Back home after heart attack and Stent fitted - any advice

[trebormonks]

Hi all first day back at home after a shock heart attack. I'm 56 fit healthy and eat well so it's been a bit scary - any top tips .....

[shopman]

Do as you're told. Have they given you any idea of an exercise regime? Further dietary advice? Most important take your medication and to be on the safe side keep a GTN spray handy.

[NorthantsSteve]

Hey trebormonks. I was in your shoes (age 55) 3 years ago. No other risk indicators so a bit of a shock. Now 3 years on I feel pretty good. Lost a few pounds, eat better (but didn’t have a bad diet in the first place), exercise more and generally have a much better relationship with work and life. I knew that’s what I should have been doing prior to the HA but could never focus on getting work/life balance right. In terms of top tips - take it easy and as soon as you get the opportunity go to cardio rehab. Focus on doing the right kind of exercise and enough of it and make sure your diet follows BHF guidance. I’m a compliant sort of person so I take my meds but always want to know what I’m socking back and why. I read a message on this forum a while back and it has really helped me to stay (mainly positive). They suggested deliberately recognising every time you do something to improve your health as a score to you and one against a future recurrence. It sounds daft - but it has helped me. If you’re like me your road to recovery may be a little bumpy as you get to grips with your HA psychologically and as your body gets used to the meds. If you need help or support or somewhere to moan - this forum is always here. Good luck.

[daveofpensby]

Fully endorse what shopman has said plus try and keep a positive mind and as soon as you can join the cardio rehab scheme loads of info there and it also builds your confidence up because what I found after my H A was my confidence was shattered

Good luck take it one day at a time

[MichaelJH Heart Star]

The renowned cardiologist Samer Nashef classes smoking as the highest risk factor for heart disease. He himself was a smoker until a heart scare made him rethink. Cardiologists are human as well!

[SpiritoftheFloyd in reply to MichaelJH]

I read his book The Angina Monologues a few weeks ago, very interesting read, especially as he went into a bit of denial about his own heart health, cardiologists are indeed human after all!

[MichaelJH Heart Star in reply to SpiritoftheFloyd]

And both his parents succumbed to heart disease.

During my twenties I had a GP who smoked during consultations! He told me smoking was bad for diabetics! 😁 He also allegedly drank over a bottle of whiskey a week. Broke all the guidelines and lived to 81.

[SpiritoftheFloyd in reply to MichaelJH]

They did indeed, he catalogued their heart issues but only referring to then by their initials, at the end he finished with A and H were my parents

Back in the early 1980s my GP was a pipe smoker - when you walked into his room you couldn't see him through the smoke, the pipe almost never left his mouth! Years later after he had retired I was in a pub/restaurant when I spotted a cloud of smoke - yep it was him - still puffing away!

[MichaelJH Heart Star in reply to SpiritoftheFloyd]

Mine was probably preserved by whiskey opening the arteries that the smoking narrowed. I was in hospital once and the patient in the next bed had had a heart attack. He had drunk whiskey and they thought it may have saved his life. Whiskey on prescription maybe? 😁

[SpiritoftheFloyd]

Hi trebormonks

Welcome to the club.

I had a heart attack and cardiac arrest in December 2018 - one stent fitted, aged 64 at the time.

It's quite a shock, and then there's a lot to take on board about the future.

I was overweight, smoked heavily, bad diet almost no exercise, so the only way is up. Stopped smoking, stopped drinking for 6 months, lost 40 lbs, changed diet completely and started excising. At the time of event I was diagnosed as having an EF of 30% therefore Heart Failure. I was discharged by consultant in October, my EF is up to between 40-45%, was told to keep on doing what I've been doing.

You haven't said what meds you're on - but I found them a bit of a bug to start with, then once my body got used to them everything was fine.

The effect it has on your mind is something that should not be under-estimated, if you feel you are struggling to cope with what happened, speak to your doctor, the BHF estimates that 15% of heart patients develop PTSD, below is the link to the NHS page on the subject:-

nhs.uk/conditions/post-trau...

