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NO ENERGY after receiving heart stent
One month ago, my friend received a stent in his left coronary artery. He is only 49 years of age and in tremendous health, we thought. He eats quite healthy and lives a very active lifestyle. He doesn't eat fast food at all, eats very lean meat and a LOT of veggies. Cooks with olive oil only. He does hard manual labor every day. Works as a mechanic as well as construction. And before receiving this procedure, even while having chest pains, he had a ton of energy. Now when he tries to work, his energy doesn't just get low, it is utterly depleted after just a couple of hours. He becomes extremely pale and must lay down. And it happens quite suddenly. Before the procedure, he could go all day without tiring. Can someone tell me what could be causing this?? He is taking Plavix and his aspirin daily as well as a cholesterol medication, although his cholesterol isn't hardly bad. Please help us understand why he has become so weak.
I have one stent too, year ago. Blood circulation is much better after it, however heart is smaller, just weaker. It simple can not do much job. It has lower performance limit, when it get to limit it is overloaded and feel blockage in chest. Doing exercise everyday 5km on bike, walk for 20min etc.
3 Comments
Are your doctors saying this is the best you can hope for after getting the stent? I think I'd be worried if you exert yourself beyond the limit! But I guess the chest pain will stop that?
Chest pain is when heart is overloaded. Only cure is to not get beyond limit. Control your heart!
Is it difficult to live under that constraint? I guess it is much better than the alternative! What symptoms did you have prior to the stent? Just curious.
No effectivr replacement for statins.. Aggressive lifestyle management and some dietary changes help, but if his cholesterol is really high statins are the treatment he needs.
His fatigue and shortness of breath could be due to damage to his heart muscle after the blockage. The amount of permanently damaged heart muscle depends on the time that elapsed before he was treated. It is assessed by echo.
Theres also some degree of "reprofusion injury" that occurs after stent placement. This is a common and unavoidable response. Unfortunately everyones body is a little different, and the presentation and extent of an rpi varies widely from patient to patient. Likewise the prognosis varies, some patients recover completely from rpi within days or weeks, others never fully heal. Treatment options are pretty limited and experimental, and theres really no protocol or accepted therapy to prevent or reverse rpi at this time. What we know though is that regardless of the type or severity of reprofusion injury, the damage caused by the rpi is less then the damage caused by not placing a stent.
It's kind of annoying that a procedure designed to help someone can still result in them feeling crappy. Just remember if he has a heart attack, placing the stent is critical to saving muscle and this reprofusion injury is not as severe as what can happen without one (i.e. death).
Anyways please don't misunderstand this post, in no way am i saying that rpi or damage to heart muscle is the cause. You need to be seen by a physician in person to make those kind of determinations. I'm just trying to offer up some other explanations aside from statin side effects.
His fatigue and shortness of breath could be due to damage to his heart muscle after the blockage. The amount of permanently damaged heart muscle depends on the time that elapsed before he was treated. It is assessed by echo.
Theres also some degree of "reprofusion injury" that occurs after stent placement. This is a common and unavoidable response. Unfortunately everyones body is a little different, and the presentation and extent of an rpi varies widely from patient to patient. Likewise the prognosis varies, some patients recover completely from rpi within days or weeks, others never fully heal. Treatment options are pretty limited and experimental, and theres really no protocol or accepted therapy to prevent or reverse rpi at this time. What we know though is that regardless of the type or severity of reprofusion injury, the damage caused by the rpi is less then the damage caused by not placing a stent.
It's kind of annoying that a procedure designed to help someone can still result in them feeling crappy. Just remember if he has a heart attack, placing the stent is critical to saving muscle and this reprofusion injury is not as severe as what can happen without one (i.e. death).
Anyways please don't misunderstand this post, in no way am i saying that rpi or damage to heart muscle is the cause. You need to be seen by a physician in person to make those kind of determinations. I'm just trying to offer up some other explanations aside from statin side effects.
My husband is 44 and had a heart attack in April of this year with 1 stent placement then, 2 week ago he had 2 heart stents and since then he has been extremely tired I mean tired and it's all the time. He is depressed. I don't know what to do for him. He has always worked hard and now if he picks up 15 lb and moves it 5 steps he is out of breath. He has never been lazy. The fatigue is hurting him more than the heart attack did back in April. I have been a stay at home mom and wife for the past 10 years and he has been the only provider for our family. Now we are having to ask for help and he is a man of pride and that along is killing him. I'm in school and that was our plan a long time ago is I would work when our son graduated. But plans change! He can't take beta blockers he is allergic to them. He is on statins and after reading about them I believe they are culprited that is causing his fatigue. We will call his heart Dr first thing Monday morning. But I do have a question what can he take to replace the statins. His cholesterol is very high.
