coronary vasospasm and back pain/angina

[Andy5S]

I’m trying to differentiate between angina from vasospasm and possible thoracic spine issues. I was diagnosed with CVA a couple years back and am intimately familiar with the misery of the angina. I do occasionally have angina in the back but it tends to be more between left shoulder blades and spine.

This “different” pain is more toward the spine and is very sharp. It can occasionally radiate to shoulder and even seems to wrap to front. However it seems to worsen with neck movement or posture. Also I have tried to take nitro but it does not seem to help with these types of episodes where it does from my standard angina.

Does anyone else have angina like this and it is fact from the heart? Since I have angina frequently and this can mimick some of that pain, it can be really difficult to assess. I do have an appointment coming up with a spine dr to get an mri and see. I was just curious if anyone had any kind of angina in the back that is like what I’m describing.

thanks!

[AuntyEdna]

Hi , this was an interesting read. Have similar but mine was diagnosed as microvascular angina . I had a couple of hospital visits and it was kicked off at a stress test after two different chemicals were used to push my heart. Nitroglycerin sprays don’t help the thirty minute episodes I have but do if they are mild. Fast forward four years now the Drs are saying it’s spinal not heart related! I am totally floored and upset- it doesn’t feel spine related to me, My best description of how an episode feels is the astronaut in film Alien who had an alien burst out of his chest ! Goes on for up to 30 mins at least. Any thoughts? Lots of luck with your investigations. 😌

[Andy5S in reply to AuntyEdna]

I definitely have vasospasm in the heart and am familiar with the pain that comes with that. It can radiate though and sometimes can seem like it is in areas other than directly in the heart. It can be dull pain or burning all the way to really sharp pain with tight squeezing.

I am finding that it can be tough to discern between things like a pinched nerve in thoracic spine since it can mimic the symptoms a bit and there is something called cervical angina. For me, the fact that these different episodes are exacerbated by neck movements and nitro does nothing, when it does for normal angina, has lead me to be suspect of this being spine versus heart. This is why I am going to a spine dr to definitely rule in or out based on MRI. I have read that cervical angina can go undiagnosed or misdiagnosed for a long time because symptoms present so much like cardiac problems. Having both would not be great but I must know for sure.

[AuntyEdna in reply to Andy5S]

I wish you well and hope you get answers. Maybe that’s what’s causing mine - I do have osteoarthritis in the neck thorax and lumber regions with mild scoliosis plus a large cyst in the sacrum/lumbar region . You’ve now got me thinking I may need a different set of eyes on this, thank you for your post it’s a great help to me. I hope it goes well for you and you get answers soon. Take care and lots of luck 😊