GameBanshee Forums

Thanks again, all--and now to hear from you, Frogus!

As for mortality: I've been irked by that since being a small child, when I had some narrow scrapes with severe asthma attacks that left me teetering on the edge. So this heart attack (while hardly pleasant) wasn't quite the shock to me it would probably be to others who thought themselves just about invincible. And to be truthful, nasty and lasting as the chest pain was, it wasn't as horrifying as a 3 or 4-hour asthma attack when no meds seem to work, and you're suffocating on your own carbon dioxide while others breathe easily all around you.

Well, now that I've cheered you all up, I'm going to go do some reading. See you later!

[QUOTE=slade]Nice pun

I hope everything goes well for you Fable and hope no by-pass is needed[/QUOTE]

As much as I'd like to take credit for that one, I admit to it being purely on accident .

Back on topic... I suffered from asthma all of my childhood and had to take medication for it up until I was 12, coincidentally immediately after I stopped playing outdoor sports (baseball) and retreated to indoor sports (basketball)l . I know what the asthma attacks are like, I had two of the mothers when I was younger, though they weren't the ordeals you seem to have described . It's scary stuff. Regardless, I'm glad you don't need a bypass and hope to see you around more often now . Hill's a fair substitute, but no babylonian .

Well, fable, glad to hear you are getting better.

I thought that they would have given you the beta blocker that blocks β1 receptors, as non specific ones would have agitated your asthma. Well, β1 blockers would in high doses, but I don't think your dosage would have been high enough to cause any harm.

Or was the beta blocker switched out with another beta blocker, the one I mentioned above? Oh dear, I hope I am not confusing you with my pharmaceutical mumble-jumble. Don't mind me, I didn't mean to pry. I should not even be asking.

Hopefully this will not have a big impact on your lifestyle.

@Tony: I'm Norse. Were not as important, and it is an impossibility for me to measure up to fable.

[QUOTE=Hill-Shatar]I thought that they would have given you the beta blocker that blocks β1 receptors, as non specific ones would have agitated your asthma. Well, β1 blockers would in high doses, but I don't think your dosage would have been high enough to cause any harm.[/quote]

I can't speak to their reasoning behind a specific med, but when I reported the increased incident of asthma earlier this week, they gave me a calcium channel blocker, instead. Given the research we've found on the Web about the two, I admit to being confused why they didn't start with the latter, instead.

Or was the beta blocker switched out with another beta blocker, the one I mentioned above? Oh dear, I hope I am not confusing you with my pharmaceutical mumble-jumble. Don't mind me, I didn't mean to pry. I should not even be asking.

No problem. It's not as if my life isn't an open book to a fascinated world.

Hopefully this will not have a big impact on your lifestyle.

I doubt it. The damage was slight, and the adjustments I have to make are very slim. The real kicker is simply noting that there's a history of factors in my family causing heart disease. I hadn't known about that, because my mother hadn't decided to share. Typically, when my wife first spoke with her following the exploratory surgery and pointed out (upon being asked) that the causes were hereditary, my mother immediately replied, irritably, "It's always my fault!" She never could accept responsbility for anything.

I can't speak to their reasoning behind a specific med, but when I reported the increased incident of asthma earlier this week, they gave me a calcium channel blocker, instead. Given the research we've found on the Web about the two, I admit to being confused why they didn't start with the latter, instead.

Well, I know that it allows responses to the sympathetic nervous system... a more efficient way to control blood pressure. The inotropic effects, if well regulated, should not be overly dangerous, in any case. It basically slows down the force of your heart contractions.

Lowering blood pressure as well.

They may very well have started with the latter, I do not know. Really depends if they told you if is was non specific or specific, or just the drugs name and that it was a Beta blocker. In that case, a dosage exceeding a set amount of a specific amount may have irritated you and your asthma.

It is good to hear that there will not be many lasting effects from this. Good luck to you fable. I should have gone into pharmacology... maybe if CE comes across this, she may be able to add something.

-edited- minor grammatical error

fable wrote:I can't speak to their reasoning behind a specific med, but when I reported the increased incident of asthma earlier this week, they gave me a calcium channel blocker, instead. Given the research we've found on the Web about the two, I admit to being confused why they didn't start with the latter, instead.

I can't comment on your medicines since I am absolutely not an expert on beta blockers or cardiovascular disease, however, like Hill says, there is a difference between selective and non-seletive beta blockers and the non-selective ones are the ones that are supposed to influence the dilation of the trachea, thus making them highly unsuitable for a person with asthma. Selective ones are supposed to only affect the blood vessels.

The real kicker is simply noting that there's a history of factors in my family causing heart disease. I hadn't known about that, because my mother hadn't decided to share. Typically, when my wife first spoke with her following the exploratory surgery and pointed out (upon being asked) that the causes were hereditary, my mother immediately replied, irritably, "It's always my fault!" She never could accept responsbility for anything.

Oh, this is wonderful. Real euphoria. I can't even start to explain how much I dislike people who have such a self-victimising and self-centric worldview so they immediately react defensivly and even with defensive hostility. I dislike people with defensive response patterns in general.

My mother is the personality type that could have said exactly the same in the same situation. I'm sure they would enjoy a confirmatory chat over a cup of coffee.

I am not a medical doctor (or pharmacist) but I think I can explain why they gave you a selective beta blocker to start. If you want to discover more I would recommend discussing it with a medical doctor or pharmacist.

I don't recall the guidelines about treatment following a heart attack. So let us assume a beta blocker IS a good treatment following one. That being admitted I DO know some things about how a beta blocker works.

Asthma can be agravated by a beta blocker but the beta2 receptors are in the lungs and the beta1 receptors are in the cardiovascular tissue. This is why they thought to give you a selective (B1 agonist) beta blocker.

So they had hoped that the B1 agonist would not agravate your asthma. Unfortunately it did. The thing with selectivity is that it is not 100%. Sure there is more activation of the B1 receptors but there is also activation of the B2 to a lesser degree.

So they take your asthma actual symptoms into consideration and decide that you should be on a calcium channel blocker (where before they only were using theoretical considerations; they did not know how you would in actual practice respond to the beta blocker meds).

In my opinion they made a rational decision. Calcium channel blocker is also a good medication (again I don't recall the guidelines but I do have some idea of treatment). And because you were having asthmatic symptoms it is the better drug as it should not upset your asthma like the selective beta blocker has a chance.

I also seem to remember something about an ACE inhibitor being a good treatment following a heart attack. I do not remember the facts and so I will not try to 'pull them out of my....hat' but if I had had a heart attack I would ask a doctor or pharmacist if I should be on an ACE inhibitor. It is possible that I am thinking of something else, but I mention it since it can't hurt to look into; the doctor or pharmacist will correct me if I'm wrong.

myrophine