Recovery after a myocardial infarction

If you are not eating properly and caring for your body correctly you can end up with a myocardial infarction or a heart attack. If you have had a heart attack and been in the hospital, you may be wondering what happens next. The recovery after a myocardial infarction process can be very long and you must follow it precisely in order to help your body properly recover. It will take some time for your heart to heal properly and it's not going to be an easy process. Here are some tips on how you can recover after a myocardial infarction.

Tip # 1 - Activity
One of the things that can concern many people is activity. Since your heart has been traumatized it will need plenty of time to heal correctly. You need to limit your physical activity and to work on the basics of pacing yourself until you are ready to begin exercise in a few months. Your doctor will speak to you about the recovery process and what needs to be done as far as exercise goes. Here are the things you need to do as you recover from a myocardial infarction:

• Slowly get yourself ready each day


• If you start feeling tired, lie down and take your time. Pace yourself so you aren't pushing yourself too quickly.


• Walk each day for what your doctor recommends


• Do not drive a car and do not go back to work for at least 2-3 weeks so your heart has some time to adjust and heal. Your doctor may recommend that you avoid going back to work for some time.

Tip # 2 - Emotional health
Not only do you have to watch your activity level you must also work on your emotional health. Since you have been through a large emotional experience it is natural to experience symptoms of depression, fear, and anger. You need to work on your emotional health because you can have a lot of depression and it's hard to get motivated each day. You need to have a good support group around you that will be able to help you get around each day and to avoid feeling sad and getting stuck in a rut of fear and anxiety. A great way to avoid depression and the feeling that will creep up on you is to head to a support group where people will be able to help you talk through all of your fears and other concerns. By doing this you can easily strengthen your emotional health.

Tip # 3 - Dietary changes
Why did you get a heart attack in the first place? Dietary concerns actually lead to heart attacks and now that you have had a large warning sign, it is time to work on changing your diet. You need to focus on reducing your intakes of fats and processed foods and include more fruits and vegetables in your diet. Your doctor will provide you with a list of foods that you should eat and ones that you need to avoid. Be sure that you are choosing your fats carefully and wisely as they are often found in many of the foods you may already be eating like meats.

Tip # 4 - Additional tips
Once you have the basic tips under control and you are following your doctors instructions you can move onto additional things such as sexual activity. Sex often worries a lot of people that have had a heart attack as they aren't sure if it will trigger it again. Your doctor will be able to tell you when you can resume sexual activity as it can cause shortness of breath and your heart may not yet be strong enough until a month or two. Always take your medication as required by your doctor in order to help your heart become stronger.