Climbing the walls after perfusion scan

[Worling]

Had triple by pass 2019 followed by 1 stent 3 weeks later. Have had periods of unstable angina ever since. Cardiac team have tried to get to the source of the problem …. 5 day monitoring in hospital, angiograms ( 3 since 2019) etc

So last week I attended Southampton hospital for a perfusion scan to find out why I am struggling with ongoing angina. They did a chemically induced stress test. And oh boy did it stress my heart. Had angina spreading to left arm and back, felt shaky, faint, breathless, nauseous ….. usual symptoms I get when having bad angina attack. My hr,bp,ecg,oxygen were constantly monitored for the 6 hours I was at hospital and no changes were seen. A cardiac consultant talked to me and they were very concerned but agreed to let me go home ….. my choice ….but they didn’t have any beds anyway… on the understanding that I would go to A&E if things didn’t change. Stuck it out for 4 days then attended A&E because symptoms had not eased. As usual they were hectic but they did all the usual tests. Troponin, ecg, bp, O2, hr, X-ray all showed no change. So I haven’t had a heart attack. So they reluctantly agreed to send me home …. Again they had no beds and I have a very comfortable bed at home.! They’ve increased my meds … now taking Ranexa 750 mg 2x pday, Nicorandril 30 mg 2x pday, Amlodipine 10 mg plus gtn as needed and they rang Soton to speed up the results

Was woken at 4 am with bad angina pain ….. took gtn and pain killers which only provide short term relief. Advice is to go back to A&E but it’s horrendous there and I don’t think they can do much until scan results are back.

If I’m not having a heart attack is ongoing angina damaging my heart? Would like to do more than sit on the sofa. It’s a gorgeous day out there and I’m climbing the walls.

[Anon2023]

hi. I know it’s not the advice you want but please go to A&E, better safe than sorry. I know the waiting times are awful but at least if anything happens while you are waiting you will have medical staff around. If you stay at home and then have to call an ambulance for any reason then you could be waiting a very long time. Hope you feel better soon. Let us know how you get on.

[Worling in reply to Anon2023]

It’s not the waiting times it’s all those poor poor people in there with dementia, mental health problems etc. Having to listen to endlessly patient doctors and nurses deal with abusive violent very ill people does nothing for the blood pressure!

[Anon2023 in reply to Worling]

I know, it’s hard going. I spent 2 months in hospital surrounded by dementia patients and it was heartbreaking. I have panic attacks when I go back to the hospital now so I can empathise at your dread of going in. My daughter is a nurse prac in A&E and I’m afraid that encountering the occasional horrible human goes with the territory. Please go and get checked out though as it’s the safest place to be when we are poorly. X

[Hidden]

You say you woke with bad angina pain at 4 am do you always get it while in bed

[Worling in reply to Hidden]

no usually after too much exercise, walking up stairs, going out in cold/ hot weather etc. I try to avoid those triggers.

Last night’s shenanigans were new and a bit scary.

But they’ve increased my anti angina meds so should I give them a chance to work?

[Tos92]

Hi Worling

I’m sorry to hear about your recent events.

I have had a stress perfusion scan myself which was chemically induced to mimic the effects of exercise and stress on my heart. This test is usually conducted to determine whether you have any ischemia. Did you get your results back? Ischemia is probably your likely culprit of the angina pains you are feeling but the results would confirm that.

Hope you feel better soon!

[Hidden]

Hello

I can totally understand you not wanting to go back to A&E but I think it would be the most sensible thing to do

If you do and I hope you will stress to them that you cannot keep coming back and forth and this needs to be sorted before they send you home again

Take something a book anything to distract you from what is happening around you

It is better to be safe than sorry

Let s know how you are doing and if you go how you get on x

[Worling in reply to Hidden]

Hi thanks again for your advice.

Last time I went to A&E with an audiobook and my earbuds and spent the time listening to Jane Austen. Closed my eyes and was in a different world.

[Hidden in reply to Worling]

Hello

That sounds like it worked and not often do we have time to do that so I suppose in a way it is a positive x

[Worling]

hi thanks to all of you for your replies. As you can imagine I have been a bit scared by the recent events. I live alone so left the front door unlocked just in case I needed to ring 999 !! ( it’s a very safe neighbourhood with lots of lovely nosey neighbours)

They’ve increased the Nicorandril dose by 20 mg and I am feeling better. Still had brief pain at 4 am but much less severe and angina this morning is manageable. So I’ll wait it out and hope to hear from the consultant soon.