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[DKN58]

In April 2017 I had a mechanical valve replacement and a triple bypass.

Now this week a GP has diagnosed me with heart failure and issued me with an unfit to work note for three months.

Is there anyone that can enlighten me on this?

[laura_dropstitch Heart Star]

Heart failure can be caused by many different conditions and it basically just means the heart is failing to pump as effectively as it should, not that it's failing to work altogether. Symptoms include breathlessness, fatigue and water retention, but it can vary hugely in severity. I would recommend asking for clarification from your doctor, but you might also find it helpful to call the BHF Heart Helpline on 0300 330 3311 (during office hours). It's manned by cardiac nurses so they should be able to answer a lot of your questions, though obviously they won't have the information about your specific case. Hope you get some answers soon! Good luck

[DKN58 in reply to laura_dropstitch]

Thank you,your help is very much appreciated.

I agree Dr Google can be terrifying.

[laura_dropstitch Heart Star in reply to DKN58]

When people told me not to google heart failure, I thought it was because the results would be too scary for me to handle, but it's mainly because the results are WRONG. And scary Don't let anything you've read online get to you. If something is worrying you, don't dwell on it, talk to somebody in the know. At least nine times out of ten the truth will be so much less frightening than the Google results.

[laura_dropstitch Heart Star]

PS Try to avoid googling it, you'll see lots of outdated and irrelevant info that will terrify you for no good reason.

[jimmyq]

If you are considering life style changes, I recommend that you watch the film "Forks Over Knives". It is on Netflix and YouTube. It is about global medical research, including a massive study of 800,000 Chinese people. You might find it helpful, I did. It will show you that you can clear out your arteries. In the film, there is a bloke with 27 diseases. After 6 months on a WFPB diet he was down to 1.

[Chappychap in reply to jimmyq]

It's a good film and well worth watching, but I'm not sure I agree that "you can clear out your arteries".

As far as I know there's been no large scale, properly conducted study that has demonstrated any actual improvement in the plaque build up in arteries purely from life style changes.

Don't misunderstand me, life style changes are essential, along with medication, to prevent new plaque formation in your arteries, but the strong medical consensus is that previous damage is there for life.

[jimmyq in reply to Chappychap]

I think you are right that there's been no large scale, properly conducted study. Who would finance it? I had 4 CABGs before stents were in wide use, 1997. I had a mini-stroke in 2017 while under treatment for high BP. The ideal BP is below 140/90. Mine has been as high as 240/140 but went down to 190/100 with the forementioned treatment. I have been on the recommended WFPB diet since March 2018 and it is now 120/80. I keep a daily record and these are the averages, rounded up. If my arteries were still blocked my BP would not be so low. If you research the expected results of taking BP medication they can knock a few points off but not 70/20. A doctor on the Nutrition Facts website, who responded to my asking how I would know whether my arteries were clear, said that low BP, low cholesterol and low heart rate were the key indicators. The ideal cholesterol is below 5. Mine was 6.5 for years, nothing budged it until this diet. It is now 3.7 and I have been taken off the statin because of side effects. My heart rate is in the low 50s, probably helped by the beta blocker. As a bonus, my weight was 14.5st and is now 12.5st, the same as when I was in my twenties. My doctor is happy with the way things are going and is reducing my meds, Bisoprolol is next on the hit-list.

So no proof but the signs are good!

[jimmyq in reply to jimmyq]

Just read a post on the Facebook page of Plant Based Health Professionals. A woman's psoriatic arthritis cleared up after being on a WFPB diet for 9 months. She could barely walk for 15 years. She went for a 10k run to celebrate being signed off by her doctor.