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am I exercising too much with a 4.3 ascending aortic aneurysm?
I am a 60 year old female, who has been very active her whole life. I was a very competitive gymnast, then moved to triathlons, then to cycling and running, strength training has always supported these activities. I am a certified personal trainer, and the aneurysm is a new diagnosis as of Dec of 2022. it was shocking - I now have a heart condition. I ran a marathon 2 weeks after I turned 60. My Cradic surgeon has stated that I can train for a 50k (31 miles) race, as well as a 150 mile bike ride. I have a 50 lb lifting weight limit. My BP is low and I am on no medications. My questions are .. is the activity too much? I run 5-6 days a week plus strength training and biking. I have mild chest pain - all of this has been told to my doc. they keep telling me everything is ok - I am just so nervous about all of this - but want to keep doing what I love. Any input will be appreciated.
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On the issue of BP - Is bringing it up during exercises for a very short time still a risk?
My normal BP (I’m on meds) is always under 120/80. I’ve tested it immediately following a set of about 15 pushups and it has gone up to about 175/85. It drops back down very quickly, but is even this very short duration of being high something I should be avoiding? Thanks
According to my cardiologist (same Dr of the videos i have posted) BP increases significantly for seconds while exerting, it immediately starts coming down when you finish, so when you measure 175/85 it’s already down from it’s peak. He gave me numbers I couldn’t believe, then I watched this video an validated what he said, the numbers Dr Galpin mentions in this video are incredible, watch around minute 1:49, the video was intended for people that do strength training and weight lifting, but illustrates the risk of exerting too much and holding your breath, how BP spikes. And yes even short peaks of really high BP are detrimental
Hope this helps
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3 ReactionsHi, I just found this site after receiving test results of 3.8 aneurysm in my med portal with zero interpretation from anyone. 56 yo woman. I mostly swim for exercise; a bit of walking sometimes. My question is about the breathing set in my 1.5 mile (2700 yds) swim: I do a 500yd pulling set, breathing every 5 strokes. From reading the posts here, it sounds like I maybe shouldn't do that? I also do 4 x 200 IM, so now I'm worried about swimming butterfly too. But I'm not going very fast. I'm averaging roughly 2 mins per 100 across the whole workout, with a lot of stretching between sets. Do I need to decrease my swimming and do more walking? In the summer I've been doing every weekday; during the schoolyear it's more like 3 days.
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1 ReactionAt 3.8 your aneurysm is very small, far from any concern in my mind. The main issue with any exercise is if it raises your BP, we know from many experts that holding your breath while exerting heavily raises your BP , in your case you are talking about breathing rhythm in an aerobic exercise, my reasoning tells me it should not rise significantly, if at all, but someone that has done studies with aerobic exercises would know the answer. I can tell you that after swimming or biking regularly my BP actually lowers (not immediately but when I take it in the evenings), but of course I don't know what happens during.
My aneurysm is already repaired (5.2 cm repaired in 2020, at 54 years old) , but I do get checked every year as I have a bicuspid aortic valve and they deteriorate with age. I exercise regularly and that includes high intensity 1 hr spinning classes, I get my HR to 160. During my check ups my cardiologist has told me whatever I'm doing is slowing down the valve deterioration, and he has done studies on exercise and aneurysms (the cardiologist in the video I have posted). He also told me though that although already repaired, controlling BP is important as in some cases dilations may occur at the point where the graft and the aorta were joined, or in my case anywhere else as I seem to have a genetic propensity.
On the other hand, being so active and maintaining your body in great shape will pay dividends if you ever need to have your aneurysm repaired, but at the size it is right now, that may never happen. I am sure your Drs are monitoring the growth rate, and that in my mind would be a point of reference.
Sorry I couldn't give you a straight answer, if I find more info I will post it
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3 ReactionsThank you for this reply. I find it helpful because I haven't been monitoring HR or BP on my own, so your comments give me something that I can notice for trends. That data could help me have better conversation with my doctors...whenever I hear from them...!
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1 ReactionI use a BP monitor that feeds the info to an app in my phone, I have it so it takes 3 measurements 30 sec apart and provides the average, I can then export all that info and send it to my Dr. when required . I take it twice a day before I take BP medications and try to keep the times consistent.
All the best!!
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2 ReactionsWhat I would like to know is how do you know what your normal aorta size was. Stated above a 4.3 might not be that bad if your original size was large allready.
I'm 6 feet 230, but my chest size is 50 plus inches. Maybe that has nothing to do with it, but I am (what I consider) larger than average. Hoping that actually is a factor. (But I am at 4.6 and am waiting to see a surgeon in November)