long term effects of not exercising?

[RadioAstronomyObserver]

  I need to know the long term effects of not exercising after a bypass?  I did rehab and walked quite a bit afterwords.  it's starting to get cold outside, I'm out of a job, and (related?) after upping my Carvedilol dose to 6.25mg twice a day (was 3.125mg) I haven't felt like doing much of anything.  So far this has been almost a month.

[ed34]

why did you have to increase your medication? was you getting shortness of breath or other symptoms?

[Flycaster305]

Doubling Carvedilol can be like a sleeping pill until your body gets used to it.  Your symptoms are typical, you may also experience some weight gain.  I'm guessing you had a heart attack prior to the bypass.  Carvedilol (Coreg) is in my opinion a wonder drug, it can revitalize stunned heart cells surrounding the are area of dead muscle caused by the heart attack, and can improve heart function. It is typically doubled as needed gradually until improvement is seen in the heart function.  I started at 3.125mg  X 2 and ended at 25mg X 2, and it was a difficult period.  However, it raised what is called my Ejection Fraction from the 30% area to about 42% which means it is doing what it is supposed to be doing.

As best you can, I urge you to continue with walks.  In my area of the country there are a number of malls that allow exercisers to come before they open, and also sometimes community colleges allow walking in their gyms.  I used both during the rainy NW winters, and it was a nice social experience as well, I found other heart problem recoverers and still have contact with them ten years later.  

If you gain weight from the drug, remember, it's all about the drug and not about you if you are controlling your diet.  It slows down your metabolism, that's why weight is gained and why exercise is important.

Best wishes, find a way to exercise, then get rest.  Keep us informed.

[RadioAstronomyObserver]

Thanks to both of you!
  Yes, had a heart Attack four days before the bypass.  I was prescribed metoprolol until I seen my cardiologist for the first time.  Between the hospital and seeing the cardiologist I was overdosing on some med.s and underdosing others as to what was prescribed and not getting the sleep needed because of this and fears of another heart attack and finally, loud ringing in the ears.  I don't know if it was because of that list of problems or what, but he changed the metoprolol to Carvedilol.  Then came heart rehab and began to feel perfectly normal.

  The next time I seen him was just after stopping the heart rehab workouts (no insurance and was/still am looking at a very large bill from the bypass surgery) and was walking up to 2 miles a day and felt like I could walk for miles more.  I don't know if it was how I was now feeling or or what but he doubled the dose to 6.25mg. (gradually upped the dose over a week).  Since then it's been a drag to get off the couch however I have made it outside for a couple walks now that the weather has changed for the better.  But with winter coming.....  I do have a large Mall to walk and we'll see what happens "IF" I get a job.

  Again, Thanks, I had assumed the link between couch time and carvedlilol but didn't have anything but an assumption.

[RadioAstronomyObserver]

an update..  I did start walking again but only because the weather improved.  First time out it was a bit hard but the next time out it was easier, and easier.  I'm still a couch potato during the day and take my walk shortly after dinner.

  Had a blood draw this Friday (11-6-09) for cholesterol and a couple other unrelated things...

Item...........Before....After  (USA numbers)
Cholesterol....130...136
LDL..................80......83
HDL.................42......20
Trig..................71....114

  The PCP doesn't think much about these numbers as she "casually" suggested I should exorcise more.  I'm going to find someone better soon.  I have far more confidence in my Cardiologist and see him this weekend (11-13-09).

  I take Carvedilol, Lisinopril, and SimvaStatin.  Outside of exorcising more I'm going to assume he'll want to double the Simvastatin from 40mg/day(?)  and what else might he suggest and are there any suggestions from you guys?

[erijon]

I doubt he'll increase your statin, he'll most likely have you take something to increase your low HDL like Niacin or Omega 3. I hate to say it but exercise is one of the best ways to increase HDL. You need HDL to bind with LDL and remove it from your system. Your LDL is already pretty low, just need to get your HDL up.

Good luck,

Jon

[joanincarolina]

Niacin and a prescription omega 3 will work well. You'll do well also if you stay away from red meats as much as possible and get to a legume, fruit, vegetable and some not fried fish/chicken diet. Tree nuts, in moderation, on a daily basis is good also. Whole grains are excellent too. Try 'oldways.org' as an example food pyramid.

[joanincarolina]

I meant to add that I cannot exercise and make any impact on lipid profile, so the only thing I can control is dietary intake. My lipids have never been bad, but now they're great.
And yes I'm on a statin, omega 3, aspirin. Joan.