Cardiomyopathy or myocarditis from virus
Geplaatst: wo aug 22, 2007 9:37 pm
Hi Corrij,
Here is my story:
I went into hospital emergency on 2.2.07 with severe arrhythmia and tachycardia. I had noticed "shortness of breath" upon exertion (chasing a bus down the street) in October, but had no idea what it was. Until the end of January, this was the only kind of symptom I had noticed.
I have had a heart murmur from childhood or birth, but told long ago not to worry about it and go on with my life, which I did. I have never been sporty though.
I am thin and have low blood pressure by nature, I was already very aware of food and health and nutrition and natural medicine, TCM, and am strongly opposed to using pharmaceuticals.
After two weeks of tests in the hospital, only discovering a slight deficiency of potassium, I had a biopsy that found a rare virus in my heart. As it is rare, my doctors do not know much about what to expect or how this virus works. They gave me immunoglobulin to help fight the virus, but it had no effect. They could only offer me heart drugs as a solution after that.
On my own I first focussed mostly on strengthening my immune system as the only way to try to fight the virus - Giving up all sugar, alcohol (I didn't drink much anyway), caffeine (same), spicy foods, etc. and being obsessive about eating healthy.
My EF rate in March was 40%, I don't know what it was in February. From the start I was given a beta blocker (bisoprolol 2.5) to treat the arrhythmia, but as my blood pressure is low, I can only take a small dosage. My blood pressure has returned to normal now, and the dosage hasn't been increased.
I started taking CoEnzyme Q10 in April, first 60mg per day, then 100. In May my EF rate was 50 and in June it was 58. Of course this improvement made me feel better and I could start to move around more, taking walks for exercise. During the first months I could not move around much at all. I still can't lift or carry things or do anything that requires strength however.
I just had a check-up and found that nothing has changed since June. The left heart is still enlarged and I am very aware at all times that it is not working correctly. It looks like Dilated Cardiomyopathy, but the cause is still thought to be the virus. There are a lot of unknowns in my case. Apparently the real problem now is the arrhythmia which keeps my heart stressed. Something like every third beat is extra systolic. (the arrhythmia is regular, stable and ongoing and obviously is affecting the heart's ability to function)
I have been desperately searching for natural ways to treat myself. I live in Finland where non-conventional medicine, and even health food, is hard to find. (Otherwise it's a great country!). I saw Kevin's link to your site and I was very excited to see your treatment program and I am very eager to start.
Here is what I am currently taking:
Potassium supplememt: 2 x 1500mg (Dr. ordered, and the value is still at about 3.
Magnesium supplement 3 x 250mg (Dr. ordered) (this gives me chronic diarrhea which I try to control a bit with Carob 2-3 times a day)
Vitamin E 2 x 200
Vitamin C 2 x 240
TwinLabs Daily One Multivitamin 1
(this contains 200mcg of chromium, 200 mg of selenium, so the bottle says)
Omega 3 1 x 1300
Pharma Nord Q10 1x 100
Probiotics for intestines
A.Vogel Crataegus drops for the heart
plus foods and herbs for immune system: garlic, melissa, olive leaf extract, blueberry, astragalus, etc.
Best regards,
Diane
Here is my story:
I went into hospital emergency on 2.2.07 with severe arrhythmia and tachycardia. I had noticed "shortness of breath" upon exertion (chasing a bus down the street) in October, but had no idea what it was. Until the end of January, this was the only kind of symptom I had noticed.
I have had a heart murmur from childhood or birth, but told long ago not to worry about it and go on with my life, which I did. I have never been sporty though.
I am thin and have low blood pressure by nature, I was already very aware of food and health and nutrition and natural medicine, TCM, and am strongly opposed to using pharmaceuticals.
After two weeks of tests in the hospital, only discovering a slight deficiency of potassium, I had a biopsy that found a rare virus in my heart. As it is rare, my doctors do not know much about what to expect or how this virus works. They gave me immunoglobulin to help fight the virus, but it had no effect. They could only offer me heart drugs as a solution after that.
On my own I first focussed mostly on strengthening my immune system as the only way to try to fight the virus - Giving up all sugar, alcohol (I didn't drink much anyway), caffeine (same), spicy foods, etc. and being obsessive about eating healthy.
My EF rate in March was 40%, I don't know what it was in February. From the start I was given a beta blocker (bisoprolol 2.5) to treat the arrhythmia, but as my blood pressure is low, I can only take a small dosage. My blood pressure has returned to normal now, and the dosage hasn't been increased.
I started taking CoEnzyme Q10 in April, first 60mg per day, then 100. In May my EF rate was 50 and in June it was 58. Of course this improvement made me feel better and I could start to move around more, taking walks for exercise. During the first months I could not move around much at all. I still can't lift or carry things or do anything that requires strength however.
I just had a check-up and found that nothing has changed since June. The left heart is still enlarged and I am very aware at all times that it is not working correctly. It looks like Dilated Cardiomyopathy, but the cause is still thought to be the virus. There are a lot of unknowns in my case. Apparently the real problem now is the arrhythmia which keeps my heart stressed. Something like every third beat is extra systolic. (the arrhythmia is regular, stable and ongoing and obviously is affecting the heart's ability to function)
I have been desperately searching for natural ways to treat myself. I live in Finland where non-conventional medicine, and even health food, is hard to find. (Otherwise it's a great country!). I saw Kevin's link to your site and I was very excited to see your treatment program and I am very eager to start.
Here is what I am currently taking:
Potassium supplememt: 2 x 1500mg (Dr. ordered, and the value is still at about 3.
Magnesium supplement 3 x 250mg (Dr. ordered) (this gives me chronic diarrhea which I try to control a bit with Carob 2-3 times a day)
Vitamin E 2 x 200
Vitamin C 2 x 240
TwinLabs Daily One Multivitamin 1
(this contains 200mcg of chromium, 200 mg of selenium, so the bottle says)
Omega 3 1 x 1300
Pharma Nord Q10 1x 100
Probiotics for intestines
A.Vogel Crataegus drops for the heart
plus foods and herbs for immune system: garlic, melissa, olive leaf extract, blueberry, astragalus, etc.
Best regards,
Diane