Looking for treatment advice -Systolic Heart Failure 20% ef

This forum is intended for international users to help them with the treatment of cardiomyopathy or heart failure.
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katwigglz
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Looking for treatment advice -Systolic Heart Failure 20% ef

Bericht door katwigglz » di jan 15, 2013 8:04 pm

Hi, I came across this great site, and was hoping to get some treatment advice. I am a 43 year old female from California, diagnosed with Systolic Heart Failute, ejection 20%. I am currently taking Coreg 6.25mg 2/day, lasix 40mg 1/day,and Cozaar 50mg. 1/day. I have cardiomyapathy , and they say my heart is double the size of my chest cavity, or double its size. I have been rehospitalized once for it, just a few days ago, and stayed for four days. I am taking pills religiously now, as I wasnt doing that before. I am not big on taking pills, but understand I must do soomething. I went out and purchased almost all the supplements listed on the page to treat cardiomyapathy. I still have the last five to get. I have been reading of different phases in the treatment protocol, and was hoping someone could please advise me on the beat way to go about it. I am willing to do anything I can to get better, and I know that I will. Thank you

Corrij (therapeut)
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Bericht door Corrij (therapeut) » di jan 15, 2013 9:33 pm

Hello katwigglz,

Welcome on this forum.

The true incidence of cardiomyopathies is unknown. As with other diseases, authorities depend on reported cases (at necropsy or as a part of clinical disease coding) to define the prevalence and incidence rates. The inconsistency in nomenclature and disease coding classifications for cardiomyopathies has led to collected data that only partially reflect the true incidence of these diseases.

Whether secondary to improved recognition or other factors, the incidence and prevalence of cardiomyopathy appear to be increasing. The reported incidence is 400,000-550,000 cases per year, with a prevalence of 4-5 million people.

Cardiomyopathy is a complex disease process that can affect the heart of a person of any age, and clinical manifestations appear most commonly in the third or fourth decade.

I have some questions for you,

Ejection Fraction?

Possible nutritional restrictions (salt, water, etc)

Do you useuse lots of sugar?

Can you skip a meal or eat three hours later without any problems?

BLOOD PRESSURE ?

ARE YOU FREQUENTLY TIRED ?

About the supplements,

I would like to suggest you start with

L-Carnitine 3x a day 500 mg, this always has to be taken on a empty stomach, so 1/2 an hour before the meal or 2 hours after.
Q10 (ubiquinol) 2 x 100 mg
D-Ribose 10-15 gram a day

This is to start with, more supplements will follow in a few weeks time.

Patients suffering from advanced congestive heart failure exhibited significantly improved heart function after supplementing with ubiquinol, according to a recent clinical trial. Ubiquinol, only available in supplement form since late 2006, is the active antioxidant form of Coenzyme Q10 (CoQ10). CoQ10, a vitamin-like substance found in every cell in the body, plays a vital role in cellular energy production and protects cells from free radical damage.

In the first clinical trial evaluating ubiquinol effects on late-stage congestive heart failure, cardiologist Peter Langsjoen found that critically ill patients who supplemented with ubiquinol for just three months experienced a 24 to 50 percent increase in their hearts' ability to pump blood. In some cases, patients' plasma levels of CoQ10, which are key to overall heart health, more than tripled. At the start of the study, each of the patients evaluated had a life expectancy of less than six months. However, all demonstrated significantly improved heart function by the trial's end, and survived past initial expectations.


L-Carnitine helps protect the heart from lack of oxygen and from oxygen free radicals. Taking carnitine at 1.5 to 6 grams per day for up to one year results in fewer deaths and less heart failure episodes in heart attack patients. Compared to placebo, carnitine use slows heart enlargement over time.
In shorter-term studies (one to 3 months), carnitine improved CHF symptoms and angina after a heart attack. It also seems to improve exercise tolerance and oxygen use in moderate to severe heart failure patients. Results of a 3-year study should be reported soon.
Studies show that carnitine improves measures of heart function in dialysis patients. This is important because heart disease is the most common form of death in patients with end-stage kidney disease. Also, since a dialysis-related carnitine disorder is common in such patients, L-carnitine supplements should be considered in these patients.


What is ribose?
D-Ribose (also known as ribose) is a simple sugar produced in the body that is used by all living cells. It is part of the building blocks that form DNA and RNA molecules, and is one of the crucial ingredients in the production of adenosine tri-phospate (ATP).

