my dad died of a heart attack

Hi Again and Welcome to HealingWell!

It would seem that you are very knowledgable and that you're on the right track here with your health.  I understand completely about the concern with your health, especially with loosing your Dad at such a young age.  I'm very sorry for that.

Playing basketball is a wonderful sport and I know you're getting a lot of exericise doing that, but I also know that you are probably taking a lot of breaks? and stopping to rest?  That's where walking or biking come in and can offer you more of a continuous cardiac workout.

I know this is very hard, but you need to really start focusing on you and your life right now, so you can move forward.  What my suggestion to you right now is to go to your Dr. and express to him/or her what your thoughts and concerns are.  Do you have insurance?  They do have a CT scan that can check for blockages, and this may be an option for you.  It's a non invasive procedure.  Ask about this and see what they say.

Keep me posted and let me know how you are doing~congratulations on that tremendous weight loss!  WooHoo!!

Teri 

Greetings, SFG. Sober is a good thing. Very good. Are you a friend of Bill W? Just curious.

As I understand it, high BP isn't the only symptom of a possible heart attack. There are many different things that can cause heart failure...and blood pressure is only one of the symptoms to consider.

Now this may seem like a strange way of lookin at things, and it's not intended to be a smart-ass comment. But healthy people die, too. It's just a fact.

So if you're doing what your doc tells ya and the test results seem to be within reason...well, if it were me, I'd just go on and do my best to enjoy life. Tell ya why I say this. I have several fatal, incurable, progressive diseases. Alcoholism is one of them. But I haven't had to drink for quite a while now...and it's allowed me to get to a point where I can enjoy my life sometimes. I say sometimes because I also have a fairly good case of Coronary Artery Disease that limits my activity...but I ain't givin up on life. And I ain't too worried about whether I'm gonna have another MI (I've had 3 plus quad bypass...and things are gettin worse as far as my coronary arteries are concerned.) And my father and his sister had Alzheimer's disease before they died (took my father down real quick) and I'm starting to see some of the same symptoms in myself. It's a little bit disconcerting.

However, I still have a lot of things that I wanna do in my life. I still haven't gotten over 200 mph on the salt flats...and if I can remember where they are, I hope to get there and do that in the next few years. :)

Bottom line (for me and only me) is that I'm gonna keep suitin up and showin up and doin what's in front of me no matter what. And if my BP is a little high this morning (it is)...well, I'll keep takin my meds and doin what I can. I've got to get a fuel pressure regulator for my 63 Nova to see if we can get that great big carburetor to stop sprayin raw gas every where. Bad for the paint job. :) Anyway, I'm just gonna keep on keepin on. I hope you can, too. Not to mention not havin a drink today. This really helps.

Best regards,

Funny that the nuclear scan worked for you. More better I should say very fortunate. I've had 2 instances where the scan and ekg have shown absolutely nothing, yet all the other symptoms (BP, angina, echocardiogram) have all been abnormal and the doctors have told me that I didn't have heart trouble. I know I keep harping on this, but I'm repeating it for SFG's benefit. Point being, that each case is different...or so it seems to me in a highly unscientific study of random anecdotes.

However, I think there's a moral here: it's not a good idea to put too much faith in only one indicator. That's for my own benefit, too. I can look at my own high BP, but if I don't look at some of the other things, (angina, reaction to vasodilators, SOB, etc) I'm only seeing part of the picture of my own condition.

Btw, SFG, it took an angiogram (cath procedure) to determine that I had (and still have) major blockage in my coronary arteries. It's better after the bypass, but it's not nearly as good as the doctors had hoped for...or I, for that matter.

So hang in there...we'll make it thru another day.

all of this sounds very scary, and honestly kind of a hopeless battle. seems like its just cheaper for people to die, so doctors don;t do the necessary tests to find problems, but instead do the less costly test. does anybody know what kind of coverage a ppo has on these type of tests. btw, im 24 years old and don;t know if any doctor would even prescribe a test like this for me. will my family history play a part in weither or not they give me the test. my dad, and his brother died of a heart attack and both had i believe arthcloritic heart disease, or hardening of the arteries. any feedback would be awsome.

Wel, SFG, here's the way I see it. I work on cars a lot...whenever I can, anyway. It's a hobby of mine. I've also spent a lot of years troubleshooting computer hardware and software. So I've done a little bit of problem analysis and correction. In a way, the body is similar to a car...or at least I see it that way. It takes in air and fuel and voids exhaust....and there are various systems that are somewhat analogous in the two systems.

But I'm not just tryin to draw an parallel between the two. I'm tryin to view an approach to problem identification and resolution. I can look at a given system and generally make an assessment about its operation...be it a computer, a car or my own body. Not always 100 percent accurate, and the body's about a bazillion times more complex than a car. However, if I'm concerned about a particular portion of either system's operation, I can make certain observations. Some are easy: check the oil, take the blood pressure. Some are more difficult: tear the motor down to see if the bearings are worn; do an angiogram to see if the arteries are diseased.

