Heart issue

Are you seeing a cardio at least once a year for follow up. 

ECG, echocardiograms should be done to see if he is getting better or worse, by the sounds of it he is not getting better.

Weight - has he put on the pounds or is he the same as he was. 

Whats the Dr's opinion about being overweight, if he is.

My husband has heart failure, from a virus that attacked his heart, he is very lucky to be alive, a letter to his GP at the time 6 years ago suggests he will not survive the next 30 days, being discharged from the hospital as there was no more they could do for him.

After we got home, I I found he struggled to walk from the bedroom to the lounge room, so set up a regiem, up from the easy chair and walk to a kitchen chair at the front door, about 20 steps, three times a day, but for this exercise he would not be alive, but you have to pace yourself slowly.

Then I set up the kitchen chair to the letter box out the front of our property, again the same for about a week, then set up chair at neigbour property, again repeated the same for about a week.

By 18 months he was walking 7 kms a day, or 3 half miles, Dr's could not believe it.

He has had a setback, since in the last year the electrical system of his heart shut down 100% branch bundle blockage,

I was lucky I recognised there was a big problem when he complained of dizziness, and weakness, took his blood pressure, which also tells me what his heart was beating at, used an Omron, blood pressure machine with heartbeat monitor.

The results rang alarm bells and I took him straight to our heart hospital, where they installed a pacemaker and defribilator. 

His health improved immediatly, doing very well, for six months until he was silly enough to break his heel and ankle, climbing a ladder when my back was turned, GRRRROWL.

How do I know this, I have educated myself from scratch, library books, begged the GP for his cardiology books when the library books became to simple.

Also have read papers available on the internet, DR to DR papers, usually from university sites.

Some of these papers have been terrifing as they are worst case situations.

I write down and ask the cardio specialists about his medication, about the pain in his left arm, prior to his heart almost shutting down.

I kept on at them, and eventually was believed that what I was talking about was correct, but it took the consultant cardiologist to recognise I knew what I was talking about. 

I had a terrible fight with the junior cardiologist at the hospital the morning he was admitted, and I completly lost my temper, overheard by consultant, who didn't get angry with me, he got angry with the junior cardio's and told them off in front of me and husband.

Husband file now has a comment on it listen to wife she knows what she is talking about, and signed by consultant.

Could it be his medication? Is he on Ramipril and beta blockers still? Have you been told that the heart attack caused damage to his heart?  I can only tell you my own experience. Like your husband I was fit a keen hiker and enjoyed running cycling going to the gym etc. Four years ago I was 58 years old and 2 years into early retirement and living the dream. I had a heart attack while on a short (10mile) bike ride. I too had a single stent fitted to left side of my heart. When I left hospital I could hardly walk to the end of my street. I found out in time the medication was knocking me for six. I realised I got worse every time the Ramipril was increased so asked my doc to change it which he did after a bit of a stand off. It has been an up and down recovery but now I feel consistantly fine. I have accepted I cannot do what I could before my heart attack no more running or cycling or hill walking but can still walk 3 miles a time and go to a Heart Watch exersise class 3 times a week. I can do my garden and enjoy all the normal things in life. I stopped taking my beta blockers 6 months ago and feel better for it. So 3 holes of golf is better than none. Recovery is a marathon not a sprint hope this helps you and good luck.