8 months in from HA+2+ stents and I am still getting twinges and anxiety inducing dull slight chest/heart pain. With me it seems to be linked to wind and/or acid reflux, but only since my heart attack has it resulted in chest pain.
Before stenting I have never had heart pain in my life, so wonder if anyone could explain what I am feeling now almost every single day.
These pains are not intense and often just there and are aften gone with some deep breathing and/or walking.
I believe you've asked about your chest pain previously. No one in the forum would be able to say what is causing the pain or why it's happening. You need to speak to your Dr or maybe the BHF nurses could advise.
Hi Khonkaen. Suggest you talk to your doctor about this. Anxiety can cause chest pains but it’s important to rule out other possible causes.
I have no access to a doctor where I am and am not sure if a GP would know. I just wondered if anyone could tell the the route from stomach to heart.
That is an excellent explanation, thanks.
To be honest I was worried about my double stent. A normal stent is 10-15mm long, the double one covering 2 stenosis is 40mm long and the permenent pressure drop through a given diameter venturi increases with the length. So the double stent offers a greater restriction to the blood flowing through it.
It was also extremly uncomfortable having the double stent installed and that is burned in my memory.
I do have a fear of the unknown, so thanks again.
It could be related to the vagus nerve which has a number of different functions. The four key functions of the vagus nerve are:
i) Sensory: From the throat, heart, lungs, and abdomen.
ii) Special sensory: Provides taste sensation behind the tongue.
iii) Motor: Provides movement functions for the muscles in the neck responsible for swallowing and speech.
iv) Parasympathetic: Responsible for the digestive tract, respiration, and heart rate functioning.
As said you really need to consult with a professional.
As I have mentioned before I don't have access to a doctor who is going to be any use to me. That is why I have being doing all my own rehab.
The vagus nerve is the one responsible for giving some people arrhythmias when they eat larger meals, spicy good, etc. As you do not have access to a GP or cardiologist you could try eating four or five small meals a day eliminating caffeine, alcohol, chocolate, and greasy and/or spicy food to see if it makes a difference.
I am surprised that you have no access at all to a Dr especially when I look back over the last few months of your posts. It seems when you are in Portugal there is medical assistance available to you.
You sound deeply affected by what has happened to you and you appear to have continuing difficulties.
Perhaps with all this in mind, you could consider finding a Dr or even asking Dr in Portugal if you could have Skype consultations with them.
We all want to be reassured that nothing bad is going on but the only way to do that is to access professional help.
Take care
I wouldn't say I am deeply effected by my condition, I am not in control and don't like that. I have no medical background and a mistrust of many who do or claim to, especially those in multinationals and their so called regulators. After nearly 8 months of learning I am getting there, but living in two countries where I don't speak the language has it's difficulties. Added to that the poor medical system here in Thailand and my inability to contact anyone in the UK, I am left with Youtube.
I hear about the aftercare people get in the UK and am more tha a little envious, but I don't have to wait in Thailand, since I pay and in Portugal there is less of a load on their system too.
So a bit of a mixed bag of good and bad, I am an information magpie that's for sure, which comes from my engineering background.
I was very surprised that I had a heart attack in the first place, given my lifestyle and then the second stenting procedure was so distasteful I want to avoid going through that again with my remaining 50% stenosis. So my aim is to clear that one as much as possible and believe it can be done.
Compared with some I read about, I am very lucky.
I just don’t understand how you have access to YouTube but not be able to contact anyone in the UK. After all you are in this community! Are you from the UK ?
You say that you don’t have to wait in Thailand and that you pay in Portugal and you’ve had 2 stents so you must have had access at some point.
I hope you can find someone you trust enough to go to for a proper consultation.
Take care.
I was reading a magazine in my doctor's waiting room yesterday. Made me think have you gastroparesis? This is linked to the vagus nerve as mentioned in another reply. It does seem despite your objections you should really see a medical professional!
I don't know how many times I have to say that I do not have this option. I have lived here more than 10 years and find that staff here are generally very task specific.
My cardiologist has a very full schedule and is only interested in the surgical/procedural side of the treatment. My two appointments with him, 7 months apart lasted a total of 10 minutes.
I have spoken to nurses here at the heart hospital and then don't know anything outside their very specific training.
