I had an angiocram on Wednesday, it all went well except they did not put in a stent because they said that they did not have a spare bed for me and so I am waiting now for a call to go in some other time. However the blockage is at a fork in D1 70% blockage so am hoping it is going to be soon, however I feel nervous as this type of stent is a bit more difficult then a straightforward stent in one artery. Has anyone had a stent at the fork or branch of the main artery and should I be nervous.
BLOCKAGE IN D1 AT FORK TO MAIN ARTERY - British Heart Fou...
BLOCKAGE IN D1 AT FORK TO MAIN ARTERY
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Surreychica_1
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That’s the one I had. It was 90% blocked. I had been in hospital for 8 days because they thought I had sprained a muscle in my chest and there was a waiting list for beds. They finally decided to do angioplasty and stent after they looked at the print out of the monitor. I’d been having heart attacks and they hadn’t believed me! I was home the following day. You’ll be fine just don’t let them forget you.
Thank you for that reply. I was getting worried. They do seem to be rather slow getting things done here in Spain. It seems it is quite a difficult procedure to do one that is on a fork!! Just hope the surgeon is up to it!! How awful that you had been having heart attacks and not believed. I was in a similar boat where I kept having palpation's, heart stopping and starting, funny pulse and yet all they kept telling me was that it was normal!! That went on for over two years. I knew it wasnt normal and that it had to be a sign of something more serious.
You don’t say what your gender is but by the sound of it, female. The medics don’t always pick up females having heart attacks. Pain in the chest similar to someone sitting on me just wasn’t obvious to the GP, the ambulance paramedics, A&E, consultant physician on observation ward. It was only when I told them my family history and my daughter (a cardiac HDU nurse) played heck and asked for an echocardiogram that they decided to put me on a monitor. The cardiac nurse who came to see me told me to ignore what the others had said. She said I had definitely had a heart attack and I had “dodged a bullet”. It was only lack of resources that lead them to give wrong diagnoses and delay an angiogram. I don’t blame them they could only do what they could under the circumstances but my daughter has told me that if I have another attack I have to go to her hospital. I hope things are better in Spain and you get sorted soon.
Well it is the same here, lack of resources, however they must know their job, it is essential that they do, people die that way. They gave all sorts of excuses for not referring me to a cardiologist, but in the end they are doctors and the Hippocratic oath is everything. Yes you are right I am a woman.
It was the same for me, I had to get my friend who is a GP in the Uk to get involved without his help I would probably still be sitting here - or not as the case may be - being fobbed off.
A friend was treated in the Costa del Sol Hospital with immediate stents, he only had praise for the Cardiologist and Staff !! Are you resident or on EHC 111 ?
Yes I am resident. I am having in the Carlos Haya hospital Malaga. Thanks for that, that has helped me a lot.
Good Hospital very clean and well staffed.
I have had by pass surgery to my LAD and Circumflex. I have a 100% blocked RCA. Last year I had 2 stents in my LAD which was carried out through my by pass graft. Tomorrow I have an appointment with Cardiologist after having a Stress MRI 6 weeks ago this is to talk about options, possibly to my RCA which requires 2 Cardiologist with an increased risk of problems !! If I am offered further stents I will go for it. Another possible option for me is a pacing pacemaker which I would also go for if offered. I post this just to show I am of the belief if the Cardiologist is of the view it's worth it then lets go for it . Wish you well
Thanks for that. I feel a bit more reassured now. I do hope all goes well with you and your heart and you get the right option for you. Goodness you have had a lot done. The wonders of modern technology!! Yes I do believe that it will be worth it, I am looking forward to having it done and getting on with my life as I am sure you are too. Let us know how it all goes. Wish you well too and thank you for replying to my post. I feel a whole lot better now.
If your concerned ask for a bypass - use your own biological bits. I know that there are a few Surgeons who can do this via Keyhole ( Paul Modi is one)
Good Luck!
I do not know who Paul Modi is I am in Malaga Spain. I would be terrified to have a bypass just as I am frightened of having stents put in, I gather it is a difficult procedure when the blockage is a fork. Also I doubt if I can dictate to the surgeons what to do.
Sorry didn’t realize you were in Spain.
In the UK I was given options on my treatment, I didn’t dictate but rather evaluated the risk and outcomes, and I chose to use my own body parts, grafts, (for bypass) rather than stents which, although are quite successful, are still foreign to our anatomy.
Good Luck!
Hi,
I’m booked in for 2 stents, one just before the fork of D2, and another in D2 itself. They’ve told me it’s serious and complex, will take a whole morning as opposed to the usual 45 mins and requires 2 consultants! They don’t sugar coat it, do they?!
