After my MI, and 2 stents in April 2002 I went to a chiropractic, and received whole food supplements. The one supplement I love is CARDIO-PLUS by Standard Process Inc. It does have CoQ10 in it which is a must for heart patients. Cardio-Plus is most often purchased thru chirporatic clinics; however, there is a few Health Food stores that carry. I am female, and I lost my brother, and 2 cousins within 10 months 3 years ago. I have a 41 year-old daughter that had 3 stents in just one year ago. I also lost my husband at age 41 to MI.
**
OKC
Listen to Maggie, she is one of a smart nurse!!!! Sodium is very VERY important, it is a shame some health professional wont say that ,or just think people will learn that anyway...or I don’t know what do they think....I was told ,kind of about the sodium, but wasn't highlighted enough.
Thanks for all those I learned that from, and one was Maggie :) 4 years ago. I am still only on 20 mg of Lasix(furosemide)...my EF was 20%...now is normal. I keep my sodium around 1600 mg /day. I never go up over 2000mg.
Read labels and Maggie said; never eat any junk that loaded with sodium and MSG.
You must count EVERY BITE you eat! It seems hard first, but then you get use to it and don’t have to write all down after a few weeks or months, will know it from your head .Lots of hiding sodium naturally in all food. We do need sodium, but not more then 1000 mg....1600-2000 is easy to do, not first, but soon you start to count.
Also push the walking, even if it is hard, do a little more every day!
Good luck to you.
http://diet.virginia.com/caloriecounter/caloriecounter.htm
I was on Altace but was taken off because of my low blood pressure. I can not take Coreg because I have severe breathing issues on it. My BNP was up to 737 but was down to 345 after my diaretics were increased(in 3 weeks). I have never been told to watch my sodium intake. I have not gone through cardiac rehab.
I don't see an ACE inhibitor among your drugs. The official guidelines call for an ACE and a beta blocker. Coreg may be more helpful than Toprol for heart failure and I think your dose is low. My BP averages that also, as they want your BP as low as you can tolerate without passing out. Have you had a BNP blood test done to see if you are in active failure? Have you gone through a cardiac rehab program? Do you STRICTLY watch your sodium intake and count it always and keep under 1500-2000 mg/day? This is critical. Low sodium is waaay more than not just adding salt at the table. It means reading all labels of everything you put in your mouth. Many doctors fail to educate their patients on low sodium diets. You might need to limit your fluid intake as well. You might really need a heart failure specialist at this point. You did a great thing when you quit smoking; congratulations!