Depression and heart disease are linked. People who have heart disease are more likely to get depressed. And if you have both depression and heart disease, you may not stay as healthy as possible. This can make depression and heart disease worse. If you think you may have depression, talk to your doctor. Stress and anger can also hurt your heart. They might make your symptoms worse. Try different ways to reduce stress , such as exercise, deep breathing, meditation, or yoga.
You can resume sexual activity after a heart attack when you are healthy and feel ready for it. You could be ready if you can do mild or moderate activity , like brisk walking, without having angina symptoms. Talk with your doctor if you have any concerns.
Your doctor can help you know if your heart is healthy enough for sex. If you take a nitrate, like nitroglycerin, do not take erection-enhancing medicines. Combining a nitrate with one of these medicines can cause a life-threatening drop in blood pressure. Whether you are recovering from a heart attack or are changing your lifestyle so you can avoid another one, emotional support from friends and family is important. Think about joining a heart disease support group. Ask your doctor about the types of support that are available where you live.
Cardiac rehab programs offer support for you and your family. Meeting other people with the same problems can help you know you're not alone. After a heart attack, it's also important to:. Taking medicine can lower your risk of having another heart attack or dying from coronary artery disease.
Treatment for a heart attack or unstable angina begins with medicines in the ambulance and emergency room. This treatment is similar for both. The goal is to prevent permanent heart muscle damage or prevent a heart attack by restoring blood flow to your heart as quickly as possible. You also will receive medicines to stop blood clots so blood can flow to the heart.
In the hospital, your doctors will start you on medicines that lower your risk of having complications or another heart attack. You may already have taken some of these medicines.
They can help you live longer after a heart attack. Medicine to lower blood pressure and the heart's workload. You might take other medicines if you have another heart problem, such as heart failure. For example, you might take a diuretic, called an aldosterone receptor antagonist, which helps your body get rid of extra fluid. Medicine to prevent blood clots from forming and causing another heart attack. Other cholesterol medicines, such as ezetimibe, may be used along with a statin.
You may have regular blood tests to monitor how the medicine is working in your body. Your doctor will likely let you know when you need to have the tests. If your doctor recommends daily aspirin, don't substitute non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs NSAIDs , such as ibuprofen Advil, for example or naproxen such as Aleve , for the aspirin. NSAIDS relieve pain and inflammation much like aspirin does, but they do not affect blood clotting in the same way that aspirin does. NSAIDs do not lower your risk of another heart attack.
If you need to take an NSAID for a long time, such as for pain, talk with your doctor to see if it is safe for you. An angioplasty procedure or bypass surgery might be done to open blocked arteries and improve blood flow to the heart. This procedure gets blood flowing back to the heart.
It opens a coronary artery that was narrowed or blocked during a heart attack. Angioplasty is not surgery. It is done using a thin, soft tube called a catheter that's inserted in your artery. It doesn't use large cuts incisions or require anesthesia to make you sleep.
Most of the time, stents are placed during angioplasty. They keep the artery open. But angioplasty is not done at all hospitals. If a person is at a hospital that does not do angioplasty, he or she might be moved to another hospital where it is available.
If you are at a hospital that has proper equipment and staff to do this procedure, you may have cardiac catheterization , also called coronary angiogram. For example, bypass surgery might be a better choice because of the location of the blockage or because you have many blockages.
After you have had angioplasty or bypass surgery, you may be encouraged to take part in a cardiac rehabilitation program to help lower your risk of death from heart disease.
For more information, see the topic Cardiac Rehabilitation. Heart attacks that damage critical or large areas of the heart tend to cause more problems complications later. If only a small amount of heart muscle dies, the heart may still function normally after a heart attack. The chance that these complications will occur depends on the amount of heart tissue affected by a heart attack and whether medicines are given during and after a heart attack to help prevent these complications.
Your age, general health, and other things also affect your risk of complications and death. About half of all people who have a heart attack will have a serious complication. The kinds of complications you may have depend upon the location and extent of the heart muscle damage. The most common complications are:.
If the heart attack caused an arrhythmia, you may take medicines or you may need a cardiac device such as a pacemaker. If your heart rate is too slow bradycardia , your doctor may recommend a pacemaker.
If you have abnormal heart rhythms or if you are at risk for abnormal heart rhythms that can be deadly, your doctor may recommend an implantable cardioverter-defibrillator ICD. For information on different types of arrhythmias, see:.
If your condition gets worse, you may want to think about hospice palliative care. This care is a kind of care for people who have a serious illness. It's different from care to cure your illness. Its goal is to improve your quality of life—not just in your body but also in your mind and spirit. You can have this care along with treatment to cure your illness.
