Anxious

[Nik_Nok]

Hi I’m Nicky,

I’m 49 and had a heart attack on 23.03.23. I had a stent fitted. I’m feeling anxious and frightened. My lifestyle wasn’t great and I had huge amount of stress at work. I’m so grateful to still be here.

[Hrty]

Firstly welcome to the group although, I expect like many of us, it's not one you'd choose to join. Anxiety is normal, my rehab nurses likened it to PTSD, as you've been through something traumatic and unsettling. It takes time to heal emotionally, I still have bad days 4 months on, but things do get better. Sometimes it's hard for us to see the improvements we are making, but others do notice.

Looking back I am so much better than I was when I came out of hospital. Rehab was a godsend and helped massively. I finished that last week and it was strange not going this morning. I'm now waiting for my Phase 4 referral to come through. Chatting to others on here helps, a problem shared and all that, and I've started going for a walk with someone who was in hospital with me.

The good thing is we are all still here.

Take care and all the best for your continues recovery.

[Jpcanoe in reply to Hrty]

This is a reply to Hrty. I had a CABG Feb '22. The Cardiac rehab team were brilliant albeit conducted via a zoom link!!!However phase 4 never got off the ground. I was told that so many of the satellite gyms providing phase 4rehab had shut due to the pandemic.

I told the rehab Physiotherapist who advised to keep on exercising gently with an eye on the heart rate and BP as we did during rehab.

Good luck with your continuing progress.

A friend of mine had a CABG 3 weeks after mine at a different hospital that didn't provide any Cardiac rehab!!! I volunteer myself as very luck with the service I received.

[Hrty in reply to Jpcanoe]

We had a lovely volunteer for our rehab. I am hopeful for phase 4 happening. We effectively have two sports centres in town although I have opted for rehab at a smaller hospital a few miles away. It was recommended by the cardio and rehab nurses. The quality and availability of rehab does seem to vary a lot around the country which is a real shame as I found it really enjoyable and very useful. I wasn't in a good place emotionally when I started.

[Chappychap]

"I’m feeling anxious and frightened. My lifestyle wasn’t great"

There's good news and there's bad news. Let's get the bad news out of the way first.

Our heart disease is both incurable and progressive. That means we have it for life and left to it's own devices it will just keep getting worse. Furthermore, even though your stent was possibly life saving in that it opened up a blood supply that had been stopped during a heart attack, it can't prevent a future problem elsewhere. After all, stents are measured in millimetres, arteries are measured in metres.

But now for some good news. With a little bit of luck and quite a lot of hard work most of us can slow down the progress of our heart disease to an absolute crawl.

However, it's important to realise that we have two, and only two, weapons in our armoury. We have medication and we have life style changes. There is nothing else. Stents or even bypass surgery won't cure us, at best they give us a second chance. So we have to maximise the benefit from those two critical things, medication and life style changes.

Starting with medication. Many of these drugs have side effects, but often our bodies can get used to them given time and patience. The important thing is to never simply abandon medication (nearly a third of all the meds prescribed in the UK are chucked away). If you encounter a side effect problem talk to your GP and discuss amending the dose or looking at alternatives. But be realistic, some side effects are irritating (like the well known "Ramipril cough" for example) but that may be a price worth paying.

Finally comes life style changes. And this is where you need to make your anxiety and fear work for you. Currently your motivation to make some tough changes is at an all time high. Don't let that opportunity pass.

Your hospital (not your GP) should invite you to attend a six week cardio rehab course. This will give you loads of tailored information on life style. For most of us it's the usual suspects, smoking (and vaping), over weight, bad diet, lack of exercise. But for a small minority the trigger may have been more subtle life style issues such as gum disease, sleep apnea, or atmospheric pollution.

The really good news is that if you can seize this moment and make some significant changes, (in other words quit smoking, maintain a healthy BMI, stick with the NHS recommended minimum of 150 minutes of exercise per week, eat a healthy diet, get your blood pressure, HbA1c scores, and lipid levels back into the safe zone) then you can get your statistically measured risk of another heart attack or stroke back down to close that of the general population.

It's not easy, but for the amazing prize of extra years of healthy active life, surely it's worth digging deep.

Good luck!

[EU95PTM]

Hi there, I’m sorry that you have had a HA. I’m 52, female, and had a heart attack 11 months ago. It was a huge shock given my relatively young age, but came at an acutely stressful time in my life, so I am certain that stress was a contributing factor.

It’s very early days for you so for now it is important to rest and don’t do anything strenuous. If you are offered cardiac rehab then that is the best way to regain your confidence in a supportive environment. It was a turning point for me and for many others here.

Since my heart attack I have reevaluated what is important in my life, so I have increased the amount of exercise I do, try to watch my diet, and I’ve reduced stress, which meant turning down a new job that I was due to start and stepping back from anything that previously would stress me out.

I wish you well with your recovery and do ask if you have any questions.

[Nik_Nok in reply to EU95PTM]

thank you for your support

[fedupoffeelingtired]

hello. i had a HA and one stent aged 47, fairly active good diet, bad genes. It was a huge shock and I thought life would never be the same again. Don't be hard on yourself. Relax and let your body start the recovery process. It will take time but you will find life will get easier and get back to normal. You may need to make changes going forward eg exercise, diet and reducing stress. focus on one thing at a time when you are happy with the changes you have made move on to the next thing. put aside time for yourself, even if its half an hour every evening. have a soak in the bath with something nice and smelly, read a book, go for a walk or a swim, ring up your best friend and have a chat about how you are feeling. Im 4 years post HA, thankfully i had no serious damage to my heart. im still learning how to deal with stress, but thankful I have been given a second opportunity to do so xx

[Valentina98]

Hi Nicky

I had my 2nd Heart Attack a couple of days before you on the 19/03. I've also had a stent.

It's completely normal for you to feel anxious, I know I do.

I'm a teacher and although I'm young and I run, I'm not exactly the healthiest person.

Go to Cardic Rehab when offered and post on here we'll all help if we can.

V x