My girlfriend had a massive heart attack
three years ago. For the most part she has
recovered very well although she is unable
to work and stressful situations seem to
give her chest pain.
Thankfully, she is able to exercise 5-6
days a week by walking 3-4 miles at a 15
minute pace, or by using an elliptical
machine for over an hour at a time. She
does these things at a reasonable pace and
her heart rate seems to hover at around
100 bmp as identified by an exercise heart
monitor.
Once a week or so she gets extremely tired
and can barely get out of bed. This
lethargy has been going on since her heart
attack although it has diminished
significantly over time. On one such day
we put her exercise heart monitor on and
it quickly jumped to 120 bmp by simply
walking up and down the stairs in our
house. A few hours later she tried to go
for a walk, but again the monitor jumped
to 120-130 soon after we began.
Does anyone have an idea as to why this
might be happening? To me it sounds like
she is not getting enough oxygen and her
heart has to work overtime to provide her
what she needs. It also would explain her
lethargy. But what would cause this to
happen? Please know that she has not
recently changed her drugs or diet. I
would love to know if anyone has any
experience with this type of situation.
Thanks!
