new and floundering to heart failure

[ChristT]

My husband had a sudden heart attack in Spain, 8 weeks ago, one artery was fully blocked and a stent was fitted. They told him his heart was now scarred for life. His echo was 45 4 days after the procedure. He’s home and after seeing a young GP he’s trying to increase his medications (an instruction by text) and get them right but so far the medications seem to be worse than the illness. He tried to increase the beta blocker to 5 but leg pain has meant he’s reduced it back down to 2.5. His blood pressure tablets are giving him a cough. His hdl cholesterol is too low (we are trying diet to increase it) but overall his cholesterol is ok yet he’s on the highest statin dose 80. His blood pressure is good. He’s been told he’ll not see a cardiologist until October so until then we are referring to dr Google and healthunlocked. He’s going to swap his doctor and luckily we have access in Spain to cheaper private health care because he feels very unsupported in the UK.

[Jess_Chadd1979]

Hi Chris,

I am really sorry that both you and your partner are going through this.

My husband had a major heart attack last Sunday. Similar to yourselves, his main atertery was fully blocked and had a stent fitted. However his echo has shown that his EF is only at 25% so he's now trying to deal with the fact that he has heart failure at 42 year old.

He is also on all sorts of different medications which don't make any sense as he also doesn't have high cholesterol but us on the highest statins.

I think they just give everyone the same medication as it must help in ways we don't know.

[ChristT in reply to Jess_Chadd1979]

You are probably dr Googling like myself - good luck - there’s so many side effects which seem worse than the illness

[Lurganspur]

Hi I had a heart attack 4 years ago at age 51 & left me with EF 31% the meds & me have settled down & everything seems to be manageable I’ve been discharged with referral by HF nurse & my cardiologist I’m back working part time…you’ll learn to listen to your heart rest when having a bad day, enjoy when having a great day & most of all STAY OFF Dr GOOGLE it’s all outdated info good luck & remember Life is for Living you like me are the lucky ones we got a 2nd chance 👍

[BridBoy]

I think most of us had issues getting our medication sorted out after our angioplasty, I know in my case some of the side effects were very uncomfortable.At first our GP refused to amend them as he said I was on the "perfect cocktail" and my body has to get used to them.

After about 6 weeks when I hadn't he made a couple of changes, swapping Atorvastatin to a lower dose Simvastatin and Omeprazole to Lansoprazole....after two or three days I felt like a different person.

Until my HA I didn't comprehend how differently people can react to medication.

Best of luck in getting your husband's meds sorted.

Just to add, Dr Google does more harm than good!!

[TracyAdmin Partner]

Thank you for sharing, I am sorry to hear about your husband's recent experiences, how is he feeling today? Do they know the cause of the heart attack? I am sure all the members on the Forum will welcome you and offer you advice based upon their own experiences. However, I would encourage you to be cautious of taking advice from Dr Google based upon the factual content and source of information it has been obtained from. It is always best practice to contact your husband's own medical professional for advice, they have access to his medical records and will be able to assess and provide the correct form of treatment for him on a personal basis. Have you visited the Arrhythmia Alliance website? heartrhythmalliance.org/aa/uk

[ChristT in reply to TracyAdmin]

We are fortunate to have an apartment in Benidorm, where he had his ‘widow maker’ heart attack. He’d felt unwell and was getting an ecg at a Dutch clinic, whose quick actions, the speed of the ambulance and surgeons who were waiting to operate saved his life. Back home NHS advice sent by text from his GP was to increase his medication (too quickly) and take his BP daily - back to the Dutch clinic, having seen his GP only once and told that his appointment with an NHS cardiologist at Freeman’s hospital would take 18 weeks, for 248€ he was seen by a qualified cardiologist, had an ECG and echo done, was advised not to up his dosage as BP and shape of heart was good, his echo was 50, the speed of the stent being put in saved him from major damage. He’s doing amazing, being sensible with exercise and has lost 1 and a half stone through dieting. We have been told to phone the cardiologist if we have concerns and the next consultation in November is included in the price. Dr Google is redundant!

[TracyAdmin Partner in reply to ChristT]

Do stay in touch and keep us updated, do not hesitate to contact our Patient Services Team at [e-mail] if you have any further questions.

Great news about Dr Google 😉

[ChristT]

just an update.. my husband has now had a phone call from NHS hospital (freemans) and an appointment to have an echo in the Uk has been made for May - 11 months after having a major heart attack!