Dh and another heart attack

[Beesandhoney123]

Dh had a heart attack this week. He had one a few years ago and now he has a stent. He has been told he has heart disease. He gets out of breath walking. He avoids doing anything which gets his heart rate up. He has for about 3 years.

I don't know what to do or say. There is no follow up from the hospital or GP. . Is there a charity I could talk to? He won't talk about it.

Try the British Heart Foundation. They have a very knowledgeable helpline.

Increasing his fitness will help your husband but it might be better done under supervision to start with. Ask about "cardiac rehab". It's not necessarily a good idea to alway avoid raising the heart rate as the muscle loses strength. But get medical input on this. Talk it through with the BHF.

Are you U.K. based, @Beesandhoney123? In Wales for example, we have Calon Hearts which is a great charity that provides defibrillator grants and part funded ecgs and echocardiograms. I think it costs £180 for an echo with them. If you're not in wales, it might be that there's a local charity in your area offering something similar.

I'm surprised he wasn't offered cardiac rehab fitness classes. My DM had a heart attack and a stent fitted when she was in her Mid 70s. She now goes to a class every week and she is in her early 80s now. She only has an issue with breathlessness if she is walking uphill or into wind. He can call back his GP surgery to ask about this.

DH has had two heart attacks and stents. He is now on the maximum dose of statins and I try to cook a low fat diet, as per BHF. He goes to cardiac rehab every week, and a walk most days. He has been told to do 150 minutes of exercise a week, although his heart rate shouldn’t go over 140 - they always tell him to keep his legs moving, as that helps pump the blood round. He has an Apple watch, which may not be fully reliable, but it’s better than nothing to keep an eye on his heart rate, during exercise.

Hi, I had a heart attack at the beginning of the year - completely shocked by it as I have none of the risk factors linked with a heart attack. He should receive a call a few weeks after his discharge from hospital regarding cardiac rehab and a follow up around 8-10 weeks from the cardiologist. My GP has also been in touch several times but that’s more to do with how shocked they were I think! I felt a bit abandoned at the beginning.

Have a look at the British Heart Foundation website, it’s really helpful. I think you can also chat with a cardiac nurse through the website. Also forks over knives, a site about dietary changes you might wish to make. I was told not to wrap myself up in cotton wool following my heart attack so I started running again 10 days after mine, with the consultant’s go ahead. The medication you are given makes you feel pretty rubbish to start with but it does improve, just starting out walking is great and build it up to a brisk walk. There are also a number of facebook groups but I’d advise avoiding those as they can be a bit dramatic and overly doom-filled. It is super important to get exercising again though - although how you encourage that is another matter!

Thank you he did the cardio last time, but couldn't manage. His blood pressure is much higher one side than the other, but no one knows why. We are in the UK.

He has a spray which he carries around. His diet changed after the last one.

I think I'll call the British heart foundation, thank you. He has had a barrage of tests when at hospital but they didn't know why he had the mini heart attack.

They do all the tests on DH - echocardiogram, treadmill ECG, etc. They tell him the blood is getting to his heart fine. It’s only when they do the invasive angiogram; and they look inside his arteries that they see one of his coronary arteries is 95% blocked! It’s happened twice! He’s met loads of people at cardiac rehab like that; tests show nothing until they have a big heart attack and need a triple bypass!

Sounds tough OP.
For him but also for yourself.

Is it a fear of another attack which is controlling his life and he feels exercising ( the heart ) will bring on another attack?.

when you say his blood pressure is higher one side, do you mean when it’s measured in his arms?

This is really helpful, thank you. Yes his blood pressure is much higher in one arm than the other. He had another ct scan to find out why but nothing showed up.

He is really tired - exhausted- really easily, goes for naps which last for hours, started snoring like a buffalo, and gets swollen feet, ankles, calves.
His chest was tight again yesterday but he said it wore off after an hour or so.

And yes, he is really scared of doing anything which will raise his heart rate. He even walks super slowly, and won't walk more than about 1000 yards. His chest gets tight.

Hi Op I had a heart attack with no warning in 2016 aged 36. It changed me as a person overnight I was fitted with a stent within an hour and given a carrier bag of meds to take for life . It angered me very much for a year or so afterward everyone had opinions on what I should wear,drink,exercise I did attend cardio rehab but it was one session of a nurse reading info from a book she gave me. It turns out it was hereditary the only gift me dad had given me from not seeing him for 30 years the irony. 7 years on I'm at peace with it every little pain I got afterwards I thought I was having another one and it took me a while to come to terms with it all a good thing that helped was to keep a diary of my thoughts where I could just spew out whatever I thought that day. 7 years on my diet is healthy but I do allow a treat . I have quite a physical job and I go to the gym 3 times a week .my heart and it's muscle is apparently healthier than it was . It affects people in different ways acceptance takes a while it's easier to deny that your aren't the invincible person you thought you were xx

These tend to be for screening undiagnosed heart problems, to prevent sudden deaths. Rather than support for post heart attack patients.

