Enlarged heart and ejection fraction

[barbender]

I have searched the forums for opinions on the matter but haven't found much. I recently was diagnosed with non specific hypertension. Non specific as they cannot find any rhyme or reason behind it. After a 5 day stretch in the hospital and every test under the sun no one knows anything. Along with, I also have a slightly enlarged heart and somewhat low e.f. I, over two years, have cycled responsibly and ended my cycles properly. My question to you all is, how detrimental would a light test only (500/wk) cycle be? I am only 26, they think that the heart problem has been with me my whole life. Currently I am 220lbs ~11% bf at 5'8". Haven't used gear in about 9 months. Any thoughts are greatly appreciated. And yes I disclosed my past to my doc.

[spiddy]

Are you serious? Hypertension, enlarged heart and you want to run test? Move on with your life before you have a heart attack!

[FitnessBrat]

Are you on medication for your HTN? The heart condition could easily have been there all along, unnoticed. Are they going to recheck it after 6 months or so? I'd strongly suggest waiting til it's rechecked - the heart is a muscle and you don't want it to get any larger.

[barbender]

Yeah, they are continuing to monitor me for the htn. I am responding well to the medication (plendil). As far as the heart, they are going to perform a stress test on me this week to hopefully find out more about the function. The Dr. seems to think that it is most likely genetic. I certainly don't plan on starting anything in the near future. Only when I have some answers about what is going on would I proceed. I'm now trying to research it alittle so that I can weigh my options and make a safe decision, so again, any thoughts are appreciated.

[Bouncer]

Yea barbender, I would definitely wait until you have all the answers before starting anything like AAS.

Question, how did you find out about it. Were you having some kind of pain etc that made you go to the doc?

[barbender]

Oddly enough, I went in to get an allergy shot and the nurse noticed my blood pressure was high. The next day the dr. put me on some meds that didn't work and a week later I was in the hospital. It has been a crazy few weeks. I am hoping that when I know what is going on I will be able to get back to things as normal. Thanks for the responses.

[FitnessBrat]

If you're at the point you're being hospitalized - you definitely need to wait a good while to get things figured out, under control, and see what happens next. It is definitely NOT worth the risk!

[Bouncer]

Oddly enough, I went in to get an allergy shot and the nurse noticed my blood pressure was high. The next day the dr. put me on some meds that didn't work and a week later I was in the hospital. It has been a crazy few weeks. I am hoping that when I know what is going on I will be able to get back to things as normal. Thanks for the responses.

In that case, it is absolutely essential that you don't not even think about steroids at this point. We are not just talking about an enlarged heart but we are also talking about high blood pressure that doesn't respond to meds. Keep us updated and please do not even think about steroids right now.

[redback]

this may sound dumb but being that the heart is a muscle, why is it dangerous when it is enlarged, obviously i know that it is, but what is the reason behind it. Shouldnt it be bigger and stronger...?

[Bouncer]

this may sound dumb but being that the heart is a muscle, why is it dangerous when it is enlarged, obviously i know that it is, but what is the reason behind it. Shouldnt it be bigger and stronger...?

a bigger heart = slower and less efficient.


As the name suggests, enlarged heart is an increase in the size of the heart. It's detected by physical examination, X-ray or other imaging tests.

An enlarged heart may be caused by a thickening of the heart muscle because of increased workload. (This increased workload can be due to heart valve disease or high blood pressure, for example.) This is called hypertrophy, which refers to enlargement of an organ or tissue due to an increase in cell size.

Left ventricular hypertrophy is the medical term for enlargement of the left ventricle. (The left ventricle is the heart's main pumping chamber.) Hypertrophy also occurs in hypertrophic cardiomyopathy. Enlarged heart may also be a dilation (expansion) of the heart due to damage that weakens the heart muscle. Examples include heart attack, congestive heart failure and dilated cardiomyopathy. (Cardiomyopathy is a serious disease in which the heart muscle becomes inflamed and doesn't work as well as it should.

Enlarged Heart

[barbender]

I will post my test results as they come in. Good post above bouncer. Another reason behind the danger of heart enlargment is that there is only a limited amount of electrical activity to stimulate the heart to contract. This can cause a multitude of problems.
It is hard to think that at 26 I am having problems like this. My bp is undercontrol now with the new med they put me on so that is encouraging. The Dr said that hopefully with time the heart will shrink and become stronger with the bp being under control. Guess we will see. Guess while I endure all the testing I will just have to go at it the natural way....thats a bitch

[Bouncer]

I will post my test results as they come in. Good post above bouncer. Another reason behind the danger of heart enlargment is that there is only a limited amount of electrical activity to stimulate the heart to contract. This can cause a multitude of problems.
It is hard to think that at 26 I am having problems like this. My bp is undercontrol now with the new med they put me on so that is encouraging. The Dr said that hopefully with time the heart will shrink and become stronger with the bp being under control. Guess we will see. Guess while I endure all the testing I will just have to go at it the natural way....thats a bitch

let me ask ya bro, when was the last time you had been to the doc and had blood work and your blood pressure taken etc..? i just wonder how long you have had this issue.

[barbender]

I had regular blood tests while i was on. Being that I work in a hospital I took my BP weekly. The only irregularity that ever popped up in my blood work was a slightly elevated creatinine, it was only a 1.4 which isn't terrible. They chalked that up to genetics after a renal doppler and profusion scan coupled with a couple 24hr urine tests. So I tried to keep up with everything while on cycle, something I learned from the vets in this forum. So, again, thanks for that everyone. Thats why it is so strange that out of nowhere, seemingly, my bp and went nuts. Although, I guess it is a blessing seeing as how I found out about my heart.

[NYCmitch25]

I have searched the forums for opinions on the matter but haven't found much. I recently was diagnosed with non specific hypertension. Non specific as they cannot find any rhyme or reason behind it. After a 5 day stretch in the hospital and every test under the sun no one knows anything. Along with, I also have a slightly enlarged heart and somewhat low e.f. I, over two years, have cycled responsibly and ended my cycles properly. My question to you all is, how detrimental would a light test only (500/wk) cycle be? I am only 26, they think that the heart problem has been with me my whole life. Currently I am 220lbs ~11% bf at 5'8". Haven't used gear in about 9 months. Any thoughts are greatly appreciated. And yes I disclosed my past to my doc.

what made lead up to diagnosis? were you feeling ok.
I have a friend who doesnt lift or use anything with the same problem. they dont konw why...no family history...since he changed his diet and cardio the numbers are normal.

2nd opinion?

[barbender]

Yeah I am hoping that with the addition of cardio and changing my diet some the numbers will change alittle. The meds are helping the BP. I started back at my jiu jitsu academy so hopefully that'll help too. The cardio and all should help strengthen my heart too so maybe that'll make a difference.