Hello everyone, I just wanted to say how good this site has been for me since my HA. It’s now 6 months since I had 3 stents fitted, I’m 60 on Sunday. I’ve done my rehab and I’m currently doing Phase 4 at the local leisure centre. I had my cardiologist appointment last week and he was very pleased with how I’m getting on. The only thing I’ve to keep an eye is my Aortic Dilation, I think that’s the correct term. It was measured at 3.8cm which he said was ok for now. I’m no longer doing the physical and pressurised job I had before. I’ve no doubt whatsoever that it was a major reason for what happened to me. I just work 3 days a week now in the office, less stress and physical exertion. I’m on less money obviously but I can manage and my healths far more important to me and my family. Now the negative points, my depression and anxiety are slowly rising, I can tell and my wife’s also noticed. I’m on 150mg Sertraline, on this for many years, along with all the other meds I’m taking. This site has helped me with it, reading all the positive stories is wonderful. I just don’t know why I’m feeling like this, perhaps I’m feeling sorry for myself. I do my exercises but I’m quickly becoming very lazy and I’ve no motivation to do things. I’m really struggling sleeping, I’m having constant dreams every night. Some are quite bizarre and upsetting, many times my wife has woken me because I’m crying out and seem distressed. I’m waking up a lot through the night as well, when I do eventually get up I’m shattered. My muscles ache and I’m really stiff, it takes me a while to come round. I’m putting it down to my meds, 80mg Statins and all the others usually prescribed for our condition. I’ve got an appointment with my doctor in a few weeks and hope they can possibly tweak a few things to make me feel better again. Sorry for putting a dampener on here when the majority of posts are really happy and rewarding.
6 months on.: Hello everyone, I just... - British Heart Fou...
6 months on.
Dear Nunk
Perhaps things will look a lot better if you can get good sleep.
Guesstimate the number of hours you need. Then try earlier bed time, different mattress, more warmth, less warmth. Until you get good sleep and less intrusive dreams.
Couple of tips that helped me are(1) do not dwell on dreams, try to ignore them immediately (2) use a tinnitus relaxer to get off to sleep. A tinnitus relaxer plays white noise overlaid by sounds of your choice such as babbling brook, my favourite is waves on a beach. It has a timer so will switch off when I am asleep.
Sooty
Thank you Sooty, I’ll certainly give them a try. Take care.
Don't apologise at all, you have no need to amongst heart friends, so be honest and open as that is what helps with the healing.
Firstly it's excellent, positive news that your physical recovery is going well and your cardiologist is happy.
You can't beat that, you can't put a price on it considering how your journey here started .
We all have bad day's, bad moments, worries, I do it can't be helped so I accept it.
Physical excercise/activity, I have to say but I found and still find this so important to my wellbeing.
It's a graft, I don't always want to do it but after a few minutes you get into the flow and before you know it, it's done and the mood changes for the better.
Why not try walking? it's absolutely ace for the body and getting outside does wonders for the soul.
I've also started meditating at home using an app from Google store called Calm (£30 a year), if anyone asked me to meditate last year I would of smiled and walked on, but it helps, it really does help massively with the mind.
Hopefully you will try walking ,try the meditation and you will see it helps.
take care and don't be hard on yourself, we are only human .
Thank you Baly, that means a lot.
Can I suggest that as part of your walking-perhaps as a separate walk for 25 minutes-that you use hiking poles. This will help you move quicker and swing your arms so its good workout especially if you can find a gentle hill. as you are using equipment you will feel as if its a proper piece of exercise and not just a stroll.
Thank you Devonian.
Hi Nunk, thank you for sharing this. I too think this forum is brilliant, makes you realise you are not alone, this is especially helpful for people living on their own. Emotions are OK, whether it be happy, sad, depressed, or full of the joys, so no need to apologise. I find since my OHS I get very emotional and want to cry at happy or sad things, and my sleep pattern is dreadful. Hopefully when you see your doctor he'll get everything sorted out. Take care.
