A number of years ago, Fiona shared her story of her heart attack. She is now 46 and working as a bookkeeper and slowly increasing her hours. Prior to her heart attack, she had elevated cholesterol levels which she has managed to reduce with her diet, exercise, and then further reduce to within normal limits with medication. She explains “I did experience some side effects from the statins including muscle aches and cramps, however, pre-heart attack my Cholesterol was 8.3, and I managed to reduce it to 5.9 with diet & exercise but it reduced to 3.1 with medication”.
Fiona has avoided smoking since the heart attack and says “I have not smoked since the heart attack although sometimes feels like it when I am stressed, so I try to exercise instead”. She has had some challenges, such as getting the occasional chest pains (accompanied by anxiety), and she can get short of breath even doing simple tasks such as housework and finds it difficult to work out at the gym. However, she has completed a meditation course which has helped her sleep better at night. Fiona does miss participating in sports with her children, who are now active teenagers. Instead, she finds walking is great, “even if I get only 10-20 minutes every day” as it helps her with stress and cholesterol management.