hi, I have been on this forum for a few weeks since having chest pain and gp referred me to cardiology and I had a consultation (by phone) He noted my very dire family history of heart attacks in 50 and 60’s and my high cholesterol and prescribed a gtn spray and aspirin, which gp gave straight away and said he wanted to double my statins and give beta blockers. The clinic letter prescribing the extra statins and beta blockers has still not arrived with gp and appointment was 3 weeks ago! Also on waiting list for angiogram. My worry is that my chest pain doesn’t seem to come on after walking or exercising but when I am at rest. I am also pretty sure at times I feel breathless and dizzy. I am worried I have unstable angina and consequently could have a heart attack at any time? I don’t have the pain bad enough to call an ambulance but it seems to go from my breastbone to my back. I don’t know whether to contact gp tomorrow to see what they say.
GTN seems to relieve it but then sometimes it feels like indigestion. Oh goodness I don’t want to waste NHS time but I am scared… can any of you lovely people advise please
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Anniecat680
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Annie I think you were reassured by the responses to your earlier post. You are in the system, youve got the spray, you are looking at your lifestyle (exercise, diet and so on) to see where you can improve things for yourself.
Can you talk to anyone in your close family, friends, about how you feel? Have you called the British Heart Foundation for a chat to the specialist nurses?
Hi Annie I was in exactly the same position as you a few months ago and it is such a lonely scarey place. I found this forum such a comfort as lots on here have been where you are and totally understand how you feel.I found it easier to talk on here as I did not want to upset my family any more than they were or add to their worries. Regarding upping your statins I am really lucky my gp is lovely and I was ringing him quite regularly and I spoke to him as soon as the increase was advised he did it straight away before he even had a letter well e mail asking him to do it. Things with nhs are happening very slow at the minute my first appointment for ct angio took nearly 3 months to come through . Once things get moving things will feel a little better the only other option is private cardiologist appointment and ct scan which will be about 1000 !Hopefully you won't have to wait much longer but 3 weeks is not long in terms of nhs waiting times. It feels at times like urgent is only urgent when it's an emergency .I was also similar to you in that I did not have a heart attack or damage to my heart before getting stents which in an ideal world would be the same for everyone. Hopefully when you get your scan things may not be as bad as you fear. I also had pain at rest just sitting watching TV that went down both arms and I just thought I had overdone it! Mine also started waking me up at night doing the same thing tightness in chest and pain down both arms and still I thought I had overdone it!! Never imagined i had triple disease! Never feel you can't post on here there are some lovely understanding members who understand
I’m sorry to hear that you don’t have a concrete diagnosis yet.
I have a type of angina that mainly comes on at rest, but has also started affecting me on movement too. It is known as vasospastic angina where my coronary artery goes into spasm, causing a restriction in the blood flow to my heart. This causes angina which is felt in my chest, back, and my arms. As a few others will tell you on here, it can be difficult to diagnose vasospasms. Mine spontaneously spasmed during an angiogram after having a MINOCA (myocardial infarction in non-obstructed arteries) last year and this is how I was diagnosed. However, an angiogram with acetylcholine is considered one of the primary tests to rule out/in vasospastic angina. There is also microvascular angina and it can overlap with vasospastic angina as well. Some people have both.
There is more information on these in the links below.
It might be worth making a note of your triggers to present to your cardiologist. I find that any kind of stress, such as emotional, mental, and physical can increase my spasms, as well as the current cold weather which mainly keeps me indoors at this time of the year.
There are also a few websites which go into more detail about these two conditions supported by expert cardiologists in INOCA/ANOCA which you might find useful to discuss with your cardiologist or GP, in addition to the unstable angina that you mention.
There is Facebook support group that I am on for microvascular angina and coronary artery spasms where others with the same, or similar conditions provide support for one another in case you find it helpful, and it may also help put your mind at ease.
Any type of chest pain requires medical attention. If your chest pain is not resolved after taking your GTN spray 3 times, 5 minutes a part, then the advice is to call 999 or go to A&E. I believe the NHS would also advocate for the same so please do not feel like you are wasting their time.
Thank you so much for your reply and I will look into what you have suggested. I didn’t realise there were so many heart conditions… blissful ignorance I guess!
As the request for medication hasn't yet been sent to your GP, I'd phone the cardiologist's secretary. It only takes an email so a 3 week wait is ridiculous.
Hi please do seek advice from your GP or 111 A&E if you feel unwell and have the symptoms you are describing. You will not be wasting their time. I thought the problem with my heart was indigestion for a long time and was popping gaviscon tablets like sweeties every day until an angiogram showed the real problem. I then had a triple heart bypass. Good luck I hope you feel better very soon 😊X.
My Father died strokes age 50, his mum paralysed, sister died strokes. We have genetic Haemochromatisis, Celtic disease which can load iron in the organs. Check family history, common Irish, Scottish & Welsh but Irish more.
I have lived with vasospastic angina for over 11 years.
I have been in hospital recently for 10 days due to increasing severity and length of my symptoms.
I am in hospital at least once or twice a year.
That's alot of admissions with unstable angina over the years. I have never been told I am wasting anybody's time.
In fact my Cardiologist tells me I should never put off going into hospital and that I tend to go into hospital too late.
During this latest admission I had worrying ECG changes due to my coronary vasospasms.
If you have increasing chest pain that is not relieved by rest, or 3 sprays of GTN spray 5 minutes apart, then it's time to seek medical help.
My vasospastic angina was diagnosed by an angiogram using acetylcholine in 2014.
This type of specialised angiogram is not widely available in many centres in the UK so is not usually the first choice to diagnose coronary vasospasms.
Keeping a detailed diary of your symptoms as suggested is helpful.
See if you can identify any particular triggers of your chest pain.
In particular take note of how you respond to the medication you gave been prescribed.
Chest pain at rest is a classic sign of vasospastic angina and unstable angina. Vasospastic angina, however is rare and most angina is due to pernament blockages of the coronary arteries.
Beta blockers are routinely prescribed and are usually beneficial to people with obstructive coronary artery disease and microvascular angina.
But beta blockers can make coronary vasospasms worse. If this happens call 111 or 999.
Thank you so much for replying. It sounds like you have had some journey to get where you are. I just want to have the cardio gram so I can know if there are any blockages. It’s so difficult to decide whether my pain is bad enough to go to A+E but I will do this if gtn doesn’t work. I will start writing down triggers etc as you advised, thanks again
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