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Shooting and Coronary Stents


bgavin

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Does anybody have input about shooting rifle or shotgun after getting heart stents?

I had a heart attack over the weekend and they inserted two stents.
One in the "widow maker" LAD and the other in a different coronary artery.

My question is about the recoil from 30-06, 45-70 or 12-gauge dislodging stents.

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Wow! Glad you're okay. I have no info on shooting and stints. I just wanted to say that I am happy to see things didn't turn out worse.

 

What does your doctor say? That's who  I would ask.

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I'm not circumventing the doctor, just asking here from those who have done this before.

Here in CA my doctors are all "English-Not-As-First-Language" so the left hand conflicts with the right hand.
Two weeks before the heart attack, I had a complete and comprehensive cardiac workup done, with an "all clear" result.

They never found the 90% blocked LAD, nor the 85% blocked 1st Diag, nor the 70% blocked Mid and Dist RCA, nor the 90% blocked R-PDA.

My question is about dislodging stents from heavy recoil rifles.
If I get a large enough response sampling, I should see a trend.

The conservative/timid approach is giving up shooting rifles and trap... not something I particularly favor.
 

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My dad had almost the same thing happen , he was going to give my mom a kidney, was all cleared , they even checked out his heart and he had a heart attack. Got stints and I’m pretty sure they wanted no recoil for a while. But as stated elsewhere this advice is worth what your paying for it . Luckily my mom got a kidney from a cousin that they felt was a better match 

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This question is asked a lot on various forums. I have talked to cardiology friends, and the report I get back is it is okay anywhere from 6 mos. to a year out. They said low recoil shooting is not a problem, but shotgun recoil should be avoided for a minimum of 6 mos., even longer if you are left handed. I'd check with your cardiologist.

 

FWIW, when I was living in WA, I knew a couple of active trap shooters who had stents placed. One was back on the range in a month, the other was 6 mos.

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First, glad you made it through the experience.  I had 2 stents put in after I went skiing and felt some pressure on my chest at lunch.  Went into the Hospital right then.  It was the  "widow-maker".  99% and 95% blockage, No symptoms before that.  I had moderate/high blood pressure. That was in Jan. 2020 and just turned 59 then.  Doc said 6-12 months for the stents to "set".  I resumed doing CAS in June 2020 with no negative affects after a follow-up. By the way I shoot right handed.  Your mileage will vary.  The Doc cleared me when she felt the stents "took" and I was healthy enough to pick up my life.  Only you and your Doc can decide what is best for you.  Give yourself plenty of recuperation time!  

Doc said you can change/affect 2 of 3 things as you grow older and want to live longer, food and exercise NOT TIME.  Good advice!  Been getting better ever since.

Happy Trails!  CK :)

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Just super glad you are still with us!

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As others have said... listen to your doctor

My experience was 2 stents and lifestyle changes afterwards.

My cardiologist at the time was big into idpa, trap and 3 gun.

told me minimum 3 months before heavy guns (45-70, 338 etc.) but shotgun was never mentioned. I still took three months off though.

BTW you will not believe how much those blockages were affecting you until you have had the stents in for a few weeks. You will feel like new but should still take it easy for a while.

Regards and God Bless

:FlagAm:  :FlagAm:  :FlagAm:

Gateway Kid

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I'm right handed, and the heaviest recoil gun is my trap gun.

I load the '06 down with low recoil plinker loads
My first black eye as a kid was from Dad's '06 at the gravel pit... I'm not a fan of heavy recoil.
I want the grand kids to enjoy the '06... not fear it.

I'm shooting 22LR until I can get centerfire components again.
No recoil at all from the Henry Frontier.
 

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Dang, bg!!  Not a fun way to spend a weekend, at all!  :huh:

 

But darned good to see that you made it... now, do whatever you need to, and plan on stayin' around a while~!  