If I speak to any of the doctors they don't understand my questions, again because their training is limited and they are not used to questions, so I just end up with a large bill for my trouble.
I do hope you understand this is not like the UK.
I don't recognise the symptoms associated with gastroparesis and think it is simply acid reflux. I don't feel seriously ill, just things that worry me a little.
Sorry. I'm a bit confused. If you don't have faith in the medical profession where you live why would you seek diagnosis from an Internet forum where nobody has any medical training! As previously suggested why don't you contact the BHF nurses, you can always e mail them and they always reply.
I was told it was part of my fribromyligia. Have pains in chest arms, back all the time while sleeping or awake.Only think I've found to help is GTN tablets which reduces pain but doesn't take it away.
Jeff
Hi Khonkaen please do contact our cardiac nurses about this if you'd like to speak to someone. You can contact them on 0300 330 3311 or email hearthelpline@bhf.org.uk if you prefer - the community isn't the place for diagnosis. Thanks very much.
I tried that phone number using Skype and it didn't work, but the email address is very useful, many thanks. Unlike others on this forum my heart/chest pain is not that serious and some deep breaths, a bit of burping and a few exercises fixes it
I am more curious than concerned, though a little anxiety kicks in from time to time.
It might be worth having a chat - not sure why that number hasn't worked but I'll drop you a message about that. Please do feel free to email them 
Normal landline maybe? Skype is owned by MS a multinational!
You’ve made a lifestyle choice to live where you do, and as you say there are pluses and minuses. Knowing you have a heart condition you have continued with your choice. No amount of internet reading/asking and theorising is going to replace the need for a qualified GPyou trust.
I do feel having mistrust for all ‘multinationals’ is quite distasteful- our own NHS has more ‘multinationals’ than home grown and to date I’ve only ever had issues with British white male arrogant doctors who see patients as clueless idiots who need to accept whatever they’re told. My Indian cardiologist, who sits on the bed and chats to me as a person and is happy to answer all questions fully (with drawings if necessary!).
I had my HA a few months ago and have certain commitments, plus my condition is under control, fingers crossed.
You misunderstand the word "multinationals" it means large companies that operate in a number of different countries. Companies like Amazon, MacDonalds, Nestle and Bayer. The NHS is not a private company it is government run.
I’m even more confused! In this case what has your mistrust of multinationals got to do with you not trusting any clinicians you have access to in the places you live?
Well I had a stent fitted in July and I still have a few problems with pulse stopping and starting and also shortness of breath. I went to the AandE and they did a through examination of me. Blood tests, ECG, X-ray and they told me my heart was perfect and that it was stress. However I was relieved to learn that my heart was perfect but I still have the shortness of breath and strange sensations in my heart, so I do understand if you have strange sensations in your heart it does make you worry. However thank goodness I have an appointment with a cardiologist in a few weeks. However I have found that the ones I have seen - I am in Spain - they have not been communicative at all in that I had not one conversation with any of the three that I saw. Questions remained unanswered and they didnt even look up when I spoke. I feel real envy for people in the UK who seem to have such great relationships with their cardiac nurse or doctor.
I have had a great deal of help from the nurses on the British Heart Foundation anad thankfully I can ring them any time and speak to them which has been a great help to me. Hope you get to the bottom of what is the cause.
Patricia
A lot of similarities in our cases and I assume you saw the links given by Helen at the NHF. "You can contact them on 0300 330 3311 or email hearthelpline@bhf.org.uk" In Portugal I ase a UK phone so if you are doing the same you could call them. If not get gifgaff to send you a SIM card for free.
I hope things go well for you, try to learn to manage your stress, it has helped me.
Yes I speak to them a lot and they are so helpful and reassuring. I can ring them from my fixed phone which I often. They are such a great help.
Yes you are right about managing stress. That is something which I need to do.
This makes an interesting read.
I often encounter raving reviews on the medical care that these countries (Spanish/Portugal/Thailand) provide to tourists and expats well covered by their private insurance. They tend to be in a large capital of the country.
Not sure what percentage your artery narrowing was before stenting you?
What you are facing is not just Cardiac as it sounds to me according to my own experience, but all the cumulative effects that ageing process gives us all. One organ rarely fails on its own. It's likely ageing affects in many other ways than just "cardiac". As we know, it's not JUST artery that needs fixing but it's also smaller vessels that could "well" be responsible whilst it looks so slow to catch up on the mainstream medicine.
