John Meadows in hospital after heart attack

[Mr Anabolic]

He mentioned in a recent video that he has some kinda test due at some point later this month, so we should know more. 

I hope he isn't just burying his head in the sand over all this. Nice guy, but strong candidate to just drop dead in the middle of a workout.

Happened to a co-worker of mine 5 years ago.  56 year old, lifting 30 years and took gear during most of that time.  One day he had a massive heart attack at work.  The paramedics got there in about 3 minutes.  They worked on him for 20 minutes and did everything they could, but he was completely flatlined the entire time.  Afterwards the paramedic told me he was probably dead before he hit the floor.

[Taffin]

Nothing has changed he just had a cardiologist calm his nerves. Remember when he went over his bloodwork he said he was on 200MG "trt." From what I remember he went off then went back on 100MG (which is in the trt range). I mention this because of the stroke risk.

This is what I posted earlier and doesn't change the fact that he has heart damage, his EF is low and he has LVH.

Especially in light of the fact that the clots were on the left side.  Sounds like he is describing the Left Anterior Descending artery (LAD)  and or worse yet the Left Main. It may have been Left Circumflex and Main but either way he is lucky to still be breathing.


https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3549944/       Addressing the relationship between cardiac hypertrophy and ischaemic stroke: an observational study

He needs to be careful and do what Dave Palumbo did. Dave dropped a ton of weight (which can shrink the heart) and got a CRT pacing device. For some reason John wants to avoid a CRT even after his near death experience.

"Gurus" 🤷🏼🤦

Brutal truth - thanks for the response WW

[sync pulse]

Even with the light dosage I take, the doctor monitors my hematocrit levels to avoid any issues with clotting blood and strokes. I'm at the high end, but still in the safe zone. I read that drinking grapefruit juice and lots of water helps keep it in check.

Be sure the meds you are on are compatible with grapefruit juice...

[joswift]

Be sure the meds you are on are compatible with grapefruit juice...

sertraline anti depressants dont mix with grapefruit juice

[pellius]

Brutal truth - thanks for the response WW

What is a CRT pacer? Is that just another name for a pace maker?

[Van_Bilderass]

A couple of months back a friend of mine had some headaches and went to the doctors and they did all sorts of tests to see what was causing it. His hematocrit came up high and they suspected a brain tumor, blood cancer, did a brain scan, all sorts of things. It was high because of gear of course, and he knew it, but he just didn't want to disclose it to the docs. He called me and asked if I knew some nurse who could do a phlebotomy but I don't. All I could remember was grapefruit perhaps helping lower it, as well as being properly hydrated when tested. So he ate a grapefruit a day for about 6 weeks I think and I'll be damned, it came down. He was so grateful for the tip he gifted me with 100CCs of test. What a guy.  I actually don't know if the grapefruit helped, might have, who knows.

[Primemuscle]

A couple of months back a friend of mine had some headaches and went to the doctors and they did all sorts of tests to see what was causing it. His hematocrit came up high and they suspected a brain tumor, blood cancer, did a brain scan, all sorts of things. It was high because of gear of course, and he knew it, but he just didn't want to disclose it to the docs. He called me and asked if I knew some nurse who could do a phlebotomy but I don't. All I could remember was grapefruit perhaps helping lower it, as well as being properly hydrated when tested. So he ate a grapefruit a day for about 6 weeks I think and I'll be damned, it came down. He was so grateful for the tip he gifted me with 100CCs of test. What a guy.  I actually don't know if the grapefruit helped, might have, who knows.

My hematocrit was creeping up and my doctor was concerned. Worried that he'd cut back on my test if this continued, I did a little reading up on it and discovered that some people believed grapefruit juice could bring it down. So does donating blood and as you mentioned staying well hydrated.

Awhile back, I had a medical situation that resulted in my losing a fair amount of blood. Afterwards a blood test revealed that my hematocrit was too low...in other words, I was anemic. I don't recommend what happened to me as a way to lower you hemotocrit. Better to drink a lot of water and grapefruit juice...or go donate some blood.

[Van_Bilderass]

I did a little reading up on it and discovered that some people believed grapefruit juice could bring it down. So does donating blood and as you mentioned staying well hydrated.

Yup.

