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What does it mean to have CHF diagnosis, symptoms, normal echo?
Heart & Blood Health | Last Active: 5 hours ago | Replies (28)Comment receiving replies
@jc76 — Thank you! I am amazed you are so athletic now! WOW! That’s Impressive! Were you always so athletic? And how are you able to exercise so much? How much of your exceptional abilities do you attribute to your medications and how much to your pacemaker? I am trying to treat my presumed CHF (but 60% EF). I was diagnosed 2 years ago. I am doing well, but my exercise is still limited. I am thinking about trying to jog and workout again. My echocardiogram was normal in every way. However, my ECG once again found I have an incomplete Heart Block. I am thinking about what to do next. I am told now I do not have Heart Failure (and never had Heart Failure). Instead, I have an incomplete Heart Block. And there is nothing I/We need to do about it (since it is just due to getting older). I guess the next thing for me to do is to go back to the gym again and start exercising more and harder but with someone around who can help me if I get dizzy, out of breath, etc.
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@mikeydc2008
Yes an exerciser all my life. Played a lot of sports in high school, played sports when in military, and continued through out my adult life and not into my twilight years. I am 79 and get "wow" a lot when doing Sprint Triathlons.
I was on a military SWAT team and each year we traveled around the U.S. competing with other USAF military bases SWAT teams. We did a lot of firearms and scenarios but the physical part was tough. We would start (in full swat uniform) doing 25 obstacle course, then run 3 miles in our boots and uniform. I did that all through my 30's and early 40s as a federal contract employee at CCAFS.
The name of the competition was Peace Keeper Challenge. Out team repeatedly got gold metals in physical fitness and many of the shooting competitions. I kept doing them into my 40s. I only stopped when got hired by FEMA as a Special Agent Security Manager.
My heart failure doctor specifically noted my life long exercising as how my body adapted to having heart failure. I would give my left toe (small one) to have your EF of 60%. The norm is 50-70.
I have a LBBB since 2000. It was one reason for getting a pacemaker. When your heart (and this comes from my electrophysiologist) when EF gets to 30% they do a ICD. So they did a dual device for me as electrical and low EF issues.
Medications kept my heart failure from getting worse. My continuing to exercise kept my heart in shape as well as body. My ICD has at times shocked me. Once the pacing screw up and paced me, once I got dehydrated and the other times extreme stress.
I would with if you and with your doctors permission start of with what is easy and then slowly increase the intensity. I know mentioning water aerobics is a picture of elderly ladies with weights out of water. The problem with those videos is the weights are kept in the water to provide resistance. In my water aerobics classes we probably have 5-6 men out of 40 but some of the women out do us dramatically.
Some of our men will not do certain classes as are called high fitness water aerobics and they find it too hard to do all the exercises. I do water aerobics 5 days a week. On Mondays, Tuesdays, and Wednesdays I do back to back classed. It is why I swim on Thursday and Fridays as only do one class.
I think my exercising is great for me physically but I enjoy it mentally just as much. If I miss my daily exercising it is like missing a meal. For me is both a physical exercise enjoyment and a mental health therapy calming activity.