32 year old male here, had three stents put in two weeks ago, I am not that unhealthy and my bloods don’t look like someone who would need three stents placed in the LAD. Drs aren’t totally positive about what the cause is, current leading theory is heart disease from lupus but not positive. But they all said I am lucky to have made it, I am just pissed this happened in the first place has anyone else had a similar experience? Changing my whole life overnight has been tough. I am also trying to get my private pilots license, in ground school now, is that a dream deferred or just dead? All this uncertainty is getting tough. Currently I am experiencing pins and needle in my hands and feet, went to the hospital and they had no advice. I am so glad to find out here that is is more common than I thought.
32, three stents and kind of annoyed - British Heart Fou...
32, three stents and kind of annoyed
Hello, sorry to hear all this bad news. I was in similar situation 3 weeks ago. Had a stent in LAD and lots of medication. I still experience pins and needles but goes away eventually. My LAD was 95-99% blocked so lucky also. Stay strong and positive. Its difficult times for us and NHS as so many things I want answered but speak with your Rehab team. All the best.
Hi,
I have micro vascular angina secondary to my auto immune disease so was interested in your mention of Lupus. Is your Lupus well controlled? The best way forward may be for your cardiologist and Lupus Dr ( am presuming it’s a Rheumatologist ) to work together. Lupus may be the cause of your pins and needles too.
I thought I had it under control but apparently not, I am from the United States and live in a rural area, my cardiologist here said it is time to go to a major rheumatology center so I am set up to go to NYU and will hopefully get some answers, and my lupus under control. I usually just had some flare ups, joint pain and extreme fatigue and some steroid injections and I would be good.
Thanks so much, that is a huge relief!
I’m about to have stents fitted too 2 possibly 3 I have been told, also not unhealthy I’m 38 , 2 teenage kids normal life, eat healthy etc. I’m miffed too!! That and a good dose of terrified! I do however have type 1 diabetes. I got told today my blood is more sticky and think, I wonder if that is the same with lupus. That’s auto immune too isn’t it? I was also glad to find this forum a couple of days ago! I was starting to go a bit mad with stress worry and everything feeling so uncertain. X
Lupus is autoimmune, I will check with my rheumatologist tomorrow about it making blood sticky, first appointment with the new dr. I am also super happy to have found this resource, I feel so much more normal now. From my experience the procedure is relatively simple and you are pretty doped up for it. For my cardio cath they told me they didn't expect to find any blockages and were surprised when they did, but it was super easy for them to transition to putting in the stents. Good luck with the procedure I hope it goes smoothly.
Thank you, I’m hoping it all goes well 😬🤞let us know if your rheumatologist says sticky blood too! I’m intrigued to see if there is an auto immune connection
Sounds like you are at angry stage. At aged 50 got myself 7 stents, heart scaffolding, always led a pretty healthy & clean lifestyle and accepted that I just drew a short straw. You will go through all sorts of emotions and one day you will realise your stents haven't been on your mind for a good few days. You may get angry, upset, why me and panic days when an ache or pain will be the big one coming on in your mind. As for the pilots licence I worked in private business aviation and one of the pilots had a triple bypass and was able to continue flying into his 70's.
4 months after my HA and stent fitted. I still get angry. I was a bit overweight and not very active, in my late 40s. I've changed my lifestyle completely. Yet I see people who are morbidly obese, eating junk, smoking, drinking to excess and it angers me. Why me? But I do find balance. Accept that it is what it is. What is important is what you do next and how you play the game with the hand you have been dealt. It's tough, yes, but how you see things will dictate your mood and your life.
But I still get angry.
32 is young. Not for heart disease as such (post mortems on soldiers killed in active service showed that very early traces of heart disease were surprisingly common, even amongst guys in their 20's), but it's young for heart disease that's sufficiently advanced to require stenting.
Sadly stents aren't a cure, so far at least there is no cure. So the best any of us can do is to slow its advance with life style changes and medication, in your case that means slowing it to the absolute crawl that'll get you through the next fifty years.
You say the root cause is possibly lupus but it's all really conjecture at this stage. You need to push your doctors for something better, because until you have an evidence based working hypothesis regarding the root cause you'll just be relying on the standard "cookie cutter" treatment. That standard treatment is fairly well proven for overweight, middle aged, couch potatoes. But it may be less relevant the further you move from the stereotypical heart disease patient.
There's an interesting book from an American doctor called "The Heart Attack Gene". It's interesting because in it the author explores the idea of different people having very different causes for their heart disease, and responding to very different treatments. I'm not saying it's got the specific answers you need, but it might provide you with the background information to have a more productive discussion with your own doctors.
Good luck!
Thanks so much I will pick up they book. I just meet with my new rheumatologist and while he thinks autoimmune might have played a role but it is just a piece of the puzzle. He said there has to be other issues causing my problems so I have even more follow ups, 6 drs in total. I have changed pretty much every aspect of my life, fear has been an incredible motivator.
Standard response is to get inside your bmi (about 24), make sure your waist is half your height, lose the cigarettes, minimise the drink, cut back on sugar based carb type foods, cakes, sweets, etc, and take regular exercise. Have regular blood tests to make sure your scores are well inside normal.
The aim is to stop the arteries clogging up again. The arguments start regarding what causes the arteries to clog up in the first place?
If you can get a definitive answer to that, agreed upon by the medical establishment and backed up by good quality research, many of us on here would be interested to read it.
I have had so many follow ups now, it seems to have been a mix, one I was a smoker and my diet was not good. second is my lupus which was like adding lighter fluid to the fire with smoking and poor diet. Third was a sedentary life style change. Went from working on my feet all day, walking 6-10 miles a day to working as a software developer and not really walking at all. Fourth was I have been under a crazy amount of stress lately so my sympathetic nervous system was running non stop, which can cause the blood to become sticky and increase inflammation in the body even more. Also, I learned during the cardiac catheterization I have a 5th artery in my heat so there might have been limited blood flow for some time and the heart built it in, still finding out more about that part of it. Currently I have quit smoking, am working on an exclusion diet, looking to remove inflammation from diet, really not fun but very necessary. And I am exercising daily, at least 30 minutes but trying for an hour. But I am surprised by how much my drs disagree. And it was plaque that broke off that caused the blockage.
Congratulations on making the changes and more power to your elbow. Your new way of life is not Fun, it is hard work and and requires substantial dedication but you are on the right path to transform your life.
Bear in mind that although some doctors get 80% in their exams there are quite a few out there who barely scrape a pass, which means you have to check everything yourself. I am afraid it is all part of life's rich pattern.
l definitely think there is a link between autoimmune diseases and heart health. I have one called cryoglobulinaemia, l can’t stand the cold or extreme heat and yes your blood gets sticky. Last year had bypass for triple vessel disease l was 66 it happened super quick l was having investigations had the angiogram thought ld just get a stent or two but doc said you need surgery. Three days later l was being operated on. And yes l was so angry when l got home and my doc would ask if l wanted to talk with someone and l said no l don’t want to talk with anyone. I think it’s quite normal after you have had your heart mucked about with.
This year l have discovered l have celiac disease which is autoimmune and can also cause heart issues l don’t know how long l have had it for either. Stay positive you will get through this but sadly l think your wings may have been clipped.
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