waiting for an MRI

[Recovery77]

Hi. I am new here so not 100% sure how this works. I’m just getting anxious at the moment and wondered if this was normal to feel like this.

It came to light at the end of January that I had a slight heart attack. I thought it was a panic attack but have been told that it has slightly damaged my heart. I’d been having a heaviness in my chest and it went through to my back between my shoulder blades. The doctor did tests and the echo showed up that my heart wasn’t fully functioning on the left. I went into hospital for a week and had an angiogram. They dispersed a small blood clot but I was told this wasn’t the cause of my pain. I’m now waiting for an MRI scan and haven’t heard anything for the last 5 weeks.

I keep getting pain like something is stuck and heavy in the middle of my chest by my breast bone. I also get a bit out of breath, although this doesn’t happen all the time and it’s only slight, but the heaviness and short sharp pain i get make me feel rubbish. Some days I have no pain at all, and I don’t understand why some days are ok and others are bad. I’ve been told all my bloods have come back ok and it might be muscular, but without the mri I don’t know what it is.

my anxiety is really bad and I keep thinking that I might have another heart attack or something is really wrong. My ecg has been ok too, it’s only been on the echo that something was picked up. I’m on 2 lots of beta blockers, aspirin, blood pressure, cholesterol and stomach tablets a day. I was just hoping someone might be able to give me some light on what Im feeling in my chest isn’t serious and how people deal with anxiety. Also, how long is too long to wait for the mri?

I’d appreciate any help. It’s really getting me down

Many thanks xx

[Happyrosie]

as far as waiting for MRI is concerned, you could visit the following website: myplannedcare.nhs.uk

Which might give you an idea of how long to wait. We all know of NHS waiting lists, don’t we!

As far as your symptoms go, you could phone the cardiac nurses at the British Heart Foundation - their number of displayed on the website.

From my visits to this forum, it seems that anxiety is a very normal and natural thing for people to feel. I do hope someone with better experience than me can also post here.

[devonian186]

You need to push for your MRI scan. These things don't always process through the highly complex system in the smooth way we would like. Those that ask, get.

[Stressd]

if I remember correctly, getting my mri took about 2 months.

Your anxiety won’t help your chest pain, so it becomes a bit of a cycle. You had a slight heart attack, so part of your heart got a bit damaged. Ever pulled a muscle or torn a ligament? It can take ages to recover fully, and your heart (a muscle) is the same. Hence the chest pain. Try not to be anxious. Your small clot has been cleared and you’re on a stack of meds, so you’re in a good place right now. You’ll be ok.

[Recovery77 in reply to Stressd]

Thank u x

[sandandkev]

Your on blood thinners which will now help you not to have heart attack,I have felt that if they know its serious they will rush things through,if you haven't heard anything you could ring your hospital and ask for mri dept and see they have you on list?? Try not to worry as anxiety does make it worse,I too have angina which is like a heavy ache,I'm now on long acting tablets which have been great for me

[Recovery77 in reply to sandandkev]

I asked the doctor when I saw him if I could chase it or whether they could and they basically said no. He said you will go around the houses trying to speak to someone. The mri is at St Barts in London , I know they will be very busy but the chest pain was just worrying me a bit x

[Qualipop in reply to Recovery77]

Your g p is both right and wrong. YES You can ask to hurry it up. Ring the secretary and ask to go on the cancellation list. He's right in that you could go round in circles getting the right person but it's worth it. What the GP has actually said (without actually saying it, is that he's too busy to chase it up for you. We all need to be proactive these days and push for treatment.

[Lowerfield_no_more]

Why not ring the MRI appointments office at your hospital and find out where you are in the queue? You could also ask if you are down as routine or urgent, which will throw some light on your situation as assessed by the cardio team. And when you talk to them, offer yourself up for a short notice cancellation should one arise, assuming you would be able to take one up should one arise.

[Toffodog]

Please don’t accept things like it could be muscular especially as you had a HA back in January and still have ongoing pain. Have you been prescribed with GTN spray for possible angina? I had constant angina from January until I had urgent angioplasty on 1st May as I had a total block on my right artery and partial blockage of the proximal circumflex. I had several ECGs during this period and also an angiogram and they all came back negative basically showing nothing , it wasn’t until I had a MRI scan which pushed via my consultant secretary that they found the partial blockage but only on the left side. From this I was given a date for angioplasty but I didn’t make it to that date as I was rushed into hospital with severe pains in my chest , but once again nothing showed up on ECG but for me my pan was so bad that I had the angioplasty immediately and had 3 stents inserted however there was also some damage to my heart which was basically due to the long period of time I had had the angina symptoms, 5 months in total until it got so bad . So for you I would suggest that you push for the MRI via the consultant secretary and keep pushing until you get a date because with the pain you are getting there is something not right and it’s not showing on other forms of diagnosis you have had , hope all goes well.

[Recovery77 in reply to Toffodog]

I’ve had an angiogram and had a small blood clot dispersed. They said the rest of my arteries were clear and good. All my bloods have now come back normal so I’m just a bit stumped as to why I feel like this. Why do I have The heaviness and almost sharp electrical pain which only lasts a second but comes and goes all day in the middle of my chest? My EF was 47 but I’m not sure if that’s bad or not. When I ask they just say it’s ok for now.

[Milkfairy Heart Star in reply to Recovery77]

Has your Cardiology team mentioned Takostubo syndrome. This is an acute form of heart failure that can mimic a heart attack. It can lead to a temporary lowering of a person's ejection fraction which recovers over time.

A heart attack without blocked coronary arteries is known as a MINOCA, myocardial infarction non obstructive coronary arteries.

The possible causes are a spontaneous coronary artery dissection SCAD, coronary vasospasms, microvascular dysfunction, a blood clot or piece of plaque breaking off and blocking an artery.

A MRI is helpful to look for inflammation of the heart muscle or possible Takostubo syndrome event.

I was admitted to hospital over 11 years ago with a suspected heart attack

I was incorrectly told I couldn't have a heart attack or angina because my coronary arteries are unblocked

I was later diagnosed by a specialised angiogram with vasospastic angina.

I hope your wait for your MRI isn't too long.

[Qualipop]

You can ask to be put on the cancellation list for the MRI. That could speed things up.

[Recovery77]

thank you. I’m definitely going to push things. My chest has been really heavy over the last few days and it almost feels like something is lodged there. The only way I can explain it is like when I take tablets and they are slowly going down. I get this very quick shooting pain in the middle of my chest as well, which is gone in seconds but it makes me wince and that comes and goes throughout the day. Other than that I do actually feel ok. It’s getting me down now though and the more i start to stress over it my anxiety hits the roof! I have a doctors appointment on Tuesday morning so will explain everything to her. She’s been absolutely brilliant

[Gymlover1979]

Sorry you’re playing the waiting game. It’s a hard game and I know I feel more stressed and nervous now, than I did before my heart attack! But we must take faith that angiogram showed no blockages requiring stent so I believes this makes us less of a risk. I try to remember that we must be a strong species! We had a heart attack and then mostly felt ok afterwards. We should pat ourselves on the back for that! I have my MRI on Tuesday. I hope you’re not waiting too long.

[Recovery77 in reply to Gymlover1979]

Thank you and I hope your mri goes well on Tuesday