At some point, I realise that complaining about "little things" like
pain here and pain there becomes totally meaningless once you have gone past "certain age". It may be nagging for some weeks but it may fade or or it may not. It might move onto other parts of the body.
Of course, if it indicates some life-threatening conditions then that's entirely different. I agree that someone else commented, if it's heart, it could be somewhere connected to it may be at fault. It's not like the weakened heart is connected to other organ systems which are totally immaculate/robust in our age group. It would be useful to realise that one organ system weakens it affects all the functioning of others. Brain is a big one, but likely Pulmonary & GI equally.
They work in groups, when one soldier goes dead and revived, the normal defence of other solders become weaken and suffer the lost/injured etc. The whole team suffers.
I suspect many of the aches and pains blamed on statins are just ageing!
Also any slight injury takes weeks or months whereas a premiership footballer would be up.and running in 7 - 10 days.
Actually I don't have medical insurance, so I paid £9000 in Thailand for my treatment, I had to pay before they would treat me, luckily I had money in the bank, although my credit card had a big limit. In Portugal I don't need it I have an EU health card.
I didn't have any of these problem before my stenting, but did have a lot of othesr that disapeared. So I guess age does come into it, hence that change in diet.
Good thing you weren't out cold!
Oh, poor you!
Congrats on all your efforts towards the "lifestyle change".
To me, that's the key, also, as in many other posters on this Hub.
Lucky me you mean. I spent 6 months trying to sell a house as I had very little money in the bank, the sale went through end January, had my HA end March. I could have drawn it on my credit card and borrowed from my sister, but didn't think at the time, maybe I would have?
I will keep that money on tap now as any insurance now will be useless, I was going to invest it somewhere but what the heck. I do live very cheaply, even more so now my plans are on hold, I could never afford to move back to the UK even if I wanted to.
Lifestyle changes were instinctive for me, I don't understand those who carry on smoking, drinking, eating the same junk and don't at least try to avoid stress.
Dragster, I think my body was more like a car left in the garage for too long and got gunked up?
It is interesting that all my active lift I was skinny and strong, but I got arthritis, bronchitis and lazy. After the HA I lost 20kg and for a while looked like a corps, but thanks to some weight training and exercise, look like I did forty years ago...apart from my boat. ......oh but I can't play rugby any more.
Is this the LCHF diet promoted by Dr Fung?
That's what my Cardiologist Consultant told me of late, re.
two types of fuels.
I assumed that he had interest in that area.
However, it was the opposite.
Sadly, the diseased heart starts to depend on glucose whilst younger, robust heart uses fats as fuels as the primary source as "nature intended".
The thing is, Brain needs loads of glucose to run (as we all always knew) as this Cardiology C said. "But the heart is different", he says.
As someone on this hub commented before (I have not seen him around for a while - must be busy with his grandchildren), "our Body is badly designed!". How true, that is. It's designed to run smoothly whilst you are younger and robust with all the nature's protection.
It becomes far more complex thanks to the "acceleration of ageing effects" as StillConcerned puts it.
I hope I did not go off topic, massively.
You are on LG food. Am I right?
I was just stating the obvious, didn't plan to make you jump!
neuro.hms.harvard.edu/harva...
Since you commented on "insulin" sensitivity: this link mentions:
"In addition, hypoglycemia, a common complication of diabetes caused by low glucose levels in the blood, can lead to loss of energy for brain function and is linked to poor attention and cognitive function."
However, this link also tells you. "too much" glucose is also harmful. Nutrition is a form of Art, I believe. It has to be self-tailored to your highly personal needs.
I still wouldn't mind pharmaceutical co comes up with tablet forms to deliver the "highest essence" direct to our ageing cells weakened by the systemic illness.
Taking some bottled oil orally doesn't convince me much. People living in those blue zones have multiple factors for longevity and happiness, not just taking Olive Oil.
You never know what's actually in those bottles. As you pointed out, the high heat processing is hardly any good, is it? It is practically nuking all the goodness.
Typical BBC. "Something innocent/harmless for everybody."
100% correct.
"Low Glycemic" Index.
Undiagnosed Chest Pain
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