Had a HA last week (at a young age of 37!) here with 2 stents and a balloon angioplasty on my LAD. Apparently due to my age and lack of apparent risk factors, ,my case was pretty unusual and discussed within the cardio team.
Having never been in hospital as an adult (nor even blue-lighted to a heart attack centre), this is clearly something i'm in shock with.
First couple of days being home (i live alone), i had stent pains which were very annoying (thanks to this forum for making me not panic as i read through the posts). Then i started developing breathing difficulties where i couldn't take a deep breath (and this in turn help raised my anxieties). On top of that, i'm starting to get constant "light-headness" which i've been informed can be due to my meds as well.
I've been prescribed the usual cocktail of drugs, Aspirin, Tricagrelor, Ramipril, Lansoprazole,Bisporol Fumarate etc.
And i'm pretty sure the tricagrlor or bisporol is causing my breathlessness. However as they are heart medications, my GP doesn't want to change them and has just put me on steriods and a brown inhaler to help with the breathing (to be fair, it has improved).
Everyone i speak to, says that for my meds to be relooked at but i've been told unless i speak to a cardiologist and/or go into the hospital they can't do anything. I've asked my GP for a referral to go to the cardiologist (and go private) but nothing yet.
As such, i feel a bit lost, emotional, teary and not sure what i can do. My cardiac rehab appointment isn't until the 1st week of Jan and the follow up appointment with the cardiologist isn't until Feb -> i haven't got a letter that tells me who my cardiologist to go to either.
Sorry for rambling but if anyone has any advice , i would appreciate it as i'm not sure how to navigate the system.
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eugeneclh
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I’m really sorry for what your going through, I completely understand how someone could be anxious in your shoe. I have my fair share of heart problems that I have been struggling with and I’m also 34 young with kids. All I can really say is it will get better I promise I’ve been in your shoe and I realized the mental aspect plays a huge part on the heart and can affect you physically. Acceptance for me was key. It is what it is we just have to look for something to be grateful for and move forward, but that doesn’t mean your not allowed grieve but just take it one day at a time, I have done already two procedures to try to fix my problem and I’m about to do my third one. But I have to be strong for myself and my loved ones. I hope you feel better 🌹
thank you for the supportive words. Yes its more difficult living alone as well in my case and not knowing if this is the new normal or whether things will feel better (and i'm sure it will be better). i hope your third procedure goes well.
Hello eugeneclh , I am post CABG 11 weeks. I had problems with Tricagrelor due to both chronic nausea and some breathing issues. In the end, mainly due to the chronic nausea, I spoke with my cardio Surgeon and he put me clopidogrel . I have been much better since then. We are all different and respond differently to the side effects. I do hope you feel better soon, take care, Judi
Hi Eugeneclh, My husband was 44 when he had his first heart attack and he needed 2 stents like you. He had massive problems with his medication to begin with and it took him about 2 years to sort it out so that he was not getting too many side effects. In the meantime he had another attack and needed another angiogram. He was not under any particular cardiologist at the time. Recently he was getting major problems again and we paid to see a cardiologist privately initially, who proceeded with him on the NHS. We googled the private hospital looking at the specialities that the cardiologists were interested in and experienced in and picked the most appropriate one and looked on his booking slot when he was free and booked a slot. We did not need a referral off our doctor initially although he has since written to them with my husbands treatment. It cost us £200 but it was money worth paying as my husband subsequently became very ill and needed stenting again. Hope you get your meds sorted and take care.
thank you for the tip - having difficulty breathing deeply means i'm having getting to sleep early at the moment. sometimes i feel that i have a bit of anxiety that contributes to it as i can work myself up. Does the cardiologist have to change meds or do i neeed to change GP?
Hello
I am so sorry you have had these issues at such a young age it ust have been a shock even though I have to say no matter what age you are I think we all can feel the same shock when all of a sudden we find ourselves in this position
It is so normal to feel like you do
I remember asking myself and blaming myself even for what had happened , I went through and still am all kinds of emotions but talking about them really helps especially on here as everyone can relate and reassures you that you are not alone with how you are feeling
Some of the meds could be causing some issues , I found I just did not suite Ramipril myself even though others have no issues with it and I know Doctors especially after the early stages do not like to change the medications without the Consultants say so
But I think having to pay to go private if it is only the medications you feel may not be suiting you is a little unfair to have to do so
I wonder if you have tried phoning your Consultants Secretary and explaining how you are feeling and could the Consultant give you a call earlier than planned ?
