Coronary Heart Disease

[paryapta]

Dear friends

I have had a stormy time for the past couple of months. I was admitted in the ER several times for shortness of breath and high blood pressure. When they did an echo of my heart last month it showed the EF rate of the left ventricle to be 54% but this month it has come down to 30% which means my left ventricle is able to pump only 30% of blood to my body when it should be pumping more. I was pretty upset when I came to know about his because I started imagining the worst.

My doctors did not explain anything clearly but they have increased the dosage+strength of my anti-hypertensives. They have increased the concentration of my PD bags from 1.5% to 2.5% for two exchanges out of three. They told me this will help remove more fluid from my body as I have severe edema in my legs/thighs etc.

Now I just have one question to all the wise ones on IHD... am I going to die very soon with an EF rate of 30%? If so, how soon? I am very confused and worried about my husband and family. Do give me some clarity if any of you have been through something similar.

[galvo]

I'm not on PD, so I really can't help. Someone on here will. I just wanted to say that I've had 4 heart attacks and I'm as obnoxious as ever. The sooner they remove that excess fluid, the happier you'll become. No surrender!!! Good luck and Merry Christmas.

[justme15]

well, i don't have the same problems as you, but I do work in the healthcare field.  From my experience I would say that you are not about to die.  They have medications that can improve your ejection fraction.  Other things to consider are whether you have any comorbiites: Diabetes, age, obesity...

[jeannea]

You do have a 100% chance of dying eventually. But it sounds like your docs are on top of things. You should be ok.