Heart attack recovery and anxiety

[Sandrah01]

I'm 57 and had a sudden heart attack nearly 4 weeks. It came completely out of the blue with severe pain in my right shoulder blade and a bit of pain in the right side of my chest. 4 says after this I had an angiogram and a stent fitted. I do have a strong family history of coronary heart disease with my dad and two sisters. I've always lived pretty healthily; never smoked, rarely drink, eat pretty well and have always been active! I've started the cardiac rehab gym, been to two sessions which I'm really enjoying. I'm trying to get fitter but am hampered by arthritis in my knee for which I'm waiting for a kneecap replacement. I feel ok in myself but do get anxious at times especially when I go to bed in case I don't wake up in the morning. Irrational really as there's no reason that I won't. I don't feel I can share this with family as I don't want to worry them.

[BeKind28-]

Hello

When we have a heart attack I think for most it leaves us quite anxious with all the what if's

But your heart is no doubt functioning better than it has in quite a while as now that stent is keeping the artery open and the blood flowing around your heart and this is what you have to focus on you are better than maybe you have been before you had the heart attack and knew there was a blockage in one of your arteries

Considering you have a family history of heart disease coming away with one new stent is not bad if you want to try and see a positive in all this and while they did your angiogram and fitted your stent they will have had a good view of your heart and obviously there was nothing else that concerned them so that is good

The fear of not waking up I think is something people will relate to but again before you had the stent and no doubt you are now on medications there was maybe more chance of you not waking up than there ever will be now as you have had treatment

I have an app I put on when I am going to sleep it distracts my thoughts and helps maybe you could find something you could listen to when going to sleep

In time you will gain your confidence back and these fears will get less it is still early days

Have you spoken to the Rehab Nurses about how you feel I bet they have heard others feeling this way and will be a great reassurance

You are keeping yourself healthy and sounds like your recovery is going really well x

[Sandrah01 in reply to BeKind28-]

Thank you, yes I agree I am probably less at risk than I was before the heart attack, even though I had no awareness that anything was brewing. I'll try to see the positives and be thankful that I am ok and the medications are doing their job x

[BeKind28- in reply to Sandrah01]

x

[baly_2023]

Hi,

Yup I hear you, I was in the same position at the end of Nov 23, heart attack out the blue, strong family history of heart disease, always kept myself fit, ate healthy.

I will be positive as mentioned it seems like you had one culprit blood vessel and the rest were in good condition which is good.

Where the results of the echocardiogram good ? ie was your heart function not impacted ,if so then that's is great.

You're attending cardio rehabilitation, this is so important. Cardio rehabilitation in my opinion is all about getting your confidence back in your ability to do physical activity and thus overtime not worrying about your heart, it's also an important gateway to then get back into continuing physical excericses long term to ensure that you improve your physical, heart and mental health.

Anxiety, worry will stick around for a while , there's no magic bullet for this, however it will go from constantly being on your mind, constantly worrying about any odd pain/ sensation to such thoughts being put in a box and locked away. They do resurface on the rare occasion but become less intrusive.

When I look back at my journey, i think blimey look how far I have come, I believe you will do so too.

It's early days yet for you, so be kind to yourself, ask questions and there's a lot of us here who have been there or are there so can relate and help.

i wish you a good recovery

[Sandrah01 in reply to baly_2023]

Thank you. Yes I think I'm lucky that I only needed one stent and now the medications are doing their job. I do think about every twinge etc but hopefully with time I'll learn not to think about it all. The echocardiogram showed results, ejection fraction at 41%.

[Mikeysaab]

hi Sandrah01 what your feeling is entirely normal. Recovery is a journey and that applies to both body and mind. Like you, my outcome was as good as it gets after angioplasty with a single stent but the mind plays tricks on us. Try and focus on all the positives and what you can do which is pretty much everything you could do before but with your heart in better shape! I decided to embrace the new post HA phase of my life with changing my mind set, being positive, ‘smelling the roses’ more, keeping things simple, saying no sometimes. I also embraced the cardio rehab and when it finished joined a class at our local sports centre for ex HA ‘ees which I have to pay for but is ongoing ie doesn’t finish after 6 weeks. Lots of fun. I also volunteered to join the cardio rehab team at the hospital but it’s all very early days. Be kind to yourself, be confident and join anything where you can meet with others who have had a similar experience. As someone said to me we are all members of an elite club that you wouldn’t choose to join but let’s make the most of it.

