New to heart problems

Hello all, I have been a “watcher” for a while and thought that it was time to say hello and post my story.

After a routine phone conversation with my Dr over a completely different matter, { testosterone levels } she noticed that I was out of breath. I explained that I had just done something and was having another episode, she asked what this episode was and to explain it { she is a new Dr to me } I told her that it was a heavy pressure on my chest and that in a few moments it would slip away.

It is something I told her that I had reported often at my local surgery when I had gone in for other things, which none of the other Drs I had seen rated it as anything as I seem a very fit older male. [63 now]

Long story short the new Dr said that she didn’t like the sound of things and prescribed me a GTN spray and would get the local cath lab to contact me with a view to do tests.

The spray was like a miracle in a can, one squirt and the pressure just went in half the time.

After a coronary angiogram it appears that I have ;

Subtotal RCA and LAD occlusion and moderate to severe LCX disease along with moderate ostial LMS disease.

Long time vegan and lifelong vegetarian, non drinker etc, cholesterol 4.2, which could be from taking testosterone { testicular cancer years ago}

So my consultant wants an MRI cardiac stress perfusion done before he can say which way to go, just drugs or a single bypass.

So the new-drugs that I am now on are;

Co-amilofruse 2.5mg

Aspirin 75mg

Atorvastatin 80mg

Bisoprolol 2.5 mg

Ramipril 1.25 mg x twice a day.

The first few days on this combination made me feel odd to say the lest, but four weeks in and I feel better than I have for many years. I no longer have that odd pressure when I do anything or in the cold weather.

Friends etc say I look better, just think it’s sad that I’ve had to struggle for so many years, it never stopped me doing things, I just had to rest and make more effort.

After talking to the consultant he thought that the damage was not life style but could answer better after the MRI. He also said that this damage had taken many years to form.

What did come to light was that he kept asking me what the pain was like during these episodes, now this was something the local drs would ask and I would answer them as I did him, I have never had any pain but just a pressure feeling which is maybe why my own drs didn’t take it seriously. The consultant said that maybe from now on he wouldn’t ask just about pain but what the feeling is, as he had heard the same reply from some of his other patients.

I am a very positive person that was shocked to the core with the findings, even though I lost my mum to a heart attack when she was 59 [ diabetes complications]

So that is me, I have not asked any questions as many I had have been answered already here, I just wanted you to know that you are not alone, my life has been filled with many battles, this is but one more.

Kevin x

[Hidden]

Thank you for your kind reply, and to be honest with you I also presumed that ant heart problems had you rolling on the floor clutching at your chest. To many films watched !

[SpiritoftheFloyd in reply to Hidden]

Thank you for your post, a very interesting read, sadly heart problems are frequently mis-diagnosed and yes TV and films have a lot to answer for. I, just like Thatwasunexpected started off with what I thought was bad indigestion, when I got to the point that I was struggling to breath that was when I hit 999, even at that point, while I knew something was seriously wrong I had no idea it was a heart attack, I'd expected to be rolling about on the floor clutching my chest.

I went into cardiac arrest and had 5 minutes of CPR, shocks - again TV and films show this happening to people and 2 hours later there's sitting at the bar laughing and joking. My reality was 5 fractured ribs and in agony for weeks - this is a very common after effect of CPR.

On the plus side I have reacted to that wake up call and living a far healthier lifestyle since the event.

Good luck with the further medical investigations.

[Hidden in reply to SpiritoftheFloyd]

Thank you for your kind input, now looking back I think you have hit the nail on the head, I did seem to have a lot of indigestion which to be honest was out of place for me. The main feeling was of this pressure that seemed to slip away after resting. And it really did feel like a slipping sensation.I am so sorry to hear of your journey and wish you all the luck and health in the future.

[Hidden]

Did your consultant explain the rationale for the statin when your cholesterol was normal? I’m sure it’s standard, I’m just interested. I also take Atorvastatin 80 mgs, but my cholesterol was slightly raised.

