OBJECTIVES: Cardiovascular disease culminating in myocardial infarction (MI) remains prevalent in society and is responsible for significant morbidity and mortality. Patients may experience a variety of deleterious effects following an MI. An enhanced understanding of patients’ post-MI experiences may lead to improved assessments of post-MI treatment outcomes and, ultimately, improved therapies. METHODS: Participants were 38 patients who had experienced an MI (with or without ST segment elevation) within the past 6 months (n=17) or in the past 6-12 months (n=21). One-hour in-person interviews were conducted using a semi-structured interview guide. Interview responses were coded using ATLAS.ti software. The percent of patients mentioning a specific post-MI experience was used to identify the most relevant and generalizable patient experiences. RESULTS: The average age of the patients was 53 (range=34-87, 63% male). Feeling tired, the most commonly reported post-MI experience, was reported by 76% of patients. Within this tiredness category, patients reported experiencing a loss of physical energy (66%), mental energy (34%), and motivation (26%). A majority of patients also reported dyspnea (58%). Additionally, patients reported emotional effects, including worry (61%) and depression (58%), as well as an impact on relationships (58%) and social activities (50%). Time since the MI had little effect on patient experiences. CONCLUSIONS: Patients report a wide variety of negative experiences after an MI. A loss of physical energy is only one component of the tiredness experienced by patients; loss of mental energy and loss of motivation are also common. These experiences may be directly related to the effects of the MI, but may also be secondary to the experience of depression and worry. Further refinement of the concepts associated with the patient’s experience following an MI may yield novel endpoints for use in clinical trials and better therapies.