[phollers]

Hi there. You’ve had a big scare, a very big one. Of course you will feel anxiety and the night time is the worst, at least it is for me as well as you. It is great that you are going to the cardiac rehab gym, I did that too and it was awesome. By the sound of it, you are scared. I emplore you to share your fear, expose your vulnerability and the emotion that is associated with it. Your friends and loved ones will be so thankful that you confide and share with them. Also, go online and download the calm app or something similar or go to YouTube and search for Dr Julie Smiths anxiety videos. Follow the instructions, put your headphones on and listed to the anxiety clips in the ap or online, they really do help!

Accept what has happened, you are already looking for answers, so find them and share them. There are also loads of clubs out there where you can share experiences and help others while getting help for yourself. You’ve opened up here, we are all listening and want to support you too.

Look after yourself, but don’t do it in isolation and explore where to find and receive help. You are going to wake up in the morning, so find ways that allow and enable you to get off to sleep. Sleep is the best recovery drug known, so make sure you get what you need.

We and all those who know you are here to listen.

Go well.

Peter

[devonian186]

Starting at the basics, are you the correct weight?

[Sandrah01 in reply to devonian186]

I'm 5 foot 2 and 65 kgs, I'm trying to lose around 5kgs.

[devonian186 in reply to Sandrah01]

That doesn't sound too bad. So unlikely to be at the root of your problems

[Mattd_UK]

hi sanda , the same happened to me at 45, january this year, i have very young kids and also healthy, gym goer however some of us are unlucky... my family has no history of heart disease, lung problems yes but heart blockages no...

I have found the mental side of recovery so so difficult, i have also finished the cardio rehab and now have started the extra local classes where i am the youngest by a long margin which doesn't help mentally either...

All that said , i am grateful beyond belief to the nurses and my friends and family who have been there for me, we are recoverers, we have had our hearts explored and any plumbing issues fixed... we are better off than millions out there, we were ticking time bombs and unfortunately so are so many others, we have been told what needs to keep this at bay and we are doing all we can to do that , think positive and continue to get fit and look to the future .

[Nelson71]

it took me about a year before I really regained my confidence. However with good diet, plenty of exercise, watching your alcohol intake you’ll be in better shape than before. It comes back eventually you’ve had a huge shock so just be patient

[Lowerfield_no_more]

I can't really add much to what others have said except I suggest you reconsider your decision not to share your anxiety with your family. Unless they all have considerable worries of their own to deal with or are really distant from you, they should be more than willing to help you along. And from your perspective it would better for you to do that, in my opinion, dealing with people who you have a close relationship with, rather than anonymous well meaning people on a health forum.

[Covonia]

Please stop worrying about not waking up in the morning, it’s the same for everyone. Just remember if you don’t wake up you will never know.

[Qualipop]

You are human and you are reacting exactly the same way everyone does after a heart attack. We are suddenly faced with our own mortality. It's completely normal. Look on it not as a disaster but a relief that you survived it and can now start to live again with the immediate problem treated and medication to hopefully ensure it doesn't happen again. My mum didn't survive her heart attack which also came out of the blue. I did and I'm very grateful to be here 5 years later. Mum died at 69. I had my 76th birthday yesterday, one I thought I'd never see.

[Billett]

Reading your story its as if i wrote it 4 weeks is nothing really it took me at least 6 weeks to feel a bit normal ?? I had counselling for the sleeping problem everytime i closed my eyes i woke up worrying then when i went to rehab and met others like me and talked about our experiences i learned how to cope that was June 2023 since then this January i had a planned double by pass and valve repair and clean out of another artery so i am in Rehab for that now so my advice is give it time and you will get back to where you want to be Good Luck