Stent fitted 6 weeks ago , some pain and twinges.

[Claymore1961]

I had a heart attack in bed 6 weeks ago, and the took me direct to theatre identifying my middle artery was blocked.

Hey fitted a stent immediately and I was released a few days later.

I’ve been doing the exercises and kept up with the walking group with the cardiac rehab physio team, and I think I’m doing ok.

I returned to work last week after 4 weeks off , reduced and light duties , working from home, lots of flexibility etc. No pressure to return.

But I’m getting twinges in my chest and back, and I’m getting anxious about them.

It’s not opening during my walks , I an do two miles in 30 mins after my warm up, but it’s usually in bed or watching tv etc.

I’m usually a very stable minded person, but my heads all over the place, and emotionally , it’s not been great.

But these wee pains are concerning me. Is not like anything like the heart attack. It’s like short stabbing on my side r between my shoulder blades.

Is it possible to get another scan or something or is this normal recovery stuff.?

The anxiety is surprising to me, more than I expected.

But I lie awake at night sometimes worrying about the stent and if it will fail or if I’ll have another heart attck.

[0163SLH]

I had 2 stents fitted and was told to expect this as they settle in . Its being about 7wks now and the short sharp pains have eased . My cardiac nurse said as long as they didn't last more than a minute at a time not to worry too much but to keep an eye on it.

[Hatchjd]

If you put "pains after stents" in the search box you will find many posts on this subject. I had 2 stents in June 2019 and had various weird fleeting pains in my arms, back, chest and jaw for 18 months. I did have a repeat stress test and a 24-hour monitor, both were fine. The pains were almost always when sitting about, not when exercising. Some people have no after-effects almost immediately, for me, it has taken almost two years to feel "normal" or better than normal. I put the tiredness and heaviness I felt pre-stents down to age, I am 63. I now I realise it was because the left side of my heart was struggling due to 90% LAD and 80% CFX blockages.

I was lucky as I was diagnosed after a stress test and angio, not HA . I have long 28mm stents and reckon my heart was just grumbling for a while from being messed about with.

[Squash1961 in reply to Hatchjd]

Hi HatchjdI'm 14 months on from my HA and 2 stents and still experiencing chest, back and arm aches. My Cardiologist thinks its one (or more) of the cocktail of medications we are all put on. Did your aches just go after about 2 years, or was it due to the side effects from your medications, which you managed to sort out??

Thanks Squash

[Hatchjd in reply to Squash1961]

I still have occasional fleeting pains but related to stomach issues now. I take bisoprolol, rosuvastatin and aspirin all which can upset your stomach. Wind and acid reflux can cause chest shoulder and arm aches and things move through the gut and I certainly have more of both . It feels like the nerves in my digestive system are on high alert and fire off after I eat and I have to be careful with certain foods. Prior to the stents I had the stomach of a billy goat and could eat anything. I take Famatodine 40mg (Pepcid) at bedtime which seems to help. I am seeing a private gastroenterologist and discussed being scoped to take a look at my stomach but waiting until later in the summer when things get back to normal.

[Squash1961 in reply to Hatchjd]

Hi Hatchjd. Yes that all sounds familiar, I had zero stomach issues before my HA. I’ve stopped taking Aspirin (on Clopidogrel instead) and stomach issues have improved, and less frequent chest aches. I am still on Rosuvastatin and Ramipril. Cardiologist suggests that I come off the statin just for a few weeks to see if there is an improvement, if not, next stop a gastroenterologist as well!