Hi, I was (well, I still am!) 47 when mine happened and I feel exactly the same at the moment. Everyone tuts and tells me it was my high cholesterol (it definitely wasn’t!) and makes me feel terribly guilty if I eat anything that’s not fruit or veg, or enjoy a glass of wine. I rarely do these things but once a week as a treat isn’t going to kill me. I always felt I lived a reasonably healthy and energetic lifestyle and I never considered I’d suffer a heart attack, and am finding it pretty difficult to come to terms with. Hopefully acceptance will happen, along with losing the fear that I’m going to die young, which is not something I’d ever considered before.

Hi Tatty sorry to read this. In one mind I think no I won't grow to healthy old age and on the other hand I think lots of young die with no real cause or very suddenly which is an absolute shame but also I'm a firm believer in we are all born with an expiry date so enjoy the time you have :) nobody dares to question my odd indulgence now as I had a massive sense of humour failure about a month after mine probably not unlike a full on toddler tantrum as I was sick of being pecked at. The meds in the carrier threw me as I was in the no medicine brigade prior to this but now they are just part of my morning routine like a vitamin. Acceptance comes and I think itit'a lot easier to just live a normal life once you do x

I had a heart attack due to an arterial tear (low BP, low cholesterol, very low risk and all that but why my artery tore, I don’t know). I also went into cardiac arrest because it was a full blockage. I get the fear and I was warned that the depression and fear following a cardiac event is the hardest thing to get past. I began walking the week I was discharged. I could only go halfway up my road. But I did this every day until I could do more. Step by step. Your DH just needs to start small.
It’s been 3 years since my event. I cycle an hour a day (low speed and I don’t drive so cycling is my transportation). I walk the dog about 2 hours a day. I do everything at my pace and I don’t push beyond a steady pace. How’s your DH’s diet?

OP I really feel for you because you want desperately to help but it has to come from him. I’ve had talking therapy (beyond the cardiac therapy) to help me combat my fear of death. I’ve also done a lot of spiritual healing, daily shavasana, meditation. I meditate every day.

The fear is soul destroying but there are ways of climbing over it. And once you do, it becomes easier to actually look after yourself. Your DH should get some therapy to help overcome his fear. Once your heart is damaged, you really feel it and it is scary. I have constant arrhythmia and I’ve learned to live with it rather than fearing dying from it. But it takes work and therapy to unbind yourself from fear. 🌸💐

Maybe getting a dog could be therapeutic?? For me, my dog has been my healer. I have to walk him. I have to get out. And it’s the best thing I can do for my heart.

Let me rewrite this: I’ve learned to live with it rather than fear dying from it (the arrhythmia, which is so scary).

It's such a life changer. We are in the UK, and we have dogs! I end up walking them as dh can't manage really. More tasks for me. He can't even stand up for long periods to iron, his ankles hurt, he gets chest pains. The dc are great but we can't do stuff like go climbing with him, which makes them feel guilty- out having fun.

Is he on a cocktail of drugs? They carry a tonne of side effects and if he perhaps spoke to the GP they might be able to switch some of them to see if any of the aches/pains/breathlessness lessens a bit? I know I struggle a bit with running thanks to an artificially slow heart rate and the statins I take make my legs feel really tired and give me random pains in the middle of my back. Just a thought?

This is reminding me of my dad. 😢 My dad was a total jock (American English) as a young man. He loved all sports (did them often), didn't give up on them until he had a stroke, mid 60s. Is Now 80. My step-mum & sister are trying so hard to keep/get him active & it's always one excuse or another. He is depressed, laments what he can't do rather than focus on what he can do. Dismisses physio or massage etc. after just one session. Step-sis is a geriatric PT so literally the best person to help him, and he just shrugs her off. DH & I talk about what we would (will) do, to keep physically active & mobile, when we get to having similar health problems. Stationary bike, mobility scooter, chair exercises, whatever it takes. I hope we really do go down fighting.

Has he had an MRA/MRI, OP?

Yes, he had an mri but apart from needing a stent nothing else. He has a frozen head muscle as well which sounds like bells palsy but isn't that. We don't know what is wrong there either.