Mine aren’t quite in the same place as you but I’m with you on the trepidation - I don’t want to be the tricky one, I’m very happy being routine, please!.
I’m unsure how they do it with needing contrast for such a long period, as they were talking about how long etc during my last angio last month. Also would like my arm put to sleep as I was really aching from having it in one place for the hour and fifteen mins then!
He’s said ‘they’ll try this’ to hopefully avoid bypass.
The gift that keeps on giving. I’m 51 and don’t feel old enough for this! Guess that’s more a reflection on me and my previously crappy eating habit and lifestyle.
Oh dear that sounds a bit scary, but the alternative is worse. I had two consultants when I had my angiogram. When you had an angiocram did they not put in a stent then! Obviously not. Just checking as I was wondering why they didnt put the stent in last Wednesday. Yes I have just spoken to a nurse at the Heart foundation and much easier to put in stents then do a bypass. If only we all knew what to eat etc etc to avoid all this. I would mind but I have always eaten well, have not touched meat for over 30 years and eat plenty of vegetables and also a friend of mine who is a practising Buddhist and is very careful what she eats also has a problem with clogged up arteries!! so you can never tell. Just hope they get on with it.
I think that is what I will have to have. Mine is at the fork of D1 and they call it bifurcation.
Hope yours all goes well.
I agree I would like to be routine also, but alas that is not so, however I am sure the surgeons have done plenty of stents on the bend so I cannot see it has a problem - hopefully! -
The one thing though is that you are only 51 and so will have a long and happy life once th stents are in with careful diet etc and plenty of exercise once it is all over.
Take care
I had a triple bypass in March 2015 followed by 4 stents, 2 in the LAD artery.
My blockages were over 90 and 95%.
At 70% you are much lower risk and may even have only mild symptoms.
To make a long story short, I had requested stents following an investigative angiogram and they said it would be too dangerous so they recommended bypass surgery instead.
Following the surgery I learned that the bypasses failed and that they had to perform the angioplasty instead (stents).
The stents were successful in alleviating my symptoms (angina).
I have since radically changed my diet and lifestyle, lost 40 lbs to drop to my natural body weight and completely stopped all medications. I'm in the best shape of my life.
I have read extensively on this subject.
You don't need stents or bypass surgery - cardiovascular disease, assuming no other complications other than what you described, can be arrested and possibly reversed by adhering to the Mediterranean Diet (no sugar and no simple carbs) and daily exercise.
Go to the cholesterol forum and read my pinned post - How I Conquered Heart Disease and What I Have Learned in the Process'.
Avoid processed foods - eat a whole-foods diet, avoid sugar and simple or refined carbohydrates such as rice, pasta, potatoes and other white flour products such as pizza dough.
Whole grains are fine - so you can have whole grain pasta and pizza dough.
Minimize animal protein and eat 2-3 servings of cold-water fish such as wild caught salmon, each week.
Watch these videos:
youtu.be/ZSpB-j5DL9E 13 minute video
youtu.be/f3iOlRUQkrw part 1
youtu.be/klnYh7SZRic part 2
Good luck!
As far as damage to our bodies caused by diet, or curing yourself through dietary changes I recommend watching 'Forks over Knives' on Netflix.....or you can download it, a lot of good stuff backed up by evidence.
I understand, but I already eat a good diet and have done so for years and years. I do not eat red meat, carbs, etc etc. I follow a Mediterranean diet and have done so for at leat 30 years and even before that and as a child we had good wholesome food. I do not have Netflex and I do understand but I want the stents. I cannot walk at the moment very far or over tax myself.
Avoid processed foods - eat a whole-foods diet, avoid sugar and simple or refined carbohydrates such as rice, pasta, potatoes and other white flour products such as pizza dough. I do all of this and have done for many years. I do not eat a thing with flour in it, I never touch Pizza's, pasta or potatoes and just eat a little rice at times. It is very interesting what you say but obviously there are other reasons why I have a build up of plaque or fats.
Well, you are doing many things well. Good for you - that is better than most people. Some other things that also affect cardiovascular health are stress, which raises cortisol levels, and sleep deprivation. Dr. Matthew Walker has done some ground breaking work on this subject. Note that he suggests that anybody that averages less than 8 hours sleep each night is sleep deprived. You may wish to get a Fitbit, the Oura ring, or other similar biometric device which measures sleep and sleep quality.
Good luck!