Ingestion of grapefruit lowers elevated hematocrits in human subjects
R C Robbins et al. Int J Vitam Nutr Res. 1988

This study was based on in vitro observations that naringin isolated from grapefruit induced red cell aggregation and evidence that clumped red cells are removed from the circulation by phagocytosis. The effect on hematocrits of adding grapefruit to the daily diet was determined using 36 human subjects (12 F, 24 M) over a 42-day study. The hematocrits ranged from 36.5 to 55.8% at the start and 38.8% to 49.2% at the end of the study. There was a differential effect on the hematocrit. The largest decreases occurred at the highest hematocrits and the effect decreased on the intermediate hematocrits; however, the low hematocrits increased. There was no significant difference between ingesting 1/2 or 1 grapefruit per day but a decrease in hematocrit due to ingestion of grapefruit was statistically significant at the p less than 0.01 level.

On another forum one dude put a big needle in his vein and sat in the shower filling a shaker cup with blood. He couldn't get a surgery before crit came down. Highly dangerous, if for some reason he passed out that would be it.

[Bevo]

Yup.

On another forum one dude put a big needle in his vein and sat in the shower filling a shaker cup with blood. He couldn't get a surgery before crit came down. Highly dangerous, if for some reason he passed out that would be it.

Some people are just fucking nuts! This cult is filled with insane, not right in the head people

[tres_taco_combo]

whatever the tests/blood work shows: he just doesn't look healthy... nice guy and good content etc etc

[mphgrove]

A couple of months back a friend of mine had some headaches and went to the doctors and they did all sorts of tests to see what was causing it. His hematocrit came up high and they suspected a brain tumor, blood cancer, did a brain scan, all sorts of things. It was high because of gear of course, and he knew it, but he just didn't want to disclose it to the docs. He called me and asked if I knew some nurse who could do a phlebotomy but I don't. All I could remember was grapefruit perhaps helping lower it, as well as being properly hydrated when tested. So he ate a grapefruit a day for about 6 weeks I think and I'll be damned, it came down. He was so grateful for the tip he gifted me with 100CCs of test. What a guy.  I actually don't know if the grapefruit helped, might have, who knows.

Always tell your doctor. Maybe some will be judgmental and certainly they will put it in your chart for liability protection for themselves, but I never heard of an instance where the insurers cared one way or another about it (or ever told employers). I think the insurers would be in real trouble if they informed employers, but I guess I am not 100% certain about the employer link. In any case, I think a physician needs to know.

[Mr Anabolic]

whatever the tests/blood work shows: he just doesn't look healthy... nice guy and good content etc etc

As someone said above, he cannot let it go.  He needs to cut back to a TRT level and forget about training heavy.  If he doesn't, he probably won't live much longer.

[Matt]

My hematocrit was creeping up and my doctor was concerned. Worried that he'd cut back on my test if this continued, I did a little reading up on it and discovered that some people believed grapefruit juice could bring it down. So does donating blood and as you mentioned staying well hydrated.

Awhile back, I had a medical situation that resulted in my losing a fair amount of blood. Afterwards a blood test revealed that my hematocrit was too low...in other words, I was anemic. I don't recommend what happened to me as a way to lower you hemotocrit. Better to drink a lot of water and grapefruit juice...or go donate some blood.

You will live to past 90.

[njflex]

As someone said above, he cannot let it go.  He needs to cut back to a TRT level and forget about training heavy.  If he doesn't, he probably won't live much longer.

Hopefully he doesn’t,but if he did the cliche well he did what he loved at least.

[Van_Bilderass]

Always tell your doctor. Maybe some will be judgmental and certainly they will put it in your chart for liability protection for themselves, but I never heard of an instance where the insurers cared one way or another about it (or ever told employers). I think the insurers would be in real trouble if they informed employers, but I guess I am not 100% certain about the employer link. In any case, I think a physician needs to know.

This is in Europe, he wasn't worries about insurance but I guess he just didn't want this in his journal. I think if you see another doc for whatever issue you could be flagged as some type of abuser and be denied for example pain killers since all illicit drugs are the same to these types?

Reminds me of my dentist. I looked at my journal and this fucking dentist wrote, "Van B is very big and strong, I suspect some type of abuse". Like wtf does that have to do with my teeth? Lol. And how does he know I'm "strong"? Never talked lifting with him. He did say my jaw muscles were big and strong and that could account for me chipping my teeth or whatever?

[njflex]

This is in Europe, he wasn't worries about insurance but I guess he just didn't want this in his journal. I think if you see another doc for whatever issue you could be flagged as some type of abuser and be denied for example pain killers since all illicit drugs are the same to these types?

Reminds me of my dentist. I looked at my journal and this fucking dentist wrote, "Van B is very big and strong, I suspect some type of abuse". Like wtf does that have to do with my teeth? Lol. And how does he know I'm "strong"? Never talked lifting with him. He did say my jaw muscles were big and strong and that could account for me chipping my teeth or whatever?

