Heart Attack and Unstable Angina - Medications

SYMPTOMS & TREATMENTS

Take all of your medicines correctly. Do not stop taking your medicine unless your doctor tells you to. Taking medicine can lower your risk of having another heart attack or dying from coronary artery disease.

In the ambulance and emergency room

Treatment for a heart attack or unstable angina begins with medicines in the ambulance and emergency room. This treatment is similar for both. The goal is to prevent permanent heart muscle damage or prevent a heart attack by restoring blood flow to your heart as quickly as possible.

You will receive:

  • Morphine for pain relief.
  • Oxygen therapy to increase oxygen in your blood.
  • Nitroglycerin to open up the arteries to the heart to help blood to flow to the heart.
  • Beta-blockers to lower the heart rate, blood pressure, and the workload of the heart.

You also will receive medicines to stop blood clots so blood can flow to the heart. Some medicines will break up blood clots to increase blood flow. You might be given:

In the hospital and at home

In the hospital, your doctors will start you on medicines that lower your risk of having complications or another heart attack. You may already have taken some of these medicines. They can help you live longer after a heart attack. You will take these medicines for a long time, maybe the rest of your life.

Medicine to lower blood pressure and the heart's workload:

Medicine to prevent blood clots from forming and causing another heart attack:

Medicine to lower cholesterol:

Medicine to manage angina symptoms:

What to think about

If your doctor recommends daily aspirin, don't substitute nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs), such as ibuprofen (Advil, for example) or naproxen (such as Aleve), for the aspirin. NSAIDS relieve pain and inflammation much like aspirin does, but they do not affect blood clotting in the same way that aspirin does. NSAIDs do not lower your risk of another heart attack. In fact, NSAIDs may raise your risk for a heart attack or stroke.

If you need to take an NSAID for a long time, such as for pain, talk with your doctor to see if it is safe for you. For more information about daily aspirin and NSAIDs, see Low-Dose Aspirin Therapy.

By: Healthwise StaffLast Revised: April 26, 2011
Medical Review: E. Gregory Thompson, MD - Internal Medicine
John M. Miller, MD - Electrophysiology

© 1995-2011 Healthwise, Incorporated. Healthwise, Healthwise for every health decision, and the Healthwise logo are trademarks of Healthwise, Incorporated. This information does not replace the advice of a doctor. Healthwise, Incorporated disclaims any warranty or liability for your use of this information. Your use of this information means that you agree to the Terms of Use. How this information was developed to help you make better health decisions.

Advertisement
Care Circle

It Seems That You Are Not Logged In...

OR

Join Now

Welcome to Care Circle, an exclusive tool to help you take care of yourself and your loved ones. Here's how it works:

  1. Create profiles for yourself and your loved ones.
  2. Select the topics and conditions that interest each of you.
  3. Get customized news updates, original content, tools, and expert advice for each Care Circle member delivered directly to your personalized homepage.

The information you input is strictly private; you choose who has access to your Care Circle.

How do I add myself or someone else to my care circle?

Click on "Add someone." Fill out the short profile. Choose an avatar. Select the topics and conditions that interest this person from the pulldown menu. You can select as many as you want, but you must choose at least one. Click on "Add Someone" again. You should start getting updates immediately.

How do I save content to my Care Circle?

Click on "Manage My Care Circle." Select the tab of the person for whom you're saving content. Put your cursor over the piece of content that you want to save; a disk icon will appear in the righthand corner. Click on the disk and the piece of content will be moved to a save folder.

How do I add additional topics and conditions for someone in my Care Circle?

Click on "Manage My Care Circle." Select the tab for the person whose preferences you'd like to update. Under "Add More to Follow," select additional topics and conditions.

How do I delete topics and conditions for someone in my Care Circle?

Click on "Manage My Care Circle." Select the tab for the person whose preferences you'd like to update. Under "Follows," scroll over the topic or condition you want to delete. An "X" should appear on the righthand side. Click on the "X" and the topic or condition will be deleted from the list.

See All News

Advertisement