Do you have unresolved, mystery chest pain? After years of going to the doctor, cardiologist, and ER with chest pain and having the doctors sort of patiently put up with me and tell me the tests didn’t show much—even putting me on blood pressure meds in order to do something for me (even though I didn’t need them)…it turned out that something huge was wrong!! I just found out what the problem was this past week! They had admitted me in the hospital for chest pain again in order to do some tests, and once again they saw nothing significant. My new cardiologist came to visit me, and on a whim he talked me into the heart catheter procedure (angiogram). Thank goodness!!! It turns out that my ventricular heart artery was70% blocked and that I needed a stent! He saved my life!
That chest pain for years and years r... - British Heart Fou...
That chest pain for years and years really was something after all!
this is what worries me. 5 years now and still not got any answers apart from the tests are all ok. Echo and mri are all ok. I keep saying so why am I having this pain and feelings to be told it’s muscle related and possibly costochronditis. I’m still not convinced it is. I have an appointment with a cardiologist next Wednesday so hoping to get some answers.
At what point do you just say ok then if that’s what the tests and scans say then I have to put up with this uncomfortable worrying pain all my life then!!
that’s what i’ve said to myself😂.. according to one cardiologist my mild atherosclerosis in my LAD isn’t serious enough to cause angina.. according to another cardiologist i do have angina.. but the first one stopped heart meds apart from aspirin, simvastatin and bp meds.. 3 years ago he also believed i had MVA.. he asked me if during the invasive angiogram in 2020 if they tested for MVA.. i said no.. he said ‘mmmm’ and that was that😂.. so i now have the attitude.. que sera sera lol.. if something happens it happens.. btw cardiologist number 1 told me to take gtn if i have chest pain.. and to call 999 if it doesn’t go away.. the intricacies of cardiac issues lol
It is a strange one. My symptoms were less than yours, virtually nothing. The MRI and angiogram showed that I should have an urgent bypass.
Wow!You were so fortunate!! How did that go? How are you feeling now!
Has your doctor given you anything for the atherosclerosis? I also have that. My new graduate cardiologist put me on a channel blocker blood pressure med and said that would get rid of my “phantom pain”. Not. Then I tried statins several times, but I can’t handle them. I have a much better experienced cardiologist who told me that there are some really promising cholesterol drugs out now. After they found the blockage in my ventricular artery, they put me on PCKS9. They also recommended bempadoic acid or Zetia for cholesterol and atherosclerosis. Please don’t suffer because of their inability to figure this pain out. Let them know you still have pain and that you need them to figure it out for you. Pain has to be caused by something. I’ll be hoping for you!🫶
Cardiologist insisted i keep taking aspirin 70mg daily.. already on simvastatin 40mg and BP meds perindopril 8mg and bendroflumazide 2.5mg.. ohh and if i have chest pain take gtn spray.. if it doesn’t go away after 2 sprays .. phone 999 lol…
Holy Toledo! It seems like they can’t figure out what the heck is going on, but they think that if they load you the patient up with plenty of pain meds for every eventuality, they’re off the hook and the ball (pain management) is in your court…which is horrible for you, when you just want to get at the source—and correct the cause of the pain so you can keep on living pain free and worry free. I’m so sorry! Hang in there, Manhattan.
Oh my goodness—I’m so sorry that you are experiencing this “worrying pain” without a solution! I feel that we should not have to have to live with the constant pain and that there must be a reason for it. I hope and pray that the cardiologist is able to help you, will send some time thinking about you, send you for right tests, and somehow find a solution for your chest pains on Wednesday! Let us know🫶.
what is a angiogram test??
Hi it's an invasive procedure to look for blockages in arteries and a few other things as well, they insert a small catheter into the wrist or sometimes groin and from that they can see what's going on. If you check on the NHS website or BHF you will get a much better explanation than I can give, I have had the procedure done and they can tell a lot from it. Char
ok I did have a look and I believe I’ve had it done. An mri with the dye put in through the wrist I think it was our arm. That came back with arteries all clear and slightly elevated right ventricle which I’ve been told is ok and managed with blood pressure and that wouldn’t give the symptoms of the current chest pain I get
"It turns out that my ventricular heart artery was70% blocked and that I needed a stent! He saved my life!"
I can understand why you might think that. But believing that a stent has saved your life isn't really correct. More importantly, it might give you a false sense of security which obscures the things that really could save your life.
Atherosclerosis/heart disease is like having acne of the arteries. All our arteries are affected, but the arteries most affected are those serving the brain, the heart and the legs. And in the same way that someone with acne doesn't just have one spot, we don't have just one blockage.
Another important fact is that just because the blockage was 70% doesn't really say much about the risk of a heart attack. There are plenty of people on this forum with many blockages over 90% who have never had a heart attack, and people with no blockages above 40 or 50% (the level at which they really become detectable) who have had multiple heart attacks.
