Help with side effects

Hi all I'm ste age 32 I had a heart attack and 3 VF arrests 5 months ago. I've been put on all the usual drugs, Ramipril atrovstatins bioprosol, asprin and tiagrolor. I've had a MRI stress test came back perfect stress echo also all fine and a number of ECGs all perfect. But the problem is I feel terrible and have done since 4 weeks after it happened. I get a tight throat when im stood or walking and a heaviness in my chest that is only relived when i lie down. I'm wondering if this is side effects of the drugs? can anyone help as my GP just keeps robbing me off saying my heart is fine but I can't live like this anymore. I'm 32 and I need my life back.

[Adityac]

There are so many side effectsof medcines and the fear that heart attacks instill in the mind will also cause many apprehensions. But then, why don't you take second opinion? You must do it.now.

[Adityac in reply to Adityac]

Consult a cardiologist.

[Hidden in reply to Adityac]

I've seen 3 different cardiologists who all tell me the same that the MRI is fine and my heart function is fine and put it all down to anxiety. Today my cardiologist had said he is willing to start changing the drugs to see if that help. I'll just have to wait and see how it goes.

[ThePlanter]

I suggest you look up nutritionfacts.org and cut out animal protein including eggs and dairy for a month and see how you feel. For a balanced diet, you will need to eat beans, peas or lentils, grains e.g. quinoa, brown rice, spelt, couscous, bulgur wheat etc. and vegetables of all types and colours, with whole fruit, nuts and seeds. Needless to say: cut out any junk foods, high fat, high salt and high sugar. It will be hard for two weeks and then your taste buds will change. It will change your life or put another way, and may be a life saver especially if your lifestyle is the underlying cause.

[Hidden in reply to ThePlanter]

I used to go the gym 3 times a week and mountain bike most weekends but was over weight and had a poor diet, I have a healthy diet now and have lost 3 stone in 5 months since the event and feel worse than ever. spoke to my cardiologist today and he is going to start swapping around my drugs to see if that helps some of the issues. I'll give the cutting out dairy a go and see how I get on. thanks for your advise.

[Stu888]

Hi, I had an MI in the last year and am on blood pressure, statin and Aspirin meds. I would suggest having a chat with your doctor and cardiologist about your symptoms and get their recommendations. For me the fear of having a further heart attack and the focusing of my mind on my chest area caused me anxieties and in turn symptoms. After almost a year now the symptoms are beginning to settle and I am still on the meds albeit Atorvastatin reduced from 80mg to 40mg daily. It just took time for me and it is so difficult not to worry. Best Wishes!

[Hidden in reply to Stu888]

I saw my cardiologist today who is swapping my tiagrolor for clopidogrel to see if tgat helps with the shortness of breath. He has told me that my heart pumping function is fine. he is going to change my drugs once every 2 weeks to see if we can eliminate some of the problems. I am sure some of it is due to anxiety but it's hard to beat anxiety when im having physical effects which them trigger the anxiety. I hope you continue to feel better and all the best with your health in the future.

[CDreamer in reply to Hidden]

There is a LOT you can do to help your anxiety and all anxiety has physical symptoms. I find a daily practice of Mindfulness really helps along with good nutrition (see a nutritionist - not a dietician!) and/or a doctor who has trained in functional medicine, appropriate moderate exercise and good sleep.

Simply doing things you enjoy produces the Endorphin Effect which counteracts the cortisol and other hormones involved with stres.

I would also suggest that Bisoprolol is the most likely antagonist for tightness around the chest and breathlessness. I could not tolerate it and I know many others who couldn’t.

For fear of another episode look at CBT.

Best wishes - you are very young to have to be dealing with these issues, good luck.

[Adityac in reply to Stu888]

Stu888... Yes the anxiety causes lots of symptoms. I am facing it. Stenting done in Feb/17.

[mgdoble]

I had a mild stroke 6 months ago and was put on perindopril, another ACE inhibitor (also clopidogrel/atorvastatin). As this coincided with a heart arrhythmia, and that I had very high blood pressure which had been untreated I thought something was also wrong with my heart. In the weeks after the stroke I became increasingly short of breath, up till this point I had been doing triathlons on a regular basis and now I needed to rest after climbing a flight of stairs. My heart rate was also accelerated and 10-15 beats higher than normal. I had some panic attacks which is completely uncharacteristic, including turning back from a long car journey and calling an ambulance because I couldn't breathe and felt was heart was struggling. I became convinced I had the early stages of heart failure and was getting ready to die early.

I saw a consultant who said my heart was fine and that I didnt have heart failure then did a treadmill MRI stress test. The results of this were also good, but I was still unconvinced as none of this explained why I still had the ongoing shortness of breath. The consultant prescribed dioxysozin, which is an alpha blocker blood pressure medication which also has a sedative effect on the heart. As I increased the dosage over about a month the symptoms gradually went away. Three months later I am exercising cautiously but at near normal levels.

