Cerebral small vessel disease

[Anginalady]

Hello everyone,

since I joined this site, I've learned so much about my own (suspected) condition and more about so many other issues that others are suffering with.

I'd like to thank everyone who has responded to my questions and posts, you've given me far more valuable insight than any medically trained person so far.

I have a question which I'm not sure is a valid one or not, but does a diagnosis of microvascular disease mean that the small vessels in my brain will also be affected in the same way? I'm assuming that when they say I am at risk of a stroke, that is because the cerebral small vessels will have the same problems / disease as my heart, is that right?

When I finally get my functional angiogram and if MVD is confirmed, should I be asking for an MRI to determine if I have cerebral small vessel disease?

Am I adding to my worries unnecessarily?

[Milkfairy Heart Star]

You ask an important question.

I live with three vasomotor disorders, Raynauds Phenomenon, Migraine and vasospastic angina.

All combine in an unholy alliance at times.

I experience coronary vasospasms, migraines due to vasospasms in my cerebral arteries at the sametime, accompanied by going completely pale as my peripheral blood vessels constrict.

My Cardiologist saw this happening during a clinic appointment and I was admitted.

Microvascular dysfunction can occur in all blood vessels too leading to problems in other organs of the body.

However, hopefully once you have a confirmed diagnosis you will be able to be offered the appropriate treatment to prevent these possible problems.

I am prescribed as well as calcium channel blockers, nicorandil, Isosorbide mononitrate, statins and an antiplatelet clopidogrel.

Many people do really well once they are on the right combination of medication.

I also manage my stress, diet and exercise as much as I can.

A risk is not a certainty and over the years I have let go of the what ifs, I haven't got the capacity to worry about what might not happen.

Here's an article by one of the world leading research teams in Glasgow into microvascular and vasospastic angina.

academic.oup.com/eurheartj/...

[Anginalady in reply to Milkfairy]

As always Milkfairy, you are a gold mine of information.

I am so sorry to hear of all the issues you are managing on a daily basis, I can't imagine the stress this must have caused you over the years. I'm assuming you are now on the right combination of medication to meet your needs and hoping that this makes it easier for you to manage on a daily basis. It must have been a very difficult journey to get the right combination and balance of drugs.

When my MVD was first 'suspected' I read as much as I could and decided that I would just have to accept that this was what I had and I'd just take each step as it came, but I seem to read more and more and this just poses further questions that I think I want answers to.

I know you're right, all of these things are risks that might occur but are not necessarily inevitable and I can't keep worrying about if and when every risk will hit me.

I think a lot of my concern is because like many others, I don't drink or smoke, not over weight, cook all my own food, bake my own bread, exercise, eat my fruit, nuts, pulses and greens. So I'm not sure what else I can do to help my situation, apart from take the medication. It's all out of my control.

Probably just worrying about how quickly any of the risks might strike.

I'll come to terms with it over time.

Thank you for the link, I'll take a look at that.

Take care of yourself...

[Milkfairy Heart Star in reply to Anginalady]

Life does sometimes bowl us a curve ball.

I was very fit before I became unwell. I would cycle 8 miles to work , run up the stairs ti the 3rd floor of the building, work a 12 hour shift then cycle home.

My BMI is 21, like you never smoked, etc.

However there is something we can control, how we emotionally respond to our illness.

We can learn to pace our activities and manage our stress and anxiety.

This is not easy and takes time and practice.

Living with microvascular and vasospastic angina is like living on a tight rope.

At the beginning I fell off alot, now I have created a safety net below to catch me when I fall off.

You with time will do too.

Be patient and kind to yourself.

[Anginalady in reply to Milkfairy]

I’m sure there must be stages you go through once diagnosed, from disbelief to shock and denial with a few more mixed until you reach acceptance.

I think it’s also been hard to understand what the severity of this illness could be and to educate loved ones without scaring them too much as well. Trying to be strong for us all is hard too.

[Ageingfast]

I have SVD, diagnosed after a major stroke in 2014. No problem for ten years, but now things are coming home to roost. With any luck, you might be too old for SVD to work it’s evil on you. I am now in the first early stages of Parkinson’s.

In the interim period, I had aortic valve replaced. That all went just fine. Don’t think there was any relationship or problem with SVD.

Sooty

[Milkfairy Heart Star in reply to Ageingfast]

I am sorry about how cerebral small vessel disease is now effecting you.

What is really confusing is that coronary microvascular disease can be also called SVD especially in the US.

[Anginalady in reply to Ageingfast]

So sorry you’re being effected this way, I suppose there’s no knowing how it will affect you, just a case of dealing with it as best you can.

Take care of yourself.