When arterial plaque ruptures and causes a heart attack is more a function of how stable the plaque is, rather than how large it is. Some people tend towards calcified, stable plaque, other people tend towards "hot" liquid plaque. To return to the acne analogy it's like some spots burst all by themselves, but other spots will never burst no matter how hard they're squeezed. We all probably have some of both, but some people certainly seem to have more of one kind than the other. Incidentally, a valuable side effect of statins is that besides tackling lipid problems, they also stabilise plaque.
The purpose of a stent is to remove angina symptoms (or to open up a blocked artery when inserted during a heart attack), there's no medical evidence that stents reduce the risk of future heart attacks. The only two things that can reduce the risk of future heart attacks are medication and life style changes.
Hopefully the hospital will invite you to attend a Cardio Rehab course. Cardio Rehab is fantastically valuable as they focus on the practicality of medication and life style changes. Explaining, patiently and in detail, exactly how they work together to keep us safe. In addition you'll be given exercise information tailored specifically to you.
Good luck!
interesting points about saving lives. I had 100% blocked RCA and my system had created little capillaries to bypass the blockage. My main symptom was extreme breathlessness on exercise and fatigue. The two stents have greatly reduced these symptoms but I know they won’t reduce my risk of HA. The meds and my exercise and diet regime will help that but there’s little can be done about my extremely elevated lp(a) - the cause of the blockage, so I take the meds, and take myself off for a run.
Crikey, you have exactly the same issues as I had in 2021. The surgeon said I had a 10% heart attack risk every year if no surgery was done. They could have put a few stents in but said a bypass would be better.
we have a specialist team here who can fit stents in a totally blocked artery. So no bypass.
They did say that they would’ve done a bypass in the past but that with the expertise they had in their specialist team they could avoid that and stent instead.
It’s been hard for me to face that reality. When I 1st posted, I thought I was saved—but with research I’ve come to realize that you are correct. I’m working on it.
everyone needs to work on staying heart healthy, some of us more than others. But it’s good to know early enough to get on with making the lifestyle changes that will make a difference
yes, I agree!
I fully support what Chappychap says and would add that there are conditions like MicroVascular Disorder(MVD) and Coronary Artery Spasm (CAS) which can give the same symptoms with no visible signs of vascular obstruction - an angiogram would give an "all-clear" but the problem would still be there, invisible
Thank you! This is all new to me and I am eager to look into those. Great suggestions.
Thank you for your helpful post! Yours was the first one I read after I posted about my own experience. I had just had the angiogram a few days before…and I had just joined this group moments before posting—and your reply post scared me half to death! Thank you for that—seriously! Really excellent information and you got me thinking, questioning, searching, and acting! I took all of what you said to heart, and I started researching more. You were absolutely right…I did have a false sense of security after the blockage was found and the stent was placed. I ended up reading some of the research you mentioned that talked about the stents not making a difference in preventing future heart attacks and death. I was scared straight, Richard, so I’ve been applying whatever I can learn to keep myself alive, including changing my diet—which has been tough because my darling and very stubborn husband is the cook, I’m taking the recommended medications, I’ve begun exercising daily—routines with cardio and strength components for recovering heart patients that I found online, I ordered helpful related books and I’m watching instructional heart video classes—and acting on what I find out. Hopefully, these things will make a difference in my prognosis. I want to live.
I missed that stage, but only had pain for 3 days. Straight to the heart attack stage.
The reflux pain I’d had for years suddenly stopped after an angiogram and stent. You are not alone.
Thank you! That means so much to me!🫶
over the years I've been to a@a@e and told its muscular, last April they did do a CT scan and low and behold I had a severely blocked right artery and moderate blockage of left artery, got stented, still had pain, cardiologist did a provocative angiogram and found I got mircovascular disease also. I was relieved that it was something as I was starting to think it was all in my head 😫😫😫😫😫
Holy smoke!! Thank you a million for sharing and for the heads up that it might be more than a one and done and to stay vigilant! I’m so happy for you that you found that out! What have you done for that? How are you feeling now?
my life has changed totally I had to change jobs as I didn't have the energy to do 12 hour shifts, on so much medication, I take it day by day ❤❤❤
Bless you, Shellac. I wish you only the very best on this difficult journey.🫶
may i ask if you are male or female?
there is plenty of evidence that doctors are less likely to diagnose heart conditions (like Coronary Artery Disease and angina) in women - this can significantly affect their chances of getting the right treatment at the right time
I’m a female—and you are so right! Thank you for getting the word out!🫶
please spread the word too - more women are affected by heart conditions than breast cancer - every woman needs to know this
70% is not really a major constriction. Many people have arteries which are more blocked. A stent will open up the artery and reduce the pain of angina. It won't prevent a heart attack. A heart attack is caused when plaque on artery walls ruptures and then blocks the artery causing the part of the heart which the artery serves to start dying.
I had a heart attack which was caused by a plaque rupturing on the wall of my Right Coronary artery. It blocked the artery and part of the heart muscle died. This was in spite of getting to a cath lab within 45 minutes from the 999 call. (the NHS is not too bad in my part of the UK).
