“How long does fatigue last after a heart attack?”

The fatigue can vary with people. The majority of the time, the fatigue is most likely caused by the new medications you may have been started on after your heart attack depending on what they found and the kinds of procedures that were done at the time of your heart attack.

Four to six weeks after the heart attacks are very crucial for doing a cardiac rehab and regaining your baseline functional capacity. Fatigue depends on what kind of damage to the heart was done with a heart attack. Ejection fraction or pumping function of the heart determines if you’re going to be fatigued or not.

Every patient is unique and symptoms post myocardial infarction can vary. However what is important to ensure is that you are on the right medications and are seeing a Cardiologist so they can keep an eye on your heart function. If you are not plugged in with a Cardiologist I recommend you get yourself in to see one as soon as possible.

After you have a heart attack, fatigue is a common symptom that you may experience. The severity and duration of fatigue may be influenced by the size of the heart attack (how weak the heart is after the heart attack); the medications used to treat people after a heart attack; ongoing symptoms related to heart disease; and concurrent medical problems like depression, which can happen after a heart attack. Without aggravating causes, fatigue tends to improve in the majority of people after about two months. If fatigue is not improving, you should talk to your doctor.

Victor M. Mejia, MD