What is ATP?
In a nutshell, it’s called the “energy currency” of all cells. It’s the body’s primary energy-carrying molecule that assists in the conversion of nutrients into usable energy, which enables your body to function.

During vigorous exercise or times of stress, large amounts of ATP can be depleted in the heart and skeletal muscles. The problem is your heart, muscles, and other organs and tissues do not make ribose very quickly, and it is not stored in the tissues and cells. Additionally, when your heart and muscles are stressed, ribose levels can be so low that they have a difficult time recovering.

When the heart muscle loses energy, first it suffers a loss of diastolic function. This is the relaxation phase when the heart fills with blood for the next heartbeat. When diastolic function is compromised, less blood circulates to the body during each beat, and can lead to hypertrophy; a thickening and expansion of the heart muscle. Additionally, there is inadequate oxygen circulating throughout the body, which causes the heart to overcompensate by using energy faster than it normally does. This results in a depletion of cellular energy reserves. Ultimately, it becomes a vicious cycle in which a loss of cardiac energy leads to a loss of heart function.

“An increased cellular demand for ATP can severely affect the body’s biochemistry, which may take several days to recover or may not recover at all in cases of chronic ischemia.”

Congestive heart failure is often the result of chronic diastolic dysfunction. Symptoms include shortness of breath, loss of exercise capacity, and overwhelming fatigue.

Research has also shown that intense endurance exercise puts a big strain on the heart, contributing to a loss of diastolic heart function that can continue for weeks or months following an athletic event such as a marathon or triathalon. An increased cellular demand for ATP can severely affect the body’s biochemistry, which may take several days to recover or may not recover at all in cases of chronic ischemia. Supplemental ribose, however, can enhance the recovery of heart and muscle ATP levels.


greetings,
Corrij
Those who do not have enough time for good health,
will not have good health for enough time.

Willy
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Bericht door Willy » wo jan 16, 2013 11:10 am

Hello Corrij I think this is an excellent start

EJF Kat = 20%, not to bad

Kat check if you bought the right Q10

I would also like to know your bloodtest Pro-BNP

Ask the docter you visit if you have a health concern if he is able to measure pro-BNP for you. We need a new value in about three months
Met vriendelijke groeten,

Willy Witsel

Ben je blij met ons gratis advies doe dan
een tweet of een like bovenin deze forumpagina

katwigglz
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Bericht door katwigglz » wo jan 16, 2013 10:01 pm

Thank you Corrij, and Willy..
I have been having a hard time replying to messages, everything just seems to disappear after I
submit it. Hopefully this one goes through. To answer your questions, my ejection fraction is
20%, like Willy said. My blood pressure is currently 122/68, with pulse 91. My blood pressure has
fluctuated over the past six months or more, sometimes to 163/103. Since I have been out of hospital
for a couple weeks, it seems to have been good, which probably attributes to taking my pills like
I should be. I am on a 1.5 liter a day fluid restriction, and to watch my sodium intake. I don't
seem to be fatigued too easily, and I could skip or postpone a meal if I had to. I have cut my
sugar intake alot, but still eat a little sugar. I started taking the three supplements last night
and again this morning, to get on a morning schedule. The Co-Q10 I am taking is 100mg, but seems to have
other ingredients in it as well, like soy lecithin, medium chain glycerides, gamma tocopherol, and
gelatin, caramel and carob extract. (what the heck? that doesnt sound all too good). I am sure
I can find products from one of the manufacterers on this forum that you have mentioned, if needed.
I will do what is the best for me. I will also find out about the blood test pro bnp, that you mentioned
to see if I have had it, or I will arrange to get it. I have no health insurance at the moment, so aside
being admitted to hospital like I have been, I am at the mercy of the county hospitals here in the
Los Angeles area, which seem to take alot of time, to do tests, let alone to ever be seen by a
cardiologist. They are all pretty much students, in a teaching hospital. I am so excited to have
you on my team, to assist me in getting better, you have no idea how much I am grateful to you
for that. Thank you, Kathy

Corrij (therapeut)
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Bericht door Corrij (therapeut) » vr jan 18, 2013 10:43 pm

Hello Kathy,

About the Q10,

Maybe you have noticed that different names are used: sometimes the label says ubiquinone, other times it says ubiquinol. A lot of times it simply says coenzyme Q10, which can make things even more confusing.

