Driving on rough roads makes me feel awful

[Prettywoman29]

Hi i have been diagnosed with epicardial and microvascular vasospastic coronary disease and have found that a trigger for me is driving on rough roads and any load music that vibrates my chair that I am sitting on. Has anyone else felt this? I have never had an issue with this before.

[Milkfairy Heart Star]

I went to a concert in the O2 in London last year.The loud music especially the bass triggered my coronary vasospasms.

I had to leave the concert 😫

I am okay in open air concerts or going to classical music concerts.

However, I have been caught out by some music especially if it is emotional.

Yet, I have other music that I listen to during my episodes of coronary vasospasms to keep me calm 🤷‍♀️

Living with vasospastic angina is certainly unpredictable a bit like learning to walk a tight rope. I still get surprises even after over 12 years of living with vasospastic angina.

How are you getting on with the change in the weather?

[Prettywoman29 in reply to Milkfairy]

Thank you for replying. I'm so glad that I am not on my own and that you had the same symptoms. I thought it was in my head. I went to a tribute show in my local theatre and I also had to leave. I have always loved tribute shows and was so upset that I also had to leave. I am going to try a cushion to lean on and see if that makes a difference 😔 The cold is a massive trigger for me. I thought the heat was bad but the cold seems to be alot worse for me. I have also found that I do sometimes get a warning before a spasm, which is I start to feel very cold and then shiver and then a spasm seems to come after that? Have you found that or do you have any other warnings?

[Milkfairy Heart Star in reply to Prettywoman29]

I try to manage my triggers which are the cold, emotional, mental and physical stress.

I keep warm. I have a large collection of thermal layers, fleeces, down jackets, hats, glooves and snoods.

I have fleece linings in my boots.

I always cover my nose and mouth when going out in the cold weather.

Other things that I cannot have are beta blockers, caffeine, artificial sweetners, adrenaline and pseudoephedrine found in over the counter cold remedies.

I pace my activities as getting over tired can cause more chest pain for me. If my heartrate goes up above a certain level I get angina.

When I feel this happening I rest.

I find following the Spoon theory helpful.

On a several occasions I have had unrelenting symptoms out of the blue. This happened during a clinic appointment and my Cardiologist admitted me straight a way.

I hope you stay warm and angina free.

[Prettywoman29 in reply to Milkfairy]

That's a brill idea about the thermals. I do try and layer up but still suffer with the cold. I think i will invest in some thermals. The last couple of weeks. I have been having the symptoms in the morning but completely different to the really painful spasms. I have been feeling my heart racing and pounding so hard in my chest. It has lasted on and off for about 2 hours. It races and then slows down and then races again. In between I feel light headed, dizzy and faint. I also feel extremely sick. I also get those symptoms during the day. Things seem to keep changing but all symptoms are as bad as each other but just different. This is such a scary and unpredictable illness that we are having to go through. You have such brilliant advice and I'm always so thankful and pleased to get your replies

[PadThaiNoodles in reply to Milkfairy]

Milkfairy, you might want to be careful with Amoclav too then. I can take other penicillins fine, but the clavulanic acid in Amoclav and the pseudoephedrine in Sudafed at times have given me SVT.

[Milkfairy Heart Star in reply to PadThaiNoodles]

Thanks for the information. I just don't take any over the counter products.

Interesting about antibiotics, I haven't been prescribed antibiotics since my diagnosis

[AuntyEdna]

Very interesting indeed, this last month I have had two very bad microvascular experiences whilst sat in the car as a passenger. Our roads are very rough and windy - zigzagging is the norm. Couldn’t understand what set them off they both lasted over fifteen minutes- two sprays and an aspirin and sitting forward my back off the chair back settled them. Felt awful for hours after -felt like getting over a bad case of flu

My attacks only come at rest feel like heart racing shooting pains and uneasy panic then they hit.

Shall I talk to my cardiologist- got a review of my biannual scan because of my mitral valve regurgitation. Or is this to be expected and I just have to manage it - can’t decide.