Get yourself onto Cardio Rehab - it's the best thing I did. After the HA I was afraid to do anything in case I had another HA - cardio rehab gets you going forward again, you're surrounded by trained NHS staff who monitor you so I felt safe doing rehab in the gym.

As it's early days, don't try to overdo it, listen to you body. As Thatwasunexpected said:- The point of all that is that a heart attack isn't necessarily the end of life as you knew it - it can equally be the start of something! - I completely agree with his comment, although if you'd have said that to me on December 29 last year I wouldn't have believed you!

Best wishes for the future

[fergusthegreat]

I'm exactly the same age as you and also a member of the 1 stent club, however my mile and a half time is currently 9.30 but unfortunately a high fitness level has not proved as cardio protective as I'd hoped.

My username name should be

Reallyfu**ingunexpected 😂

Totally agree about not feeling guilty about the odd indulgence but you should really try to give up the smokes!

[Hidden in reply to fergusthegreat]

That's an impressive time indeed! I agree it is a massive blow, when one has tried to do the right thing all their life and then something like this happens, especially considering the number of people who do everything wrong and don't seem to be affected. Just goes to show that doing all that exercise will not stop those arteries blocking up, however I firmly believe that what it probably did do was enable your heart to keep going under the stress of oxygen starvation and HA (I didn't actually have the HA thankfully). I was told during Rehab that we should all keep our chins up and remember that for each of us who have survived to attend the course, there are 3 who are no longer around. Not sure if those figures are correct but it is a sobering thought. I firmly believe that if I had not exercised during my life I might not be around now, and that it is absolutely key to do as much as you reasonably can.

[Bumblebee29]

So reassuring to read this so thank you. Like Trebormonks I am a very new member with a bit of a journey ahead of me.

[Scout2017]

Just to echo all the great advice above and to say 'stay positive'. I had one doc early on look me in the eye and say 'this doesn't have to reduce your life expectancy' and it certainly can't do any harm to take that approach. 9 months on from my heart attack, cardiac arrest on the living room carpet and 2 stents I can honestly say I haven't felt this well in years - I had a magical hour running with the dog in the frost with the most beautiful dawn this morning. Every day is a blessing.

[Khonkaen]

Be patient and be kind to yourself, plenty of rest, it is different for everyone, I am 7 1/2 months in after 1 single, 1 double stent, still not 100% but getting there. I have known others who thought it was a cakewalk. I think the key is exercise and if you are lucky enough to get offered rehab, bite their hands off.

Good luck and keep us informed of your progress.

[daveuk96]

Firstly let me say I glad you survived this ordeal and got the treatment you needed!! I had a similar experience in 2014 but the main difference was I was a life long smoker . I was 47 and has smoked since I was 11. I hope the hospital have provided you the advice on what dietary changes you may need. I know each case is different but for me apart from extra medication I have had no ill effects from my heart attack and Stent .

[NorthantsSteve]

Remembered a few more top tips on my way into work. Take out a pre payment prescription and check your insurance policies/mortgages for critical illness cover. Oh and when you go out in the cold out a scarf over your mouth!

[Bluenile]

7 weeks after heart attack and I have three stents. No heart type issues but quite tired at times of the day. I can have sleep disturbance but it tends to be wakening up at 4am and trying to fix the world in my head. I made a conscious effort and unfollowed loads of news on my twitter. I now just read stuff that makes me smile. The meds have taken a bit of getting used to but I'm better at avoiding taking anything on an empty stomach. Mentally I'm getting stronger. I picked up a chill over Christmas and I had to learn what was a normal body response and not something to do with the meds. I think one side effect can be the chills or cold like symptoms but I was 5 weeks in and everyone else in the house was sneezing so I'm coming through that. Haven't heardanything from rehab yet but I will engage when they contact me.

[Billett]

My first night home i could not sleep after being in hospital and i was worried about going out on my own, walking etc but take every day at a time and it gets easier but if you can get to cardiac rehab go for it it gives you great confidence to do anything you want

[Turnipgirl in reply to Billett]

I remember being worried about going home from the hospital after I had blood clots in the lungs back in 2017 and had told sister about how I was feeling worried and said it was because I was frightened of taking the anticoagulant medication and she reassured me I would be fine and I was!