Hi,
It’s great to know that you have quit smoking and are doing aerobic exercises regularly. If you drink alcohol, I’ll suggest to cut down upon that also and if possible to quit the same as alcohol also suppresses the ejection fraction. The best way is to ensure your blood pressure & lipids are under control. You are taking the medications like ace inhibitors & digoxin both of which are known to improve the functioning of the heart in CHF. Please also ensure you are not taking excessive salt & water as that also tends to put load on the weakened heart. I sincerely hope that helps. Take care.
Thank you for your suggestions. I do not drink alcohol. Can and will the ejection fraction improve over time with medicine and exercise? Can I still have any open or by-pass surgery with low (20%) ejection fraction? would such procedure improve my ejection fraction? Would a procedure such as E-valve (clipping of the mitral valve through catheter) be of any benefit in my situation (moderate to severe mitral regurgitation and low EF)? Would fixing the mitral valve improve ejection fraction? Thank you and sorry for the many questions.
I am a 39 year old female with 4 children and a very busy lifestyle. I was having shortness of breath more often than usual and also feeling
fatigue just going up my steps. I saw my family Dr. and complained also with my hands and feet feeling cold all the time, and palpitations at least 20-30 time a day, and they blamed it on my hormones. After 2 years of these symptoms I took it upon myself to make an app. with a cardiologist. Had an ultrasound or Echo and she thought I needed to come back in for a Nuclear test which showed my EF at 47% with the diagnois of a weak heart. Does this mean I have suffered from a heart attack before? Will my EF % go up at all with the medications? My cardiologist put me on Coreg and Lopresor. I am very scared. Can excercise improve my EF? Could the meds slow my heart too much?