a/w triple bypass @ 49yrs old

[Snowdropsgreen]

Hello.

I didn't know I was having a heart attack (I am a nurse!!!) I carried on working for 4 days doing 12hr night shifts with what I thought was a trapped nerve in my left arm. I had no other symptoms other than an uncomfortable arm. I got a colleague to do some bloods and found out that my troponin was greater than 50,000. This was obviously a massive shock and ended up having an angio and stent and being told I need a triple bypass.

The only risk factor I have is a very strong family history of heart disease grandad was in the SAS and died at 50 from heart attack and my father was in the parachute regiment and had a bypass in his 50's.

I have been re-admitted 3 times since the beginning of February. I have never experienced chest pain. The only symptoms have been a stitch pain behind my shoulder blade on the right side, I have be told that I have a pericarditis and Dressler's syndrome.

I am not due to see the surgeon until the 25th March and feel like a ticking time bomb and unsure whether this constant ache in my shoulder is heart related on not and never know to take GTN or not as it doesn't seem to change anything. Re- assurance and advice needed as I put everything down to muscular pain !! many thanks

[Art-99]

What a shock for you and it goes to show that heart attacks /issues are not always accompanied by the classic signs or symptoms particularly where women are concerned. My afib and mitral valve prolapse, discovered six years ago, exhibited no symptoms and my bp has always been well behaved but I will be on anticoagulants for life. Hope you get some useful comments on here and good luck.

[SmokeAKipper]

hi I had stent 2019….it’s t till a month ago after going to A&E that I found out I had Acid Reflux….one teaspoon of Gaviscon pain gone…so get checked for acid reflux

[Redfloyd]

I'm assuming that as you've had a stent the immediate risk has been eliminated and that you are on blood thinners. When I had an angiogram I was told I had to stay in hospital until there was a space available for an AVR and CABG. Fortunately I only had to wait a week. I'm sure if you were at risk your cardio team would have done the same. Hope you don't have to wait too long after seeing your surgeon, I met my surgeon 2hrs before my op for about 5mins, everything happened very quickly for me.

[SuddenShock]

I have a very similar story apart from I don't think that I was having a heart attack. I though that I had arthritis starting in my left shoulder and then right shoulder when throwing a ball for the dog.

At the beginning of January I had an angio but could not be helped by stents, absolutely scared me to death and really didn't see much point to carrying on. After a visit to Leicester Hospital I was made to feel much better and am now waiting for the same triple cagb as yourself.

If it is any help, I wish that I hadn't been told at first but since then I know that being aware, being careful about what I do and taking the pills is going to get me to the operating table where a very qualified surgeon is going to fix all of the problems (he told me that himself) and there are lots of people on this site that have done the same and are better for it.

[Pundit999]

Family history is probably the most important predictor of heart problems. Getting the test for a calcium score may uncover latent issues as other tests miss many cases.

Good thing is that your immediate problem is resolved. Keep doing what you have been until you see the surgeon.

Best wishes

[Smits1980]

I was in a very similar situation to you two years ago. 52 and told I needed a CABG. My symptoms were shortness of breath and some chest pain. Was told I’d have to wait 6 months for the operation and in the meantime no exercise or much else. A very unsatisfactory position to be in. As it turned out the chest pain got worse - but never that bad- and after a couple more trips to A & E they kept me in where I waited 5 weeks for the bypass. With new meds and being monitored in hospital and very little activity I mostly felt fine until the operation. I think I had some angina pain at points but I’m not sure how much was caused by stress or not. I think most of it was stress related but couldn’t be sure. My wife much preferred me to be in hospital as she couldn’t sleep for fear of me having a heart attack in bed next to her. It’s a tricky one. The GTN only ever made me feel awful, so wasn’t much use. If you’ve a ECG on your watch you could use that whenever you get some pain. Otherwise, try not to stress too much, don’t do much, but get to A & E if you get too much pain. And then they’ll probably keep you in.