Glad to be here!

[73SS454]

Hello everyone, my name is Joe and I'm glad to join you.

I am 66 years old and have been on the McDougall diet for a little over a year now. In Oct of 2014 I was taken by my wife to the hospital and was diagnosed with a Kidney stone. While I was there I was told I was also in AFIB. I started a diet and lost a few pounds but it was slow going. I'm 6'4" and was 297 lbs. at the time. In January of 2015 I was at my Dentist office and found a book called the China Study laying on a table. While waiting I started reading the book and found it interesting. So after my Dentist visit I went down to the library and picked up the China Study. I went on a plant based diet that weekend and have been on it ever since. I found no problem staying on the diet and after a few months every craving ended and I continued along and so far so good. As of today I'm at 215 lbs. and have lost a total of 82 lbs.. I have always exercised and continued with my same program which is about 1 1/2 hours a day. 40 minutes on the treadmill and then light weights and stretching exercises. Which I do 7 days a week.

My Cholesterol is down to 116 total and LDL is 64.

Last Nov I was in to see my Cardiologist and she advised an Echo Cardiogram. I was told after the test that my Ejection Fraction dropped from 65 the year before to below 40. Concerned my Dr. said I would have a Muga Scan which is the gold standard above the Echo. After that exam it was confirmed that I was down to 36.7. This week I had a stress test and that also showed a problem. So she recommended another Dr. who will do a catheterization. This will be done on the 18th.

I was wondering if anyone has had this problem? Can it be caused by anything having to do with my new diet?

Any help would be great.

Thanks,
Joe

[pundit999]

It is not the diet. You are already on the treatment that is best for your heart.

I am no doctor but you may have had a silent heart attack before starting to eat this way, from Oct 14 to Jan 15 or before losing enough weight to make a difference in your AFIB.

It is good that you are seeing a cardiologist. You may want to email Dr McDougall directly via this website. It will be a good idea to call Dr Esselstyn also before your cath. Since you seem to be not having any symptoms, any intervention is likely useless, but do ask the two good doctors.

I am assuming you are on all the usual drugs: a statin, a low dose aspirin, a beta blocker, an ace inhibitor etc?

[73SS454]

Thank you Pundit for the reply.

I had an Echo just before I started the diet as I have had them each year for an irregular heart beat before it became Afib. So if I had a heart attack it would have been during the time of being on the plant based diet.

I am on .75 of Metoprolol 2X's a day. Also 2.5 of Ramipril and 20mg of Xarelto for the Afib. I am in constant Afib but have no symptoms. Losing the weight has not changed anything with the Afib, it remains constant.

I started taking Ubiquinol this week.

What is the best way to contact Dr. McDougall via the site?

Thanks,
Joe

[pundit999]

Hi Joe:

Click on General. There is a list of moderators under each forum. Dr McDougall is listed there. Click on his name. That will take you to a detail page where there is a link to send a Private message.

Another suggestion is to also post in the Lounge. You will get better response.

You may want to research on EECP which is a non invasive way to increase heart performance.

[73SS454]

Thank you, I tried what you said but it said I didn't have enough posts to use that feature.

[73SS454]

I think I figured it out, thanks!