OK; this is ridiculous to think about because I have probably snored since I was in my 20's and skinny. But who knew that snoring could be a sign of a dangerous problem? Certainly not I. Now it appears that my heart damage could have been caused by sleep apnea. When you stop breathing while sleeping, your heart has to pump wildly to keep you alive, thus causing damage, enlargement, and ultimately failure. Treatment is wearing a crazy thing on your face that makes you look like Miss Piggy. No one thinks that is fun, but consider the alternative and you can find a way to deal with it, right?
Blood tests after 3 months without Crestor showed all of my levels going up - bad cholesterol and triglycerides. So I'm guessing that my cardiologist was correct when he said it was hereditary. Dang, I guess those guys do get something out of medical school. My new PCP (did I mention that I love her?) put me on a much lower dose of a generic Lipitor and I am not having side effects anymore now.
Still tired most of the time....but saw my cardiologist yesterday and he said drink more water and exercise more. Have to admit that the cold weather has me slacking on the walking, but I will start again. I have gone off almost all sugar and white bread to try and get my triglycerides down too. It is not as hard to find 100% whole wheat pastas and breads as it used to be. But I still refuse to pay $3 for whole wheat macaroni instead of .89 for white, so no macaroni for now.
Will have another echocardiogram before the end of the year to check my ejection fraction again. Until then, I just keep feeling great and trying to exercise and drink more water. I feel so blessed that I feel so good.
Seriously, if you snore, please talk to your doctor about a sleep test; it may just save your heart.
Tari
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