Sure you didn’t write that in lol,,,jk van,,

[Taffin]

What is a CRT pacer? Is that just another name for a pace maker?

I think so.  I'm no expert, but I think the term 'pacemaker' is used by most people as kind of a cover-all for the various different implants that assist with different things, like controlling brady/tachycardia (aka hi/lo heart rate), defibrillation (aka bringing back from the point of death  ), etc

https://www.medtronicacademy.com/pacemaker-icd-and-crt-combined

[Van_Bilderass]

As someone said above, he cannot let it go.  He needs to cut back to a TRT level and forget about training heavy.  If he doesn't, he probably won't live much longer.

I bet John will handle this better and more rationally than most bodybuilders would. He's not talking about doing another pro show or whatever, as far as I know. He claims to be at HRT level and claimed to be at 2-300mg long before even having the heart attack. He could cut the test altogether but it might weaken his heart further, who knows.

[njflex]

I bet John will handle this better and more rationally than most bodybuilders would. He's not talking about doing another pro show or whatever, as far as I know. He claims to be at HRT level and claimed to be at 2-300mg long before even having the heart attack. He could cut the test altogether but it might weaken his heart further, who knows.

Hmmmm..interesting.

[Flexacon]

Happened to a co-worker of mine 5 years ago.  56 year old, lifting 30 years and took gear during most of that time.  One day he had a massive heart attack at work.  The paramedics got there in about 3 minutes.  They worked on him for 20 minutes and did everything they could, but he was completely flatlined the entire time.  Afterwards the paramedic told me he was probably dead before he hit the floor.

Same thing happens quite often to heavy coke users. Any chance he was doing both?

[Flexacon]

I bet John will handle this better and more rationally than most bodybuilders would. He's not talking about doing another pro show or whatever, as far as I know. He claims to be at HRT level and claimed to be at 2-300mg long before even having the heart attack. He could cut the test altogether but it might weaken his heart further, who knows.

He's already failed in that department. He had an EF reading under 35 and instead of downsizing and giving himself the best chance of recovery, he continued to hit the gym and train. At the very least he could have downsized for a few months to see what his next reading was and then decide what action to take. He is not taking the rational approach, he is going by how he "feels".

[Van_Bilderass]

He's already failed in that department. He had an EF reading under 35 and instead of downsizing and giving himself the best chance of recovery, he continued to hit the gym and train. At the very least he could have downsized for a few months to see what his next reading was and then decide what action to take. He is not taking the rational approach, he is going by how he "feels".

I am comparing him to other bodybuilders who would maybe halve their tren dosages and do more insulin instead or whatever. Fouad Abiad dropped out of a show recently because he was probably very close to kidney failure but instead of quitting he went to an off-season building phase and talks about competing more. That's what I'm comparing to.

He has some docs who seem to be telling him that he is doing the right things. I don't know if any doc told him he needed to stop training and drastically drop weight, maybe some have and he is choosing which ones to listen to?

I'm no cardiologist but I imagine that going drastically catabolic might not be the ideal course of action either? How much weight do you think he has to drop to be considered rational?

I know for a fact that cardiologists ask patients "how do you feel?" Any shortness of breath, energy, walking ok? And etc 

[oldtimer1]

I have an idea. Maybe it's crazy.  How about he follows his medical rehab that I'm sure includes cardio?  When given the okay from his doc he should walk 6 days a week. Maybe start at 5 to 10 minutes of walking and hopefully if his doctor allows he can go up to an hour a day eventually.  Lifting should be moderate weights. Make a light weight heavy by strict form and short rests between sets. Nothing that will spike blood pressure like low rep deadlifts. Drop a ton of weight and be as healthy as his damaged heart will allow. No steroids.  Put the temporary drug muscle physique permanently away. He will always have pictures to show people.

[visualizeperfection]

My hematocrit was creeping up and my doctor was concerned. Worried that he'd cut back on my test if this continued, I did a little reading up on it and discovered that some people believed grapefruit juice could bring it down. So does donating blood and as you mentioned staying well hydrated.

Awhile back, I had a medical situation that resulted in my losing a fair amount of blood. Afterwards a blood test revealed that my hematocrit was too low...in other words, I was anemic. I don't recommend what happened to me as a way to lower you hemotocrit. Better to drink a lot of water and grapefruit juice...or go donate some blood.

Reggie didn’t take it easy on you, eh?

[mphgrove]

Does he look sickly or just more or less ugly? Never been able to figure that out because he looked that way even 4 years ago at a show.