They opened up the artery by a mixture of a balloon and anti coagulant infusion. They were not able to insert a stent.
Subsequently I had a lot of medication part of which was to keep the artery clear.
2.5 years later I am OK.
I attribute this to medication, better diet and exercise.
Thank you for sharing that with me, Richard! I guess I was thinking that 70% wouldvhave grown to a complete block and ultimately would have caused my death—and I wouldn’t have known what hit me or had the opportunity to do something about it. I’m taking what you wrote very seriously and I’ve begun to do some of the things you and others have mentioned in order to change my ways to a healthier lifestyle. Oh my goodness, your story is incredible! I’m so thankful to hear that they saved your life —and you’ve found your way to renewed health…and life! What medications did they put you on? I wish you the best!🫶
The meds I was put on were Rivaroxaban, an anticoagulant, clopidogrel and aspirin both, anti platelets (Platelets form part of your blood. and anti platelets help prevent them sticking together), atorvastatin 80mg (it's a statin, and statins not only reduce cholesterol but they help to prevent plaque from rupturing) . I think it's quite important for some when there is a risk of plaque detaching. They wanted to put me on a small dose of ramipril, not sure why, but I could not tolerate it because it made my BP go down and it's already lowish.
Remember that meds are very specific to the individual, an important one is a statin, not only because of the cholesterol lowering but that it helps stop plaques rupturing. Before I had the MI, I had no symptoms at all.
Thank you very, very much Richard. This is so helpful to me! I wish you the best.
Mine is a very long story but I will try to keep it short. 9 years ago I started to have chest pain on physical exertion. My GP referred me to a cardiologist who arranged a CT coronary angiogram it came back completely normal. I was totally puzzled that nothing was found. Chest pain continued so I had an angiogram done, still nothing. Pain still continued my GP had prescribed a GTN spray which helped. For 3 years I was backwards and forwards to my GP trying to get answers, cardiologists never once said or even mentioned Microvascular angina to me in fact at the time I'd never heard of it. On one of my visits to the GP I told him how the pain was getting worse and I had this heavy feeling in my chest. He thought I had Microvascular disease and this pain was angina. At last!! Cardiologist prescribed medication to see how I responded. What an improvement it made. Over the last few years I have had ablation for AFib, an attempt at ablation for SVT and went on to need a pacemaker. 15 months ago chest pain started to flair up and I ended up in hospital twice to rule out a heart attack. A cardiologist came to see me and I was told that the disease had now spread and was affecting me at rest " that's what Microvascular disease does she said" I have tried to get an MRI stress perfusion done at another hospital outside the area where I live but they are unable to do it. My request to my cardiologist to have some tests done went down like a lead balloon, he was not happy. Totally unnecessary he said. This is MVA. I envy anyone who has a good supportive cardiologist. Meanwhile more medication added to my list just have to see how I go.
Thankyou for sharing your story. Do you mind me asking what age you was when you started to get the chest pains 9 years ago?
My chest pain isn’t no worse when I’m active as in running cycling etc it’s more at rest and every day things. No on exertion
Thank you for sharing your story! You are so fortunate to have your excellent cardiologist who took the time to think about what you were experiencing, recognize the MVD, and solve the problem. What a relief that must have been for you—it’s so scary to have ongoing chest pain that gets worse that doctors can’t solve. I’m so sorry to hear what you are going through now, and I hope and pray that you are able to get the tests you need now to alleviate your new symptoms and save you🫶.
Hi, I was in my mid 50's.
I have had to slow down a lot. I get tired very easily now, I no longer have the energy to do the things that I used to do. When I walk up a hill/slope I do it much slower than I used to. Cold weather affects me so I have to wear extra layers. A recent echocardiogram has shown some more problems which are being monitored. There is a really good book that you may like to read called A Woman's Heart by Dr Angela Maas.
Well I can understand. I had chest pains in the last year before my bypass. All my tests came back normal. I had pains when I played tennis but they disappeared after about the first set. I was told it was muscular therefore. I had several ecg’s and they came back normal. It was one very astute cardio nurse that spotted something unusual and that started the ball rolling towards having a triple bypass. I now realise I should have had a active ecg or even pushed for much more intensive tests. Heart disease symptoms can present differently in people - especially in women.
Wow, Polly! Thank goodness for that nurse! I agree with you that our symptoms present differently then those of men. I also noticed in my case that I’m not as aggressive in describing symptoms and pain as my husband is—I try so hard to be exact and honest in what I say that doctors don’t understand that real pain and symptoms are there and dismiss my pains as anxiety or something else. They do some tests and ignore the little blips that your nurse paid attention to. I’m so happy for you!!
Thank you. It’s so easy to dismiss pain as arthritis and indigestion. What that nurse found meant that I was dangerously near to a major heart attack …or worse
Absolutely…I know exactly what you mean. I wish you the best.🫶
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