I do not sleep well. It is possible that is one of the main things. I have been an insomniac for years. I do no get a good nights sleep and one of the things that also happened when I started to heart disease was that I had to keep getting up in the night. I also have a lot of stress as I have a flat in the UK and it causes me a great deal of stress what with tenants and other Leaseholders. I shall sell it in the spring and hopefully that will get rid of some of the stress that I suffer.
So now you have your answer for the occlusion. I encourage you to buy his book 'Why We Sleep' as it will give you some guidelines on how to get a better night's sleep.
I have also learned about Glysine - take a look: thesleepdoctor.com/2018/07/...
Good luck.
The thing is that I do eat a Mediterranean diet and I still have a problem with blocked arteries. I do not eat bread, potatoes, pasta etc. I do not take sugar either. I have always eaten a very healthy diet. I would much rather have the stents so that I can get on with my life. I have had all sorts of symptoms, quite horrible, I cannot walk very fast or very far. There is nothing I can change in my diet as I have always eaten a Mediterranean diet. I do not eat anything in tins, I eat fresh vegetables. Even the Spanish who eat a med. diet have a high rate of heart disease. Heart disease in Spain is the highest reason that people die, it is top of the list. I do understand that diet is very important, however there are other variables that also cause blocked arteries. I do not have high cholesterol at all, yet it is high cholesterol which is one of the main causes of heart disease.
Stress?....that's what my cardiologist suggested was responsible for my very unexpected heart attack.
Stress and sleep deprivation are very bad for the body. Read my responses to Surreychica_1.
Sorry about that. I also think that is what has brought on my Angina. Stress is a terrible thing and can wreck havoc to the body.
Most of those living in Mediterranean countries today no longer eat the classical 'Mediterranean Diet' which is essentially, the 'poverty diet'. They have adapted to the SAD (standard American diet).
Stress and sleep deprivation significantly affect cardiovascular health.
Watch the video I sent you in my reply to your other response, as well as this video below:
Hi Surreychica_1
How did you heart problems first begin? Did it happen during exercise or just come on for no obvious reason?
Well I first started to have palpitations, that was about three years ago, and also I felt my heart stop and then start again as well as having a strange pulse at times I went to the doctors umpteen times about it and they did an ECG. The palpitations just got worse, I had them for longer periods and the time in-between got shorter, so I went umpteen times and they said the same to me each time that it was normal and lots of people suffered from it. I did see a cardiologist and he carried out further tests and also I had a monitor for 24 hours. I heard nothing and the cardiologist said nothing to me at all. Then on the 1st of January of this year, I decided to walk a greater distance then the usual 4 miles I walked each day, however I did not get very far I had to turn back as I suddently felt a pain in my chest which got worse and went around to my back, but when I got in to the house and sat down it stopped, so I thought it must be my back, however the next day I had to go to the opticians which is at the top of a small hill, but I could hardly make it up the hill, but again as I got on the flat the pain went, so I was at a loss to know what was happening, however I spoke to a friend of mine in the UK who is a medical doctor and he told me that what I had was "rapid angina". I was also suffering from palpitations and so he told me what to ask for at the doctors ie beta blockers etc and the young doctor, a locum, was very nice she gave me the prescription and also got me an urgent appt. with another cardiologist who confirmed that I had angina and he organised a stress test which I failed and so it was arranged that I have an angiogram which has confirmed that I have a blockage. The relief at taken the beta blockers was marvellous,, I felt at times my heart was going to jump out of my body. I also feel very tired all the time and cannot do as much as I used to.
I do have high blood pressure, but that is only recent. I used to have low blood pressure.
I have always eaten well. I love vegetables, I do not have a sweet tooth so rarely eat a desert except a yogurt and as I said it is well over 30 years since I last ate meat. I have no idea why I have blocked arteries, but my father died of it and so it could be that I have inherited it.
Hope this is not too long, but you did ask!
It certainly was not too long. It went into detail which was helpful. If you have always led a healthy lifestyle and your Father died of it then I'd imagine that there's a good chance that it's hereditary. I have a condition called Myocarditis which is inflammation of the heart muscle but I'm convinced I have some form of Angina too. The injury to my heart happened while I was swimming which resulted in inflammation. Since then I can only do walking for exercise as every other option like running, football etc gives me bad chest pain. I feel that once someone has suffered heart injury it can unfortunately be hard for the heart to recover back to it's previous state. It's usually medication and/or surgery that is required. I wish you good luck with the stent surgery and hope that it makes a positive difference to the quality of your life.
Thank you very much for your kind response. So sorry to hear about your heart problems. I do hope your heart will get better and you can get back to your old self again. Thank you very much for your response.
