Aortic Aneurysms – Introduce yourself & meet others

Hi @beasnest7. I have a 4.7 cm aneurysm discovered a few years ago. I'm not a doctor, but I'd guess that your doctor isn't saying that it's nothing, but that it's not a cause for huge concern. The rate of problems at 4.1cm is pretty small I think (even for people with genetics that can predispose one to aneurysms as I understand it). Yet it should absolutely be monitored. Someone should discuss taking the aneurysm into account in your level of exertion/exercise. Someone should also have asked you about your family history. It's great that you have normal BP. Keeping blood pressure low can help keep it from growing. I'm not on propranolol and I am being monitored by someone I have confidence in. I am on BP medication, though, because I have high BP when unmedicated. I think those beta-blockers are hard on some people, but I have no personal experience.

Congratulations on that zero CAC score! I imagine the heart doctor will have more detailed information for you. Good luck!

Hello. I'm a 48-year-old man with an aortic aneurysm. I'm not yet to the point of surgical size, but this news/diagnosis is stressful and I'm not taking it very well. I'm very anxious and concerned about this. I am so grateful for this group. Thank you for creating it.

55M high school teacher (so there goes the "try to lessen your stress"...), 188cm & 105kg. I live in Western Australia. My BP has long been slightly elevated, 130s over 80s and I have quite a low resting HR, around 42bpm. It can drop down to low 30s when I sleep.

Last November my GP sent me for a CT scan where it was discovered that I have a dilated ascending aorta of 5.5cm: at the size surgery is considered necessary. I have had zero symptoms and would never have known I had this condition. Except for one peculiar thing: after a lifetime of being into heavy weightlifting - specifically powerlifting (where I did compete in my 30s) - about 3 years ago I suddenly lost all interest in doing any weights. Whenever I went to the gym it was a real mission to force myself to do weights whereas previously, I would need to force myself to stop & go home. Over the past 3 years I have mostly done cardio, wondering all the time why I no longer want to lift weights. Maybe this has nothing to do with my bulgy aorta, but I do wonder if my body was trying to tell me something.

Since the diagnosis I am still doing a fair bit of cardio, nearly every day. Yesterday for example I went for an hour's bike ride through a nearby forest. I'm not someone who sits on an exercycle paddling away slowly while doomscrolling. My HR is usually around ~140bpm when I exercise. Neither my GP nor the surgeon has told me not to exercise so I figure I'm all good.

Things have been very hectic since the diagnosis. I was living & teaching rural which, for WA, is remote. WA is approximately half the size of mainland USA with 2.5 million population (2m of whom live in Perth). The Department of Education has been very supportive and arranged a compassionate transfer to Perth so I am near facilities in case of an aneurysm and, of course, for surgery and post-care. My health insurance doesn't fully cover the operation so I'm on the wait-list for an operation. I met with the heart surgeon yesterday (who did not fill me with much confidence) and he said the operation will likely be within the next 2 months. I'm finding it very difficult to process everything I need to sort out before and after the surgery. The surgery itself doesn't worry me nearly as much as the convalescence and whether I'll get back to full fitness and strength. I live alone btw, except for a fat lump of a cat.

@smoog You'll find lots of support here as you process things. I am three years older than you, and was a competitive marathoner and rower but similarly had slightly elevated BP and a low resting heart rate. You'll want to find a doctor you trust, and discuss things with him/her, but the guidance from my doctor suggests that you may be exercising a bit harder than is recommended. The guideline my doctor gave me was 80% heart rate reserve, which equates to around 120 bpm average, and he told me to keep my max heartrate to 130 or below. Typically, they want you in the light to moderate range of effort. Given your low heart rate, I suspect they will not put you on beta blockers, which is good because those drugs can make people feel sluggish. There is an Aortic Athletes group on Facebook that you might check out. It has a number of good video presentations by leading doctors on the subject, and will give you some reassurance that you will come back fine. For example, one guy around your age ran the Boston Marathon about six months after his surgery (albeit very slowly).

@smoog look, I'm not gonna lie. The surgery is tough and the recovery can be brutal. I had a complete aortic dissection at age 50 back in 2015. It was sudden and without any warning at all. The great news for you is that you know so that it won't be a shock to your system. I would certainly remove anything beyond moderate walks at this point though. I don't really see the benefit to testing your limits before surgery. I understand that exercise is like an opioid for some people, but in our situation, it can be lethal if it's not carefully controlled. Your discussion about heavy weightlifting resonated because well I certainly never competed, I did bench press very very heavyweights in my 20s and 30s. You will find that dead, lifting and bench pressing are two of the exercises. A good cardiothoracic aortic expert surgeon will tell you not to do when you've got an aortic aneurysm or a repaired aortic dissection. My best advice, don't take advice from anyone who's not a thoracic surgeon with aortic expertise or who hasn't survived an aortic dissection. I would certainly endeavor to lower your blood pressure. Something I learned that I never knew is that sugar spike's blood pressure. If I eliminate as much refined sugar as I can for my diet, I can control my blood pressure. Coffee has absolutely no effect on my blood pressure so that's good. You're in a good place and you're gonna be OK. I want you to promise all of us that after your surgery you'll come back and tell us how you're doing so that we can continue the dialogue. It's a very small club to be in so don't be surprised if it's hard to find other aortic dissection survivors. I looked for 10 years before I found this group. Peace.

March 2025 while at work i had a severe pain left flank of my lower back, with this i had a swollen Knee joint, that appeared overnight i felt it was my Gout flaring up again but in the knee this time, my left Knee... the pain was unbearable, ER Doc said for sure a Kidney Stone, something id never had before... The CT found a small 4 mm stone ... also it found a 4.2 CM Cyst on the left Kidney, and a 3.4 CM ABDOMINAL ANEURYSM ... My Mother died of a Cerebral Hemmorage caused by the same thing in 1976, she was 52, I was 13 at the time... I was told that i may indeed inheriet this condition... Im 62 now... high blood pressure, high Tri-glicerides, Ect. Its been a Year now and i just had an MRI done at the Veterans Admin. and im happy to report that the AAA is now just at 3.6 CM im very high strung, hyper-active since Birth and still.... Anxiety off the Charts at times ... I quit working, and got the BP controlled... i stayed active riding my Mountain Bike, walking miles every week... Some heavy lifting when we had to move suddenly at Christmas which worried me.... Doc says its good that im young?

@ktracy515 So I just had another CTA scan after 5 months 25 days, my aneurism grew another .5 cm,. So now how often should I have it checked??