Hello crew, and hope those that watched the Crowning business enjoyed the ceremony today.
Since about 6pm last night (after a day sitting quietly at my desk at home) I've noticed a return of what I've called the 'biting' in my left chest - a little nagging 'pain' that branches to my left armpit and a little in my left back.
I've had these sorts of pains/awarenesses more or less consistently since my diagnosis of an ASD in December. I was totally symptomless but then had a heart attack on 10 March due a clot passing through the hole. However, in the last 2 weeks the pain had more or less gone completely, giving me confidence in my recovery and seeing me return to commuting (slowly!) by bike on Tuesday and Thursday of this week. All felt OK.
I've had a lot of tests since my diagnosis including all my pre-op checks a month ago (surgery to close the ASD was then postponed to allow for a fuller recovery and a bloods/clotting check) and I've always told all the medical people that I have had a heightened awareness of my chest since the diagnosis. In my notes it says this is likely due to anxiety, which I agree with.
I'm so gutted to feel these sorts of twinges again and am focusing on them a lot, which is causing my anxiety to spiral. With a 3 day weekend there are few options in terms of getting reassurance - 111 might send me for a long wait at A&E for an ECG. Also, I'm on all the blood thinners and the chance of a clot passing through the hole was so very tiny the first time, AND they can see I have mild CAD but it's not at a level that poses much of a risk...
Finally - this 'pain' goes away when I'm exercising (a shopping trip today) and when I go to bed, which is exactly how the old 'pain' behaved, and makes me think my heart is OK, however much that whole area is twinging and holding my attention right now.
Writing this all down helps to reassure myself that this isn't untoward. I had just hoped to be rid of the chest-nagging after it had 'gone' some weeks ago. For now, I'm trying to distract and relax myself, as the more wound up I get and the more I think about calling 111, the more it 'hurts'. Maybe I jarred something while on my bike, or maybe this is all in my head.
How do people cope with this? When do you seek help? How do you manage when you don't know what to do??
Sorry for the sprawling post; I'm not asking for medical advice (obviously), just needed to be heard in a safe space x
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LadyZ13
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I can certainly see where you dilema is coming from ever since my heart attacks and Bypass surgery every single twinge or sensation I am straight in there anxiety going through the roof
You are right the blood thinners will be helping and I expect you are on the strong ones
How do you cope I wished I had the answers as I am still trying to work that out myself
I have to say this and not to make you feel worse and I know it is the Bank Holiday but if you feel something's not quite right then it would have to be 111 or A&E
I hope others will come along that might have better advise but know you are not alone with how you feel when you are feeling so anxious
Thank you so much Hidden - I know I can rely on you to empathise with the situation. It's so difficult when you feel exhausted and overwraught with a situation, your judgement is all over the place. And I'm partly worried about being sent to A&E and having another experience like my trip in October where I was there for a very traumatic 16 hours before discharging myself. I just want to have a good cry and feel normal again!
Going to see how I go for the next few hours and if anything gets at all worse I will definitely pick up the phone to 111. x
I have not been having a good day just with the thoughts and had a big wobble a bit ago and I have stand need to say go to A&E when I am literally petrified of the place and so I get if you had a bad experience how that has left you feeling but if you really thought things were not right I know you would face that fear and go anyway
See how you feel and then decide if you need to phone 111
I’m sorry to hear the chest pain and “twinges” are back.
I have daily chest pain which also radiates into my armpit. I have become mostly tolerant to this though due to my heart conditions. I have a congenital heart defect in the form of a myocardial bridge and vasospastic angina.
If the pain increases in intensity, or behaves out of the ordinary, 111 is your best option. I hate the long waits in A&E as well, I was there 12 hours on one visit and it has really put me off going since however, it is sometimes the safest option.
Do you have anyway of monitoring your heart rate such as an oximeter? I wonder if this may give you some reassurance.
Hi Tos92 , thanks for replying. While I'm sorry there is someone else out there carrying similar discomfort, it does reassure me that it doesn't necessarily mean I'm in trouble. It sucks though, doesn't it? I had a pain once before while skiing that I got checked out in a French medical centre and it was £80 and a 90 min wait for an ECG to be told it was not cardiac and probably muscular. I'd love that sort of option now!
I do have a Fitbit which is pretty accurate - I've watched it alongside ECGs and when hooked up to machines and during my exercise test. My husband's Fitbit is fancier and claims to be able to read an ECG but I wouldn't know how to read it. My HR is OK, below 70 which is my new normal on the Beta Blockers.
Back to some more box breathing and camomile tea, I reckon. Thanks so much again for replying.
