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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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Thank you so much for your feed back.. and yes I am trying to pin point the chest pain. It drives me crazy, trying to figure out what is causing it. the Doctors don't want to do more testing because I am a very healthy 60 year old ... expect and aortic aneurysm, that could be life threatening. I am new to this all and still trying to come to grips with it.. it doesn't help when the doc's and nurses give you the standard "don't lift more than 50 lbs" Im 5'2" and 125lbs how is that the same as a 6'2" man of 250 lbs.. doesn't make sense to me.. As does the as much cardio as you are use to guideline.. I am used to Marathons - is that much blood going thru the aorta good for the aneurysm ? no one seems to know.. Any helo is great.
Hello kmailloux. First I congratulate you on an amazing healthy life style! Your mention of mild chest pain caught my attention. I have a 4.3 cm ascending aortic aneurysm diagnosed a few years ago. I reduced my exercise after reading through people's experiences on this blog, but I am still very regular. I never exercised to your degree. My chest pain brought me in to get studies, where the aneurysm was discovered. My aneurysm is not what is getting treated, but the chest pain is. My angina results from cardiac micro spasm (diagnosed through an ACTH challenge test during a cardiac cath) along with endothelial dysfunction. I have very opened large arteries. Stress , both physical and perceived emotional/cognitive, are the main triggers. Sometimes its spontaneous. I would recommend to you to look deeper. Your chest pain may not be aneurysm related. Mine is not but it can still be fatal.. I am treated with two forms of nitro.... one for exercise (nitrobid ointment ... which is an old resurrected medication and extremely effective to allow me to do my cardio) and the other are sublingual tabs for rescue pain. I did have to redo my life style, but I can still actively participate in numerous cool activities and sports, just scaled back. I also chose to have the gold standard cardiac cath back when I did not know what was going on. It was recommended, and I was scared. Information can reduce stress and guide our decision making. It should be empowering. I think you need more information. Clarify that chest pain. Good luck! And keep on trekking !!!
UPArtist
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