Heart attack how long in hospital

On this page. About recovering from a heart attack Your hospital stay after a heart attack Leaving hospital after a heart attack Beginning everyday activities after a heart attack Attending cardiac rehabilitation Where to get help. About recovering from a heart attack Plan your recovery from a heart attack with your treating healthcare professionals and heart specialists while you are in hospital.

Your hospital stay after a heart attack A heart attack myocardial infarction occurs when one or more arteries supplying the heart with blood become partially or totally blocked. Other treatments after your heart attack may include: angioplasty and stent implantation — a procedure to open a blocked artery using a device called a stent that is left in place bypass surgery coronary artery bypass graft surgery — an operation in which blood vessels from other parts of your body are grafted to bypass the blocked arteries to your heart once your condition has stabilised, speak with your cardiac healthcare professionals about how and when you can go back to doing your everyday activities.

Leaving hospital after a heart attack When you leave hospital, make sure you have: supplies of your medication and you know how and when to take it an action plan in case you have a future medical emergency times for appointments with outpatient clinics, specialist doctors, your doctor and other healthcare professionals instructions on how to care for your wounds if you had surgery information about lifestyle changes you can make to reduce your risk of future heart events such as a heart attack a referral to a cardiac rehabilitation program.

Speak with your doctor if you feel sad most of the time for more than two weeks book into a cardiac rehabilitation program — search for a program near you and book in to begin when your doctor says you are well enough if you smoke, stop smoking. Beginning everyday activities after a heart attack Most people are keen to get back to their everyday lives, so ask your doctor when you can start activities. If you have had surgery, your doctor may advise you to wait until your wound has healed work — most people go back to work after having a heart attack, but if you have had surgery, it may take a little longer until you are ready.

If you have a physical or stressful job, ask your doctor whether you need to have lighter duties. Attending cardiac rehabilitation Cardiac rehabilitation is an excellent way to become educated about long-term lifestyle changes that will reduce your risk of having another heart event. Cardiac rehabilitation helps you to adjust to life with coronary heart disease by providing: initial assessment and goal setting heart education and self-management exercise and physical activity healthy eating and weight management quitting tobacco use and reducing alcohol medication education and review managing medical risk factors psychosocial wellbeing activities of daily living.

Give feedback about this page. Was this page helpful? Yes No. View all heart. Related information. Home Healthy living What happens when I get home from hospital after a heart attack? What happens when I get home from hospital after a heart attack? For the first few weeks, it may be helpful to have someone close by to support and help you. You should be able to: do light work around the house go to places, such as a theatre, restaurant or church visit friends travel in a car but not drive a car until your doctor has given you approval to do so climb stairs slowly.

Be physically active Keep up any physical activity program you started while you were in hospital. Do regular activity Regular, moderate-intensity physical activity is good for you, especially if you have coronary heart disease. It will help you: recover better from a heart attack or other heart problems reduce your risk of more heart problems improve your long-term health feel more confident, happy and relaxed have more energy manage your weight more easily improve your cholesterol have lower blood pressure have stronger bones and lower your risk of osteoporosis manage your blood glucose levels if you have diabetes.

For example: 10 minutes of walking, 10 minutes of gardening and 10 minutes of light housework. Start slowly Do some easy walking around your house and garden, or out on your street. Start by walking on flat ground each day. Have a destination in mind, such as the local shop or the end of the block. Walk at a pace you find comfortable a good guide is a pace at which you can still have a conversation.

Build up gradually — over a few weeks, walk longer distances and then uphill. This will help you to keep fit and make new friends.

Guidelines for walking after you leave hospital Build up your walking gradually over time. Only move to the next stage when you meet your walking target without discomfort.

Take the stairs? If there are stairs where you live, you can climb them slowly as soon as you come home. Gradually increase how many stairs you can climb, and how fast you climb them. Do sport and other recreational activities Do the sort of activities you like to do regularly.

How much activity should you do? How you feel is your best guide to doing physical activity at a safe level. How to stay safe during physical activity Do the activity gradually and at a low level of intensity. Find the level of activity that suits you. If you want to do more intensive physical activity, build up slowly over a number of weeks. Stay comfortable while you are active — you should never find the activity very hard.

Drink lots of water before, during and after the activity you will lose water through sweating. Share the activity with a friend — you may feel more confident and motivated, and enjoy it more too! Carry a mobile telephone with you while walking, if you have one.

Talk with your doctor if you want to do more intensive activity or competitive sports. If you need to take angina medicine, keep it with you when you do the activity. Having sex again? Most people can have sex again soon after a heart attack or other heart problems. Stop if you feel any pain or discomfort in your chest. Try not to have sex after eating a large meal, drinking alcohol or when you are very tired. If you drive a large goods vehicle or passenger-carrying vehicle, you must inform the DVLA if you have a heart attack.

Your licence will be temporarily suspended, for a minimum of 6 weeks, until you have adequately recovered. Your licence will be reissued if you can pass a basic health and fitness test and do not have any other condition that would disqualify you from driving.

Having a heart attack can be frightening and traumatic, and it's common to have feelings of anxiety afterwards. For many people, the emotional stresses can cause them to feel depressed and tearful for a few weeks after returning home from hospital. If feelings of depression persist, speak to a GP, as you may have a more serious form of depression.

It's important to seek advice as serious types of depression often do not get better without treatment. Reducing your risk of having another heart attack involves making lifestyle changes and taking different medicines long term.

See preventing heart attacks for more information. ACE inhibitors are often used to lower blood pressure, as they block the actions of some of the hormones that help regulate blood pressure.

By stopping these hormones from working, the medicine helps to reduce the amount of water in your blood and also widens your arteries, both of which will reduce your blood pressure. ACE inhibitors have been known to reduce the supply of blood to the kidneys, which can reduce their efficiency.

This means blood and urine tests may be done before you start taking ACE inhibitors to make sure there are no pre-existing problems with your kidneys. If ACE inhibitors are taken with other types of medicines, including over-the-counter medicines, they can cause unpredictable side effects.

It's usually recommended that you begin taking ACE inhibitors immediately after having a heart attack and, in most cases, continue taking them indefinitely. Some people cannot take ACE inhibitors. If this is the case, a related medicine called an angiotensin receptor blocker ARB may be prescribed as an alternative.

Antiplatelets are medicines that help prevent blood clots. They work by reducing the "stickiness" of platelets, which are tiny particles in the blood that help it to clot. It's usually recommended that you take low-dose aspirin , which has blood-thinning properties. You're more likely to be given additional antiplatelet medicines, such as clopidogrel , prasugrel or ticagrelor , especially if you have had stent treatment.

As with ACE inhibitors, treatment with antiplatelets usually begins immediately after a heart attack. How long you will take an antiplatelet can be between 4 weeks and 12 months and depends on the type of heart attack you have had and the other treatment you have received.