I joined this forum a few weeks ago and until now have been sitting In the shadows reading the odd message.
My husband suffers with unstable angina and has had around 5 bad attacks in the last two years causing his consultant to increase his medication about 6 months ago.
My husband is a very quiet private intellectual man who likes to visit his consultant alone which I truly respect. Unfortunately his last scare was only two weeks ago which I put down to his increase in alcohol brought on by the warmer weather and his taste for a 3 or 4 beers and possibly half to a full bottle of red wine most days.
My question is are there other members of this forum who also suffer with angina? My second question is does your consultant allow you to drink alcohol as I was under the impression this was forbidden as its weakens the strength of your medications.
My husband is currently taking 10 various meds daily which a few are for a prostrate problem which I could list.
I’m writing with concerns that one day my hubby will either have a stroke or a heart attack which I’m praying will never happen! Unfortunately my first husband had his first heart attack at the age of 27 and was given a quadruple heart by pass at the age of 38 after numerous attacks . 9 months later he had a coronary caused by drinking 2 bottles of whisky a day!!!
My fear is I’ve already gone through numerous heart attack situations with my first husband who unfortunately died at the age of 56 with liver cirrhosis. I’m now concerned that I could be heading for a similar situation unless I can prove in a very delicate way that alcohol is a no or in extreme small quantities.
My husband is an adorable man who does take on board my comments to reduce his alcohol intake which he does for a few weeks or possibly for a month or so after each scare.
Does the British Heart Foundation have literature that states alcohol is not recommended should you suffer with angina.
ShropshireLass
PS
I forgot to mention that my hubby is 6.2.5 tall and is not overweight at 13.7lbs.
Hello and welcome to the forum! I will say that I find your post quite worrying. A friend's brother stopped drinking before his bypass but resumed a few weeks afterwards. I wouldn't say he was an alcoholic but that he drunk pretty heavily daily. He did not make the first anniversary of his bypass.
Your husband's level of drinking will affect the medication. In particular it will be harder to stabilise HR and BP. It may also affect cholesterol.
I am not anti-drinking but have cut down since I developed angina that lead to a bypass. My surgeon's view was that he was happy for me to drink within the guidelines. He also said "as you will not be drinking a lot make sure it is good quality".
Have you spoken directly with his GP? He may be able to offer some appropriate counselling. Good luck!
Thank you so much for your message which I truly appreciate.
As the weathers here has cooled down my husband has reduced his alcohol intake, however he still does on the occasional evening, maybe 3 or 4 days as a guide drinks a couple of glasses of red wine!
Re speaking with his GP, this is definitely a 'No! As mentioned earlier my husbands a private quiet man and would not appreciate me even speaking with his GP and to be truthful I cannot see that happening unless something happened to his health.
We do sit and chat calmly about this situation and he's well aware of my fears of finding him collapsed one day which he's adamant won't happen!
What may help me is having written medical proof that alcohol reduces the strength of his medication putting him at a higher risk of a stroke or heart attack is what I'm seeking.
I think because his mother had angina and lived until she was 89 that deep down he's not concerned. However his sweet mother was a none drinker.
On the cholestrol front my husband has no problems in that department as I saw his latest tests.
I would Iike to mention that I'm a member of the British Liver Trust Forum as I have an unknown none alcoholic autoimmune liver disease, so I'm well aware of the numerous health problems caused by alcohol which I would not wish on my worse enemy! The support from there admin team and members who some have become close friends has been totally wonderful over the last 2 years .
May I finally wish you all the very best on your health front and thank you once again for responding to my request!
Hello Trish. I guess we are all different. I can't drink any alcohol because it makes my heart go into arrythmia. Even some port in a chestnut soup on Christmas Day was enough to make me feel unwell. However I'm fortunate in that I'm happy not to drink. Chocolate though is another matter!
I think it's going to be difficult to find the definitive advice you are looking for on the effects of alcohol. Have you trawled through the fine print of the medications your husband takes? Does it mention not taking alcohol anywhere? Another source might be research papers on the effect of alcohol. Somebody somewhere may have researched the issue. It might mean a trawl through Google to find anything of value.
Firstly thank you for sparing your time to write your lovely note! I too have a slight weakness for chocolate and naughty baking!
I did trawl through the web when hubby had his first attack and picked up on a few articles relating to angina/meds/and alcohol which I calmly raised with hubby and he took note of for a short while!
Since writing my message I'm starting to believe its the taste he likes and the happy feeling its gives so I do now believe I'm fighting a losing battle as no matter how much evidence I might produce he'll still carry on drinking until something comes along and kicks him up the ass!' Apologies for the terminology!
Take care my friend and sorry for wasting your time!
Hi Trish. After my HA in February, while in hospital you get asked all the usual questions about diet, lifestyle etc. I only used drink Fri, Sat & a couple on Sunday, as I'm still in full time work. If I ever had to get up early on Saturday or Sunday I'd have one or nothing. When questioned about my alcohol intake post HA, the 20 to 24 units a week I consumed was deemed too much, much to my surprise. The consultant had no problem with me drinking but said max 14 units a week. I stopped all together for 2 months, now just have 1 beer & an alcohol free one, or a glass of wine, but still only 3 days a week. I was told the beta blockers I'm now on to keep my heart rate down, can have an increased effect with alcohol, so you could end up with an abnormally low heart rate. Assuming your husband likes real ale, get him to try either Adnams low alcohol or Shipyard IPA low alcohol. You cannot tell the difference between them & normal beer.
Can I say I do not condemn my husbands drinking because I occasionally will have very small fruit gin and tonic maybe once month or a Budweiser beer in the garden as a treat as I have a none alcoholic liver disease possibly caused by long term meds!
Re hubby! As I do not accompany him when visiting his consultant I can only presume he fibs a little when asked how many units a week he drinks, last night a bottle of red wine!
Your comment about IPA beers etc ...we have a mixture of various beers, wine etc in preparation of a forthcoming party which is now on hold ! However we've always had alcohol in the house for those visitors who pop in!
I'm glad to say he is aware of my concerns when I delicately comment but I guess now it's a wait and see situation!
Thank you again for your kind words and enjoy your weekend!
I have suffered microvascular angina and sometimes it’s very difficult to get rid of it I think they do tell you not to drink with your medication so that could be so but really he should tell his doctor or cardiologist about the drink as well good luck hope it all works well
Thank you Matty for those kind words and your so correct, I honestly do not have a nasty hurtful bone in my body, however sometime I do swear to myself in my head ! Naughty I know !
Didnt realise your waiting transplant plant! I must say your blummin amazing and putting me to shame with your fitness. Hopefully next week I'll be back on track and will update you on the kilometers I'm cycling. My E bike was repaired yesterday by my son...new brake handle fitted after my accident 7 weeks ago and braking the handle in half , so I shall be raring to go!
Which hospital are you under?
Yes when this Covid is over I'm up for the water rafting experience as previously arranged! Wasn't Owlie joining us?
Hi I'm new to all this, i was diagnosed with angina in march this year I'm 43 years of age, and enjoy a beer. My cardiologist has told me not to drink at all maybe a glass of red wine and that with a meal, or maybe one beer a week. Hope everything works out.
Thank you! I totally agree, however exercise has brought on further attacks in the past hence why his consultant increased his medication about 4 months ago ! His first attack happened whilst watching the tv and no alcohol hence he informed me he has unstable angina🤔
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