November 10, 2012
I am 63 and had two SCAD’s in July 2012, one on July 1 and one on July 7. On July 1, I went for a run and experienced shortness of breath and chest pain. I have exercised regularly for years and the only medications I was taking at the time were for osteopenia, thyroid and hypertension. My doctor told me that he could have given me a stress test the day before my SCAD and he would not have seen any problem. The first one resulted in a mild heart attack, but it was at too low a point in the artery to be stented. I was sent home under medical management. The day after I came home from the hospital, I had a second episode. This time they were able to place two stents in the artery. Since then, my doctors have been very conservative about my ability to return to my previous level of exercise. I walk and do mild aerobics and light weights, but I can’t lift anything more than 15 lbs. and I am not permitted to do any pushups or other stressful upper body work. I can’t even walk my 60 lb. dog right now. Would love to hear from other women about the recovery period since my doctor told me this week that he is being conservative because there is no regimen prescribed (unlike the regimens prescribed more commonly occurring heart attacks).