So what is the difference between the three? Well, in actuality there are only two real choices: ubiquinone and ubiquinol. Both are forms of coenzyme Q10, which is a general term that encompasses both ubiquinone and ubiquinol (the name "ubiquinone" means "the ubiquitous quinone", by the way).

Ubiquinone is the oxidized form of CoQ10 and is the more common form of commercially available CoQ10. It has been around for ages, and if you've ever bought one of the cheaper CoQ10 supplements, it has most likely been in the oxidized form. If the label doesn't specifically mention which form of CoQ10 the product contains, it's very probably ubiquinone.

This is because ubiquinol, the reduced form of CoQ10, is relatively new and more expensive to produce - so when the supplement does contain ubiquinol, the manufacturer is quick to point it out in big letters. This form of CoQ10 is the antioxidant form which neutralizes free radicals and decreases cellular damage. Ubiquinone does not have this antioxidant effect.

Since the body converts ubiquinone into ubiquinol, there is an extra step involved, and not all of the ingested ubiquinone gets converted into ubiquinol. In healthy people, over 90% of the CoQ10 in the blood is in the form of ubiquinol, but as you get older, both the total level of coenzyme Q10 and the body's ability to turn it into ubiquinol decline.

Note that this doesn't mean that taking ubiquinone is ineffective; all it means is that taking ubiquinol is more effective. If you are in your twenties or thirties, your body can probably convert much of the ubiquinone into ubiquinol, which means that you can save money and get the cheaper form (then again, this also means that you probably don't need supplemental CoQ10 in the first place). If, on the other hand, you are over forty or concerned about your heart health, it may be worthwhile to go for the ubiquinol.

CoQ10 is required for your cells to produce energy, and is an integral part of helping cells take fat and other substances and convert them into usable energy. CoQ10 can also help protect your body from free radical damage. Free radicals are oxygen atoms deficient in electrons that become highly reactive. This in turn causes potential damage to your tissues and DNA.

It is because of its powerful antioxidant protection that CoQ10 is often recommended for a wide variety of heart-related conditions, such as heart attack, high blood pressure and congestive heart failure, which require extra protection from free radical damage.

Wich brand of ubiquinol do you have?

Both atrial natriuretic peptide (ANP) and b-type natriuretic peptide (BNP) appear to play an important role
in CHF. Both of these peptides cause natriuresis and vasodilation, and they inhibit the reninñangiotensin system.
BNP has been reported to be a more sensitive, stable, and reliable marker of left ventricular (LV) dysfunction than
is ANP. BNP is stored in heart tissue; it begins as a precursor called pro-BNP. Pro-BNP is released into the blood
in response to increased wall stress caused by ventricular pressure and volume overload. Once pro-BNP enters
the blood, it is converted into BNP, its active hormone, and an inactive metabolite called N-terminal pro-BNP. BNP
and its inactive metabolite can be measured in the blood and are stable markers, BNP has a half-life of about 20 minutes.

N-terminal pro-BNP has a slower clearance from the body and the half-life is about 90 minutes.

When a patient develops decompensated heart failure with volume and pressure overload in the left
ventricle, the pressures measured inside the heart (ie, LV end-diastolic pressure, pulmonary capillary wedge
pressure, and right atrial pressure/central venous pressure) increase, and the LV ejection fraction and left
ventricular stroke work index decreases. Using an invasive catheter routinely to measure intracardiac
pressures is usually not desirable because of the cost and increased risk. Serum BNP levels have been found
to correlate with elevated heart pressures and decreased myocardial contractility obtained during an episode
of acute heart failure.

Are you taking the carnitine on a empty stomach?

greetings,
Corrij
Those who do not have enough time for good health,
will not have good health for enough time.

