Copy from from journal...



Well just got back from dr...
She said that my EKG shows I have had a heart attack.. to say I was in SHOCK is an understatement.. at that moment dh just started going OFF on all the butter I eat..(and I only have like 2tsp max a day) and even on the car ride home he seemed totally upset with me saying I eat way to much fat/butter.. I think for him, he did not know what to think either.. I think he was in as much sock as I was and some how found BUTTER a good 'blamer' kwim..so I find he directed this misplaced anger/frustration in the wrong outlet.. I really am in just complete shock..
Dr is sending me to cardiologist.. but like everything here in BC.. there is a long wait. I will not get a call for a couple of week to make appt.
She is sending me for blood work in the meanwhile.. cholesterol and fasting glucose are a few of the tests..

Really.. I don't even know what to say. I keep tearing up.. I thought I was healthy.. I've lost all these weight.. now this?? WTH! I have had dizzy spells and chest pains for years now.. I KNOW it is not Akins/low carbing..

Can butter do this to me?? I really don't think so.. but I have dh scolding me.. and then my EKG report saying I have had a heart attack.. And WTH.. how can I not know I have had a heart attack!?

I'm so sorry to hear this! Can't imagine how stressful this is for you!

I would honestly guess that being overweight at one point did more damage to your heart than any amount of butter can do. Did they do a blood test to verify the presence of enzymes which only show up after a heart attack?

I hope you get better news and a good diagnosis quickly!

Wow, so sorry, Candiflip. Despite all the pro-lowcarb studies I've read, I still worry.

As for not knowing...

My mother had a heart attack and didn't know it. And to make it worse, I'm pretty sure I was there at the time. There was one day when she was about to leave my house to go home after a weekend visit (I lived in Pennsylvania at the time, she and my father in NY). She suddenly sat down and said she wasn't feeling very well. She said she was nauseous and short of breath. She looked a little gray. She sat down for 10 or 15 minutes, drank some ginger ale, and then decided she was well enough to drive home (my father was driving). A few months later an EKG showed she'd had a heart attack. I think it must have been that day, but at the time I didn't know the signs.

Please keep us up-to-date with your blood work and test results.

that's funny you say the 'looked a little gray'
I have been looking in the mirror lately, not all the time, but some of the time I look SO pale.. almost to where I am gray..I go to dh all the time, look at how pale I look and he totally brushed it off and says I look fine.. but I KNOW I look really pale. All of the color is out of my fall, I mean all..
I will kup..

thanks

Vegans have heart attacks, too. It is most likely NOT from your diet, if in fact you have had a heart attack.
You are healthy. Healthy people have problems, too. Just because we eat healthy, are at a healthy weight, exercise, etc. doesn't mean we are immune from ANYTHING. It's good you're going to a cardiologist. It's possible the EKG was wrong, remember that.

It is definitely possible, though, to have a heart attack without the 'normal' symptoms. Some people suffer for a while with shortness of breath (over the course of weeks) and when they visit their doctor, they are informed they've had one or more heart attacks.

Anyone in your family suffer from heart disease of any kind? Is it possible this happened BEFORE your weightloss?

Many people have "silent" heart attacks and may have no symptoms at all...It is more common than you would think.
Only indication is that the residual damage shows up on EKG or other studies...

Yes my grandfather had heart issues.

Oh and yeah I get that.. I really think it is something that is underlying issue as well. Because I do know how I felt before losing the weight.. and now it happens way less until recently. I used to be dizzy with chest pains on a daily basis before Atkins/losing the weight. I really think they have nothing to do with each other.. I just have dh all over me on the whole butter thing.. and to be honest.. I'm kinda scared as I have been having more and more chest pains lately.. I guess I just ignored them for so long because dh always brushed it off saying I'm fine..that it's nothing.. I never went to dr till recently over it.

OMG Candice. I am so sorry, it has to be a terrible shock. There are so many causes of heart attack, until some tests and work comes back, no one can even make an educated guess.

PLEASE rest and try to find some peace of mind and patience to wait for the results of your tests.

Added a link w/ stats for you:
http://www.medtees.com/womensheartdisease.html

Wow, I'd be floored too. I'm so sorry this happened...I can't imagine how I'd feel in your place. Hopefully, the blood work will give you some answers as to what's going on.

Candice, see my post in your journal.

thanks. I will go do the bood work in the am hopefully

I am so sorry Candice. It could be something completely congenital, since you said your grandfather had heart disease as well. I am sure that they will find out that you have saved your life by eating low carb. You could have dropped dead with the extra weight you were carrying around. Don't be discouraged but grateful that they have discovered the problem at all. Most women are never diagnosed at all until they pass out or die. They will find a treatment and you will be back on the path to optimal health and fitness. Blessings to you and your family.

Candice, I added a link in my post above, but will put it here, too:

http://www.medtees.com/womensheartdisease.html

Oh wow. So sorry to hear that.

Can you try to get your DH to realize his butter rampage is about his emotional reaction and is not so fact based? Men tend to strongly displace their emotions ime and with some coaching he might understand himself better.

He is probably terrified of losing you.

If I were you. I would just take a deep breath and see what the test results say before assigning blame to one food.

You are okay. The heart attack is done. You are going to the doctor to be sure nothing was missed and nothing else need to be addressed. You are doing everything you can. Don't let the worry eat you alive.

HUGS

F

Oh, Candice, I'm so sorry! (((hug)))

I understand that your dh is scared and upset and he's lashing out at what he believes to be the cause. When my mom got breast cancer my dad was SO MAD at everyone and everything. It's just the way they react.

How about your cholesterol numbers? I bet they are wonderful.

Is it possible that the 30-day shreds have stressed your heart too much? (I don't know -- just throwing that out there. I've heard of runners getting heart attacks from the extreme exertion.)

Rest, keep doing LC, wait on those cholesterol numbers and further information.

Right now I'm reading 'The Great Cholesterol Con' by Dr. Malcolm Kendrick and it's eye-opening. People with very low cholesterol actually are at a greater risk of brain strokes. When they increase their saturated fat intake the instances of strokes go way down. So, it's not all cut and dried like your dh probably thinks.

(BTW, in the book the dr. says that it's stress that causes heart attacks, not saturated fat. I also watched a documentary on Netflix yesterday, 'Stress: Portrait of a Killer', and it was very informative -- and it came to the same conclusion about chronic stress causing arterial buildup and CHD, NOT diet. They did very long-term studies on monkeys and the ones that were chronically stressed had the arterial buildup, even though all the monkeys ate the same thing. Interesting.)

Certainly, having lost all that weight is nothing but good for your situation. I hate that you are doubting yourself. (((hug)))

I will be praying for you. Maybe further tests will reveal that it's not that bad or that you didn't even have a heart attack at all.