4am... awake an hour

[ccwh70]

Woke up about 3am, arms, shoulders and neck aching. Heart has decided to skip beats and flutter etc.. constantly since I woke. Can't lay down or settle and it's starting to feel like a nightly torture now. I managed about 4 hours restless sleep but I'm shattered. My stomach is also churning and gnawing which has been going on since just before my CAD was diagnosed in May. Lansaprozale was kind of holding it at bay but no longer it seems. All in all I feel pretty dreadful tonight... Apologies for the mpan. . Just needed to vent somewhere.

[skid112 Heart Star]

morning, no apologies for the moan needed. Ok, you do need to rest more, are you sleeping/napping during the day as well as the odd few hours at night? If so is this sat upright or do you lay down?

[ccwh70 in reply to skid112]

Hi.. I'm not really managing to nap to be honest, although I intend to today for sure. I'm definitely lacking quality rest which I'm sure isn't helping. I'm also convinced now the statin is the root cause of my muscle aches and pains which really are kicking in. I sat in bed last night, well earlier this morning about 5am and my shoulders, jaw, neck, arms and legs were really quite painful. The combination of that with the frequent heart beat irregularities made sleep impossible. I'm going to call my gp when they open in the vague hope there might be an appointment. I have a blood test booked today anyway and I'm going to see if they can check my cholesterol and creatine levels. Right now It really seems a struggle to imagibe this all improving!

[skid112 Heart Star in reply to ccwh70]

Ok, time to put pressure on your receptionist, you do need an appointment as it needs addressing. I find it quite useful to mention every other sentence, either the surgery or the heart issues. Failing this call 111 please

[ccwh70 in reply to skid112]

I've managed to get an appointment for this afternoon at 16.10. Quite late in the day but better than nothing. Will discuss my medication, muscle pains, abdominal pains, heart beat irregularities and lack of sleep and see what happens! I said to my partner this morning, I know it's early days but it feels like I've had my heart mended only to feel dreadful because of the medication etc.. I now have to take... I certainly couldn't live this way if nothing changes.

[skid112 Heart Star in reply to ccwh70]

Quite correct, there is no reason to live like this at all. It may not be solved in one visit, but its imperative you get rest as that is needed to help you recover. Can i suggest you read the leaflets accompanying your meds to check side effects, the statins you have covered I think.

Let us know how you get on, and please don't be afraid of visiting A&E, rest plays a vital part in your recovery

[ccwh70]

The problem I have with A&E is that my experience there to date has been pretty dismal. The local hospital isn't very large and doesn't have much in the way of specialist services. They are always packed, never have spare beds and their ratings are poor. I've personal experiences of 2 quite serious accounts of negligence leading to death! I've spent around 15 days in there in the last couple of months and it's been awful. I've been stuck on respiratory wards because there's no room in cardio with nurses who aren't trained in cardiac conditions... I could go on. My CABG was performed at Papworth and even there I had mixed treatment. The surgeons are clearly top of their game but the nursing experience was really very mixed. It's very unfortunate when you have little faith in your local gp practice or your local hospital.

[skid112 Heart Star]

man, that really sucks, sorry I do remember now you posting about that before.

[ccwh70]

Been to GP.. had a locum.. who turned out to be the director of the local hospital I was talking about above! He was standing in and apparently likes to get out and do a bit of gp work now and then! He was actually very nice, listened carefully and agreed that stopping the statin for a short time was a good idea. He also knows my surgeon at Papworth and is going to have a word about my heart beat irregularities! I feel a bit happier although no cure!

[skid112 Heart Star]

Ah some good news though

[Hidden]

Dealing with the anxiety of having a GP who isn't getting to grips with your personal issues is really testing. The key thing to remember with your GP is that within the practice there are other partners who often have more experience dealing with specific conditions.

Personally I have a great GP but I also know that if I can't see him for any reason the heart specialist in the practice is available.

Sleep is a real problem - now get by with four hours of unbroken sleep a night, wake with pain in legs, arm and neck so to manage this I returned the relaxation exercises I was given after diagnosis.

The first thing is I don't get up!

I then spend the next 30 minutes repeating those exercises; also I keep a supply of additional pillows to provide support. This reduces the pain - I don't get back to sleep but I can continue to rest for another couple of hours.