Chest pain and dizziness for months

[Froller]

Hey y'all, so no worries, been in and out of the hospital alot, but I wanted to post my issue here in hope for some clarity or perhaps guidances.

I'm 28 83kgs decent shape, I've had open heart surgery to replace s aortic valve and got a graft aswell.

Issue : bout two months ago i woke up with mild chest pains bout a coin in size near sternum left side and random dizziness. It isn't worsened by activities (though i feel it's worse when walking compared to working out and running).

Went to the er and they did CT, x-ray echo and EKG.

Everything but my troponin was elevated (34ng/l ) (old scale) now two months later its still present, and gotten a little worse. So back to the er i go, same tests except for the ct scan, they find my heart looking fine except my troponin being elevated, (30ng/L) they discharge me with some colchicin and told me to get back in 3months. So my question is, do any of y'all have a plausible idea of what my issue could be? Hospital think it might be myocarditis, and My own doc said it was my ears and wouldn't see me til i had my ears checked, which i did and the ear specialist got a bit angry saying that my doc was an idiot for thinking ears could cause chest pain. So going back to my own doc today but still wanted to be able to present some ideas to him

[Tos92]

Hi  Froller

Does the pain always wake you up from your sleep?

I have coronary vasospasms, which is a form of angina and a lot of my pain is felt on rest. It would be beneficial for you to keep a log of your pain, time, date and frequency, and anything which you may feel that triggers it.

As your troponin has been elevated twice since this has been happening, it could be that you have developed something along the lines of angina.

There is also something called INOCA (ischaemia with non-obstructive coronary arteries) which perhaps your doctors or cardiology team could consider. Also ask them for a GTN spray, it can help relieve chest pain from angina which happens as a result of the arteries narrowing.

I can’t see that you have had an angiogram? Usually this test can help the doctor to see how well the blood is flowing in your arteries and if there is any narrowing. It can also show congenital heart defects, which is how my myocardial bridging was diagnosed.

I’m sure other members will offer their insights too.

Good luck for the appointment and let us know how it goes

[Froller in reply to Tos92]

In the ambulance i was given a spray under my tongue to help, it didn't do anything. My pain is felt mostly when turning my upper body but otherwise it's very mild.Getting those sorta scans isn't something that is easily done unless a cardiologist really thinks something is off. At least here in Dk. All my test have been good this far except for that slight elevated troponin, one doc in the er said it's possible thst my troponin is like that cus of my ohs, though I'm unsure if that's how it works. Appointment went well and the doc would request the hospital for a Holter, though it's up to the hospital to mske the call.

[Tos92 in reply to Froller]

If the GTN spray didn’t help and you say that the pain is mostly felt when you turn your body, it may not be angina.

As Milkfairy has said, I wonder if your raised troponin could be from your surgery, including the mild pain you feel when you turn your upper body.

A holter monitor is usually requested when someone is experiencing irregular heart beats.

[Froller in reply to Tos92]

Yes, don't think it's angina either. Could be but it started 2months ago and surgery was 2 years ago. I can get s low heart rate st times even though I only lightly jog and do strength training. Goes as low as 39

[Tos92 in reply to Froller]

I wonder if there could be elements of costochondritis there.

Some side effects to heart medication can cause a low heart rate.

[Froller in reply to Tos92]

only take bloodthinners mareware/warfarin

[Tos92 in reply to Froller]

Hopefully the holter monitor gets approved and it helps with getting a diagnosis.

Let us know how you are doing. Good luck

[Milkfairy Heart Star]

Hello,

Welcome to the forum.

I am sorry that you are facing such inconsistent responses from the various doctors you are seeing.

Have you been reviewed by a Cardiologist?

Troponin blood levels can be raised if you have an infection or inflammation such myocarditis or following a viral infection.

If a person has myocarditis their troponin blood levels can stay elevated for sometime.

During an acute episode of ischaemia ( lack of blood supply to the heart muscle) the troponin blood levels rise then fall.

A raised level of troponin can stay in your blood for about 2 weeks. Any longer than this suggests the problem maybe chronic such as myocarditis rather than angina.

Colchicine is often prescribed to treat myocarditis.

The other really important thing is that you need to rest, rest and then rest some more.

Like Tos92 I live with vasospastic angina. It was first diagnosed over 10 years ago.

I also have had myocarditis.

My myocarditis was picked up by a cardiac perfusion MRI.

You have been given good advice about keeping a log of your symptoms and see if you can spot any triggers to your symptoms.

The BHF has this information about microvascular and vasospastic angina which are types of non obstructive coronary artery disease NOCAD.

bhf.org.uk/informationsuppo...

bhf.org.uk/informationsuppo...

Cardiomyopathy UK has some information about myocarditis which you may find helpful too.

cardiomyopathy.org/about-ca...

I hope you find the cause of your symptoms soon.

[Froller in reply to Milkfairy]

Thanks for the reply, will read up about it. Been checked by two cardiologist and one special cardiologist for heart surgery patients. All said my hearts fine, except none has given an answer if the troponin is perm from the surgery or something to be mindful of.The pain can be pressed forward and I don't know if that's possible with heart pain, though none has given an answer to that

[Milkfairy Heart Star in reply to Froller]

The raised troponin could be from the surgery.Your symptoms don't seem to be typical of vasospastic angina.

Hopefully someone who has had open heart surgery can share their post surgery experience with you.

[Froller in reply to Milkfairy]

could be, hard to tell honestly. dont think what i got is angina, as my pain is mild and only gets "bad" or worsened when moving my chest or shoulders

[Milkfairy Heart Star in reply to Froller]

Perhaps repost a question about recovery from aortic value replacement surgery ?

Then other forum members, who have a lived experience of this type of surgery, can hopefully share their experiences with you.

[Froller in reply to Milkfairy]

I recovered within 6months of the surgery. But I don't know if some sorta rebounding can happen, or what it is called

[Milkfairy Heart Star in reply to Froller]

I personally don't have any experience of heart surgery.

Maybe post a new question to the forum?

Then the forum members who have experienced this type of surgery can share their experiences with you.

[Froller in reply to Milkfairy]

For sure, though I'm unsure where the right forum is

[Milkfairy Heart Star in reply to Froller]

Just post another question on this forum like you did before.

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Have you had a booster recently? My sister had hers and almost within days had myorcarditis. She still suffers from this and pains in the chest. This was from last years 3rd jab.