[Milkfairy Heart Star in reply to Hidden]

Statins also reduce inflammation and help prevent the breaking off of even a small area of plaque.

[Peony4575 in reply to Hidden]

My consultant offered me a statin purely in the basis that my mother had died from a heart attack at 56. Prophylaxis

[Hidden in reply to Hidden]

Yes he did and the answers have been very well described below, a bit of a mixture of them all. I can only stress the difference all the drugs have made to my day to day living. Which one is helping, I really can’t tell as I started them all together , maybe it’s the combination?.

[Chappychap]

Welcome to the forum Kevin.

You mention that your mother died from a heart attack with "diabetes complications". That's unfortunately a very common story on this forum, heart disease and diabetes are natural bed fellows. Heart disease is irreversible, the most we can hope to achieve is to slow its progress to a crawl, but the good news is that Type 2 diabetes is reversible, in fact if it's caught early enough then a fairly simple regime of exercise and diet is often enough to get it fixed.

The difficulty is that in the UK type 2 diabetes is generally not diagnosed ore treated until it's pretty far advanced and then insulin is prescribed.

As a heart patient you should now have annual blood tests, look out for your HbA1c tests and discuss them with your GP. It sounds like you're fortunate enough to have a pretty pro-active GP, so hopefully she'll comment if your HbA1c scores are rising or nudging into the "insulin resistant" category. This is the first stage on the road that leads to type 2 diabetes, but it's the stage where you hold most of the cards and moderate life style changes can still deliver some astonishing improvements in your HbA1c scores.

Good luck!

[Hidden in reply to Chappychap]

Thank you so much for your reply, all I know of Mum was that she said that she had been diagnosed with an enlarged heart just weeks before she had her fatal heart attack. [ who knows may of not been fatal if at the time she was not alone]I have had checks for the disease and luckily all is normal { but my heart goes out to those fighting it every day }

I will take up your advice and get it checked more regularly than I have been doing.

[fedupoffeelingtired]

Hi, glad to hear your meds are working for you. I had a silent heart attack, no pain, 18 months ago. We have a family history of heart disease. It's pretty scary that these things can be going on in your body and you don't know about them. Good luck on your journey x

[Hidden in reply to fedupoffeelingtired]

Thank you for your reply, amazing the insight that people like yourself are willing to share and how valuable it is to the likes of me to receive and read those insights, good luck with your continuing journey.

[Kristin1812 Heart Star]

My first HA was diagnosed immediately by my GP, when I’d gone to see him for something else. I’d been rushing to get there on time, He checked my BP and told him my chest felt tight and left arm felt slightly heavy, He called 999. It was a HA. I had 2 more HAs and 4 more stents over the next few months.

Just to mention that HAs can be almost silent, and GPs can be pretty astute at noticing what’s going on.

[Hidden in reply to Kristin1812]

Thank you for your reply. It sounds, like myself that we both were lucky with our GPS or in my case a new one to the surgery that I belong to. I also think that maybe it was my lack of communication with other GPS that my condition was missed.Whatever the case, I have now been recognised as having a problem that is being addressed and the improvements to my life have been remarkable all ready on these drugs.

They have given me back a standard of living that I had forgotten existed, for that I am so very grateful.

[Kristin1812 Heart Star in reply to Hidden]

That’s brilliant you have got back to such good health. You’re right, often we have to work hard to get a good understanding with our GPs. Luckily with a bigger practice there’s a better chance of avoiding one you can’t work with!

[Hidden]

Thank you again for your interest, I am also ex military and have been lucky to remain reasonably fit {no superman} good luck with your half marathon, I shall follow your posts and progress.

[fixedrider]

My experience was very undramatic indeed. I've always cycled everywhere, as well as being a member of a club. I had a couple of instances over a week when I felt like stopping on corners to rest, which is very unusual for me in utility riding. Then I had a feeling of slight tightness over a day, that didn't clear up. I called 111 for advice and a few hours later was in casualty. I did pass out there, but it was about 3am and I've done that once or twice over five decades, so I can't even put that down to my "incident", but it certainly got the attention of the doctors!

