4.79 cm - Female Age 59

One of the frustrating things regarding exercise and thoracic aneurysms is that there seems to be very little in the way of solid guidance. I suppose it's because everyone's physical fitness is different, our aneurysms are of different sizes, locations, and shapes, and hard and fast rules are tough to establish. The one that I hear everywhere is don't let your blood pressure spike, so no heavy weight lifting, nothing that makes you grunt and hold your breath. Regarding running, I've heard the same thing as you, keep your heart rate in the 120s and 130s. I have a couple of 4 mile loops in my neighborhood, so I've been walking the first mile, jogging the next two (ten minute mile pace) and then walking the last one. As a reference, I used to run 5-6 miles at an 8:20 pace with a heart rate in the 150s. I blame metoprolol for slowing me down so much but then I'm getting older, too. My aneurysm has been stable at 4.8cm for a couple of years, so my exercising does not appear to have had an impact there. Maybe I could push my exercise routine a bit more, but I have decided to err on the side of caution.

The INR you asked about stands for International Normalized Ratio, a way of measuring blood clotting. One "gift" I got from a mitral valve replacement four years ago is a combination of arrythmia and afib, so I am on a blood thinner (Coumadin) to avoid clots and, hopefully, a stroke. I think a normal INR is around 1.0, give or take a tenth, but they want mine to be between 2.0 and 3.0. I require a monthly check to ensure it's within range. It sounds like thankfully that's not a concern for you.

I joined three Facebook groups you might want to check out: Aortic Athletes, Cardiac Athletes, and Aortic Hope. There are some inspirational stories on them as well as tips that I have found helpful.

Hi, I'm reading your post and have a question for you. I am newly diagnosed and have been an athlete all my life. I am sad about not being able to work out like I used to. Can I run? Many people on this thread say to keep pulse under 120/130 bpm. Has your running and/or lifting caused any significant growth in your AA? For the record, I was just diagnosed with an ascending TAA of 4.3cm. Al
so, what is INR? TIA

I agree with @mikeneverwired, I had an ascending TAA which was discoved after I broke my leg riding my MTB, I was 54yo (4 years ago). Mine was 5.2 cm , I had surgery 2 months later as I had to wait for the leg to heal a bit from the surgery. Surgery is not pleasant but went completely unventful, out of hospital in 5 days, back to work in 3 weeks (the accident saved my life).
I was (still am) very active, spinning, biking, weights, hot yoga, never smoked, ate healthy and that contributed a lot to the successs of the surgery (surgeon gave me >99% probability of no complications). The main caution my Cardiologist gave me before the surgery was related to weights, but mainly for the reason that has been stated before, when lifting heavy weights we tend to hold our breath and grunt and that causes spikes in BP ( he also mentioned crunches too, we tend to hold our breath when doing abs). Sometime ago I shared a podcast in this forum from Andrew Huberman and Andy Galpin that explains very well the effect on BP from holding your breath, it is online among the Huberman Labs podcasts.
Just think you are one of the lucky ones that finds out they have it and can do something about it. Stay active and keep taking care of your body. Beyond that my main advice is to find a good Cardiologist, one that is an expert in aneurysms, not all of them are. Once you find one, stay on top, ask a lot of questions, mine is incredibly receptive and super helpful. Remember that the 5.0cm reference size is just that a reference, there are other factors, body size, etc that will determine when and if surgery is needed.
Good luck to you and if there any questions I can answer let me know.

I just saw your post. I completely understand. I was diagnosed with an ascending aortic aneurysm May 2023. The diameter was 3.9 to 4.0 depending the test and the reader. It measured 4.1 last fall. Nobody was alarmed.

I lifted and trained pretty intensely prior to my diagnosis. Initially, I was told not to lift anything heavier than 50 pounds. Then I as told not to lift anything heavier than 20 pounds. Aerobic activity had no limits, but no contact sports or anything that involved a quick, forceful torsion motion of the chest - tennis, golf, racquet ball, etc.

