It's very important to take your recovery slowly and give your body time to heal after a heart attack. You will likely need to stay in the hospital for a few days, usually between 2 and 5, so we can monitor your progress.
A key part of your recovery will be a program called 'Cardiac Rehabilitation'. This is designed to help you understand your condition, learn about your medications, and gradually improve your fitness in a safe and supervised way. It involves education sessions and a plan for light exercise that you can build on over time.
There are several very important lifestyle changes we need to discuss to reduce your risk of this happening again. As you anticipated, quitting smoking is the single most effective thing you can do for your heart health. We have excellent support services that can help you with this.
Cutting down on your alcohol intake and adopting a healthy, balanced diet are also crucial. This can help with managing weight and cholesterol. When you feel ready, we encourage starting with light exercise, like a 5-minute walk, and gradually increasing it as you feel stronger.
To protect your heart and prevent another event, you will need to take a few different medications long-term.
We will continue the anti-platelet drugs like Aspirin and Prasugrel, which make your blood less sticky and prevent clots. We will also start you on a statin to lower your 'bad' cholesterol, a beta-blocker to lower your blood pressure and reduce the strain on your heart, and an ACE inhibitor, which also helps to lower blood pressure and protect the heart muscle.
Regarding work, we strongly recommend taking at least two weeks off before returning. Depending on the stress of your job and how your recovery goes, it may be wise to wait longer.
You should be able to drive again after about a week, as long as you feel well and are not experiencing chest pain. In terms of sex, it's generally safe to resume activity when you feel ready, which for most people is around 5 weeks after their heart attack.
It's important to be aware that heart attacks can sometimes lead to long-term issues. In a minority of cases, people can develop an irregular heartbeat, or the heart muscle can be weakened, a condition known as heart failure. As concerning as this sounds, please be reassured that these things do not happen to most people, and we are here to monitor you closely and manage any problems that may arise.