Draining or donating blood

[almostgone]

I will add that there are a few AAS users that have compromised cardiac systems and they absolutely will get in deep water with elevated Hct levels. My platelet count can be in range but Hct at the mid to upper 50 percentile and it will put me in a bad place.

That's not your typical AAS users but there are those out that still enjoy blasting/cruising and for those guys it's a necessity.

[GearHeaded]

I will add that there are a few AAS users that have compromised cardiac systems and they absolutely will get in deep water with elevated Hct levels. My platelet count can be in range but Hct at the mid to upper 50 percentile and it will put me in a bad place.

That's not your typical AAS users but there are those out that still enjoy blasting/cruising and for those guys it's a necessity.

is this from a pre existing condition ? or from AAS use itself ?

[almostgone]

is this from a pre existing condition ? or from AAS use itself ?

I'm on break but I'll give you a quick rundown of about a 6-7 year period.

Torn right spinal erector while already having bronchitis, developed pneumonia, a virus called Coxsackie B (rather gay sounding name) got into my system. By the time the damage was done I had viral myocarditis, cardiomyopathy, left bundle branch, congestive heart failure, mitral valve disorder, atrial fibrillation ( related to the left bundle branch block), and was throwing clots like a female on a menstrual cycle. My left ejection fraction got down to sub-12% and I was eligible to be worked up for a transplant, but that wasn't for me. Discussed it with the Mrs. and there's lots of kids that could get more usage from a new heart, plus on immunosuppressants, you have a really good chance of being perpetually sick from viruses, etc.

Was down for 5 months but had to get back to work to keep job, insurance, and all that good happy stuff. Could have gotten disability, but who wants that? They review most cases annually and if you're improved, your off disability, besides I needed insurance for the wife as well. Dug deep for a few years and managed to do nothing but work, sleep, and slowly go my ejection fraction back up to just above 30%. I had another bad spell and my cardiologist didn't submit my FMLA papers in the federally mandated guidelines, so I fired his ass and found me a female cardiologist that was well connected to Medical University of SC. Was seeing an actual study team from MUSC and they proposed a change in beta blocker along with a biventricular pacemaker. Things rolled along great for about 7 months or so and I was sick again. Running crazy high fevers that would break and drop to almost normal whenever I was around the Dr office. Total fvckdom. Finally my employer said I was too sick to work and sent me to the company Dr. He referred back to my cardiologist. Told her about all the fevers and weakness and they hooked me up and discovered I had coughed a lead loose which would bump my heart and throw it totally out of rhythm, and I would pass out. Was sent to the ER to be worked up for a lead revision and finally they saw I had a temp of 103.8. ( Lost an assload of muscle by the way). Ended up I had bacteremia, was on and out of consciousness for days on end. Wasn't really expected to pull through, temp topped out around 104.3. After a few weeks I was at home with a IV pump on my side and a PICC line running over to my heart dripping in antibiotics 24/7 for 12 weeks. Also, during one of my passing out spells I ruptured my bursa, so I had 6 weeks of PT while wearing that dang pump.

Got stubborn, worked my cardio as much as possible and here I am.

That's most of the details. Sorry for any typos, got to get back to work.

Oh, all the blood clots come from a genetic clotting disorder called Leiden Factor V. My blood clots before they could check the PT/INR. Anticoagulants don't work on me except for Heparin and that isn't an ideal long term therapy, especially for larger people ( osteoporosis and a number of undesirable issues).
They wanted to put another pacemaker in and an IVC for the clots, but after having seen what happens when you have hardware in your body and you get bacteremia.....fvck that.

Last check, my stress echo had my ejection fraction at around 40%, which most cardiologists will work with.