no Alcohol?

[Mom2four85]

I posted on the heart disease forum also but I know there's alot of great members here who may be able to help me understand this.

I'm getting together my information for my new doctor and set up a list of questions, I found something interesting in my cardiac cath which I've been researching and can't find any info on.  Does anyone know why they would tell me to avoid alcohol? I thought maybe because it dehydrates the body, but is a certain amount acceptable?

We're going to Epcot food & wine festival and I wanted to taste test some of the wine's of the world but won't be able to ask the dr why no alcohol until mid Nov.  any thoughts?

8/28/2009 Cardiac Catherization
Hemodynamic assessments demonstrates mild systemic hypertension and moderately elevated LVEDP.

The coronary circulation is co-dominant.  There was no angiographic evidence for CAD.

EF: 40%
Aortic Pressure (S/D/M) 120/70/90
Left Ventricle (s/edp) 120/34

There was also an ECG that accompanied it during the procedure -

8/28/2009     EKG
Vent Rate:         60
PR Interval         134
QRSD                96  
QT/QTc             430/430  
P/QRS/T Axes   56/70/42

notes: Electronic Atrial Pacemaker; Low Voltage QRS;  borderline ECG when compared with ECG of 8/27/2009 electronic atrial pacemaker has replaced sinus ryhthm.

Recommendations: Patient should avoid alcohol
Impressions: Non-Ischemic Cardiomyopathy with an ejection fraction of 40%; no kinks, plaque, blocks or clots.

The dr did not explain anything to me other than no CAD; I don't know why I have a moderately elevated LVEDP or why it shows mild systemic hypertension when my bp stays at 90/60 and I was dx with NCS/OI.

[Mom2four85]

I love the smell too and the food wine festival at Epcot is great =)  they give out little samples; I haven't tried any but my hubby has; but I was going to this year until I read that report...now with my new files where my CT & Xrays confirm the enlargement - no way I'll try any of it

[cindy707]

My two cents is that deyhdration definately causes the heart to act out because the interior organs become basically a little dry instead of being moist, pink and ultimately well functioning.  I know my heart doc and the E,R, doc explained it to me that way at one point and said that dehydration causes the heart to become irritable.  Living in the middle of the Wine Country in the Sonoma/Napa area the one thing i do know a little something about is wine...i know that red wine is a huge no no with anyone with electrical issues of the heart because of the sugar levels in the wine as well as the phosphates that are used in making it...as well as the citric acid that is used to cure the barrels the wine sits in forever...i am like you Lisa....i tend to stay away from the stuff altho i love the smell of it and love it when we can go into the wine caves and they play Bach or Classical Music 24 hours a day 7 days a week until they bottle it in the caves...only in California LOL....i am an 8th generation California girl and to me that is a part of the magic of wine making...have fun at the Epcot

[Mom2four85]

I hope no one else is misreading something or mixing signals like in the HD forum; I don't have a problem with alochol or even soda, my one vice is coffee in the mornings :P oh, I do drink 2 gallons or so of water daily - I crave the stuff ugh

I've heard soda, caffeine, foods etc are all bad on the body, when I first got sick June 2009, my dr's tried process of elimination to see if anything environmental was causing my problem - none were found.

Imagine my shock that my test results says patient should avoid alcohol - I never even drank alcohol until I was 25 (not a drop) because my mother was an alcoholic and I was completely against it, never even experiemented as teens do with alcohol; drugs or anything - I refused to do that and turn into my mother.

Since 1999, I have only drank 1 drink per year on my wedding anniversary, until my daughter gave me a gift for Christmas 2009; which was a bottle of Long Island Iced Tea mix.  

Had I known anything was said about no alcohol or my heart was enlarged like this or it could be dangerous there is no way I would have drank a drop of it...and won't ever again - I value my life way too much.

sorry if there was any confusion about this

[tom_h]

This is a totally uneducate guess.  I believe normal EF is around 60%.  You reports states  your EF at 40% so that's low.  Alcohol dialates the blood vessels, I think.  Perhaps they're concerned that your BP would drop to a point we you might pass out?

[Mom2four85]

wow I think I figured it out thanks to Kenkeith in the Heart disease forum - alcohol enlarges this heart; can my panic set in now? they didn't tell me this and I had no clue until I got my results that I wasn't supposed to have alcohol.

This brings me to the alcohol topic and how many posts I've read about others having problems when drinking -  Alcohol dehydrates your body as well as enlarging this heart -please be cautious about alcohol.

[Mom2four85]

thanks Ireneo =)

[ireneo]

I gave you my 2 cents worth (probably not worth even that) on the other board.

[Mom2four85]

still no info on why this recommendation on my cardiac cath and no alcohol; however I did find this - Limit alcohol intake. Alcohol may make you susceptible to fainting in patients with Neurocardiogenic syncope - again probably the dehydration factor