Willy
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Bericht door Willy » za jan 19, 2013 8:39 pm

What an excellent lecture Corrij

:lol: :lol:
Met vriendelijke groeten,

Willy Witsel

Ben je blij met ons gratis advies doe dan
een tweet of een like bovenin deze forumpagina

katwigglz
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Bericht door katwigglz » za jan 26, 2013 4:49 am

Well, it seems I havent been paying enough attention, because even after reading your post about coQ-10, I bought the wrong one. It is made by Solgar, softgel, but on the back it says ubiquinone. Could you suggest the best one for me to order? I have been taking them anyways, the carnitine, and ribose, and the coq-10, and on an empty stomach. I ran across the results of bnp test I had in the past, last year, and the number was 975. I also had another one a couple weeks ago before I was released from hospital, but I do not have those results yet. I have been feeling very good since I have been out of the hospital, and can walk and do things without being out of breath. Thank you again.

katwigglz
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Bericht door katwigglz » ma feb 11, 2013 2:31 am

Hi, I ended up finding the right CoQ10, made by NOW with ubiquinol, and have been taking them since January 31st. I just ran out of the D-Ribose, and L-Carnitine, but will be getting more tomorow. As per your suggestions, I will keep taking them, until you advise me otherwise. Look forward to hearing from you. Thank you. Kathy

Corrij (therapeut)
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Bericht door Corrij (therapeut) » ma feb 11, 2013 1:37 pm

Hello Kathy,

Now is a good product.
You can add the next supplements,

Magnesium citrate 2 x 200 mg a day
Vitamin C 3 x 1000 mg a day
Selenium 1 x 200 mg a day
Vitamin D3 1000IE a day

Magnesium is one of the body’s most important minerals. It is required as a cofactor in hundreds of enzymatic processes within cells. It helps maintain normal muscle and nerve function, keeps heart rhythm steady, promotes healthy cardiovascular function, supports a healthy immune system, and keeps bones strong. Magnesium also helps maintain blood sugar and blood pressure levels already within normal range, and it is known to be involved in energy metabolism and protein synthesis.

Magnesium is a major factor in relaxing the smooth muscles within the blood vessels, thereby reducing peripheral vascular resistance and promoting a healthy cardiovascular system. Magnesium also affects circulating levels of norepinephrine and the synthesis of serotonin and nitric oxide.

Magnesium positively influences the bone mineral matrix and its ability to metabolize minerals needed for repair and rebuilding.Scientific literature documents the need for a wide range of minerals, including calcium and magnesium, that are vital to maintaining strong, healthy bones.

Moreover, there is strong evidence that dietary magnesium intake and supplementation improves the metabolic profile. Magnesium has been shown to beneficially impact insulin resistance, serum lipid profiles, inflammation, endothelial dysfunction, oxidative stress and platelet aggregability.

Antioxidant vitamins —The dangerous effects of oxygen-free radicals on the body are well known. Elderly populations with higher blood levels of antioxidants such as vitamins C and E have been shown to have a lower incidence of heart disease (Maxwell 1993). Among people who have had a heart attack, supplementation with vitamins C and E has been shown to diminish the formation of free radicals and reduce damage to the heart (Eichholzer 1992). These studies demonstrate that heart health is related to antioxidant levels. Because these antioxidants are well tolerated and slow the progression of CHF, it may be prudent to consider adding them to a CHF supplementation program.

Vitamin D. Abundant evidence now points to numerous cardioprotective functions of vitamin D. Vitamin D deficiency has been shown to diminish contractile function of heart muscle cells and distort heart muscle structure (triggering hypertrophy, or abnormal heart muscle growth) (Achinger 2005; London 2007). Low levels of serum 25-hydroxyvitamin D have been linked with CHF .

Scientists believe that elevated levels of circulating pro-inflammatory cytokines may contribute to heart failure, and vitamin D may offer heart-protective benefits by quelling these inflammatory mediators (Schleithoff 2006). In a double-blind clinical trial, 123 patients with CHF were randomly assigned to receive vitamin D3 (50 mcg [2000 IU] per day) plus 500 mg of calcium or placebo plus 500 mg of calcium (Schleithoff 2006). Over the nine month study period, patients supplemented with vitamin D had greatly increased levels of the anti-inflammatory cytokine interleukin-10 (IL-10) and lower levels of the pro-inflammatory cytokine tumor necrosis factor-alpha (TNF-α). Scientists believe that by reducing the inflammatory environment in CHF patients, vitamin D3 holds promise as an anti-inflammatory therapeutic for people suffering from heart failure.

Selenium is extraordinarily important in heart health. One unquestioned function of selenium on the heart is its role in Heart Failure.

The chronically low levels of selenium in the soil of an area in China called Keshan leads to Heart Failure from Selenium Deficiency. This well-known problem, called Keshan Disease, is cured, in most cases, by the administration of selenium. That's all they need and they are cured of heart failure!!

greetings,
Corrij
Those who do not have enough time for good health,
will not have good health for enough time.

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