I'm Geoff Barnes, M.D., and I work as a cardiologist and vascular medicine specialist at the University of Michigan Health System in the United States. You can follow me on Twitter at @GBarnesMD. My professional areas of interest include anticoagulation, venous thromboembolism, quality improvement and shared decision-making. I'm currently leading multiple NIH- and AHRQ-sponsored studies to improve the safety for patients on chronic anticoagulants. In honor of World Heart Day, I'm here to answer anything you want to know about heart health and blood clots. For instance, did you know that people with atrial fibrillation (AFib) are at greater risk for stroke and are estimated to account for 15% of the 15 million strokes that occur worldwide every year? I'll get started around 2pm ET (18 UT) - AMA!
Username: /u/WorldThrombosisDay
I (32F) have a predisposition (family history, over weight, work 12hr shifts on my feet) for varicose veins. I have been changing my lifestyle to help reduce the development of them; I have already had two surgeries to remove them from both legs. I have been loosing weight, wearing compression stockings and trying to move around at work as much as possible. My doctors also say some of my pain is caused by fibromyalgia; which isn't a definitive diagnosis but I have experienced lots of random leg pains since my first varicose vein ablation a few years ago. I just had my second round of surgeries where they went in with a surgical hook and removed they veins that bulged in my legs and ankles.
I am curious and too afraid to ask my own doctor. I enjoy psychedelics, they can be therapeutic for me and help with my anxiety and depression. I like to go hiking and be out doors while tripping, typically LSD. It helps me accept the bad things in life and to have a more optimistic outlook on everything else, especially the stress of having all these aches and pains constantly and developing more varicose veins. It really gets me down sometimes and I just feel like my body is failing me and I'll always be in pain. I also smoke marijuana semi-regularly; not every day but every couple days, especially in the summer when I can be outdoors. As for my usage: I don't go balls to the wall...I believe in safe drug use...I usually only take a tab or two, I like to comfortable and in control. I know there are lots of people who do drugs to get fucked up and to be super fucked up but that isn't my game plan. I enjoy the trip and like to watch the clouds swirl or go on a beautiful hike or go swimming but I also want to feel safe as I do so.
My question is....is tripping and smoking having detrimental effects on my veins and possibly worsening my condition/causing me to develop more, more quickly? I like to trip from time to time for my mental health and because I do find it fun and would like to continue doing so. If it is having negative effects on me however, I will stop. Any information about this would be greatly appreciated.
Please don't lecture me on the use of psychedelics. Alcohol is a much worse substance in my opinion and it's legal / socially acceptable.
I would really love to know why my fingertips look like this, if there is reason for concern, and if there is anything I can do to make it stop:
https://imgur.com/a/VZIS4wR
Sometimes it is worse than other times. I'm trying to keep a diary to observe any patterns but have failed to come up with anything thus far.
I have read some articles suggesting it is vasoconstriction, but don't fully understand why this is happening to me and not others. I have also read it could be abnormal sympathetic nervous system function, but not sure if I understood it correctly.
My mother also seems to have some degree of it. She has vascular parkinsonism. I actually didn't notice it on myself until I became her caregiver 2 years ago.
Male. 40 year old. 6'1. 150 lbs. Canada. No meds. No drink/smoke
Conditions: Stress/anxiety/burnout. Pelvic pain. Bruxism. Poor sleep quality. Reactive hypo glycemia. Numbness in hands during sleep - suspected cubital tunnel syndrome
My first times doing benzedrex everything would go smooth, i would do no more than 500mg
One time i did benzedrex every day for a week, not the best idea, but it was all good. My heart felt fine, my body, etc..
But after a while, i would take months breaks between doses, and now all the sudden each time i do benzedrex, my chest hurts and i feel like im going to stroke sometimes, feeling faint and dizzy. I cant do more than 250mg without the fear of dying from cardiac arrest.
Have i messed up my vascular system? Or did my body reject benzedrex and react poorly now?
I'm getting really sick of this. I have heart problems because of vEDS + brain fluid leak and I've been in bed all day because of both a fast heart rate (205 bpm) and fibrilation (irregular heartbeat). By irregular, instead of beating like ''bump bump bump'' like how it's supposed to, it was going like, ''bump..bumbumbubmbub...bump...bumbumbump..bumpbump..''. I'm taking the highest dose of heart medication and even that took 12 hours to get my heart rate and heartbeat into a normal coherent pace. The medications just aren't keeping up with the progression of my conditions anymore. Life expectancy for vEDS is around 47 years, I had a minor stroke at 12 which caused scarring on my brain and a temporary loss of speech.
I was woken up by my dad at 11 pm, him shouting at me to lock my windows and clearly ignoring the fact that I'm half unconscious because my heart isn't beating properly (I had told him earlier about this and he has been in the ER with me during some episodes). I shut the windows and locked them, but because there was a tiny gap he started yelling and threatening me telling me I ruined his week because of this, repeatedly coming into my room to rant and scream at me when I was very obviously just wanting to go to bed not deal with that shit. I don't understand why they can't understand or consider that I felt like I was going to go to sleep and not wake up given how erratic my heart rate was and how blood not being pumped to my brain properly is going to make me make mistakes.
Yesterday I weeded the entire front garden which was overun, in the rain. But they say things such as I shouldn't have been born and basically try to guilt-trip me into existing and for being different.
I've also been threatened with violence because I got confused while doing something, or because I forgot something. I'm asked to help with practical things so I do, then if I do something slightly wrong they just fucking attack me and make me feel like crying. It's always an extremely inappropriate response for the mistake I made (such as threatening to throw a bunch of knives and forks at my face because I was getting confused about which one to use). I rarely raise my voice, I try saying things like ''ok'' or ''alright'' or ''yeah'', short responses like that, but they just keep going on and on, yelling at me even though I'm repeatedly giving them cues that I'm clearly not interested in being verbally abused or having a massive argument over something trivial.
This s
... keep reading on reddit ➡
Now I understand that probably sounds like a silly question for many, but let me explain.
I am a mail carrier I work 6 days a week (walking route) and then my fiance and I like to hike. So on our day off we go hiking or if the weather is bad we go for walks around town or near by to make sure out doggo gets out.
I like to go to the gym, but I don't do cardio because, well I just don't want to run and I feel like my job is enough.
However, the older I get the more I realize how fast time goes and I want to live as long as possible and I am re-examing the thought that "my job is enough."
The reason I wonder if it's enough is because, first it isn't hard for me to walk that much and secondly, there are plenty of overweight mail carriers that walk all day. I know weight gain comes down to diet. I am just thinking that walking that much isn't very taxing on the system if people can still gain weight while doing it. If thats true it must not be that taxing on the cardiovascular system to provide much benefit?
Any insight would be appreciated, thank you!
