Hi all, I signed up to this following an unfortunate and unexpected heart attack in June.
I am and have been a very healthy and active person and prided myself in looking after myself and being able to apply myself to most sports along with doing 100s of miles each month on the mountain bike so to be told that I’d had a heart attack at the ripe old age of 35 was a bit of a shock.
What I want to try and say and give as much positivity to the circumstance that I’ve had but also give hope to those that have recently had this happen or have relatives going through is that there is light at the end of the tunnel.
It started at the end of June when I had a constant pain in my chest, thought nothing of it but it didn’t go and only got worse when exercising, I thought get a good nights sleep and all will be well in the morning. Needless to say it didn’t go and I took myself to A&E at 3am to be put through a number of tests and that I didn’t need to worry.
4 hours passed and the results were in that my levels showed a heart attack, the next 24 hours were a blur of medication, cath lab visits and a blue light transfer. All culminating in a stent being put in and to be told that there is no reason for this to happen and it just being bad luck. Whilst all this was going on Covid was in the background making it all more difficult. I was discharged the next day and the road to recovery mixed with massive amounts of emotion followed.
Fast forward 10 weeks and the important message is that physically I’m back to normal, back out on the bike, albeit at a subdued pace but with a massive amount of appreciation for everything that I can do and still do in time.
What I really want to say is that whilst it’s still difficult and is insanely challenging to portray how difficult it can be to get people to understand what it’s like, it really does get a lot easier and it gets better. I have looked at the whole situation with as much positivity as possible and that I am incredibly lucky that it was found and wasn’t more serious. If I can say anything it’s that just take it slowly and one day at a time as everyone brings something new and different and every persons recovery is unique. 😊
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Finchie85
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Congratulations on your recovery Finchie, and welcome to the forum.
When an obese smoker has a heart attack the "explanation" is pretty obvious, what's also pretty obvious is what they have to do to prevent heart attack number two!
Because these, or something similar, describe the majority of cases, the NHS does a pretty good job for patients like this in terms of advice and medication.
However, when the patient doesn't fit the standard template (for example younger, ostensibly fitter, female, etc), then I'm less convinced that the NHS does such a good job.
It's a bit disingenuous for the hospital to imply that your heart attack was random "bad luck" with no cause. They may not know the underlying cause, they may not have the time or resources to investigate, and indeed it may not even be their job (they may see themselves as delivering emergency care rather than operating a cardiac detective service!). But somewhere in all this there's an explanation.
And that's important, because without at least a working hypothesis of the cause behind your heart attack how are you going to reduce the chances of a repeat? At the moment you're relying entirely on the medication. For someone in their 70's that may be a reasonable strategy, for someone in their 30"s, with hopefully 50 years of life ahead of them, you may want to improve the odds.
What's clear is that the root causes of heart disease and heart attacks are astonishingly wide. It can be caused by gum problems, by sleep apnea, by complex gene combinations making some people very vulnerable to certain diets. Perhaps you're at the very early stages of Type 2 Diabetes and you're becoming "insulin resistant" (that's likely what cased my heart disease, I was just fortunate in having an enthusiastic and engaged GP who joined the dots). There's evidence that exposure to heavy metals and certain pollutants can cause heart disease. And the list goes on and on.
A good book that will give you some insights is "Beat The Heart Attack Gene" by a Dr B Bale. It might not give you all the answers, but it will at least allow you to have a more informed discussion with your GP.
I had a very similar 'journey' to you Finchie85 - except I was 59.
10 months on I've got over the anger and resentment ( especially the resentment!)
I've now found a new level to work at physically which, whilst a bit frustrating, I'm grateful for. It took me ages to get to this point, but I listen to my body and work with the BORG scale (and never get to the stage where I'm out of breath on my runs).
I'm up to 10k at a time - in 70 minutes whereas pre-HA I could do a 55 minute 10km. But that's the way it is!
That’s quicker than I could manage, I think my legs would give in before I got to 10k and I certainly wouldn’t be able to walk the next day.
I’ve certainly been fortunate and listened to all of the advice and guidance I’ve been given along with listening and pushing my body when it’s good to go.
The doctors have all been very positive and said that I’ll be back to where I was in terms of activity and I’ve seen that as a goal to keep me positive which has really worked.
It’s very easy to see the negative side and so showing a positive side as a ‘side affect’ to me is equally as important. I still have off days but then we are human and doubt is part of the journey.
Yes there is some very recent research from the Europe Society of Cardiology about pushing yourself. If you go here you will find the latest research which seems to support your view: academic.oup.com/eurheartj/...
Thanks for posting. Some very interesting stuff in there. As you say, it seems to promote the idea of pushing yourself to the limits - whatever they may be.
Hi there, thanks for such a positive post and congratulations on your progress. It gives me hope- I am at the early part of your journey having recently being diagnosed as having had a silent heart attack and after tests am now waiting to have bypass op. Was running three times a week and did not know anything had happened! Looking forward to getting to where you are now. The mental side of it is what’s most difficult. Keep up the good work.
So good to hear an upbeat message. My story is similar to yours except I was 74 when I had my MI. I am not a runner but I enjoyed cycling and living in Devon that means hills! I did circuit training twice a week and walked my dogs every day. I had no early warning signs but suddenly had massive chest pain and being taken to A&E and an emergency angioplasty and two stents.
My recovery has been slow but I can now cycle but not the steep hills. I have started circuit training and perhaps I need to learn that I am now 75 not 35!
My reason for replying is to say yes they should look for a reason for your MI. It might be genetic but in my case it is because my blood is "sticky" - the red blood cells are too large.
Thanks for the reply, they are doing a number of tests to make sure but have said the most likely cause is genetics due to there being no risk factors.
I’ve been referred for more detailed tests on my blood to make sure the medication is right but the cardiologist is confident that with monitoring, medication and keeping myself fit and healthy that it shouldn’t have any long term implications, this has helped with the positive steps and being able to keep the mental side at bay.
I was so glad to have follow up tests when at 51 I had heart attack followed by quadruple heart bypass. I had been running that morning for goodness sake!!! My brother was 35 when he had heart attack number 1 so to discover it is genetic helped me. I now understand the why even if research into my genetic condition is early stages. Good luck & thanks for your positive story.
Thanks for your post I’m glad u r doin well and you are right it’s hAving the positivity did you have any damage to the heart yes heart attacks can happen to anyone at anytime and the affects of it can mk us think of how to appreciate things more and enjoy things even if it’s at a slower pace wishing you all the best and many years of health
Hi there, I have been very lucky as I have got only a tiny bit of damage, the cardiologist told me that had he not known my history he’d have said my heart was normal both in function and scar tissue. Following the consultation gave me far more of a positive outlook as prior to this google as my own worst enemy both in searching long term affects, life expectancy and what all the letters actually meant.
I know look at it as a positive that it’s been found, it wasn’t worse and I have the opportunity to appreciate the things that most (including myself) overlook.
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