Sex after Heart Attack

iVillage Member
Registered: 02-01-2007
Sex after Heart Attack
4
Thu, 02-01-2007 - 8:48pm
I have a situation and I would like some input from the readers. I have never asked for input before on a message board. But my husband and I have been married about 2 1/2 years, but have been together exclusively for 14 yrs. Our sex lives were great until about 3 1/2 yrs ago. Prior to his heart attack about 3 yrs ago we began having a few problems with erections. He just wasn't as endowed as previous yrs, so I began loosing interest. My husband had his heart attack at age 35, now he's 38. I am 14 yrs older than my husband. For the the past 3 yrs, we have not been very sexually active. I had fears of another heart attack and he had fears of letting me down. So we just did without. Recently, I have began to want to correct this about our lives. I feel we have everything else going for us, but we have been missing sexual activity. He has been on meds since the heart attack and this has cause some problems. His dr gave him Levetra for erection. It seemed to work, but he is still not like he use to be. I am wondering if this could be the drug or drugs or if it could be age. I heard that as a man ages, he can loose some of that. I really miss that. Could this be our future? I don't want to complain, because I don't want him to feel like he is letting me down, but I just need to know if this could be his age. I never thought that could happen to someone his age. Any input would be greatly appreciated.
iVillage Member
Registered: 12-12-2006
Thu, 02-01-2007 - 11:24pm

I'm not sure what you mean that he's "not like he used to be".....in what way?

Prior to his heart attack, the erection problems were more than likely circulation problems, which eventually let to his heart attack. It's possible that the heart medications have some effect on him, but the Levitra should take care of that. Age in itself has nothing to do with it, particularly at 38, which is NOT old in any way, but his heart attack & meds probably do have something to do with it.

Whether he's like he used to be, or he's not....if you're able to have sex, you should be thankful.....many men who have heart attacks at such a young age don't survive them....so you've GOT him...and if the sex isn't up to your standards......then I guess that's what it is, and you have to decide if that's what you want to live with.....or not.

iVillage Member
Registered: 12-19-2006
Sat, 02-03-2007 - 8:58am
Perhaps he is nervous about getting back in the saddle -- a little afraid that he will have another heart attack. Since his doctor prescribed him Levetra, I'm sure the doctor gave him a green light. Perhaps you should be the more active partner until the two of you get back into the groove. Concentrate on pleasing him and getting him really worked up without him having to be overly physical (like WOT and such). Once he has a few great experiences, he will probably stop thinking about his health problems. Also, if Levetra isn't working for him, he can ask his doctor to try a different medication.


iVillage Member
Registered: 02-01-2007
Sat, 02-03-2007 - 10:27am
Thank you for your response. I'm sorry if I sounded like I did not appreciate that he survived this. I greatly appreciated that he is still with me. My main question, really had to do with if at his age, he could already be experiencing this kind of problem. What I meant by the way he used to be, is even with the Levitra, he does not seem to completely have the erection that he used to. He seems to get only a half the size the he used to be able to get. Yes, I am glad that after 3 years, he can be sexual at all. We will continue to work at this and we'll see where it all goes.
iVillage Member
Registered: 01-17-2007
Tue, 02-06-2007 - 6:13pm
I know what you are going through. 7 years ago my husband had a massive heart attack and thank God he survived. He had to have triple by pass surgery. 5 days after his surgery, his cardiologist came in to tell us the dos and the don'ts. One of which was that we could resume sex immediately. We were shocked and both scared that either he would have another heart attack or He would be hurt in someway because of his incision. We waited about 3 wks and then went back to having sex. We had to take it slow but soon we were back to a very happy sex life. Good Luck to the 2 of you