Beta blockers are definitely nasty things for zapping your energy. It seems like everything you do has to be in slow motion, rather than the rapid reactions you could once use. I can tell you, when you are given permission to stop them, the sudden differences are amazing as well as scary. It feels as though your heart is on steroids and is about to explode. After about a week, it all seems to settle down again and you feel much more energy. I also used to hear my heart quite a lot and feel it beating while on BB, all that has gone. I kinda miss it though, it was reassuring to hear/feel it.
I'm a 68 yr. old female and I have 6 stents, I also have little energy and I get out of breath very easily. I was afraid that I was just getting lazy, but now I see that I am not the only one with this problem. I am on a lot of medications, too. I may not feel better physically, but I sure do feel better knowing that I am not getting lazy........
Harry,
Who has told you to take Resveratrol toguether with Simvastatin?
Resveratrol inhibits the metabolism of statins which then increase his level in blood and might become toxic.
If this has been prescribed by a dr. check with with asap, if not, stop the Resveratrol.
For the same reason, while on statins you should stay away of grapefruit and pomegranate.
Also check your BP, if the water pill that you take lows it too much, you can be tired the whole day. Is that the only medication for BP that you take?
If you take the Simvastatin I guess that your cholesterol is high, Have your thyroid been checked??
Jesus
Who has told you to take Resveratrol toguether with Simvastatin?
Resveratrol inhibits the metabolism of statins which then increase his level in blood and might become toxic.
If this has been prescribed by a dr. check with with asap, if not, stop the Resveratrol.
For the same reason, while on statins you should stay away of grapefruit and pomegranate.
Also check your BP, if the water pill that you take lows it too much, you can be tired the whole day. Is that the only medication for BP that you take?
If you take the Simvastatin I guess that your cholesterol is high, Have your thyroid been checked??
Jesus
I think your key here is the high stress job. You are not a young spring chicken anymore and things start catching up with you, especially stress. Hi stress jobs are usually very mentally orientated and not so much physical, but I used to find it more tiring. I felt exhausted after each long day at work, but spent most of it behind a desk. I moved away from the job and went into one that was far more demanding physically, and less mentally. Are you getting plenty of exercise? it can be a good way to unwind. It's also very good and important for the body..
Hello everyone...In the past 6mos, what used to be easy to do for me, is now a major effort! I am a 57 year old male, with heart disease on both sides of my family. Naturally, I'm expecting the same. My job is hi stress, and am on Simvastatin, and some type of waterpill for my blood pressure. I started to develop chest pains now, and "running out of gas" even walking!
Passed my stress, eko, ekg, and chest xrays w/o a problem...just had a pulmonary today, and did well with that too. Don't know what to do next, and neither do the docs! I'm frustrated, and getting depressed...can't live like this! But as I read further, thoughts of statins, or BP meds could maybe be causing my problems??? I do take 2000mg of D3, COQ10, and an aspirin, and resveratrol as well. Someone tell me where to go from here please! My neighbor tells me to listen to my body...he passed all his tests as well, and 2 months later they were cracking his chest open in the OR!
BTW, I also had to CT scans between 5 & 7 yrs ago that showed "0" plaque!
Passed my stress, eko, ekg, and chest xrays w/o a problem...just had a pulmonary today, and did well with that too. Don't know what to do next, and neither do the docs! I'm frustrated, and getting depressed...can't live like this! But as I read further, thoughts of statins, or BP meds could maybe be causing my problems??? I do take 2000mg of D3, COQ10, and an aspirin, and resveratrol as well. Someone tell me where to go from here please! My neighbor tells me to listen to my body...he passed all his tests as well, and 2 months later they were cracking his chest open in the OR!
BTW, I also had to CT scans between 5 & 7 yrs ago that showed "0" plaque!
Also,coenzyme Q10 has effects on components of the blood that are involved with forming blood clots. May be contraindicated with antiplatelet therapy and that includes plavix.
I hadn't realized what the statin was doing either until I had to stop taking it for an unrelated reason. Once I wasn't taking it I was more alert and awake. When I restarted it, fatigue and palpitations came back quickly. Maybe my body just can't tolerate statins. I'm guessing I'm not alone in that.
Just to be sure here, I am NOT suggesting anyone stop taking any prescribed medication. Flycaster is absolutely right about the beta blockers and with his recommendation for your friend to talk to his doctor about any concerns.
Just to be sure here, I am NOT suggesting anyone stop taking any prescribed medication. Flycaster is absolutely right about the beta blockers and with his recommendation for your friend to talk to his doctor about any concerns.
I never noticed a reduction in energy from statins, but often people are prescribed beta blockers after receiving a stent, and they definitely slow one down for a period of time until the body gets used to them. There is also the possibility that the stent is blocked already (restinosis). He should be talking to his doctor about the fatigue.
Forget the Plavix. I'm not sure where my brain was. Statins zapped my energy. They definitely drain the supply of CoenzymeQ10 that is needed for energy, especially by the heart. Everyone on statin therapy should be taking a CoQ10 supplement (ubiquinol). Doctors acknowledge this but don't seem to pass the info on to patients for some reason. It's sold OTC as a supplement.
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