For past two months I have a heaviness on my chest that’s there every morning and gets better by the afternoon. It’s also better after exercise - by which I mean an hours walk with my dog. I feel my breathing improves and heaviness lifts after walking. Does this sound cardiac? Does this sound cardiac to anyone. I also feel shaky, like an adrenaline rush. I had an echo last February with showed ejection fraction 55%. I had some mild chest pains in January and had an ecg and troponin at A and E which was all clear. I was waking up with some mild discomfort in chest after that. But now I have no discomfort, just a heaviness. I have diabetes and hypertension and cholesterol but my blood sugar is good and blood pressure and cholesterol. Under normal circumstances , I would be going back to A and E or asking for a cardiology referral from my GP. I was checked out by a cardiologist last year who said echo at 55% was ok and he put me on bisoprolol 1.25 for some tachycardia. I have been suffering from fatigue for past 18 months following immunosuppressant treatment for MS. I am not going to A and E as I have a seriously low immune system following treatment for MS. If I have had a silent heart attack I am already on perindopril 4mg and bisoprolol and atorvastatin 40mg, so I’m thinking il just persevere with how I’m feeling. My iron level is low (ferritin is 14) and I take a ferrous sulphate tablet over the counter. I also take vitamin D. I’m 50, diabetic for last 25 years. Hbaic 6.8 and cholesterol 4.2.
Heaviness that’s better with walking - British Heart Fou...
Heaviness that’s better with walking
I think if it were me I'd be telephoning the GP first thing Monday morning. I have no medical training so I don't want to say one way or the other that heaviness you're feeling is cardiac, only a trained medical professional can work that one out - so please, telephone on Monday morning, and then update us.
What can the Gp do?
The GP can decide if you should come to the surgery to check your temperature and blood pressure, listen to your chest, have you give some blood, and have a resting ECG.
These simple preliminary checks can give the GP all the information he/she need to take a decision as to referring you to the Rapid Access Chest Pain unit, or for a chest x-ray to be sure the heaviness you're feeling isn't down to a chest infection or something cardiac.
Heaviness in the chest is usually taken as 'chest pain', or the sign of a chest infection, btw, hence the tests you should have to be sure what is going on in there, if anything.
Please do telephone Monday morning, and please do update us.
Thank you for your advice
I am not sure what bloods they can do at the gp surgery. I was told they can do troponin tests now but I dont think that's true . I dont think you should just persevere if you think you may have had a silent heart attack though.
I know what you mean about going to a&e it is risky . I have been getting severe shortness of breath and chest pain so if I went to a&e they would put me on the corona ward but I probably would not get tested for it. I really want to know because I cannot walk at all without ending up seriously short of breath. This whole situation is such a nightmare.
Thank you . Troponin test in January and ecg was fine. My GPs don’t test for troponin as they say they can’t test for it in the community and they have no ecg machine in any GPs in the borough. I had cardiac investigations last year for tiredness and palpitations and they said my heart was ok at 55% ejection fraction. The situation with the virus is indeed a nightmare for people with health conditions and issues.
Well if you feel really bad you might have to call for an ambulance to do an ecg then.
You need to go to A&E. I had shortness of breath and I have heart Failure . They remove 10 kg of liquid from me, change my medication and I feel much better. You are incorrect when you say they will immediately put you on a Corona ward. They will probably put you in ambulatory emergency ward which is not the same. Whilst I was in hospital (three days just got out on Tuesday) I chatted with one of the nurses that it was almost like all the other medical conditions did not exist in the news. They said that it annoyed them as well ......
Hi Moonflower. GPs can do troponin blood tests - that's how I found out about my silent HA two years ago 
Mine can as well. Also resting ECG, and a few other simple diagnostics. They refer to the nearby community hospital for bigger things like chest x-rays, and for things like echocardiograms and MRI we have to drive 20+miles to the large teaching hospital.
But apparently not all surgeries can do even those simple tests, it depends on the surgery and trust.
Really surprised me to read Moonflower and Mollypet's discussion their surgeries aren't equipped to do bloods, etc as I did think all surgeries all over the UK could (I'm in NE Scotland, my friend down in Devon regularly goes to her GP surgery for bloods and other simple diagnostics).
I'm in South London, so I'm spoilt!
Hi, I agree with the other comments, at least ring your GP. I have had similar problems, I did go to A&E as I had quite severe chest pains in the night. Apparently it wasn’t my heart. As I have a hiatus hernia my Gp has upped my dose of Lansoprazole which has helped. I have Atrial fibrillation and a leaking mitral heart valve. Please speak to your GP at the very least.
Hi. Whilst undoubtedly you have to go to your GP first (unless you go direct to A&E) the basic test your GP can provide are unlikely to discover if you have a cardiac problem which it certainly sounds like you do. There are a range of tests – an echocardiogram, coronary angiogram, MRI of the heart, full ECG amongst others which should discover the cause. The problem with these “basic test s “ Tha t your GP may perform is they may not discover any problem at all. This problem could also possibly be angina. I suggest you find a way to get the test done – if your GP won’t help you then simply go Private there’s nothing that’s more valuable than your health And there is clearly something wrong
Are private cardiologists still working during lockdown?
