cardiomyopathy - stopping coreg and lisinopril - effects????

[jotennis]

My husband is 55 years old and was diagnosed with dilated cardiomyopathy 5 years ago (may have been alcoholic cardiomyopathy, he had stopped drinking for about a year after his diagnosis, but continued again until about 8 months ago -- he is in AA now and sober?) -- he has been on coreg and lisinopril for 5 years with very few side effects -- his cardiomyopathy has resoved and his heart is "healthy" back to normal size and function.  He decided to stop taking his coreg and lisinopril last week. He is weaning himself down.  I think he is crazy for doing this -- especially without telling the doctor . Is his heart really cured or are the meds keeping him healthy? and what will happen if he stops them altogether?

[kenkeith]

If your husband wants to keep heart size and function normal, he should not drink to excess.  One or two drinks of alcohol a day has been considered helpful, but some people cannot stop at one or two drinks so that may be a problem.

Some PVC's should not be any concern. An enlarged heart can cause a rhythm disorder.

[jotennis]

We are not sure of the cause of the cardiomyopathy.  He was in a rapid atril fib -- for how long we don't know , they cardioverted him and he has been in sinus rhythm since then -- the meds have brought his heart back to  normal size and function . He had multiple runs of VT, and now has some PVC's...

[kenkeith]

The medication you present dialte blood vessels and reduces the workload of the heart.  If the heart was dilated due to high blood pressure (constricted vessels), then stopping the medication may return the heart to its pathological state.