It's been 3 weeks now since my balloon angioplasty (in two separate coronary arteries).
I accepted I might feel a little sore /discomfort (stretch pain?) in that area for a time after the procedure and indeed I have been felt a sort of persistent dull ache but expected this to fade day by day but now 3 weeks on it's still there and now I'm starting to feel anxious that something might not be right and reluctantly need may to go and get myself checked out again.
Has anyone had any similar experiences? Some patient forums say they had no symptoms post PCI, some saying their symptoms eased/disappeared after 2 weeks.
I start cardiac rehab Monday so hopefully they can provide some insight and advice.
Thanks everyone
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Richie34
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Hey Richie I am 5 weeks in from my stent being put in I had a HA and OOHCA my RC was blocked with a clot in am still getting aches in my chest especially when resting it is worrying I take paracetamol and if the pain goes I know it's nothing to worry about x
Thank you for your reply, seems I may be worrying unnecessarily then? I guess time will tell but it does nag away,without wishing to sound ungrateful because I hadn't had a HA just some early angina like symptoms on exercise they decided to check me out with an angiogram (dad died at 46 from HA) and then they found 2 "moderate/severe" blockages they decided to intervene,I sort of wish they hadn't and carry on in my blissful ignorance. What is "OOHCA"?
and yes it seems worse on rest if anything,maybe because my environment is quieter at that time I notice it more,I've even thought posture might be causing it with my back rested/pressed against the arm of the sofa? Our minds are wonderous, dangerous place at times!
Hi Richie honestly you will be fine some days my anxiety is through the roof i just talk to myself and say I am OK my heart was fixed with the stent in also play zen music and meditate if I can that helps a lot. When you go to cardio rehab they will answer a lot of your worries.OOHCA I had an out of hospital cardiac arrest I had to be shocked 5 times and had cpr x
Thank you for your reply I really appreciate it and sorry to hear of the traumatic circumstances surrounding your need for the stent procedure must have been very very scary for you. Glad to hear you're much better now 🙏
I think everyone including me gets worried if we read a particular timeliness feeling normal again after a certain time. Everyone is different like me I was rushed in hospital with a 160bpm heart rate but I didn't feel it at all and had no symptoms and you would think I would have felt my heart going as fast as that! I think we all need to think every recovery is different
You have made a start to feeling better by admitting how you feel. That is always the hardest thing is to open yourself to telling others you are struggling. But that shows courage you may not think it but it does. Talk to the people at rehab and you will find you are not alone feeling how you do.
We are all different and our bodies take different times to heal but it's not your body that has taken a shock but your mind . I don't mean you are mentally ill. But your mind over thinks your body should feel better by now . But we are all different.
6th my daughter rushed me to A&E I had a bad headache I don't get headaches a pain in the left side of my neck and my HPX had kicked in and lost my speech plus my PAF was in overdrive. Within a hour had ECG ,CT brain scan and bloods taken. Hours later had had another ECG which showed an anomaly so had cardiac enzyme blood test and it showed the T word I can't remember how to spell was 170. So thought I had heart attack as that level indicates heart muscle damage . Had seen the stroke nurse who ruled out stroke then saw cardiologist who was going to have me on acute cardiac ward as soon as a bed available. 7th in the afternoon went to ward. Trying to cut this short as it was complicated. On the Thursday the cardiologist said I was out of Afib didn't realise I had been all that time. And would be going to heart and lung hospital for angiography on Saturday. Friday while my daughter was visiting nurse came and said they are coming for you. My daughter packed my stuff and off I went . Saturday had angiography slight furring in my right artery but didn't need a stent and they had a good look around my heart. Turns out they think I had a TIA. Came home on 13th. Only the last 2 days I have felt my usual self .
Saw cardiologist at outpatients 22nd and he wants me on low dose statin to prevent further furring and referring me to stroke neurologist. He hoped I have an appointment soon . Discharged me back to my GP. Saw her on 29th my sodium levels are very low 120. Having another blood test on Friday. But had problems with my sodium levels for years but never this low . I suppose I should worry after reading about dangers of low sodium levels but I am not . As I know they will help me .
Anyway that's not what you want to know but this is what has happened to me . No idea why I told you must be the chatterbox in me . But I do hope I hear from neurologist soon as I know I need a MRI on my brain to see if there is any damage. Hate MRI 's but always have them done . My first was in 1988 when the machine took up a whole room . Pitch black very noisy and head clamped in a thing with tiny slits . Thank goodness they are different today.
Please talk to them at rehab and you will find you aren't on your own feeling as you do. Hope everything goes well and you will start to feel better but it takes time .
Interesting, I too have never had headaches yet last Friday awoke with the most gripping focalised knot of pain in the right side of my neck and around my ear. Initially I thought I'd been out in the cold (on one of my constitutional post PCI walks) and maybe slept a bit funny plus my anxiety= cricked neck but then I started catastrophising "what if the DAPT had caused a bleed? what if I'd had a TIA?" I booked to see a chiropractor who told me most likely it was just muscular tension and nothing 'neurological' a week later it's still extremely sore. You're right the mind is a powerful and often quite unhelpful, conjuring up all manner of doom scenarios (for what purpose I'm not sure). I just hope in time I can get back to normality and slowly this inward focus and hypervigilance will subside.
