meds after heart attack

[Romaroo123]

hi had a heart attack 5 months ago now. Am on 8tablets a day (the usual concoction) my question is canny medication make me feel really rough. I just feel rotten and can’t seem to shrug it off

[Happyrosie]

people’s reactions to medication can certainly vary, and there are many alternatives.

It can, too, take a while for your body to adjust to changes.

My suggestion would be for you to talk to the pharmacist employed by your doctor’s group of surgeries, who have access to your medical records. That person could then advise your doctor as to the best combination.

[Fraz3]

100% yes.... We are all given roughly the same concoction of pills. Some can sail through with no issues and others can't. Sadly, I was one of those who can't.. Can be very frustrating to get your voice heard at times. But it's your health, and your quality of life which is being affected. I spoke at length with the cardiac nurses at my rehab sessions, who listened and very kindly spoke on my behalf to the cardiologist. Managed to sort different options for me. Would have been stuck otherwise.

Wish you all the best.

[Qualipop]

Oh my word, yes they can. I eventually had every single one of my tablets changed because of unbearable side effects. The biggest culprit for me was bisopralol which made me feel like a zombie, no energy, absolute exhaustion. It turned out it was dropping my BP and heart rate much too low, another one gave me hallucinations, others bad stomach pain. It's difficult to pin down just what is causing what. Talk to your G P.

[Aaron_Stampler in reply to Qualipop]

Hi Qualipop. Can you say which ones gave you hallucinations? I'm on all the heart meds and have the occasional hallucination.

[Qualipop in reply to Aaron_Stampler]

It was very difficult to pinpoint and we are still not 100 certain. At first they thought it was Elantan ( I don't even remember taking that) but when I had other problems with bisopralol and it was stopped I never had any more hallucinations after about 4 days after stopping it. I had tried taking it at night and that was when they started.

[Aaron_Stampler in reply to Qualipop]

Thanks for the reply. I'm not on elantan but am on bisoprolol. I'll mention this at my next appointment. Thank you 👍

[Qualipop in reply to Aaron_Stampler]

I didn't have them when I took it during the day; just the exhaustion and low heart rate so it was suggested to take it at night and that's when the hallucinations started. Huge black worms crawling all over the walls and ceilings.

[Aaron_Stampler in reply to Qualipop]

Similar here. Worms on ceiling, bats flying around and shapes morphing into animals. Not scary, just a bit weird!I take a small dose am and larger at night cos it makes me drowsy.

Good to know it's not just me if you know what I mean.

[Qualipop in reply to Aaron_Stampler]

Completely understand. GP should be able to juggle your timings. An old friend used to see her long dead dogs standing by her. She'd phone me and say "I'm having those illuminations again"! Yes, it was her tablets. I've just gone up to the full dose of new beta blockers so praying they don't start them again.

[Richie34]

100% yes from me, I've never felt so rough since being prescribed my personal cocktail of medication in Jan 25 (beta blocker, nitrate, statin 2 x, aspirin, clopidogrel, GTN. I bruise more easily, my acid reflux is utterly miserable making my sternum and chest ache despite being prescribed a PPI (lansoprazole). So rough/sore have I felt since starting them in Jan this year I've contemplated binning the lot but I've persevered in the vain hope my body will adapt. On the positive they have brought down my BP, the b-blocker(bisoprolol) bringing down my pulse to bradycardic levels (low 50bpm) so the dose has been halved to 1.25mg.

[Qualipop in reply to Richie34]

Give them 2 months for side effects to settle if you can but if they continue do look into trying to change them one at a time. Ignore the bruising, that's normal with clopidogrel. That should be stopped after 12 months. You could try famotidine instead of lansoprazole. My stomach's much better on that.

[Richie34 in reply to Qualipop]

Thank you, yes clopidogrel stops in Jan 26 (counting the days already), I'd like to just stay on Ezetimibe to keep the cholesterol in check, as for the others they are exerting a clinical benefit but at a cost (worsens GERD (aspirin), hot flushes (likely ISMN) and muscular aches-(good old atorvastatin). Famotidine a good call,could probably use it as an adjunct to the PPI. 👍

[Qualipop in reply to Richie34]

Oh the aspirin crucified my stomach. I asked my GP to change it to the enteric coated variety. It doesn't work quite as well but the difference is minimal and I no longer have stomach problems. I had to stop atorvastatin for the same reason but simvastatin is fine. Clopidogrel was also bad on my stomach but the bruising just amused me. I have bad balance anyway from spinal problems but I looked like I'd done 8 rounds with Mike Tyson. I had trouble with almost everything.

My husband has had silent gerd for years (no symptoms at all) which has almost destroyed his voice box. They wanted him on one of the azoles but he refused. Sounds like a frog now. My only sign of the heart attack was 3 days of horrific indigestion so every attack of stomach pain made me feel as if it was another heart attack.. Good luck.

[Richie34 in reply to Qualipop]

For me it's weird I know I have GERD thanks to a hiatus hernia (caused by being too overweight) thankfully I've lost a lot of that weight but the GERD remains, I don't have a colicky tummy as such mine is more a burning feeling that rises up through my windpipe and sits uncomfortably behind my breastbone so much so when it's bad (white wine trigger, sadly now has to be a pleasure of the past) the breastbone hurts so much to touch,of course when it first started I just catastrophised thinking it was a cardinal sign of a heart attack but 2 months on from starting these new meds I'm pretty assured now that it IS the medication causing it. I will try the enteric coated form and see if that helps,I have to admit I'm still not cutting out some of the foods I should but before my HA/operation/meds I got the pleasure without the pain now I get immediately penalised for poor food choices like crisps, white wine and even chocolate now

[Richie34 in reply to Qualipop]

The bruising I found very disconcerting ,it wasn't extensive but in several different episodes I couldn't even remember knocking the skin and I've never had an issue like that before in all my 50 years so I'll try and adopt your more light-hearted view and hopefully when I can stop the clopidogrel as you say the bruising propensity may 'fade'

🙏

[Qualipop in reply to Richie34]

Ah but they do say that one or two cubes of very dark chocolate are good for you.

Crisps were my biggest downfall,a bag every night. I guess they made up for not salting my food. I found it very difficult to use herbs instead and my husband would just half empty the salt pot over his food so I had to start cooking with salt again so I could at least control it. Cutting out pies and fries was easy.. To satisfy my husband I do a pie once a month. I swapped mince for quorn; can't tell teh difference in a bolognese and although I hate fish we do have a lot more and lots of veg in everything - frozen- doesn't go off and are even better than fresh. The only thing I can't manage is fruit- gives me indigestion. Thankfully neither of us drink.

[Penoir53]

I’m on here for heart failure but my husband had a heart attack and then three stents. And then the usual concoction of drugs. His HR was q low (medication as luckily v little muscle damage) so he had a pacemaker and that sorted it. His statin was v troublesome. After a couple of years he came off that. He’s on Bisoprolol for arrhythmia breakthroughs and that defo drags him down. So defo worth pecking at the cardio team until adjustments can be safely made. He came off lanzoprazole for choice too and was ok. He’s v lucky that his Consultant listens v well. Big hugs. Important to say he came off zero until it was safe and q a long time on. He’s active but has defo lost a degree of enthusiasm. He’d say that himself. Xx

[Welshie1]

Yes I felt the same too. Took me a couple of months for things to settle down. Washed out from bisoprolol, bruising from antiplatelets, feeling low mood. Plus your body has gone through some trauma it will take time. Don’t be too hard yourself, take it step by step. This fabulous group helped me a lot with answers and my recovery