Hospice palliative care providers will work to help manage pain and other symptoms or side effects. They may help you decide what treatment you want or don't want. And they can help your loved ones understand how to support you. If you're interested in hospice palliative care, talk to your doctor. For more information, see the topic Hospice Palliative Care.
Treatment for a heart attack is increasingly successful at prolonging life and reducing complications and hospitalization. But a heart attack can lead to problems that get worse over time, such as heart failure and abnormal heart rhythms arrhythmias.
It can be hard to have talks with your doctor and family about the end of your life. But making these decisions now may bring you and your family peace of mind. Your family won't have to wonder what you want. And you can spend your time focusing on your relationships.
You will need to decide if you want life-support measures if your health gets very bad. An advance care plan tells doctors how to care for you at the end of your life. And you can name someone who can make sure your wishes are followed. Your doctor may talk to you about your desire to be revived resuscitated if your heart stops pumping and you are unable to breathe on your own.
Author: Healthwise Staff. Medical Review: Rakesh K. This information does not replace the advice of a doctor. Healthwise, Incorporated disclaims any warranty or liability for your use of this information. Your use of this information means that you agree to the Terms of Use and Privacy Policy.
Learn how we develop our content. To learn more about Healthwise, visit Healthwise. Healthwise, Healthwise for every health decision, and the Healthwise logo are trademarks of Healthwise, Incorporated. Top of the page. Overview What is a heart attack? What is angina, and why is unstable angina a concern? There are two types of angina: Stable angina means that you can usually predict when your symptoms will happen. You probably know what things cause your angina.
For example, you know how much activity usually causes your angina. You also know how to relieve your symptoms with rest or nitroglycerin. Unstable angina means that your symptoms have changed from your typical pattern of stable angina. Your symptoms do not happen at a predictable time. For example, you may feel angina when you are resting. Your symptoms may not go away with rest or nitroglycerin. What causes a heart attack?
What are the symptoms? Symptoms of a heart attack include: Chest pain or pressure, or a strange feeling in the chest. Shortness of breath. Nausea or vomiting. Pain, pressure, or a strange feeling in the back, neck, jaw, or upper belly, or in one or both shoulders or arms.
Light-headedness or sudden weakness. A fast or irregular heartbeat. Here are some other ways to describe the pain from heart attack: Many people describe the pain as discomfort, pressure, squeezing, or heaviness in the chest. People often put their fist to their chest when they describe the pain. The pain may spread down the left shoulder and arm and to other areas , such as the back, jaw, neck, or right arm. What should you do if you think you are having a heart attack?
If your doctor has prescribed nitroglycerin for angina: Take 1 dose of nitroglycerin and wait 5 minutes. If your symptoms don't improve or if they get worse, call or other emergency services. Describe your symptoms, and say that you could be having a heart attack. Stay on the phone. The emergency operator will tell you what to do. The operator may tell you to chew 1 adult-strength or 2 to 4 low-dose aspirin.
Aspirin helps keep blood from clotting, so it may help you survive a heart attack. Or you may feel burning or tingling under your tongue with nitroglycerin that is used under the tongue. But if you don't have a headache or feel burning or tingling under your tongue, it does not mean the medicine is not working.
Author: Healthwise Staff. Medical Review: Rakesh K. This information does not replace the advice of a doctor. Healthwise, Incorporated, disclaims any warranty or liability for your use of this information.
Your use of this information means that you agree to the Terms of Use. Learn how we develop our content. To learn more about Healthwise, visit Healthwise.
Healthwise, Healthwise for every health decision, and the Healthwise logo are trademarks of Healthwise, Incorporated. Updated visitor guidelines. You are here Home » Using Nitroglycerin for Angina. Top of the page. Topic Overview What is nitroglycerin?
Nitroglycerin comes in quick-acting forms and long-acting forms. Your doctor will prescribe the right amount for you. Do not use another person's nitroglycerin. When do I use quick-acting nitroglycerin? In general, quick-acting nitroglycerin is used: To relieve sudden angina. Before stressful activities that can cause angina, such as walking uphill or having sexual intercourse.
Alfred Nobel worked hard to improve nitroglycerine as an explosive that could be used in blasting rock and in mining. He made one of his most important discoveries when he found that by mixing nitroglycerine, an oily fluid, with kieselguhr , the mixture could be turned into a paste. This material could be kneaded and shaped into rods suitable for insertion into drilling holes. Gov't, P. Substances Placebos Nitroglycerin Isosorbide Dinitrate.
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