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Glad to see that it worked out okay.  At our club we have a category called Outlaw, this is where you shoot everything from the hip.  We have 5 members who enter in this category. Two summers ago, I took a fall and injured my right shoulder and couldn't even hold a handgun straight out at shoulder height.  For the rest of that shooting season, I entered in the Outlaw category.  Missed more targets, but hey, I was still shooting. When you get to the knockdown shotgun targets, you shoot 4 rounds from the hip and if any are still standing, you shoot them from the shoulder, otherwise you could end up slowing the stage down. What I did with the shotgun for my circumstances, I just took a miss and, since I don't compete, it was no big deal.  It was kind of neat shooting the rifle like Chuck Connors though.

 

Take care Pard.

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3 hours ago, Abilene Slim SASS 81783 said:

Wow, glad you’re ok!

 

My advice is not to seek medical advice in a saloon. You get what you pay for here. Ask your doc, that’s why he gets the big bucks. 

 

 I'm glad too :)

 

 .................. at least you get better advice here than from Dr facebook ........  ;)

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First stent in 2011 and two more in 2018.  Have shot some pretty intense cartridges after the break-in period.  That said, be sure your doc is aware and notify them if you start having any semblance of pre-stent symptoms.   Mostly, I avoid the heavy hitters anyway as its kinda rough of 75ish shoulders.

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PLUS ONE for ALL THE FOLKS that tell you to ask your Doc.  ASK.  YOUR.   CARDIOLOGIST!!

 

However, I have 5.  I didn't shoot anything for about 3 Months.  That was a couple of Lustrum ago.  I shoot 12Ga all the time and have for a long time.  I shoot "cowboy" level loads 'cause I don't like recoil anyway.  Recoil Sux.  But:

 

ASK   YOUR   CARDIOLOGIST

 

PS:  If your Cardio doesn't have a clue, find another Cardio to talk to. 

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Howdy bgavin.

 

I have 5 heart stents and 2 neck stents...... plus, in August 2019, I had a double bypass and Aorta Valve replacement.   I now have a genuine

pig valve in my heart.

 

With ALL those stents, I still continued to shoot my 97 and even managed to get some videos of going under 4 seconds on a few runs.

 

After the open heart surgery, I did follow the Docs advice and didn't shoot any SG ammo for a year.

 

As others have mentioned, get advice from YOUR cardiologist.     I sure hope all goes well with you.

 

If ya want, give me a call and I'll try to give you encouraging information.

 

..........Widder.  (865 / 696-1996)

 

 

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I was wondering if that is how you chose your alias...

Both cardiologists that worked on me are the "English Not First Language" types.
Hard to understand, abrupt, terse, and evasive... luck of the draw.

I very much appreciated our last long-winded phone call... just might do that again just for the enjoyment of it.
I wish I was 20 years younger, and another 20 years smarter, so I could learn from that Marlin and 22 head of yours.

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7 hours ago, Okie Sawbones, SASS #77381 said:

This question is asked a lot on various forums. I have talked to cardiology friends, and the report I get back is it is okay anywhere from 6 mos. to a year out. They said low recoil shooting is not a problem, but shotgun recoil should be avoided for a minimum of 6 mos., even longer if you are left handed. I'd check with your cardiologist.

 

FWIW, when I was living in WA, I knew a couple of active trap shooters who had stents placed. One was back on the range in a month, the other was 6 mos.

OP, listen to Okie!

He is a MD.....

OLG 

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OLG, I am asking here for exactly the reasons you state.
I'm fed up with English-Not-First-Language doctors... cardiologist or otherwise.
The left hand is clueless about the right hand, and I will be damned if I will roll over and let one of these fools kill me.

One of these fools order 3x more diuretics for me, while the other doctor said "get him off diuretics".
Another fool ordered me for a stress test right after diagnosing me as having a LAD infarct.
My two nurse daughters were apoplectic about the lack of care and follow through.


50% of all doctors graduate in the bottom half of their class, but are still called "doctor".
Speak with any seasoned nurse, and she will tell you how many times she had to go toe-to-toe with the doctor to keep him from killing her patient.

My gut tells me no heavy recoil for at least half a year.
I also figure a good number of cowboys here have already ridden in this rodeo, and have some hard earned experience.

