I had a non-stemi back in December followed by an emergency angioplasty with three stents fitted into three furred up arteries. The final artery was the back one and had been blocked for years by all accounts.
I’ve been off work since and have made a real effort to do what I can - have lost 2 stone, given up coffee, changed my diet and walked daily.
I do still have days where I’m sore and I’ve been on pain meds all the while. When I’ve tried to reduce it is more noticeable. Is such a confusing time as I’m feeling much better than I was but concerned about discomfort 3 months on.
Has anyone got any advice or been through something similar?
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WanderingWycombe
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So the coffee is purely as I have history of heart disease and my mum developed heart palpitations after 50 with it. Easy enough to switch out as was drinking ridiculous amounts coupled with silly work stress.
Yup,same, although I had balloon angioplasty in two arteries (first week on January this year) but yes a lingering left sided chest discomfort I can't fathom,is it something to worry about,settling in time,anxiety,something wrong with procedure or something else,I'm just hoping time will out and the cardiac rehab (are you being offered this) that starts in March will give me some reassurance.
‘Luckily’ my mum was a cardiac nurse for 40 years and she’s been super useful. There’s a lot of misleading information on health websites that can be disheartening about if you have pain longer than a few weeks and seriously reduces your expected life spend (8 years?!?!). She said that’s not quite right as it’s more about how you manage your factors, change diet, lose weight and have a healthy lifestyle.
So good to hear of other hearties that have similar physical responses after stent work. The other point she said is keep using pain meds, paracetamol will help and it could take longer than the ‘poster stories’ that you’ll read in the BHF brochures
It's odd and very disheartening to have gone from an asymptomatic 'patient' with no chest pain prior to my PCI to a person post PCI who has daily chest discomfort and anxiety about it,the conclusion I draw that either the procedure has been unsuccessful or there have been complications and created a new issue (angina) . I have asked to speak to cardiology (no named cardiologist though) again to discuss but no response yet. It's got worse actually since,I think partly driven by my worry/concern that nearly 6 weeks on the discomfort is not receding indeed the frequency is increasing along with my anxiety about it all. I even think I could finally come to some peace with it all if I have a new diagnosis and know is causing the ache/squeezing in my left pectoral muscle. I have thought (being left handed) it might be some sort of muscle strain but I'm losing faith it's something that benign and simple. This afternoon I've been doing some gentle tidying in the garden for a few hours and now after and resting it's 'kicking off' yet I've done 50 up and down my stairs at home and it's ok or no worse-I'm just confused and possessing of a personality that seems to jump to the worst scenario exacerbating the whole vicious cycle
So as long as your bloods are OK and your BP is in the normal range that seems to be the positive. Going through a huge life event like this will take longer than your brain feels. One good tip to keep in your mind. If pain killers stop, reduce the discomfort then it’s not as bad as your anxiety thinks it is. Reading through forums and webpages I’ll gravitate to the negatives but every one is different.
It will get better.
It’s very hard to have conversations with people that haven’t been through an event and although you may boot have had any real symptoms prior it’s better than having a massive heart attack at a time in the future. Rest when you can and don’t overdo it.
Thank you for your reassuring message. I think I'm being inpatient (and getting increasingly anxious as a result) because after 6 weeks and still feeling chest discomfort of unknown aetiology and 6 weeks of reading many posts along the lines "I was singing and dancing the day after my procedure " (or at least those are the posts my mind focuses on for some reason) It's almost like grief,grieving at the loss of my former fit and blissfully ignorant self. My BP is ok (when I'm not stressing) and I haven't had any bloods done since my PCI in January (GP says it's too soon to see the real benefits of the newly started cocktail of meds) which I know is a textbook answer but I did try and convince him to organise it but alas... I haven't really turned to painkillers, masochistically I seem to want to monitor myself/the pain unhindered or masked by them. I put myself under stupid pressure for example my wife who has been endlessly supportive and says I will be out of pain soon (I so what to believe her and time has proven she's rarely wrong about things),I've promised her a trip to Oxford and a stay at the Randolph when the discomfort starts to ease/become less frequent. Now however I have a new pressure to try and get to that 'place' by the Summer when the various colleges will be more open to visitors. My heart needs to heal and my head needs to clear. Thanks again.
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