I had SCA during a heart attack and luckily, like many of you am here to tell the story. I have been fine since July, 2006. (small amout of damage to lower heart since I was revived quickly)
The last few weeks I am so tired that I can hardly get up and walk. This started around Thanksgiving and has gotten worse. Other than the SCA in 2006 I usually have alot of energy and feel pretty good, considering. I have even thought perhaps I had a "silent" heart attack.
I am going to the doctor(GP) tomorrow, but the answer to my ? with the heart dr. usually is, "Should we go ahead and do a cath?"
I did not get a flu shot this year ;however, what flu lasts over a month?
Does anyone else out there have similar symptoms when they get sick after a heart attack?
Anyone have any thoughts ?? Thanks.
Beth
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heart disease and the flu
- By beths
- Posted December 21, 2008 at 2:35 pm · 1 reply
- In Surviving SCA
- Shared with the public
1 reply
- By Tammy1
- Posted December 22, 2008 at 10:36 am
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Beth,
Glad you are going to the Dr. you really need to follow up on this. Good luck and pray they find out what is causing your tiredness. My answer is going to be long, but it is just to make sure you thought of all the possibilities for this time of year.
You may want to talk with your PCP as well as your cardiologist. How is your heart function / cardiac output? An angiogram (heart cath) can determine this. It may be a good idea to see where things are now that you have new symptoms and issues. How is your ECG, is it normal, how about your blood work? Are you on medication or have had anything changed? Did you have the flu, any symptoms or just worried because you didn't get the flu shot? Sneezing, coughing, runny/stuffy nose, ear ache? Have you had any neck pain, abdominal pain, back pain, jaw or arm pain you may have not paid attention to? A headache that just wouldn't go away, maybe for days? Have you been around anyone that was ill or got sick within a few days of being around you? (OK, I know we are all out shopping so this is a hard one to answer!) How much worse has it gotten? Are you not able to do things you were able to do before Thanksgiving, like walking up stairs, getting dressed without SOB (shortness of breath) or making it through the day? Take a few minutes and write everything down so when you go to the Dr you have a list of what is going on with you.
Sorry for all the questions. I am a nurse and with with your history and new symptoms there are a lot of questions that need to be looked at, and many more that popped into my head but these are the ones to start on. Sometimes Dr's are at a loss until there is a red flag that they can try to point symptoms to, so giving all the information is crucial; even something you may have overlooked or just not paid attention to at the time it was happening.
I'm not saying something is wrong or you may have had another heart attack, I am just wanting you to think because maybe you have sinus infection or something that can make you feel like crap for a long time without getting it treated. Could even be a virus, those things are nasty some times! Knowing if it is something other than your heart means protecting your heart. You don't want a heart cath if its not necessary.
My Dad had several heart attacks, he lived over 20 years longer than expected, had 3 quad bypass surgeries, lots of stents, was part of a study with Mayo Clinic and is in some cardiac literature as case references. He would get a virus or infection and be ill for weeks and one time he had an infection that held on for a few months!
There were times when he was tired for weeks at a time and had a hard time getting around. Then there were times he felt great and would go fishing, hunting, doing yard work. There was a time when he took on a big project, built their lake home where my Mom lives now.
Good luck and sorry again for my long response, there is just a lot of questions. Good luck and hope you start feeling better soon! Hope all the questions helped.
Keep us posted on how you are doing!
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