Or do you have a Rehab Nurse if so that is someone else you could call that maybe able to help
I am glad the inhaler and steroids have helped
It is early days , it does take a while for everything to settle down and adjust to medications etc
Take things easy you will in time start to feel so much better but give yourself that time and keep talking I think it really does make a difference to know you are not alone x
I would try the first one or any of them to be honest they all usually work in a team together and hopefully you will get put through to the Secretary and she should help you from there
The light headedness could be the blood pressure being very low. Call nurse at the British heart foundation they were very helpful. Drink lots of water .
Hi eugenecih, I do hope you are feeling better. I had chronic nausea due to the number of meds I was on. I ended in A and E twice, and to cut a long story short, after speaking to my GP who wasn’t able to advise, I spoke to my Cardio’s secretary who arranged an appointment for me to see him, which I did and it was very helpful. Please do try and speak/see with the Cardio to get some answers. My meds were changed, I stopped all meds for 5 days and restarted a few different ones, which fingers crossed seemed to be working, Take care, Judi
I've recently had a angioplasty due to an 'event' - they seemed unsure at the time whether i'd had a minor HA or it was 'just' unstable angina.
Have to say ugenelch, I know just how you feel (though I am somewhat older at 49).
I had the stent Monday 13th December (thankful it wasn't Friday 13th!) and found the whole process equally alarming and fascinating!.
Unfortunately, whilst the first few days up to the weekend post discharge seemed to go fine, Sunday , yesterday and today I've had a few incidents of chest pain and light headydness which have left me feeling similar to your description - a bit freaked out.
I re attended A+E yesterday because I'd had a bad time with the chest pain (felt 'crampy'?) through the night and part of yesterday morning.
They did ECG, BP and Bloods all of which came back clear, and I must admit I felt much better after this, but then today I had a episode of unavoidable stress and found myself reaching for the GTN spray, which did at least relieve most of the symptoms.
My wife went through and angiogram/angioplasty around 15 years ago, and she doesn't remember having any similar issues, though I do remember taking her to A+E 2 weeks after the procedure (at which point she was given the all clear).
When my wife had treatment, her GP had kept giving her ECG's and saying everything was fine, despite it clearly not being, I ended up paying for her to have a 24 hour ECG and stress test (ECG on a graduated treadmill) at which point the private cardiologist diagnosed a blocked artery there and then and put her onto his NHS list.
As any communications I've had with cardiologists in the NHS systems have felt quite rushed, I think I'll be paying out the £200(ish) to just get some time with the same Cardiologist that dealt with my wife, as I found him very confidence inspiring at the time.
Whilst I appreciate we should not have to resort to private treatment (and obviously, not everyone can) for me the money will be very much worth it if I can gain peace of mind (and also give it to my wife, who has broken down several times over the past few weeks, something I obviously hate to see).
Hopefully by talking about the issues on here, we can give each other support.
Hi mario - sorry to hear about your experiences and how similar it is to mine. I find that the nurses at the hospitals really helpful and know the challenges one can get with GPs and the like (one of them gave me a card with a number of the heart attack centre so i can call and get help if i need to).
I had a different chest pain last night and called 999 and was taken back. They did another angiogram as they suspected something was wrong but turned out clear. Their hypothesis is that the heart is still inflamed and caused more chest pains as a result but they said i did the right thing.
I managed to kill 2 birds with one stone and kept on asking the experts around me about my meds and side effects and they are looking to replace Bisoprolol for me and will be putting it in my letter to the GP.
Hi there . Just adding my own experience. I had a mild HA in Feb this year aged 40. Since then, I suffered constant chest pains every day. I ended up in A&E 6 times. They always sent me back after doing bloods, ecg etc as everything seemed clear. On my 7th admission this August, they did another angiogram and put another stent in one of my smaller artery. Chest Pain didn’t go away , so they decided to open up another 2 small arteries by further 2 stents. I refused to do any more procedure. During my first angiogram when I had HA, they discovered 3 narrowings in smaller arteries.
So I went to 2 different private cardiologists for their opinion.
One of them took me off all angina medications and put my chest pain down to a badly pulled muscle in chest or a badly pulled nerve. He prescribe a nerve relaxing medicine and now I’m pain free after 10 months of agony.
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