hi everyone.It has been suggested that the chest pain i have is not to do with blocked arteries or my heart. that its because of stress and ptsd.
the only thing is, when I get chest pain I use my gtn with in 2 minutes the pain is gone. if it was non cardic pain would the gtn stop the pain?
I have costochondritis. the pain is only when I touch my ribs and chest. but the gtn doesn't stop that. also the pain goes through to my back and down my arm.
if the pain was just stress and anxiety surely the gtn wouldn't work?
any ideas would be great.
thanks.
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Spedyrecovry50
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I can see you have previously posted similar questions. Have you managed to discuss vasospastic angina or microvascular angina with your doctor or cardiologist?
I have lived with vasospastic angina since 2022 after it triggered a heart attack. Stress is a big factor in triggering my spasms.
Responding to GTN maybe indicative of a cardiac related issue. You won’t know for sure however until your chest pain is further investigated. It sounds like the typical, conventional testing for your heart has been carried out which has ruled out blocked arteries. It might be worthwhile seeing an INOCA specialist to have other testing done. Usually, the way vasospastic angina is currently diagnosed is via a functional angiogram using acetylcholine. It’s not widely available as such in the U.K. but can be accessible via an INOCA specialist or a cardiologist knowledgeable in these conditions.
Keep a diary of your symptoms and any noticeable triggers. Also note how often you take your GTN spray as well.
There is a website below which has some good resources on these conditions, including specialists that deal with these. It might be worthwhile to have a look. Alternatively, you could print off the information from these websites and present them to your GP or cardiologist if you currently have one and get their thoughts on this.
There is also a lovely, supportive Facebook group dedicated to these conditions if you wish to join. Sometimes knowing that you’re not alone in experiencing these symptoms gives us hope and can make coping with these conditions a little better.
Just to add, the GTN spray can be used to treat oesophageal spasms too which is non-cardiac in nature but can present as symptoms which mimic that of a heart attack. I am suspected to have this as well.
In my experience of living with vasospastic angina for over a decade, Healthcare professionals tend to take notice of the BHF information.
I had my vasospastic angina confirmed by an angiogram with acetylcholine.
I also have dynamic ECG changes such as ST elevations and ST depressions during my episodes of chest pain which is another way some Cardiologists suspect a person may have coronary vasospasms.
I have used GTN spray a few times, for me it only works on cardiac related angina, I have used it once and it didn't work, so I assumed that time it wasn't angina.
Stable angina sufferer here....probably microvascular but not confirmed conclusively.....GTN doesn't work for me. Luckily the pain recedes quite quickly if i stop or even slow down my exercise.
hi. I also have costacondritiis. Also had triple hear bypass following heart attack last year. The Costa was to easy to dismiss what was actually happening hence heart attack
I recently have been given a gtn spray ( it’s amazing ). But I too have been told I do not have angina etc
I would say stress manifests in other ways ie you can’t have stress amputated. That said it is the catalyst for other physical responses hence the gtn may well help. I’m no medic but experience has taught me they can make knee jerk diagnosis. It sounds like you’ve had various tests done already. Personally I would say try the gtn, mine has literally been life improving ( and I only used on rare occasions) I think of it like WD40 it doesn’t fix anything but it sure helps get things moving 😁
I know GTN stops the pain from reflux/GORD. Also, when I've gone into Emergency, with chest pains, they usually give a dose of Gaviscon to check if it is reflux or angina.
hi all. I went to hospital today. I was told that I had a micro spasm in my heart. I had stress induced chest pain. I had blood tests and they said the tropime levels suggest I had a micro spasm. they have put me on a slow release gtn to help. I spoke to a very knowledgeable specialist nurse who answered alot of my questions. looks like it is micro vascular.
It must be a relief to have met a knowledgeable specialist nurse who has some understanding of microvascular and vasospastic angina.
In the past, before I had a confirmed diagnosis of vasospastic angina, I was told my chest pain wasn't heart related. I was prescribed a beta blocker for my non existent ' anxiety '.
I ended up in hospital with unstable angina.
Beta blockers I now know are contraindicated if you have microvessel or coronary artery vasospasms.
The main triggers for my coronary vasospasms are the cold, emotional, mental and physical stress.
I am now wearing lots of thermal layers.
I also manage my stress by walking my dog everyday, practicing yoga, tai chi and mindfulness meditation.
I hope the isosorbide mononitrate helps manage your symptoms.
I’m curious as to why microvascular and not vascular? I’m newly diagnosed with coronary artery spasms and have also been put on slow release gtn tablets.
When I spoke to my cardiologist a month or two ago and explained my newly developed symptoms he also thought it may have been microvascular but it turned out to be the main arteries. This was evidenced via an angiogram. In any case, the drugs you’ve been prescribed should help. I’ve felt a big improvement however the headaches were really hard to deal with in the first week or so. I’m heading into week 3 of the new meds and still getting some light headaches here and there but I’ve had no more chest tightness or pinpoint pain so fingers crossed! I hope you also have as much success. Take care.
hi Ennasti. they have already looked at my big arteries. I have 50% in one and 25% in two others. they are happy that with the blood thiners my blood flow is stable. but they want me to take statins to keep them from getting worse. they said with the pain down my are and the troponin at 20 that showed them that I must of had a spasm in the micro vessels as the troponin should not be that high. thats also why I am on the gtn tablets. at one point they thought it could be ingestion but the troponin and arm pain convinced them otherwise. I am hopping that the new drug regime will help. I hope the headaches get better.
Ok. I’m still not sure I understand. I have zero calcium deposits in my arteries. Perhaps you can’t have a spasm of an artery if it somewhat blocked and that’s why they’ve said microvascular and not vascular? That doesn’t really ring true to me but I’m not a cardiologist so who knows! The good thing is you’re being treated and hopefully will have no more issues. 🙌🏻
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