Feeling a bit sick

[Brett B]

Hi everyone

Havent been on here for a while
Friday a week ago while working away from home I had a heart attack
Its knocked the living day lights out off me
Had 2 stents put in Thursday sent home Friday
Wont be doing anything full on for a while
Still a little bit of with the fairys
Its all good no major damage Im a very lucky boy
Wasnt feeling right so l drove to hospital and had the main heart attack there
If you feel out off the ordinairy just go dont muck a round

[Marschy]

Same here, September 2009, one stent. The trick with a heart attack is to learn from it and change your lifestyle so you are around for many years to come.

[Brett B]

How long did it take to feel normal

[aquadux]

Brett hope you make a full recovery and are out enjoying the outdoors soon

Richard

[Marschy]

You'll probably be on clopidogrel or some other beta blocker to regulate your heart beat for the next year or possibly longer. Plus plavix to stop your blood from clotting. Plus aspirin and anti-cholesterol drugs for the rest of your life and possibly a blood thinner like coversyl or warfrin. Believe me when I tell you, in the first year, your blood will be so thin, that when you cut yourself shaving, you'll think about going down to the red cross to get a blood transfusion.

The beta blocker made me feel like I had no snap, dull witted, speech mumbled.  Getting off the beta-blocker was a blessing, I felt normal again.

The plavix caused me to bruise when I walked or bumped into things, and I bump into things a lot cause I'm a dolt. I was covered from head to toe with bruises for the better part of a year until I came off the plavix.

Now I'm only on lipitor (cholestorol), aspirin and coversyl. I gave up a $400/month smoking habit for a $40/month drug habit.

Lost 25 kg's, got to the gym 5 days/week, got a hernia and chronic bursitis in my shoulder from too much exertion in the gym, but otherwise a lot healthier than I was 3 years ago.

Having a heart attack is not pleasant and when you are relatively young can be depressing, particularly in the first year.

All the best with your journey and look after yourself and your family.

[Marschy]

Hello Brett, did you have a myocardial infarction or an angina pectoris attack? Mine was the latter, not as aggressive as a myocardial, but damages the heart non-the-less.

[GU_Thomo]

Brett I am very sorry to hear that.
Glad there is no long term damage.
My story should make you feel very positive about the future.
15 years ago I had a quadruple bypass and a couple of stents and I am still going strong, in fact, I have never felt better.
Marschy, a lot of people get chronic joint pain from Statins (lipitor), I used to suffer from this.
I now take Coq10 and it solved the joint pain problem.
Only problem now is the Statins cause muscle wasting, so the old adage applies only much, much faster....Use it or lose it!!!

Cheers
Parry

[Brett B]

Hello Brett, did you have a myocardial infarction or an angina pectoris attack? Mine was the latter, not as aggressive as a myocardial, but damages the heart non-the-less.

Im not sure will have to look at the paper work
Havent been home for long
Drug wise sounds like all the above

[Marschy]

Hello Parry, are you still on the lipitor?

My problem now is my cholesterol is so low that that I am getting Parkinsons like symptoms. A bit of reading on the web led me to believe it is due to lipitor and that too low  a cholesterol level has been linked to Parkinsons. But my GP and coronary surgeon have poo-pooed this suggestion.

Booked into a neurologist none-the-less to get it checked out.

I'll also do a bit of research on Coq10

[Jenko67]

Gee mate, lucky you were at hospital at the time... these things make you look differently at life.....

[Mace]

Glad to hear all is well Brett.

Went thru that 2 years ago.  I have to manage my condition via medication only, as my arterial blockage is on  a bend and cant be stented.

Heart attack symptoms can vary greatly.  I just felt like I had the flu and was short of breath.  Went to drive myself down to the Hospital (not thinking straight) and drove past my wife talking to  a mate of mine outside my GP's clinic.  Game was up then, straight into the GP, then 3 ambluances (transferred from 3 different hospitals to Melb).

So, dont wait necessarily for the "usual" symptoms of chest/arm pain.  I has a small bit of pain in one wrist, thats all. 

