How Mounjaro Helped My Heart Beat Stronger

I had a Cardiac Catheterization yesterday.

While it might be odd to say, a good time was had by all! I asked for Queen to be the music they played in the procedure room and three nurses and I sang each song that came up on the playlist. The loudest song I sang was “Don’t Stop Me Now!”

That is me. I refuse to be stopped.

Dr. Google Scares Again

In 2022, I was diagnosed with Diastolic Heart Failure after having had COVID in December 2021. I’ve done really well over the last two-plus years. One of those years, I was on Trulicity and now have been on Mounjaro for another year. While I was put on the heart medication Metoprolol that April 2022 for almost two years, I was taken off it six months ago because my heart palpatations were gone. Subsequently, my heart was doing so great, my blood pressure was going down when I was lying down and then standing (orthostatic hypotension). I have been on Midodrine, 5 mg. once a day, for three months now.

A couple of months ago, one of my cardiologists wanted to see how my heart was doing and ordered a Cardiac MRI with contrast. When the results came in, she explained that I had three arteries with plaque, but the left descending artery, aka “the widow-maker,” looked to be the most blocked. As she explained the results, saying that even cardiac MRIs can read the arteries incorrectly, I was told I would need a cardiac catheterization. I vaguely remember her saying, “the results are questionable.”

That, however is not what I heard. I heard, “1 in 1000  have a heart attack during the procedure. 1 in 1000 have a stroke. 1 in 2000 die.” Yeah, I did look up the stats before going to see the doctor. Damn that Dr. Google!

GLP-1s Are My Jet Fuel

I knew that, no matter what the cardiac cath found, I was infinitely better off than I was 2.5 years ago. How could I not be? My diet had done a 180. I was 405 lbs. in 2022 and am now 153 lbs. I’d gone from living in bed to now walking 4 miles a day (up from 3 miles just a month ago!).

I’ve been tracking my lab results, comparing the ones from 2015 and following their trajectory through even more weight gain on top of my severely obese body to losing 252 lbs. through 2022 until 2024. Needless to say, the lab results sucked eggs until I went on Trulicity in July 2022. Then, slowly, the labs began moving in the opposite direction. Slowly, but they were shifting to the more desirable numbers.

Once I went on Mounjaro in September 2023, the lab values fell precipitously into the normal range. Sure, I was losing weight… but I had already lost 40 lbs. before Trulicity, then lost another 86 on Trulicity.

The difference was Mounjaro.

Logging my labs has given me a window into what Mounjaro can do, with and without weight loss.

• My HbA1c went down several points more once I was on that amazing GIP/GLP-1 (Mounjaro).
• My Chronic Kidney Disease shuffled from a worse high-3b to a better low-3a. And yes, I know CKD does not improve, that it is a progressive disease. I’m looking at my labs and they say something different.
• My Lipid panel (cholesterol and triglycerides) went from all values in the abnormal range in 2015 to better with Trulicity, and now in 2024, with Mounjaro, every lipid value is well within the normal realm.

Sure, I am doing my part in this dance of weight loss and health gain, but I know I could not have had these amazing changes in my bloodwork without the Trulicity and Mounjaro.

I lost 200 lbs. with the RNY Gastric Bypass I had in 2001 and some of my labs corrected themselves, but not all of them. And not nearly as beautifully as they are self-correcting right now.

Watching My Heart Beat on a Giant TV Screen

My doctor that was doing the cardiac catheterization (or angiogram, not sure which) was quick and, while I had been given a small bit of versed and fetanyl, I was wide awake the whole time, listening to Queen as people called out different things to the doctor. He was quick! I don’t know how long it took, but it couldn’t have been longer than ten minutes.

The cardiologist came over to me and said my arteries looked much better than he expected and I didn’t need a stent. Yay! Before he dashed out of the procedure room, he did tell me I will need to take more than a statin (which I am on) to help lower my (normal) cholesterol even more.

The wonderful nurse who sang Queen songs with me offered to show me the procedure on the giant TV to my left. I squealed with delight! He showed me around my heart and, while he did not diagnose anything, he was a great cardiac tour guide. I got to watch my blood pumping freely in all the arteries. I’d totally forgotten about the gnarly statistics Dr. Google warned me about. I beat those odds.

Recovery 

When I saw the cardiologist in recovery, I asked if the Mounjaro had helped my heart. He said it had, it helped me lose weight. I laughed and said, “Hey, I did my part, too!” He said something like, “Yes, but the GLP-1 helped, too.” I was in a fentanyl-versed haze so when I go back for my post-procedure talk, I will ask him more pointed questions about how much the GLP-1s helped my heart.

I was driven home three hours later and took a loooooonnnngggg nap. I am still some tired, but feel better.

When I took the bandage off this afternoon, this is what I found. Can you see it? If I didn’t put the oval around it, you might have missed it! I would have.

I Feel Great!

I’m really happy that things turned out so well. I’d been very nervous. My space has never been cleaner! I wanted to eat, but oddly chose lima beans to “binge” on.

I’ll let you know what the cardiologist says when I see them in a couple of weeks!