Everything is still working in the health service. This is mainstream media nonsense that the only thing left in the country is coronavirus. It may be that there are more delays and more extended waiting times but the good thing with the tests you wish to have done is that some of these such as the echocardiogram can be done relatively quickly with equipment in many private hospitals as well as public ones. I realise not everybody has money for private medicine for my own personal journey was that I got all the basic stuff done privately (then I knew I had a serious problem) then I went in to the NHS for further testing such as the MRI. This undoubtedly spread everything up and got my diagnosis much quicker. I have absolutely zero faith in my GP. Two separate GPs made incorrect diagnosis and one failed me to refer to hospital which in the end I did myself and ended up three days in the hospital. They are okay at dishing out medicines and looking for basic problems but beyond that they are extremely limited Do not waste your time on them kind regards Nick
Based on the results of an in-person exam and the results from those 'basic tests', the GP can take the decision to refer the patient forward for further investigations at a Rapid Access Chest Pain unit where a stress ECG, echocardiogram and other investigations can be ordered.
But it starts with the GP.
Re the private cardiologist - I did that. He did an echo - and referred me back...to my GP for referral to the RACP where, LOL, he became my NHS assigned cardiologist.
It all starts with the GP.
If I'd known he would refer me back to the GP I would have saved myself the money for the private consult and echo (££££ in my pocket rather than out) and stayed with the GP until she got the test results (bloods, better look in at the ECG tape, and the chest e-ray). My impatience cost me money.
I did the same.... paid to go privately. Waste of money tbh. A GP can refer you to whomever you choose on the NHS. Only downside is the wait.
Too right. But as for the wait, once the cardiologist saw the echo he did mark the letter sending me back to the GP as urgent and he had me hand carry it to the GP the next day. He also emailed her. I was in the RACP a week later. That was great until the GP told me she'd already referred me, lol, at the same day she had the bloods drawn and the resting ECG done. I didn't know that, decided I couldn't wait as long as I thought it would take for the GP to refer me to the RACP, and went private the next morning.
Joke on me, and oh how I've taken that lesson on-board!
But that's exactly why boo-boo it's not a waste of money And in your own words"Only downside is the wait"I'm glad to learn that your condition was not life-threatening(Immediately)Otherwise It certainly wouldn't have been a waste of Money.....
Unfortunately if those tests are inconclusive then the patient may still be at risk and be left either without referral or long delay.My NHS cardiologist is also my private cardiologistAnd he's the head At the hospital. If that is the problem we are completely missing the point here-The OP IsClearly Very worried about her health.
At 3 separate points in my life I have suffered the problem of GP,SInability/Slowness/Incorrect diagnosis .If the most important thing is money by all means keep it for a day out Or a new car however I personally feel That my health is the most valuable thing to me.If the tests show up nothing specific to worry about and the long delay applied then as you say you will have saved your money-But supposing the tests don't say that..........
This is the whole point of combining private and public medicine.I do not know the op,s Financial situation (nor would I be expected to)I have never suggested that everything would need to be done privatelyHowever if the OP is extremely rich Surely That Would not be a barrier.......
As regards your comment"my impatience cost me money"I bet you wouldn't have said that if they found something serious.If you had been referred to a cardiologist What on earth are you doing"Staying with the GP"The GP does not make Decisions on A serious medical condition based on advanced medical information, The cardiologist would do this.The only possible reasons Could be is that the problem was undiscovered or relatively minor And treatable with over the Prescription medicines (In cardiac terms)
They did find something serious. My GP suspected it and had already referred me to the RACP before I'd gone private - I didn't know that when I went private, however, hence my using the wording I did.
You're correct, Mollypet is worried and rightly so. Clearly she has options - contact her GP on Monday or go private on Monday. I'm sure all the discussion has enabled her to take an informed decision as to which option she will choose.
Thank-you for replying. I think we're done here. Have a good evening.
I have stopped the iron. Thank u
I wish evrything was working as normal in theNHS. I've had dreadful breathing problems since Jan 31st when I last saw a doctor in person . I have a feeling like a tight band round my chest which stops me taking a deep breath. Oxygen levelsthen were normal; he checked for a spinal compression fracture, had me using angina spray and upping ranitidine all to no effect. SInce then I haven't been checked at all, just phone calls. I had reduced my r anitidine because of a change of tablets ( I'm allergic to yellow colouring) and it now looks as if it's all stomach related. It's slowly improving since upping my ranitidine 4 weeks ago. GP phone call reckoned it can take 8 weeks to go away. I really do think someone ought to have checked my chest long before now. On a very simple thing too, I have my ears suctioned evry 3 months. ENT Is closed and I'm now deaf as a post; can't get them done at all which means I can't even speak to my son. ( or a doctor)
When I phoned my gp they told me any chest pain go to a&e. Which I did a week later and possibly 2 heart attacks and 2 stents later I’m recovering. There is a 50% drop in people going to hospital for cardiac related things. The surgeons are begging people not to hesitate in calling. Here we can phone directly to the cardiac care to see if you need to attend. So phone you are not wasting time. I thought I was wasting there time. Or ring 111
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