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On 1/19/2022 at 10:52 AM, bgavin said:

I'm not circumventing the doctor, just asking here from those who have done this before.

Here in CA my doctors are all "English-Not-As-First-Language" so the left hand conflicts with the right hand.
Two weeks before the heart attack, I had a complete and comprehensive cardiac workup done, with an "all clear" result.

They never found the 90% blocked LAD, nor the 85% blocked 1st Diag, nor the 70% blocked Mid and Dist RCA, nor the 90% blocked R-PDA.

My question is about dislodging stents from heavy recoil rifles.
If I get a large enough response sampling, I should see a trend.

The conservative/timid approach is giving up shooting rifles and trap... not something I particularly favor.
 

 

Glad you are still on the right side of the grass. 

 

You really need to find a new doctor.  Guy I used to work with was feeling run down. GP sent him to a cardiologist. Cardio doc said nothing wrong. this went on for 6 months. He finally went to a different cardio doc and the next day had a quad bypass. Second doc told him he was lucky he wasn't dead. He never went back to the first cardio doc.

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I belong to a major HMO here.
All the doctors at our regular facility are English-Not-As-First-Language types.
They have a common denominator of being assholes.

We looked at the next closest facility, found the same thing.

I have diffuse heart disease, meaning plaque is widespread.
Not all can be rectified with stents or bypass, so they are trying to reduce it with statins.

After this adventure, I do know what is going to kill me in the end.
There is no longer any mystery about that.

IT: I have sufficient pistols to do Josie Wales.
Excellent suggestion... as I forgot all about my coach gun recoil for standard matches...

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12 hours ago, bgavin said:

I have diffuse heart disease, meaning plaque is widespread.
Not all can be rectified with stents or bypass, so they are trying to reduce it with statins.

I have the same thing but am asymptomatic. Family history of high cholesterol and I'd had high numbers for decades. I'm 6 feet tall and weigh 173 pounds. Diet and exercise have virtually no effect on it, so I've been treated with statins for over 35 years, which have barely kept the numbers out of the OMG! range. Untreated, my LDL alone was over 350.

 

Cardiologist added a drug called Praluent to my daily dose of 80mg of Atorvistatin (Lipitor). It's an injectable solution I give myself twice a month. My LDL dropped to 50, which is something I've never seen since this adventure began. It can actually reverse the amount of plaque already in my system. Not a lot, but that's better than just slowing the buildup. It's expensive, but since I'm considered high risk for heart attack and stroke, plus my income is not that high, I qualify for a program that pays for it. You might look into it and see if it would help your situation.

 

Good luck!

 

 

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Thanks!
Is your injection subcutaneous (fat) or in the muscle?

Stable plaque forms a hard inner surface over the plaque deposit in the artery.
I wonder how your injection works.
It seems if the hard shell is removed to expose the underlying plaque, there is more risk of chunks coming loose and causing a blockage.

They jumped me from 20 Lovastatin to 80 Liptor after last weekend's adventure.
I believe this is an attempt to do something with the three arteries they did not fix.

 

[ edit ]

I found the data sheet, and it is subcutaneous use.

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On 1/19/2022 at 8:52 AM, bgavin said:

I'm not circumventing the doctor, just asking here from those who have done this before.

Here in CA my doctors are all "English-Not-As-First-Language" so the left hand conflicts with the right hand.
Two weeks before the heart attack, I had a complete and comprehensive cardiac workup done, with an "all clear" result.

They never found the 90% blocked LAD, nor the 85% blocked 1st Diag, nor the 70% blocked Mid and Dist RCA, nor the 90% blocked R-PDA.

My question is about dislodging stents from heavy recoil rifles.
If I get a large enough response sampling, I should see a trend.

The conservative/timid approach is giving up shooting rifles and trap... not something I particularly favor.
 

For what it's worth, my brother in law had 2 stents put in a year ago.  His cardiologist and cardiac surgeon told him to avoid all sudden jarring movement, like shooting or falling.   But you ought to ask your MD, who knows your individual condition and situation. 

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