With wemen, can be even more difficult to diagnose a Heart condition.

Moral - see your GP regularly and keep cholesterol and BP under control.

[Marschy]

For the benefit of other members, I'm going to describe my symptoms when I had my heart attack.

I started a health kick, walking 4 km every night with the dogs.
Walking downhill, no problem.
Walking uphill, got a stitch under my sternum, basically right in the middle of my breast plate, nothing severe, and pain radiating down my left arm and sweating profusely. i.e, the classic symptoms.

This happened about 4 times in a two week period, I would have to sit down to catch my breathe. I had no idea that this was an angina attack, where one or more arteries are blocked and restricting the amount of oxygen getting to my heart.

I was working at Forensic Science SA as a contractor and went for a walk to get my lunch, same symptoms as above while I was walking up the stairs. Got back to the office and my work colleague, who writes software for cardiologists, recognized the symptoms and next thing I knew I was being driven to the Royal Adelaide Hospital, admitted and lying in a gurney hooked up to an ECG machine before I could bat my eyelids.

My best advise for those looking to improve their health, is get a cholesterol check before you start strenuous exercise, if like me, you've been a bit of a lounge lizard for far too long.
 

[D4D]

Wow, glad to hear you're ok Brett.

[Swannie]

Wondering where you got to mate.. Very glad to hear you are one of he lucky ones.

Take care

Greg

[cruisindub]

Guys.(and ladies)

Don't think its only an old peoples problem.
don't think,it'll never happen to me.
Don't think I'm only 40,why should I worry about that........

Know the signs,learn the symptoms, act on it Fast.

If your carrying a bit of excess, time now to seriously think about shredding it.

[Marschy]

I was only 44, smoked like a chimney 110kg's, drank too much, too much salt (on everything), no exercise. I was a heart attack waiting to happen.

[hutchie62]

At least your still here to tell the story. The same thing happened to a mate of mine about 15 months ago. You would not know he is the same person, a new lease of life. Keep your chin up it can only get better.
  Hutchie

[Marschy]

I hear ya. The tricky bit is having a heart attack and surviving, you hear stories all the time of people dropping dead, even at a relatively young age.

I can't stress enough, get a physical done if you are contemplating going from a lounge lizard lifestyle to an evening walk every night. This is particularly important if you smoke or you are overweight. A lounge lizard lifestyle can very easily hide the symptoms of heart disease.

[Brett B]

Thanks guys

Well Im 46
175 cm tall 78 KG
Liked to have a smoke
And very high colesterol was 7.8 a few months back and got down to 5.6 with out meds
Doesnt matter what size you are

[Brett B]

I hear ya. The tricky bit is having a heart attack and surviving, you hear stories all the time of people dropping dead, even at a relatively young age.

I can't stress enough, get a physical done if you are contemplating going from a lounge lizard lifestyle to an evening walk every night. This is particularly important if you smoke or you are overweight. A lounge lizard lifestyle can very easily hide the symptoms of heart disease.

x2

[GeoffA]

Wow!!!......but you're here to tell the tale....

Keep on punching, mate.

[Marschy]

Thanks guys

Well Im 46
175 cm tall 78 KG
Liked to have a smoke
And very high colesterol was 7.8 a few months back and got down to 5.6 with out meds
Doesnt matter what size you are

My cholesterol was 6.9 just before my heart attack, now 3.1

[nab]

Not good news, hope ya get better soon.

I am just amazed at the number of people in this site who have had similar occurrences. Maybe thats why you all have camper trailers, to get out and about and be active in the fresh air!!!

I'm only 33 but this kind of news scares me. I was about to book a full check up with the doctor, now is had moved up a bit on my priority list...

[HEM19X]

Glad to hear you are on the mend mate, probably the best advise is to "Listen to you body" & get to hospital asap if there are any symptoms regardless of age. I have a mate who had a heart attack playing baseball at the ripe old age of 23!!!

[speewa158]

Bret  Great to know your still in the land of the upright . Thank you for sharing your story as a timely warning to all .