Next thing I knew, I was having a double bypass.

[Hidden in reply to fixedrider]

Thank you for your message, I am sorry to hear of your problems but I am very great full to hear your story and progress. I realise that I am not going to live forever and as age creeps up on me my body replies with the standard aches and groans.The strange one was this pressure that would stop me for a few moments until it just slipped away. Now I know the reason behind this odd complaint I can just get on with my life. [ it’s not that exciting really ] the main shock has been is the not being diagnosed with a heart problem, but the poor quality of my life that I excepted so readily. The drugs have made me realise just how poor that had become.

It’s time to think about me { which is not the norm for me } and regain as best a life that I know I can have until the day that it is written that I can’t.

[MountainGoat52]

Kevin, reading your post it certainly seems there are significant hereditary factors in your condition. In my case, I only found this out after my HA when the local hospital decided to investigate.

Like you, I too was not best served by my GP practice, but in their defence their care is general rather than specific. I had been prescribed blood pressure medication for a number of years and their response to a rise in BP was to prescribe more pills. I should have been referred for tests, but the fact that I was fit enough to climb Scottish mountains on a regular basis seemed to negate this. Ultimately I had a HA when a blood clot blocked my RCA.

It was almost two years after my HA that the pathologist at the local hospital concluded that my heritary high homocysteine level was a factor in what happened to me, stress being the trigger for the actual HA.

I hope that the tests that you are to undertake provide the appropriate conclusion and that you get the treatment you require. For me it was as simple as taking Vitamin B. Like you I was shocked by what happened to me, but it was all summed by the pathologist who told me that I was just one of life's unfortunates. 😀

Keep positive and look to the future. Hopefully the answer will soon be revealed.

Kindest regards,

Gerald

[Hidden in reply to MountainGoat52]

Thank you for your reply and your story, being vegan { no big deal, I’m not a flag waver} I have made sure that I take all the vit groups that are harder to obtain from a vegan life style, mainly the b groups. I back this up with a blood test once/twice a year. So far that has all been good. Like you say I think I have a little more to my journey and hopefully answers will appear.

[Sizzlerman]

Sorry to hear about everything that as gone on Buzzskin but like you said sometimes it is like you say, it can't be that bad because doctors don't seem that bothered. I had a similar thing. Walking from the car park at work to my work station felt out of breath and pressure on my chest but when I sat down and rested I was fine for the rest of the day. I had this for two days and thought i will keep an eye on it then had to go into isolation because someone I worked with had coronavirus. Just before I was due to go back to work I started feeling a bit rough on the stomach side and had pains in my left arm which was usually accompanied with a trip to the toilet, which strangely happened after I had eaten. Two trips to the toilet and chest pressure phoned 111 an ambulance came out and to cut a long story short 2 stents fitted and lifetime medication which has taken over my life. However before this I had spoken to my doctor explaining I feel rough throughout the day at certain times he did a blood test and said he can't find anything. On another note I am a chocoholic so whilst in hospital I thought my blood sugar was going to be high but it was perfectly normal. It was the cholesterol which was to blame it was 5.9 but not even one of that was HDL (4.94 LDL-0.96 HDL) so put on Avortastatin 80mg, Coliprogrel, Bisoprolol, Aspirin, Isosorbide Mononitrate and Ramapril assisted by Lansaprozole because of Gord created by all the tablets. About to go back to work and try and live a normal life but with all the walking and better diet I see life in a different light. I hope for you Buzzskin you can get on and enjoy life now you have got down to the bottom of things.

[Hidden in reply to Sizzlerman]

Thank you so much for sharing your story with me. It has {like so many} the same key points that I had, as much as I would like it to be my journey is not as far forward as yours yet.The consultant stated that he could not put a stent in until he had the results of the MRI scan which may or may not point to having a bypass or continue on just the medication.

