Living after heart attack

[BillyF]

Hi, guys. My father had a heart attack last week. Fortunately, he survived, but he was in heavy condition. I was wondering how to recover faster after this. Does anyone know to answer me this? I will really appreciate if someone could. This is really important to me.

Billy

[sandybrown]

What procedure was carded out? Regular medication is necessary, it the medication is not agreeing then a visit to GP or cardiologist to discuss the medication and get different medication if necessary.

Food intake control and regular exercise can help. There has been many discussion in the last two weeks therefore please go through them to get some understanding rather than an answer to this question..

[Andyman]

For me i was told to change my life style by stopping smoking reduce my drinking and lose weight, change my diet and walk/exercise nearly everyday.

So i did just that.

I started walking the next day as advised by the consultant. Really slowly and only quarter of a mile and slowly increased to over and hour over the next year.

Changed my diet to suit my diabetes and heart and cholesterol problems. So i lost 80 pounds.

Stopped drinking all together because i could not see how to drink in small quantities like 1 beer a day. So now i am a permanent designated driver.

Stopped smoking. So easy when i had the motivation.

Motivation came from the knowledge that without change i wil almost certainly die. So there wasn't any lack of motivation when i was told this.

Because i work all around the world i was not permitted to go back to work for 6 months because i think they were worried i would be away from support and they didn't want me on a plane until i was fighting fit.

When i finally got back to work as a slimmer fitter me i realised that my body was better but my head wasn't and i had issues with mental but with the help of a shrink and Mindfulness meditation i am all back to "normal".

BUT "normal" is not the same as "normal" before the HA. I have changed and my life has changed completely. i have other priorities and goals. I am still me but it is different now i want a life for ME. i still care for others but i also care for myself and my own well being.

It took me over a year to stop feeling sorry for myself and being a victim. But when i realised that i was alive i started living this new life for me and others of course. But mostly for ME. Am i happier, time will tell but i am getting there.

[Doradee in reply to Andyman]

Your courage is amazing. You have achieved so much. I wish you continued weakness and joy

[Andyman in reply to Doradee]

"Continued weakness" really...spell check problem i hope.

Its not courage it was survival as my consultant told me.

BUT it was supposed to help the OP with his father.

[MarBri]

Hi Billy - Glad he is ok now. My husband had a heart attack in Jan `14 and was given loads of statins afterwards. Bad side affects so he stopped taking them. Research each one and watch what - if anything is changing. There are several comments on here about statins in other threads.

[ckra1000]

Billy. There are two aspects.

Getting physically stronger and getting mentally stronger. They both take time and will take longer for some people than others. Physical recovery will depend on how severe his heart attack was.

Physically you should be looking at all the lifestyle changes that can be made ... diet changes? losing weight? stop smoking? lowering stress levels? exercising? Exercising, no matter how little, is absolutely key to improving. Your father may need some short term goals to get him going. This forum is full of posts which help with these aspects.

Getting mentally stronger, in my opinion, needs input from others. It's very easy to feel down once you have this diagnosis and can be quite difficult to look for positives. Once you start talking to other people who have been through cardiac problems, you begin to get things into perspective and some hope returns. Many people live for decades before they have further problems.

I also believe that the medication is very important. There are many medical studies of large numbers of people which prove that the right medication really helps protect you from having another problem. I think you need to have faith in your treatment, and what you can do for yourself, to help you mentally.

Chris.

[bobski1]

Listen to what the doctors say to you both, follow it to the letter even if he does`nt want to. Monitor all medication for possible side effects especially statins. Be aware that this is a very scary if not terrifying time for him ,give him confidence that he is ok,

it`s possible he will have lost memory as I did so some things have to be learned again if at all possible.

Most of all if he knows your a call away if he needs help then he will recover quicker.