Hello 
Happy 60th for Sunday I hope you have something nice planned
You have done so well and I am glad your job has been adjusted to suit you better that is good news
The aching could be down to the statins but the dreams I had those a lot and would wake up having panic attacks they went on for over a year to be honest , I do not seem to get as many now but I can still have them sometimes
I would talk with your Doctor depending what your Cholesterol is doing they may be able to drop the dose a bit I was on 80mg and could not tolerate it I was dropped to 40mg and I do get a bit of aching but nothing I cannot cope with and my Cholesterol levels are ok on 40mg so maybe talk with them over that and you could also mention the dreams incase one of the meds you take might do this as a good nights sleep really helps so much
Let us know how you get on -) x
Hello Nunk,
Physically, you're doing brilliantly, and working, too, a definite plus. Mentally, though, you seem to be in a difficult place, and insomnia or sleeping badly won't be helping.
I'm not qualified to give medical advice, obviously, but I can say that a potential cause of vivid/distressing dreams and disturbed sleep is beta blockers; Bisoprolol is often implicated but is not alone. I suggest that you speak with your GP as soon as possible, certainly sooner than 'in a few weeks', as you may need your dose or time of medication adjusting, if, indeed, you are taking Bisoprolol or similar. Also, some statins seem to cause muscle weakness in certain people. So you are right in thinking that your medication may need to be tweaked.
There could also be interaction between Sertraline and your heart meds (though that's doubtful) or it may no longer be effective (due to tolerance)--your GP might consider prescribing another SSRI or a different treatment altogether.
Don't forget what you have been through, either. It can take time to get our heads around medication, anxiety, dietary concerns, exercise, and all the questions we may have about our health, past and future, so allow yourself that time. It's good to know that your wife is there to help you through this.
I wish you a very happy 60th birthday 🎈🎈🎈 for next Sunday and a continuation of your good recovery.
Hi Nunk glad to hear you recovering physically I Did after ohs new valve and pacemaker fitted October 2020 after contacting endocarditis was so happy to come through it felt great but after 6 months started to feel down and anxious about everything couldn't sleep lost interest in everything could not understand as I was so grateful to have come through surgery I managed to eventually get some couciling which I didn't think was helping at the time but they suggested medication which I was totally against but wasn't getting any better so started on one type cant remember name now but didn't think they were helping but I didn't give them enough time realise that now so started on sertrline was going to give up on them until they upped dose to 150mg then slowly started to feel better just a little bit until was back to my old self slowly came of them over several months at the time I didn't think I would ever feel like I do today just came back from a lovely weekend away with my wife for her birthday walked for 5 hours sat your not alone feeling like this as we have been given a mighty scare but have come through it just hope my story shows you that you can come through this take one day at a time happy birthday for Sunday
Hi Nunk, well done on the progress and thank you for sharing. I know how the aches feel . Might be coincidence but I was also on 80mg of arvovastatin and really had a blip about 5 months post surgery. I just started to shut down with aches and pains and my cognitive ability was noticeably down , I was making loads of silly mistakes . I couldn’t reconcile my credit card and even paid it a day late and incurred charges and interest , unheard of for me . The card provider in question was very understanding and reimbursed me . It was the last straw for me , I went to GP and explained that I had stopped rehab training , could barely do my basic work around my mall holding . I aches in my joints , tendons , muscles , felt cold all the time , tinnitus..I was going really well , running 5k 2-3 times a week, doing a park run, yoga twice a week. I stopped artovastatin for a month and have been swapped to Pravastatin 40mg , only been a couple of weeks so fingers crossed.
I had some vivid dreams early on , mainly in hospital . I was balling my eyes out. My dreams centred round that I had let everyone down , it was all my fault .. it hurt ! Thankfully that has stopped . I hope you find a way forward with yours , I can imagine how wearing and what a weight it must be when it’s regular.
Another med that I think needs tweaking is my Beta blocker . I’ve noticed my blood pressure drops by the afternoon after I’ve done my outdoor work and had lunch , it goes from 115/75 to 103/66 and leaves me knackered , I end up crashing out when I’ve got more work to do 🤦🏼. Im only on 1.25mg plus half a 1.25 tablet of ramipril.. another thing tide me to keep an eye on and go back to GP.