The hospital have just phoned and I am having the stent put in this evening and an over night stay at the hospital. Well let you know how I get on. I am nervous but will be pleased to get it over and done with.
Wish me luck guys! Thank you for all your support xx
Hi I hope you well they couldn't put stent my arteries I had to go bypass operation .Still I am alive.happy days.I got 90 percent blockage .
Good luck. I hope everything goes well!!
Good luck tomorrow
Hello Everyone, so here I am having had the stent put in place. I do feel marvellous I must say, well a lot of it is relief to have had it done and over with. It all went very well and it was all over and done with in an hour. Goodness the wonders of technology and advances in medicine and surgery.
Also I was pleased that at last someone was taking note of my symptoms as I had been palmed off for two years being told it was normal to have palpation's and heart stopping and starting, the sensations were terrible, but they still kept telling me nothing was wrong and not referring me to a cardiologist.
They were very thorough and kept me in for two days. I was on a machine for most of the day after the surgery which checked my circulation.
Thank you all very much for your good wishes.
I just tapped into your story after you replied to my snorkelling post. I savagely changed my diet after needing 2 stents in a 95% blocked LAD, but I’m softening my approach now. Hearing stories like yours makes me feel that there’s too little evidence. I was 10 and a half stone, non drinking, non smoking and could still play competitive football and swim miles (which I did whilst blocked). Until 2 weeks ago I’d dropped to 9.5stone by eating nuts, cranberries, porridge and all brown carbs. I’m on way home from a holiday and hoping that some normal eating gets me back to 10 stone. I’m not sure at all about the cholesterol argument - mine wasn’t that high.....it’s 2.4 now. I have friends who reblocked after getting down to 2.4. Plenty of people walk around with high cholesterol and no problems. Seems more likely that it’s triggered by inflammation- sugar? Or stress. I’ve always been highly strung, so think that’s what I need to work on. Worrying about everything I eat seems counter productive. Relaxing and eating more of what I like is quite a convenient theory though.
I quite agree. I have always eaten a healthy diet, no red meat, lots of vegetables and very sporty as well. A big walker and I have low cholesterol. But, apparently even if you have low cholesterol you still need to take the statins as it can still block your arteries. John, a friend who is a medical doctor diagnosed me and then told me what to say to the doctors so I could get an appointment with a cardiologist. He had a heart attack and his main artery was almost completely blocked 95%! and he was running marathons right up to when he had his heart attack!! Stress does come into it a lot, but I think your arteries are blocked and then you suffer stress and start to get symptoms. However what John said to me is that is is not the stents that are stopping you from having a heart attack it is the medication you have to take.
Glad you are relaxing and enjoying snorkling again. I still do feel a bit nervous at the moment as I get the odd sensation in my chest. Of course it could be something else, but once you are aware of you heart, Oh dear it is difficult not to keep putting two and two together to make 12 or so!!
Glad you said that - my cardiologist said same. ‘It’s not the stents stopping a HA.’ I’ve never really understood that. They’re keeping blood flow to my heart ...so my simple brain says it does prevent HA? I know I’m missing something.....not sure what.
And like you I get all sorts of sensations. Currently have a morning shoulder ache - could be anything couldn’t it. But so hard to move your brain away from that ache.
I, do so agree with what you say. However one thing for sure is that, once you know you have a heart problem you are very unlikely to have a heart attack, it is those who do not have any symptoms and have no idea that have the fatal heart attacks. My friends brother had a fatal heart attack at 54, the sad thing was that he was a much respect surgeon but didnt have a clue that he had anything wrong with his heart. A big lose to the medical profession as he specialised in kidney transplants.
That’s strangely reassuring.
Yes the stents open up the arteries which have been blocked but there are a lot of other arteries which can be blocked. A friend of mine has blockage in the tiny arteries which cannot have stents put in so of course, he is on medication. The thing is that other arteries can become blocked if you do not take your medication to stop them blocking up. Probably some are, but not over 70% which is when they will put in stents. Others may be, say, 40 or 50% but blood still flowing quite well. I must ask John to elaborate on that a bit.
That would answer something I’ve never quite got my head around. Thanks ....closest I’ve come to understanding it.
Yes you have had stents put in to the arteries which have caused a problem because the arteries were become very blocked. However there will still be arteries which have plaque along them to some extent or other and if you do not take your medication they will become further blocked. Also with diet, yes stress plays a part but so does diet. You have a lot of arteries that can become blocked as well.
Interesting, I have a partial blockage in same area at the fork between midLAD and D1 but been told it cannot be stented. Alternatives are CABG or Strong Statins for a period of time. Did you manage to get this stented in the end?
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