Chronic pain isn’t the nicest, but I have learned to embrace it and get by the best I can. Hopefully, this is not going to be the situation for you and your symptoms will improve over time. Yes, I’d also be happy to use a service like that which involves a small payment to eliminate I suppose immediate danger to our hearts. However, whilst having an NSTEMI last year, I presented a normal ECG after the episode. It was only until my bloods were taken that they found elevated troponin. So an ECG isn’t always a sure fire way to know if something is wrong with our heart or not, though I do agree it can provide reassurance.
I have an Apple Watch which has an ECG feature installed within it. I use it often to take a reading. They are not always accurate but can be useful when I’m particularly concerned about some chest pain I might be having. This no way replaces A&E or a doctor’s advice/testing of course. Perhaps you could upgrade your Fitbit if it can help provide you with some reassurance?
Box breathing and camomile tea sounds like a good idea. I hope posting on here will help you have a less worrisome evening :).
This is bizzarely familiar to the symptoms ive been getting over the last few days 😔 Im currently on the waiting list for triple bypass (90%,70%,70% blockages) mild chest pain and wierd feeling in the armpit and a kind of twitching, tingling just below the shoulder blade on my back. Ive kind of put it down to regular angina with the addition of medicine side effects but like you the anxiety is through the roof. You say the symptoms go away when exercising, im exactly the same ( never been for so many walks 😀 ) could it be that we just notice the symptoms more at rest and when the brain still wants to be active ?
I think I manage mine by looking on here for similar stories and whilst our conditions are different your symptoms and anxieties are remarkabley like mine.
I think that talking and seeking advice on here helps massively, im a bit reluctant to open up fully to my wife as I really dont want to scare her, usually when she asks how im feeling its the usual "im ok" when in reality im thinking " please dont take me yet". Im actually guilty of getting myself so wound up its physically caused symptoms.
Its so scary and many people on here will know exactly how you are feeling. That said, i try to avoid "googling" my symptoms/condition, we all know where that leads.
I wish you well in your journey and hope that you can find the peace of mind that you deserve. Good luck x
Stevie335 I do find this reassuring, despite our different conditions - waiting for surgery is THE WORST and our imaginations go into overdrive. I do think there's a lot of truth in what you say about the brain picking up on it more when you're bored / unoccupied. Since returning to work I've been a lot healthier, mentally.
I'm not at all good at bottling things up - I just had a cry on my husband, and also have been messaging my sister all day about how I'm doing, which I feel bad about - she's very worried about me too and I don't want to upset her.
Our best bet is probably to stay calm but know that 111 is only a phone call (and then probably a wait for a call back!) away. Last time we called 111 for a cardiac issue that was the Heart Attack and an ambulance was at our door in 20 minutes. This doesn't feel urgent; I'm just seeking peace of mind so I can go on trying to ignore the discomfort.
Out of interest, do you ever take pain relief for the discomfort? I had thought about it to take the edge off and calm me down, but also don't want to mask possible symptoms. It's a tricky call!
Thanks again for your message, it had made me fee better x
Sorry to hear that you & others responding to your post are suffering pain & twinges & about the anxiety that causes.
I think it's good that all you feel the forum is a safe place to raise worries & to find out that others too have similar difficulties, thoughts & / or fears.
I do concurr that I think that when we are doing something like exercising our brains are more busy & our bodies fight through to complete what we are trying to do, whereas when we sit quietly or brains begin to 'notice' everything that our bodies are feeling.
Please do contact GP out of hours (if avalivable), 111 & / or A&E if pains worsen or even if you are just concerned.
I know that long waits in A&E are horrible (having spent hours in them for years with Dad, Mum & now me) but if you know in advance that you are going then could you take a good book, a word search or some drawing / writing/ colouring or knitting or something to help keep you occupied while you wait? We wouldn't expect a child to sit & wait without getting bored, yet often don't give ourselves that much compassion / consideration in the same situation.
Use it as an opportunity to do something you only get to do in the often infrequent "me time" as this might help you to not view the having to wait 'as wasted time', and help you to feel less anxious while in A& E. (I am of couse assuming and hoping that your pain is not so bad that you can't manage to do anything)
Thanks 1234_6 , I appreciate you taking the time to reply. I'm hoping that by staying occupied I can stop myself obsessing over the twinges. I'm tempted to take some paracetamol and try to calm down!
Despite taking things to A&E I have never been able to read or focus on anything - the whole experience is so anxiety-inducing, plus having to wait alone. Addenbrookes A&E isn't big enough for the current needs of the population and it was just hellish during my last wait - which was a Monday morning (through to 4am Tuesday). I'm so sorry you've had to make multiple trips there.