In either case, it makes more sense to do the simple tests first. Check the oil, look at the exhaust, listen to the motor runing, take it for a test drive....I'm sure you can see parallels in testing the body. Now if any of these tests show abnormalities (blue smoke in the exhaust, a knocking in the motor, leaks or drips somewhere...) then it's time to look into that area a little further. If the coolant is leaking from a hose, I'm sure not gonna tear down the motor. And if all the simple tests seem to be normal, then I sure wouldn't jump in and start tearing things apart. There's a saying, "if it ain't broke, don't fix it." Of course there are all sorts of corollaries to this, such as the racer's adage: "if it ain't broke, then break it and then make it better." But that ain't what we're tryin to do here.

Same holds true with the practice of medicine. Check the vital signs. Then ask about symptoms. Then maybe a blood test or EKG. If the tests show an abnormality, then it indicates where to examine more closely. However, if there are no symptoms and the vital signs look acceptable, there's no reason for further testing.

And it's not just the cost of the tests. I'll give you an example. The angiogram. In my opinion, this is the one way to see how the blood flows around the heart and detect coronary artery problems. But there are some problems with "just doing it." First, it's invasive. That is, the procedure involves invading the body with a foreign object (a catheter and a contrast medium, etc.) Invasive testing is usually not done until all the non-invasive tests have been exhausted...or if the symptoms are such that it seems to be an immediate necessity. Another thing about doing an angiogram is that every time it's done it builds up some scar tissue around the area where the catheter is inserted. The doctor had a hell of a time getting the catheter into my femoral artery the last time I had this procedure done. And that's only the 4th time I've had the procedure. So I wouldn't wanna have this done every year just to check things out. I'd run out of places that they could stick the cath. And maybe one time an artery would burst during the testing (it does happen) and "goodbye, Charlie."

So there are reasons that we can't always go in and have things checked at the most granular level...whether it's a car or a human body.

Now from what you've stated, all of your tests have shown normal results. In a case like this, most doctors won't do invasive testing based solely on family history. If I were to have invasive testing for all the maladies that my family members have experienced, I'd be chopped up into little bits and examined under a microscope. I'm not saying this to ridicule you, but rather to illustrate that my father and aunt suffered from Alzheimer's disease before their death. And the only way to positively diagnose Alzheimer's (that I know of) is to do an autopsy. I'm not quite ready for that.

Once again, I'm not a doctor, so I'm not qualified to give advise on issues such as this. But I can tell you what I'd do if I were in your position. I'd keep an eye open for symptoms, check my BP regularly, have annual checkups and ask to have the cholesterol level looked at, try to eat a relatively healthy diet, get some exercise and most important of all, enjoy life. If any of the tests or symptoms start to indicate an abnormality, then further testing can be done to find the cause.

That's my nickle's worth....for whatever that's worth. :)

thank you so much ray, that helped me out a ton. all my tests, as far as cholestrol and blood pressure have come back fine. i don't have any symptoms, such as pain in my arms, nausea,lightheadedness or basically anything you mentioned. i do have a problem sometimes with getting full breathes or have a tight throat sometimes, but that only happens when i start to think about them or start to think of me dying of a heart attack, so i know it is my brain messing with me, and nothing wrong inside. i am learning that our brains are very powerfull in the way that we feel. if our brain wants us to feel like crap, then we feel like crap. but if we want to feel good, then we can feel great. i have had the proble with anxiety for about a month now, am am learing to control it. i don;lt have panic attacks, i just get to thinking of bad stuff and it scares me. but i am on medication right now for depression and anxiety, and know that i will get better. thank you so much though ray for your words. i never thought of it like this. i always have a glass is half empty look at things and it is nice to see someone, even with a known heart problem who is so upbeat. you are a true inspiration and hopefully i can get to where your thinking is it. it will just take some time for me.

i know that i am sober for good. 10 years was plenty of time to zone out, do nothing but get high, eat crap and watch tv. now it's time to take my life seriously and be something i know i can be. i have my cravings every once in ahwile to get high, but i know all it will do is set me back and i will have to start over again at day 1. next friday may 6th will be a month of sobriety. it seems like its been 6 months or so, but it's 1 day at a time for me. i also feel the weed was not letting me accept my reailty. my dad died of a heart attack or had heart disease which caused the heart attack, so i need to watch what i eat, excercise and take care of myself. i know i could continue how i was, and maybe live to be 40, but i want to be alive well into my 80's at least. i have given up fast food completely, which was hard to do but i know it's for the best. the last thing i need to give up is going to restaurants. when we do go, like say to chili's i get something from the guiltless menu, which is always low in saturated fat and fat overall, but im sure is high in sodium. i think if i cut that down to maybe twice a month, and make it a treat, i will be much better off. it's hard, and sometimes seems unfair as theres people out there who chain smoke, do dope, eat whatever and still live to be 85, then theres people like my dad who yes was overweight, but he also excercised, didn't smoke, didn'lt drink and was the best dad i could ever imagine and he is dead. life sucks sometimes, but it is what you make of it. if my dad could have his life over, i think he would be doing what i am doing now. so im not only doing this for myself, but for him too.

SFG, I'm sorry about your Dad.

I'm truly happy for you and how much you've turned your life around here and I know it's been very difficult for you.  Please know that we're here for you!!

Hugs, Teri

Teri, your such a sweet heart. I can't even imagine what you are going through at least I had some years between losing both parents. It has all made me a stonger person. I still feel I have a good life in a lot of ways. I like to look at the glass as half full not half empty and have always been that way. I just take one day at a time and enjoy every little thing. That's all any of us can do. You are great example and inspiration to all of us here. Take care. Barb