[Re: athlete with cardiomyopathy]
Author: lisa (208.47.172.---)
Date: 04-30-02 13:04
Cardiomyopathy is a general term, from the sounds of your case it is likely dilated cardiomyopathy. do you know the cause of your condition? does it run in your family, did you have a virus, have you used any "body enhancing" drugs/steriods or have you had your thyroid checked out?
Detirmining the cause may assist in looking at the future course. I would stay away from the weights until you get a better picture of what is going on.
If you need help finnding a good doctor feel free to call the HCMA. While we do specialize in HCM we have many members with DCM.
All the Best,
Lisa Salberg
President
HCMA
973-983-7429
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
[Re: athlete with cardiomyopathy]
Author: Todd (141.238.15.---)
Date: 04-30-02 13:34
The cause of my condition is my weight traing over the years and enhancing drugs. There is no history of it in my family. I was just diagnosed with it a month ago. I'm still in the the denial state. I went back to the docs and there had been no change. He said that it might take some time to get the meds worked out but that i could still work out. he just said to use less weight. I said Less wight to me is a lot different than less weight to him. His reply was to use my judgement. Well apparently my judgement is what got me here.
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[Re: athlete with cardiomyopathy]
Author: Wayne (---.centrelink.gov.au)
Date: 05-02-02 00:06
I was also a body builder until diagnosed with HOCM recently, my EF is 42% which is no where near as bad as yours & I felt like I had one foot in the grave, I can't imagine how you feel at 25%. The meds i'm on made me feel about 300% better almost over night. I don't know if you'll be put on beta blockers if you've got DCM but if you are I can assure you you won't feel doing like heavy weight training. I've found that although they make you feel much better, I couldn't (if I wanted to) do anywhere near the physical exercise I could before I was on them. I'm guessing it's something to do with the fact that they force your heart rate to slow down which would mean your heart can't provide your muscles with enough blood/oxygen???? Someone please correct me if i'm wrong.
Anyway I would strongly suggest you give up weight training altogether for a while & take up something less strenous like walking or light jogging.
I too found that the doctors have no idea how hard we push ourselves at the gym. as it turns out I didn't realise either until I went to see a sports doctor to do a fitness test (while they were trying to diagnose my problem). She told me she was going to give me a hard workout, by the end of it I had done the equivelant of what I would normally do as a warm up before I start my workout. I then realised how much stress my body & heart has been under for the last 5 years.
Unfortunately you will have to make the decision whether a perfect body is worth dying over : )
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
[Re: athlete with cardiomyopathy]
Author: beckley (---.dsl.mindspring.com)
Date: 05-02-02 09:49
Dear Todd
Wayne brings up a good point. I would let your doctor know what kind of a work out you usually do and see what he says.
Yes, Wayne, you are correct about the blood not getting enough oxygen when the heart isn't able to pump properly.
Good luck to both of you. and Todd, if your doctor is not an HCM specialist, please call the office at 973-983-7429 to get a referral.
Sarah
Author: Todd Crocker (141.238.15.---)
Date: 04-30-02 12:57
I'm a 26 year old competitive bodybuilder with cardiomyopathy. my EF is 25% and i would like to find out some info regarding this. My current Dr. isnt specific on what my course of action should be. he told me that i could continue, with some differences, with my way of life while on meds. I want to know for sure. is there anyone else out there with the same problem?
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
[Re: athlete with cardiomyopathy]
Author: lisa (208.47.172.---)
Date: 04-30-02 13:04
Cardiomyopathy is a general term, from the sounds of your case it is likely dilated cardiomyopathy. do you know the cause of your condition? does it run in your family, did you have a virus, have you used any "body enhancing" drugs/steriods or have you had your thyroid checked out?
Detirmining the cause may assist in looking at the future course. I would stay away from the weights until you get a better picture of what is going on.
If you need help finnding a good doctor feel free to call the HCMA. While we do specialize in HCM we have many members with DCM.
All the Best,
Lisa Salberg
President
HCMA
973-983-7429
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
[Re: athlete with cardiomyopathy]
Author: lisa (208.47.172.---)
Date: 04-30-02 13:04
Cardiomyopathy is a general term, from the sounds of your case it is likely dilated cardiomyopathy. do you know the cause of your condition? does it run in your family, did you have a virus, have you used any "body enhancing" drugs/steriods or have you had your thyroid checked out?
Detirmining the cause may assist in looking at the future course. I would stay away from the weights until you get a better picture of what is going on.
If you need help finnding a good doctor feel free to call the HCMA. While we do specialize in HCM we have many members with DCM.
All the Best,
Lisa Salberg
President
HCMA
973-983-7429
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
[Re: athlete with cardiomyopathy]
Author: Todd (141.238.15.---)
Date: 04-30-02 13:34
The cause of my condition is my weight traing over the years and enhancing drugs. There is no history of it in my family. I was just diagnosed with it a month ago. I'm still in the the denial state. I went back to the docs and there had been no change. He said that it might take some time to get the meds worked out but that i could still work out. he just said to use less weight. I said Less wight to me is a lot different than less weight to him. His reply was to use my judgement. Well apparently my judgement is what got me here.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
[Re: athlete with cardiomyopathy]
Author: Wayne (---.centrelink.gov.au)
Date: 05-02-02 00:06
I was also a body builder until diagnosed with HOCM recently, my EF is 42% which is no where near as bad as yours & I felt like I had one foot in the grave, I can't imagine how you feel at 25%. The meds i'm on made me feel about 300% better almost over night. I don't know if you'll be put on beta blockers if you've got DCM but if you are I can assure you you won't feel doing like heavy weight training. I've found that although they make you feel much better, I couldn't (if I wanted to) do anywhere near the physical exercise I could before I was on them. I'm guessing it's something to do with the fact that they force your heart rate to slow down which would mean your heart can't provide your muscles with enough blood/oxygen???? Someone please correct me if i'm wrong.
Anyway I would strongly suggest you give up weight training altogether for a while & take up something less strenous like walking or light jogging.
I too found that the doctors have no idea how hard we push ourselves at the gym. as it turns out I didn't realise either until I went to see a sports doctor to do a fitness test (while they were trying to diagnose my problem). She told me she was going to give me a hard workout, by the end of it I had done the equivelant of what I would normally do as a warm up before I start my workout. I then realised how much stress my body & heart has been under for the last 5 years.
Unfortunately you will have to make the decision whether a perfect body is worth dying over : )
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
[Re: athlete with cardiomyopathy]
Author: beckley (---.dsl.mindspring.com)
Date: 05-02-02 09:49
Dear Todd
Wayne brings up a good point. I would let your doctor know what kind of a work out you usually do and see what he says.
Yes, Wayne, you are correct about the blood not getting enough oxygen when the heart isn't able to pump properly.
Good luck to both of you. and Todd, if your doctor is not an HCM specialist, please call the office at 973-983-7429 to get a referral.
Sarah