Thanks again for sharing your experience and wisdom x
Sorry you had such a difficult time in A& E last time, Fighting through anxeity is so hard. I use different breathing exercises & grounding tecniques to get me through my panic attacks but you have to experiment to see wot works best for you as everyone is different . ❤️ and 🙏 that you feel calmer & in less pain soon. Take Care .
Hello, so I have had two stents put in and I often have twinges and pains. This I have since found out was positional. It was when I used a large cushion from my sofa to lay on. Also anxiety plays a huge part in it for me. I have been to my GP a few times and had ECG and all have comeback fine. If you have significant pain travelling then perhaps you need to go see someone. Although you don't have it when you are moving?
I'm sure all will be fine and hopefully you will get back to exercise very soon.
I know what you mean about heightened awareness; a few years ago before I had any problems the medics jumped on an issue from 6 years earlier, (which was investigated at the time), but they were so insistent on investigating I was bowing to their superior knowledge while still thinking it was nonsense. At the time there were quite long delays because of the world situation and every twinge bothered me, making me wonder if they were right, etc.Fast forward a couple of years and I did develop some issues. First time in A&E was ok, but thereafter I had some pretty dire experiences. I discharged myself more than once and haven't been back since, until Thursday. Although I couldn't identify why I felt worse than usual during an episode it was enough to make me decide to go.
It was a whole different situation, much improved, and very thorough and as quick as they could be. I was lucky as it was just before 8 in the morning, so my timing was good for once.
You could find that A&E is different now, so try to bear that in mind if you get another worrying event.
Do consider ringing 111 when you are unsure how serious your symptoms are. Better to get it triaged than take a risk.
I have found 111 much better recently. A bit long-winded, but they decided I needed to go to A and E so given an appointment. As I was already triaged and expected I went straight in. I’m sure this is an attempt to reduce the long ambulance waits at the ER door, for patients at higher risk.
Hi not much help from me but since my HA and Bypass, my anxiety is through the roof when I have any pain / discomfort on my left side, I have had a couple of visits to A&E and all been ok, I would say better safe than sorry if you don’t feel right call 111 it go to A&E put your mind at rest
As a quick update, I called 111 last night and got a callback this morning, sending me to A&E where I now am, awaiting triage. It's about a third full right now which is so much better than the Monday in October where it was standing room only by lunchtime... Here's hoping for a quick check over and out!
I understand your predicament. It is a hard one. The trouble is I look into my issue too deeply. Iam not in the medical field. My background is engineering, fault finding. So I try to understand and want to fix myself. Naturally I carnt. I get aches and pains which could be an issue but more than likely it is anxiety and a hightened awareness,? I may have told you earlier that I ended up with chest pains and phoned 111, they phoned my surgery and my doctor phoned back and told me to go to A and E. Of I trundle walk in and soon got triage. Basically blood pressure taken oxygen taken, which Naturally is low, but I was impressed with my reading of 86%. Ecg which again is Naturally got issues . Nurse took it to someone to check and they wrote on ecg same as February ecg. Which was taken at my cardiology clinic. Then I was sent to another department. Where my bloods where taken. Mainly for troponin. After a wait watching TV feet up on the chairs the doctor said you where fine nothing strange. Now this is where it becomes hard. And my mind is still wizzing around, I still carnt except. All my positives. The thing iam finding hard is they do their checks carnt find anything untoward except your natural issues. And of you go sent back into the big wide world hopefully with your big boy pants on. The other thing that can cause these aches and pains pains can be side effects. But I have to admit I ended up in A and E because I pushed myself down the gym and I took some ibuprofen, which is a no no when on ace inhibitors and diuretics. So the only pain killers I take now is paracetamol,. But like you I cry, I cry for a time before I knew. I admit I was not perfect but I was surviving and i done stuff. But now it gets harder because iam more aware and concerned. I hope you get on OK today.
glad you are being seen hope all ok. Aside from all the great comments here was just going to add side effects from the meds could also cause heart burn reflux pain in all sorts of weird ways and areas in chest back etc. my cardiologist was saying last week he thought he was having a heart attack once with the pain which turned out to be heart burn. I haven’t had reflux from my blood thinner but other tablets I’ve been put on have caused it.
After 5 hours here they've run two troponin tests and two ECGs and both are normal. However the doc needs to get my discharge signed off my one of the unavailable consultants so we're still waiting to be allowed out. Just want out of here now!
And home, after 6 hours in A&E. They ran a 3rd ECG as the new, post -HA one was different to the one they have on record for me from before the HA, so they wanted to check nothing was progressing over the 6 hours. And Troponin score was 9, should be 3 but was 22 at HA, so probable just recovering. Everyone I spoke to said I was right to get it checked out.
Thanks for all of your engagement and sharing experiences, it has given me a lot of insight. I'll be blogging about this episode later for sure!
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