icyclist 

Last Friday night, sitting on a couch, my heart attacked me! Luckily, I was in denial for no more than ten minutes and the paramedics reached and were helping me within 30 minutes. A 100% blockage in my left descending ventricular artery was removed, a stent was placed and I felt better two minutes later. I'm home and still feeling fine, as I did before my heart attack. I feel as if I could jump on my bike right now.

The doctor who signed me out of the hospital release yesterday afternoon suggested not riding for a month, in part to allow the wound in my groin (where the catheter carrying the stent was inserted) to heal, and then to take it easy on my bike. That seems like a long time and taking it easy on a bike ride isn't in my nature. And, except for my heart attack, I'm in excellent physical condition. Before my heart attack, I felt no symptoms. Or as my wife said last night, "I didn't think you'd ever have a heart attack and looking at you, I can't believe you had one."

So question one: anybody have experience getting on the bike soon after a heart attack?

I'm also a little concerned about one of the medications I'm taking, to lower my heart rate, which was low before my heart attack. In the hospital this past weekend, I kept setting off the alarm on the heart rate monitor when I dropped below 45 beats per minute, which was whenever I fell asleep.

I am on the lowest dose possible of this medication. I see a cardiologist tomorrow and I want to have some knowledge in advance about the questions I'm going to ask, including why I'm on a drug that lowers my heart rate.

So question two: Any idea why I'm on such a drug, given that I already have a low heart rate?

mattm

glad to hear you made it ok!

CRSturdivant

Wow, you are a beast. I am glad to hear that you are OK.

mattm

btw the 50+ forum might have more feedback about the drugs, recovery, etc

Wanderer

Don't take our advice!!!!

Listen to professionals.........

The only advice worth taking!!!!

airosen

Glad to hear you are ok.
Please do not take advice about this subject from an internet forum though.

merlinextraligh

Other than the shooting how was the play Mrs Lincoln? That's a rather big exception.

This is serious; be patient,and listen to your Cardiologist.

Taking a little time to recover, and gradually working back into things will not hurt you. The opposite could.

Hammertoe

Damn selfish hearts...

Why do we need them anyway...



I could give you some advice but...

I think you already have some important questions to ask the cardiologist...


Why the hell did my heart attack...

Can it happen again...

When can I ride and at what intensity...

Why am I on medication...




Edit...Oh yea...Glad you are OK and the ticker is still ticking...

Machka 

Rowan recovered from a heart attack quite a few years ago, and has been logging a lot of mileage ever since.

At this point, however, I'd listen to what the Dr says ... don't ride for the next month (but you may be able to do things like walking ... ask if you can do other forms of exercise), and take it easy when you do get back on the bicycle again.

CrimsonKarter21

HTFU and ride through the pain

Good to hear you're alright.

Enthalpic

The drug has several effects, only one of which is lowering your HR.

A cardiologist should answer all of your questions.

MarkSch

PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE listen to your doctors!!

There are many bad things that can happen after a heart attack. These are less common now with rapid stenting and thrombolytic medications, but are still possible.

Among the worst is ventricular rupture.....this is when the portion of your heart that has died, but has not yet formed a good solid scar, bursts. Death usually comes pretty quickly with that one. Although the risk these days is reduced, both by the stent, as well as the medications I expect you have been placed on, death is still a pretty bad outcome....most people try and avoid that one. Limiting the force that the heart has to exert (this means limiting activity) also helps.

Just to be clear....Listen to your docs...they are trying to help you...take your questions, take notes, take a family member to help you remember.

grahny

I still can't believe people ask these types of questions to strangers on the internet. WTF. Talk to your doctor again and/or get a second professional opinion.

That being said, if I were you, I'd go out right this moment and ride a century, with 10,000 ft of elevation, without food or water, at 90% MHR, naked, on fire. You should be fine.

MarkSch

Seeing now that you are in CA, were you treated at Stanford? If so, would you mind saying who your cardiologist is?

scotch

holy sheep ****! glad you're ok! damn.

dude, listen to your heart doc, not to a bunch of yahoos like us.

bf: great place for the latest on chamois butter. bad place for medical advice.

Jancouver

"I'm also a little concerned about one of the medications I'm taking, to lower my heart rate, which was low before my heart attack. In the hospital this past weekend, I kept setting off the alarm on the heart rate monitor when I dropped below 45 beats per minute, which was whenever I fell asleep."