I did ask him if I would have any warning of problems in the future, we’ll really I asked him if I was likely to just drop dead, or get a warning, as I thought the latter would be a problem in the middle of Tesco’s.

He replied that he could not answer honestly until more tests had been done and thankfully sent me home.

[richard_jw]

Hi Kevin. First thing to say is that you are pretty lucky. The bad luck is that your GPs did not take notice of your symptoms a long time ago.The good luck is that you finally saw a gp who spotted classic symptoms of heart problems.

You do not say anything about the time frame but right now you would be lucky indeed to get a timely cardiologist appointment let alone an angiogram.

For sure if you actually have a heart attack the NHS does its stuff well. And you were going down that road.

I actually ended up with a completely blocked Right coronary artery. A heart attack they call a STEMI. It causes damage to the heart muscle and is certainly life changing.

You are fortunate to have a cardiologist who is both available and responsive. I ended up with having to pay to see a private cardiologist at one of the main heart hospitals after the local NHS hospital did what they could.

Good luck with the future. You seem to be on the right meds. I know the pills make you feel odd in particular the bisoprolol but they are v important.

If you are on the NHS I have found that GPs are reluctant to get involved and if you phone them and say chest pains they say A&E. In my case A&E do a few tests and send you home. But a cardiologist is almost impossible to see.

The last time I was sent to A&E the doctor said see a private cardiologist

[Hidden in reply to richard_jw]

Thank you for your story, just the fact that you took time to reply means a great deal. I was saddened to hear that you had to go private to get the results you needed.Yes I have been lucky to get into a day cath lab in around a five week wait. What was a shock to hear was that a man who was also waiting for treatment , had paid to see a consultant privately and that consultant was the one doing the procedure on this day with the NHS.

I am now just waiting on the MRI scan appointment and with its results see what is the best next stage.

Good luck to you as well.

[Hidden]

Thank you for telling me about your wife and the fight that you have had in getting her the treatment that was needed. I am not a week man but I have always lived that there are people worse off than me and therefore I should always be nearer the end of a list than the beginning.Again I think, not only with your story but others, that I was lucky to have such a quick appointment and diagnosis.

I find your posting about insulin-resistance also very interesting

I wish you and your wife well.

[Qualipop]

Same here; two days of really bad indigestion before pain down my arm at which point I rang 999. ECG looked odd so I was taken to a7e but even then the triage nurse did nothing. I wasn't grey, clammy and clutching my chest so I was left on a corridor for 5 hours. My GP had insisted for 3 years that my breathlessness was muscular and never once asked for family history. It was a young newly qualified doctor at the urgent care centre when I went about my breathing who asked about family and booked me for a stress test. I got the HA before the stress test. I'm now breathlses again but know I have two more 63% blockages. GP did a full cardio check up last week and I had to remind him he'd said it was muscular last time.

[Hidden in reply to Qualipop]

Thank you for your journey story, having read yours and many others I see a very disturbing pattern that seems to appear, and that is from only the people on this site and that write.I am so pleased that you are on the right track and wish you well. The Dr phone me this morning saying that they wanted a full blood test, I reminded them that I had only just had one and the full results were on my NHS notes.

A quick rumble noise of a keyboard and the Dr said oh right I didn’t see that...........it makes you wonder and a little concerned.

[Qualipop in reply to Hidden]

A lot of it is lack of knowledge about how heart attacks or heart disease can present mostly in women I'm afraid but not only. The BHF will be doing a discussion/video about it in August. It seems as if training in recognising problems hasn't been updated in 50 years. The younger doctors seem to be better at asking about family history but for an A&E triage nurse to not recognise the signs, especially when paramedics have suspected a heart attack is shocking

[Hidden in reply to Qualipop]

Shocking and not altogether sad, I shall look out for that information from the BHF, thank you once again for your help