Nitrates and me

[Shoefairy]

After my HA I was put on nitrates the tablets that go straight in your system and my how I suffered My life came to a full stop Couldn’t go to shops or cook spent all day taking pain relief a old wet flannel on my head Phoned doc he said put up with them it will go away but after 6 months I’d suffered enough The doc had even told me to reduce them from 20 20 to 20 10 and I even wen further but still the pain A call to the hospital was of no help just to tell me if you can’t cope just stop When youv had a heart attack who feels safe to do that so back I went to doc who then put me on slow release The headaches went on for about another two weeks and then stopped I was given the impression by doc there’s nothing else out there but they worked for me Don’t stop taking them till you no for sure as these little horrors open your arteries up and help stop angina Really hope you get sorted as I no how your suffering

[Tos92]

Nitrates are a tricky one for me. I have a congenital heart defect in the form of a myocardial bridge (MB) which causes coronary spasms. I have chest pain on a daily basis which radiates to my arm, upper back and sometimes jaw.

There is a lot of research and I will say beliefs also from cardiologists and those who belong to the MB community in some way, that nitrates make myocardial bridging symptoms worse due to the artery tunnelling inside the heart instead of sitting on the surface. As a result, due to existing compression from the MB, it is thought that when using nitrates, it increases the compression further as it causes the blood vessels to dilate. However, when I use my GTN spray, which is rarely due to the contraindications around it, I do find that it provides me some relief.

I did have a cardiologist offer me nitrates in oral form which were prolong released tablets. I declined at the time as there’s still a lack of concrete evidence to show that it doesn’t make MB symptoms worse. However, there was a comment made about the use of nitrates by a leading expert in MBs based in the US that this is a myth. So I always find that I’m very much in two minds about the nitrates.

However, I’m happy to hear that they’re working for you although it took you some time to figure out which dosage/plan worked for you.

All the best.

Tos