I'm not a doctor by any mean but why are you taking this kind of medication if your heart rate is so low? Did you start taking this medication before you started to ride your bike? I used to take beta blockers but once I started riding bike and dropped some weight my doctor told me that I dont need it anymore.

Glad to hear you are OK!

JohnKScott

Glad to hear you are OK. Talk to your doctor

icyclist 

>I still can't believe people ask these types of questions to strangers on the internet.<

Well, I can believe comments like yours on the Internet. ;-) Hey, listening to the experiences of others in a similar situation - which is what I was asking for - is a good way to understand what's happened, and may happen, to me. What better support group than this one, if there are others who've gone through what I have, since riding my bike is my second favorite past time?

icyclist 

>I'm not a doctor by any mean but why are you taking this kind of medication if your heart rate is so low?<

Well, that was the question I asked in my post.

>Did you start taking this medication before you started to ride your bike?<

No - my heart rate has always been on the low side, and quite low when I got serious about exercise and riding - a long time ago - in my 20s.

icyclist 

>Seeing now that you are in CA, were you treated at Stanford?<

No, I was initially admitted to Glendale Memorial Hospital, where the stent was placed - Glendale is up against the San Gabriel Mts., where this are some great places to ride a bike. I was transferred to a Kaiser Permanent facility that's set up to handle cardiac patients - as far as hospitals go, it has a good rep.

rcummings1

Oh Boy, the fun starts when you get to the cardiologist. Probably send you to cardiac rehab for a couple of months before letting you ride your bike again. Your going to get quite the cocktail party of meds also, make sure he explains all of them. Beta Blockers lower your heart rate because any cardiac event is significant and your heart needs time to recover. They also make your feet colder. I have a hard time keeping my feet warm for more than 30 minutes riding in Colorado. Your going to go over all your blood work so be prepared for more meds if your out of whack on your cholesterol counts. Your going to get some quality time with a nutritionist and also a counselor to help you cope with the event and to make lifestyle changes so you don't end up having a bypass later. Don't take for granted what happened, 30 years ago you would have not survived it, and there is some reason you have blockage. It's not a fluke it can happen again.

This from a guy who got 3 stents in July 07 and then 5 more in September 07 and rode 3132 miles so far this year. I spend a lot of time wondering why I had to get 5 more stents 81 days after the first 3. What? You missed those blockages the first time? I need 5 more stents? Why? Count your blessings you don't have my families genetics. Been a bike nerd since I was 5, rode over 5000 miles a year for most of my life. Thought I could ride fast enough to escape it. I was wrong. Go figure.

Most importantly, find a cardiologist that rides a bike. He will get it, others don't.

C_Heath

LOL, you could have hopped on the trainer and redlined it to "make sure" it was all good.

Seriously tho, you seem like a pretty smart individual, even tho u are a newb

but I think you just need to chill for 30 days like everyone else. My father in law had same thing at 51 cept his heart never got started back.

Heed.

StupidlyBrave 

Umm. Yeah. So soon? No. Intensive care for a week. I wasn't sitting on a couch, I was climbing hills on a road bike. Yet I doubt our health stories are so dissimilar.

I had a massive heart attack, like you it was 100% blockage of the LAD. It's nicknamed the widowmaker because there is less than 50% chance of survival. Essentially, the bottom of my heart is dead. I'm left with a 40% ejection fraction. I rode home and spent at least a half hour wondering why I couldn't recover from my ride. I wasn't allowed to exercise in any way, play violent video games or watch scary movies for a week. No sex for a month.

Any time a doctor says Myocardial infarction (heart attack), there is dead tissue involved. Do you have any permanent damage? If not, count yourself lucky.

The medication to slow your heart is probably a beta-blocker. You'll find that this takes 10-20% off your MHR. Watch your dosage - I was sent to the ER at one point with low blood pressure (something over 40) and got my dosage reduced that way. I rode a century less than a week later and felt fine . I expect to be on beta-blockers forever. Thank god they are cheap.

Your medicine prescriptions are probably the same as your standard 70 year old man with an MI. You'll get put on statins despite your bloodwork, you may get Plavix + aspirin (my advice is to get off the plavix due to it's expense and stick with 1x 325mg aspirin.). Work with your cardiologist to fine tune your prescriptions.

You'll find the recommended diet works perfectly for road cycling. High carb, low fat. No restrictions on beer (other than medication interaction).


PM me if you have specific questions.

StupidlyBrave 

Well that was my story. You should take your time and don't push anything. Remember that anything that doesn't kill you can make you weaker.

ILUVUK

I don't think you can hear it enough...listen to what your doctor says.