Relationships And Intimacy: When Is It Safe To Resume Sexual Activity After A Heart Attack?

Resuming your activities after a heart attack is sometimes a very scary idea. Knowing that your life is and still may be in danger changes a lot of things. But when you are cleared by your doctor to go back to some of your activities, you are on the right track for a speedier recovery. One of the questions that heart attack survivors ask is how long will it be before they can resume sexual activity.

Sex after a heart attack: Important facts and medical advice

It’s normal for heart attack survivors to be reluctant to resume their sexual activity because of the mental and physical implications of the act. Here are some rules that will keep you safe:

• While it may seem unrelated, it’s important to wait a few hours after eating before engaging in intercourse. The simple act of eating can put stress on the heart, and if you allow your body to digest that generous dinner, you are less likely to stress your heart out when having intimate relations.
• If you’re taking medication such as Viagra, it’s important not to combine with nitroglycerin — wait for at least 72 hours. To be safe, you can talk to your doctor about erectile dysfunction medication to rule out the possible interactions with different types of nitroglycerin medication (which is prescribed for chest pain caused by narrowing of the coronary arteries).
• It is not uncommon for men to find it more difficult to resume sexual activities after a heart attack, compared to women in the same situation. Researchers at the University of Chicago have discovered that 31 percent of men who were sexually active before a heart attack faced sexual challenges in the year after the event. As results have shown, 16 percent of them experienced performance anxiety, 19 percent showed less interest in engaging in sexual activity, and 25 percent experienced erectile dysfunction.

Sex and the heart: What you need to know

According to the American Heart Association, men and women have similar responses when it comes to sexual stimuli. Evidence suggests that for young people, the sexual strain on the body is the equivalent of climbing two flights of stairs. For those who suffer from a heart-related disease, sex requires a greater deal of effort.

Regardless of whether you’ve suffered a heart attack or not, remember the following: when having intercourse, the peak of your blood pressure and heart rate lasts for about 10 to 15 seconds during the climax. After that, both of them return to normal rates. 

A heart attack during sex occurs in only one percent of cases, and it seems like men who have survived a heart attack are as likely to have one during intercourse than men who don’t even have coronary artery disease.

When you’ll be able to resume your sexual activity depends on the severity of the heart attack you’ve suffered:

• If, after your heart attack, you no longer have the symptoms associated with heart disease, you should be able to resume sexual activity pretty soon.
• For people who had revascularization (such as an angioplasty with stent placement), it may depend on where the catheter was inserted. If a catheter was inserted through the groin, the normal waiting period depends on how fast the puncture spot heals. People who were punctured in the arm should be safe just a few days after the procedure.
• Those who underwent coronary artery bypass surgery have to wait until their breastbone heals. This can take anywhere between six and eight weeks. It’s also important for those with bypass surgery to avoid any sexual position that puts stress on the chest. However, those who went through this procedure with a minimally invasive technique can resume their sex life sooner.

When sex can be unsafe

Also, if you experience any pain while having sex, it’s important to stop and consult your doctor, because it could mean that your heart condition is still unstable.

Even though sex after a heart attack is usually not risky, there are a few things you can do to lower the risk even further. One of the best pieces of advice is to exercise in order to improve your stamina. This will make the sexual act itself less stressful for your heart.

You should also consider entering a cardiac rehabilitation program so that you know what exercises are good for improving heart health and maximizing stamina. During such a program, you can discover exactly how much exertion your heart can tolerate, so you’ll always stay safe no matter what you’re doing.

A stress test is also a good way to determine what your limit for staying safe is because any signs of cardiovascular disease might kick in. Make sure that you perform this test in the presence of an authorized cardiologist who can easily understand more about your current condition.

Conclusion