newbie

[MaireMoo]

Hi,

I have just had a visit to hospital with severe chest pains. My Glyceryl Trinitate spray gave me no relief, neither did the second dose. So I headed into A&E. My first time. I recovered and came home same day. It was educational. Two of the three medically qualified Dr. advised staying in and getting tests carried out ( previous ones were done in 2021). The third, and most senior, said ‘ you are not having a heart attack. Go home. Oh and bye the way did you by any chance pull a muscle? ‘. …..

GP has given me a referral letter to BHI ( I have been before).

Looks like I need to do a fair bit of reading, learning and be pro active to get my health back!

enjoying reading other people’s posts…

[Tos92]

Hi MaireMoo

Welcome to the forum.

I’m sorry to hear about your trip to A&E.

You did the right thing going in as the GTN spray did not provide any relief. I also have angina however, it is more consistent with something called vasospastic angina where I mostly feel pain in my chest, upper back, arms, and sometimes my jaw. There are certain triggers that I have such as the cold and stress. My pain is a daily occurrence however.

There is some more information about angina on the link below.

bhf.org.uk/informationsuppo...

I hope you can get some more testing done to rule out how the angina affects you and hopefully, have your treatment plan adjusted.

All the best.

Tos

[MaireMoo in reply to Tos92]

thank you… will read up on it…

[Milkfairy Heart Star in reply to MaireMoo]

I have lived with vasospastic angina for over 10 years.

One of the classic symptoms of vasospastic angina is chest pain at rest that is relieved by GTN.

I have to go into hospital from time to time, when my coronary vasospasms become severe and unstable. I am treated with an infusion of GTN.

Vasospastic angina is along with microvascular angina a type of ischaemia/ angina non obstructive coronary arteries, INOCA/ANOCA.

These types of angina seem to affect women more than men.

Vasospastic angina is caused by the transient constrictions of the large blood vessels of the heart, coronary vasospasms.

Microvascular angina is thought to be due to the small blood vessels not working properly. They either fail to dilate or stay dilated in response to extra demands like exercise, microvascular dysfunction.

Microvascular and vasospastic angina are not well understood and often under recognised even by experienced Cardiologists.

There is growing evidence that GTN or nitrates are not always affective for patients living with microvascular angina.

I suggest you keep a log of your symptoms, go and see your GP and ask if you can be referred to a Cardiologist who has some understanding of microvascular and vasospastic angina.

The BHF has this information about microvascular and vasospastic angina.

bhf.org.uk/informationsuppo...

bhf.org.uk/informationsuppo...

[MaireMoo in reply to Milkfairy]

thank you so much…. Explained so well..

[AlfredV]

Two blood tests separated by a few hours is used to test troponin levels. If levels are normal a heart attack can be ruled out. I'm wondering if that explains the consultant's assessment?

[MaireMoo in reply to AlfredV]

thank you… more information/knowledge. So glad I joined this group!

[Furryears]

hello and welcome you have come to the right place I do not have much advice lots of people on here will be able to assist I am sure of that

Your trip to A& E didn’t sound the best and I am sorry to hear that

I wish you all the best 😊