After being told the 20 pound limit… and even the 50 pound limit, I wanted more clarification. I went to Cleveland Clinic and spoke with a cardiologist there about activity. We reviewed my normal activity. I told him 50 pounds on some lower body movements is nothing. Yet if I tried to do some upper body lifts with it, it would be very difficult or impossible.

For reference, I was squatting 200 pounds, deadlifting 270 pounds and benching 110 pounds prior to my diagnosis. Basically, doing a stress test on the aneurysm 3 times a week. I am 5’7 and 122 pounds. I do not have issues with hypertension. Resting BP is 100-110/50-60. HR 55-60.

We came to an agreement that using an exertion scale and leaving 2-3 reps in the tank, no breath holding, grunting or bearing down would be permissible. I have been following this now for one year. I see him again this week. My scans will be repeated as well.

I think one thing everyone needs to keep in mind is we are all unique as someone else pointed out. If I had been inactive, struggled to carry groceries and never went to the gym, more stringent lifting limits would apply. I feel comfortable now and can continue to work hard in the gym with limits, continue to see my friends there and maintain my sanity. Exercise is a big stress reliever for me.

Another thing I did unrelated to exercise is I purchased a medic alert bracelet that identifies me as having an ascending aortic aneurysm and a contact number. There are some cute ones out there now. I purchased my through Lauren’s Hope.

Keep your chin up. It takes awhile to wrap your head around this and then you learn to adapt.

I agree with @mikeneverwired, I had an ascending TAA which was discoved after I broke my leg riding my MTB, I was 54yo (4 years ago). Mine was 5.2 cm , I had surgery 2 months later as I had to wait for the leg to heal a bit from the surgery. Surgery is not pleasant but went completely unventful, out of hospital in 5 days, back to work in 3 weeks (the accident saved my life).
I was (still am) very active, spinning, biking, weights, hot yoga, never smoked, ate healthy and that contributed a lot to the successs of the surgery (surgeon gave me >99% probability of no complications). The main caution my Cardiologist gave me before the surgery was related to weights, but mainly for the reason that has been stated before, when lifting heavy weights we tend to hold our breath and grunt and that causes spikes in BP ( he also mentioned crunches too, we tend to hold our breath when doing abs). Sometime ago I shared a podcast in this forum from Andrew Huberman and Andy Galpin that explains very well the effect on BP from holding your breath, it is online among the Huberman Labs podcasts.
Just think you are one of the lucky ones that finds out they have it and can do something about it. Stay active and keep taking care of your body. Beyond that my main advice is to find a good Cardiologist, one that is an expert in aneurysms, not all of them are. Once you find one, stay on top, ask a lot of questions, mine is incredibly receptive and super helpful. Remember that the 5.0cm reference size is just that a reference, there are other factors, body size, etc that will determine when and if surgery is needed.
Good luck to you and if there any questions I can answer let me know.

Thank you for the post...question, now that you are on the other side of surgery, do you have the same restrictions? How robust is the repair in terms of how much workout stress you can put on your body? No one that I have chatted with has addressed this. Does the repair make you "good as new", or close to it? Thanks of any help you can provide.

I have no restrictions, I’m pretty much at my old workout rhythm except I cannot run mainly because of my leg fracture, and chest exercises do bother a little because of the sternum (never heals to 100% according to my cardiologist). I do have to watch grunting and holding breath while exercising since i still need to watch my BP, my cardiologist says there’s always a change I may develop another one (mainly because I also have a bicuspid aortic valve). I get checked every year.

Thank you! Do most people travel to find a good specialist? I live in St. Pete, FL, and have been referred to a local cardiologist but there is an aortic center in Miami, a roughly five-hour drive, that I could travel to, if need be. The cardiologist I was referred to here specializes in heart failure, that's all I know. I haven't had my appointment with her yet.