Hi Ritchie. In my case after my four stents I was anxious for over 2 years. I was thinking every time I had a chest twinge/ dull ache etc I was worrying , even on a couple of occasions going to A&E , and visiting the doctors. Things have settled down now and even though I do have the occasional chest dull ache, I put it down to too much strain / stretching in the gym. However it did take me a long time not be anxious.
Thanks for reply Jon22, seems anxiety is not such an unfamiliar sensation after a heart procedure, it's had 58 years of not being poked about after all so I should give it more time!
My experience sounds a bit like yours. I had a stent to the circumflex artery 7 years ago and felt largely back to normal within 4-5 weeks. Then I had another to the LAD in October and it has taken me a lot longer to recover. I think initially I some stretch pain, and then I have had bad acid reflux which can spread to my chest and feel like angina.
I have learned that anxiety makes things much worse - I have been feeling hypersensitive about every little ache and pain, and then dwelling on it amplifies the symptoms. My cardiologist has reassured me that the stent is doing its job and I am not feeling angina pain - it does not come on with exertion or stop at rest, does not mitigate with GTN and feels different to the crushing/pressing sensation of angina. So that is out of my head, even though I'm still getting chest pain.
I have used mindfulness techniques and podcasts to help - Headspace and Insight Timer apps are both very good. I have also looked at some cognitive behavioural therapy (CBT) resources like Silver Cloud which you could also explore.
I am dealing with it better now, and have acccepted that I am 7 years older than the first time I had a stent, and that becoming stressed and anxious about it doesn't do me any good. Your cadiac rehab nurses will be able to give you good advice, including not overdoing it and being patient.
Hi Richie, my aches in my chest lasted a good couple of months before it started easing off and it does stress you out , what you need to remember although you haven't been cut open you have had heart surgery and lots of pressure has been put in there to open stents up....hope you feel better soon
Thanks Daveinbridgo, comforting and sensible advice, thank you 🙌 That time almost feels like a whole age since it happened but in reality was only 3 weeks ago. I try to blank it out as it wasn't a great experience for other reasons aside from the procedure itself, mainly because the place I had it done was undergoing very obvious significant 'winter pressures' and I was neither an non-elective emergency IE life threatening HA or an elective day case but instead came in via another' pathway' so I was kind of hanging around in a busy hospital over xmas and NY just waiting for something to happen,the NHS are doing their very best but are under enormous pressures especially in large cities like B'ham where I live. Anyway,thanks a lot again
Totally get you mate, at least you are getting rehab , they don't offer it you in shropshire where I live and yes hospitals are doing there best but they are so busy my local one was a 2 day wait in a&e a few weeks ago it's a joke
Yes, cardiac rehab (starts tomorrow btw) I should remind myself of that. I guess like a lot of smaller counties Shropshire's population has grown over the past couple of decades placing an unreasonable/impossible demand on health services and let's be honest employed with often dispirited, overworked staff. Still 2 days that's like something you might hear about on a news feed from far off third world place
Thank you for your really informative and comforting message. My symptoms sound very similar to you own. I'm a bugger for 'doom scrolling' on Google and YouTube. From the forum however I'm now more aware that inadvertently I'm actually searching for evidence that fits my own narrative namely that something has gone wrong with the procedure or that I wasn't suitable for it in the first place and now I suffering new pain I shouldn't have needed to, pretty messed up thinking when I read that back. What we all need is a cardiologist or two that has had these kinds of procedures done to themselves and can live it in real time with us because information from the medical teams is patchy it would seem. What, for example ever happened to the good old days when a doctor in a white coat would come and talk with you prior to the operation and then again afterwards, it may still happen but was not my experience. Thanks again for the resource recommendations re CBT& mindfulness,if I can stop doom scrolling and checking myself for 10 minutes they could really be worth checking out! Thanks again
Nine months later I was still getting pains. (2 stents like you). I was so paranoid that I insisted on another angiogram. I was convinced I either had another blockage or the stents had failed. Came back all clear but I was diagnosed with an arrhythmia which the surgeon said may have caused the pain.
Three months on amiodarone seemed to have got rid of the arrythmia.
I have been on solatol since and the chest pain has virtually disappeared
That's just me but maybe it's worth bearing in mind when you next see your cardiologist.
Thank you albertcamus 👍it's easy to 'imagine' that interventional/invasive surgery can have some negative as well positive effects on the body specifically the CV system and thank God you persevered with your conviction when something didn't feel right and persisted as long as it did (aren't we encouraged to recognise our own body's warning signs,unusual skin issues,blood in sputum/stools etc?) I'm holding back going to A&E to get checked as 3 weeks (from responses to my thread) still appears to be not a unreasonable 'settling in period' out but yes I will definitely mention it to GP and cardiologist . Thank you again for your reply
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