Out of hospital after heart attack 4 days ago

This is my first post. I had a heart attack four days ago and have just been discharged from St Thomas' Hospital in London. I received fantastic care and I know I will have some of the best ongoing support from the cardiology team there. Additionally though, I'm keen to hear any useful tips as I'm just starting out on a very different journey than I thought I was on at the beginning of the week! I am taking a fair amount of medication for my coronary heart disease as well as my hypertension, so any thoughts and advice on how to cope with all of this would be greatly appreciated.

[Zena166]

Hi Bootsiebiz. Welcome to the forum. Glad to hear you had good care. You should be offered a cardiac rehab course in the coming weeks which is a combination of exercise and education about different heart related issues. In the meantime if they have given you a manual follow the exercise guidelines. Doing small amount of exercise like walking on the spot for 1-2 minutes and gradually increasing daily. Also starting to walk outside. Again just doing small amount. I started by walking outside the front going 100 yards then back building to 5 minutes and then 30 minutes over 6 weeks. Medication sometimes takes a bit of getting used to. However there are always alternatives if they don’t suit. Lifestyle is an important factor as well as exercise healthy eating is also very important I follow a very strict vegan diet and have lost 32kgs which I needed to do!! The BHF website have excellent resources as well as a helpline. This site is great for advice as well. So I wish you well on your journey. Do take care. Zena

[Hidden in reply to Zena166]

Hi Zena. Thanks so much for your advice!

[gunnerred67 in reply to Hidden]

Hi bootsiebiz. I am at the hospital tomorrow for the cardiac assessment for rehab. I had a heart attack and stent inserted a month ago. I feel pretty good. Still get breathless if I do too much but I am doing light gardening and helping the wife with shopping and housework. See what happens tomorrow. All the best to you.

[Hidden in reply to gunnerred67]

Hi. Thanks for the message. Hope all goes well for you at rehab!

[gunnerred67 in reply to Hidden]

Hi, rehab went really well. Very relaxed and no pressure. I don't know if I will last 8 weeks though.

[Hidden in reply to gunnerred67]

Hi, great to hear it went well!