Im now 7 months post Nstemi and quadruple bypass , will be 62 in May. Happy 60th , enjoy it immensely 👊🏻👊🏻👊🏻👍🏻.
Ive been suffering with the same mental health problems myself the past few weeks including sleep issues and dreaming a lot which can leave me feeling tired and unmotivated and not wanting to get up til mid morning. Ive got to get a handle on this as i shall be returning to work next month. I am really glad i did my 7 mile hill walk yesterday but i cant deny that all day my thoughts were tinged with negativity. Just about everything i looked triggered a negative idea. The landscape, people, animals. I wont go into the details and depress everyone.
It seems all too easy these days to be mired in black thoughts.
Yesterday evening I made a list of the things I enjoy doing as sometimes I find I forget what I like when Im in a slump and seeing them written down helps keep them in mind so i start actually doing those things rather than just watching TV.
Thank you for replying, it’s reassuring to know there’s other people feeling like I do. I like your idea of writing things down that I enjoy. I hope you’re feeling more like yourself very soon.
Ive suffered with bad anxiety and periods of depression for about 14 years now but I always come through it. Its weird as because when I am feeling ok I really can't believe how low I was or understand why sometimes.
Work was really bad for a couple of years and at one point the doctor thought I had a form of bipolar disorder. But when the manager left and got another job elsewhere my mood lifted almost overnight. I was stunned and couldn't believe how much this one person had been ruining my mental wellbeing and also that of my workmates.
I didnt mind the work I had to do so much but this manager used talk down to us like we were kids, like we were stupid and incompetent. He used to hate it when there was praise from the customer, he would spend 20 seconds on that, then spend 10 minutes telling us how rubbish we were or about how untidy the place was. Songlad he has gone. If they had him back for some reason I would have to find another job though.
I’m pleased you have the work situation sorted out. Don’t feel bad about voicing your negative concerns. Sharing your worries is important. I think the dreams are medication. My husband gets them. He didn’t at first but now he has really vivid ones, and as your wife says, they often sound distressing. Last night I woke up aware of something and my husband’s hand was hovering over my face. I took hold of his hand which made him jump so he yelled out, which made me jump! He said he was looking for the light switch! He then went back to sleep whilst I lay awake for the next 3 hours. Sleep is so important so I hope you get some advice from the doctor. My husband can’t remember any of that this morning.
Good morning.... sounds like you have a lot of mixed emotions and feelings going on. You are obviously and quite rightly, very proud of yourself for how well you have done since your heart attack but the enormity of it all happening is still with you. It is such a shock when we have something happen that has such a major impact....some of us recover quickly from the event and are lucky enough for it not to have affected mental health but for some its a very different journey. We are all so different and as I always say...it's not always the text book recovery we read about. It sounds like you might possibly have PTSD where you are recovery well from the physical trauma but not so well from the mental side of it. The good thing is that you are talking about it so perhaps a good time to talk with your doctor....perhaps try for a bit of counselling. With regard to the dreams I would think they are due to your heightened anxiety but again, worth discussion with a professional. I really do hope you get some answers or help but keep telling yourself just how well you are doing. It is still fairly early days as well....there will be better days forward and sometimes steps backwards but that doesn't mean you aren't progressing well....it just means you are still in recovery from a trauma....not just your body but your mind as well. Take care xx
Thank you Larneybuds, I can relate to so much of what you’ve said, it means a lot.
You are very welcome. Like I said, you are obviously proud of what you have achieved so far but it really is fairly early days. It's all so much to take on board and some of us just take longer to process things. I'm sure a lot of what you are feeling has been pretty standard for a lot of people so don't start thinking all sorts. Make sure you are open and honest about how you feel with your partner and have that chat with your GP but I'm sure it's a time thing and hopefully over the next few months you will start noticing more positive changes. All the best xx
Why am I made to feel I’m making my angina up?
I’m absolutely fuming! 😡 Cardiology appointment cancelled. 
vasovegal syncope 
Breathless and not being taken seriously (IMHO) 
