Coping With Heart Disease

Coping With Heart Disease By Richard N. Fogoros, MD Medically reviewed by Yasmine S. Ali, MD, MSCI on June 15, 2020 More in Heart Disease Living With Causes & Risk Factors Diagnosis Treatment Prevention Atrial Fibrillation Heart Attack Heart Valve Disease VIEW ALL In This Article Know Your Heart Disease Learn About Symptoms Adjust Your Lifestyle Take Charge of Medications Personal Technology Support Groups BACK TO TOP Over the past few decades, modern medicine has made major strides in treating all forms of heart disease, and people who have heart disease today are living much longer, much happier lives than similar people did in previous generations. But enjoying the very best outcomes if you have heart disease depends on more than just what your doctors do for you. To a very large extent, it depends on what you do for yourself. Because living well with heart disease takes some effort. If you have been told you have heart disease, there’s a lot you will need to think about, and a lot you will need to do. You will need to learn as much as you can about your heart disease and about the treatments your doctor has prescribed. You will have to learn what symptoms to watch out for. And, you very likely will have to make some lifestyle changes that might be challenging. It is the people who do all these things—who take personal control over their own wellbeing—who live the longest, healthiest lives with heart disease. Know Your Heart Disease “Heart disease” is a pretty nonspecific term. There are many different kinds of heart disease, and most types will show a tremendous amount of variability from person to person in its symptoms, its severity, its treatment, and its prognosis. So one of the most important things you will need to do is learn as much as you can about your particular disease, about the nature of the problem you have, and about what you can do to slow or even stop its progression. The more knowledge you have, the more you will be able to partner with your doctor in making the decisions about your care that are right for you. The most common types of heart disease are: Coronary artery disease and heart attacks Heart failure1 Heart valve disease Cardiac arrhythmias In addition to learning whatever you can about your disease, you should also learn all you can about any other medical conditions you may have, since these can have a big impact on your outcomes. There are many disorders that particularly impact heart disease, but the two most common are diabetes and hypertension. You should talk with your doctor about this aspect of your medical care. Heart Disease Doctor Discussion Guide Get our printable guide for your next doctor's appointment to help you ask the right questions. Doctor Discussion Guide Old Man DOWNLOAD PDF Email the GuideSend to yourself or a loved one. Enter your email SIGN UP Learn About Symptoms Symptoms that accompany heart disease are important for two reasons. First, of course, symptoms by their very nature are unpleasant and disturbing, and a chief goal of treating any medical problem is to minimize or eliminate them. But second, noticing symptoms can provide an important clue—to you and your doctor—that your cardiac condition may be changing. They can alert both of you that perhaps something needs to be done to get things back on a stable path. So ignoring a change in your symptoms, hoping they will go away, is a bad idea. It can result in a permanent worsening of your heart problem. For this reason, it is important to know what symptoms you should be watching for with your heart disease and to report them to your doctor if you experience any of them. Different forms of heart disease can cause different kinds of symptoms. But the most common symptoms caused by heart disease include: Chest pain or chest discomfort Dyspnea (shortness of breath) Fatigue or weakness Palpitations Lightheadedness2 Syncope Depression All of these symptoms are potentially very important, and should never be ignored. If you experience any of them, you need to talk to your doctor about it. Adjust Your Lifestyle Many aspects of our lifestyles affect our heart health. There may be some particular lifestyle measures you should take that will be especially important for the heart disease you have. In general, there are several lifestyle adjustments we should all make for the sake of our hearts. These include: Eat a heart-healthy diet Maintain a healthy weight Get plenty of exercise Quit smoking Learn to manage stress About Exercise Cardiologists are learning more every day about the importance of exercise for people who have heart disease. For many people exercise may, in fact, be the best medicine. Be sure to discuss exercise with your doctor, to learn what kinds of exercise might be most advantageous for people with your kind of heart disease, and how to get started with it safely. For many people, beginning with a formal cardiac rehabilitation program is the best way to get started. About Stress It is now pretty clear that certain kinds of emotional stress are potentially damaging to the heart.3 But since stress is a normal part of life, advising people to avoid stress is almost never helpful. Instead, you should learn techniques for coping with the stress you cannot avoid. Take Charge of Medications Medications are involved in many of the remarkable heart disease treatment advances we have seen in recent decades. So, it is extraordinarily likely that your doctor will have prescribed at least a few of these medicines for you. Especially when it comes to heart medicine, it is extremely important that you take them regularly and on time. There are many tips and techniques for taking medicine without missing doses or taking too much. You should find a system for doing so that works for you, and stick to it. Personal Technology Personal electronic technology is being developed by several companies. These promise to be of help to many people with heart disease. A few of these technologies are already widely available and may be helpful to you. These include: Automated home blood pressure monitoring devices Wireless scales that can record and store your weight over time Activity monitors that encourage you to remain active, such as Fitbit or Apple Watch Heart rate monitors that can alert you if your heart rate exceeds some determined threshold, such as the Apple Watch Support Groups It should be clear that, sometimes, living well with heart disease can present a real challenge. To deal with this kind of challenge it can be very helpful to join groups of people who are going through the same thing, who are facing the same difficulties, and who have found different techniques to cope. You should check with your doctor (or look on the website of a local hospital) about local support groups for people with heart disease, and consider joining one. The American Heart Association website can also help you find local support groups, as well as online groups you might find helpful.