I think now that I was suffering a side-effect from the ACE inhibitor, then unable to rationalise what was happening to me I constructed the only apparent logical explanation and this tipped me into depression and anxiety. The dioxysozin then counteracted the side-effect and relieved the anxiety (though the consultant appears to believe it was entirely a product of anxiety).

My conclusion is that after a terrible event like a heart attack/stroke everything is up in the air in terms of what you believed about the integrity of your body and how it behaves after the event, and you are closely monitoring your body all the time for unusual activity and this can then lead to anxiety. On the other hand the side-effects from ACE inhibitors can be really and given that there are a range of medication options ARBs, calcium channel blockers etc. if you feel this is the source of the problem you should press for a change in medication.

[sos007 Ambassador]

Anxiety can manifest itself into feelings of a heart attack. Niacin is a vitamin that can help reduce anxiety and also helps to lower cholesterol. Consider starting with 100 mg AFTER each meal with a full glass of COLD water. Niacin produces a harmless 'flush' whereby your face, neck and upper shoulders turn red as your blood vessels dilate. This flush will reduce over time with each dosage. Once you get used to it - you can increase your dosage gradually until you get to 500/mg per meal.

If you smoke - stop immediately - get help to stop.

If you are overweight - make dietary and lifestyle changes to get to your optimal weight;

Walk daily - at least 30 minutes - work your way up to 60 minutes - you can break this up into 2 or 3 shorter sessions.

If you consume sugar and other sweets - stop immediately - sugar is a major contributor to heart disease, it makes it easy to gain weight due to calories but also because it shuts of the leptin hormone in your brain that regulates how much you eat.

Begin taking 1,000 mg of vitamin C with each meal along with the same amount of L-Lysine. These two supplements together help your body produce collagen to repair damaged tissues in your body - including your arteries and your heart.

If you eat red meat (this includes pork, veal and lamb) - reduce its consumption to once every 2 weeks; Excessive consumption of red meat increases iron and uric acid levels in your blood stream to levels that can be damaging to your body. Have chicken or turkey instead - no more than 3 oz per day, as well as fish for two meals per week.

'IF' you do these things - you will no longer needs statins (atorvastatin) and blood pressure medication (ramipril).

Start eating foods that relax and dilate your arteries on a daily basis. This includes:

Blueberries,

walnuts

spinach, arugula and brocolli

dark chocolate (70% minimum cacao content) - limit to 3 squares per day;

Eliminating simple carbohydrates like white flour products - bread, pizza, pasta; as well as other white starches like rice and potatoes, will allow you to lose weight faster.

Eat more vegetables.

Read my posts:

healthunlocked.com/user/sos007

Watch this video:

youtu.be/aIc6iF5k9v4(Not working as expected?)

One last important thing:

Take time daily to reduce stress and relax - excess stress kills. Learn to meditate.

Good luck.

[sandybrown]

You need to ask your GP for a cardiologist referral. This is to establish your GP's understanding and your understanding of your health problem.

Every human react very differently to medication therefore the only person who can help you is fully qualified medical person!

Medication can help but not on a very long term basis!

You may need to look at life style change and regular exercise, combined to with food and drinks intake control ,watching out for free and hidden sugar.

[Sparky3333]

Hi, I identify with this a lot. Had my first heart attack 10 years ago age 46, then another one about 5 years after that (have 2 stents, btw) I was on 40 mg avorstatin, high doses of blood thinners, calcium channel blockers and blood pressure medication. I exercised, ate well wasn't overweight etc. I kept up this drug regime for 10 years, was always bruised due to the blood thinners, had unexplained muscle aches (statins) tiredness, lethargy ect.

Early this year things really got worse, heart beating madly, sometimes stopping for a few beats (it can be confused with panic attacks, actually scares the hell out of you, you think you are going to die). I had all the tests you did, wore a heart monitor, even got another angigram, everything came back okay. I felt worse and worse, was actually afraid to be on my own at all. I started taking magnesium which helped with the heart palpitations, however I still had a crazy heart, absolutely exhausted, then I became almost crippled with leg, feet weakness pains, breathlessness ,Saw multiple doctors, everything came back normal. I too got really depressed, I could barely walk.

So, I came here and other sites and researched. Realized the statins were the cause of the muscle pains, against every drs dire warnings , I stopped them. Since then I have dropped ALL my heart medication , except for a baby aspirin. I feel 1000% better. Statins cause heart problems as they affect the muscles, the heart is a muscle. I'm sure all the other drugs I was on were not helping also (I also had chronic constipation from high doses of calcium channel blockers) I dropped them all 5 months ago. I still have pains in my right thigh- knee, which the drs say is arthritis. I believe that also was brought on by statins, but with exercise this is getting better.

Be aware that it would be an extremely rare dr that will agree that your medications are causing your problems. I would research what statins and other drugs do, look up the supplements that people recommend here (COQ10 is very important ) and make an informed decision on your own to continue medication or not.

I WAS nervous going off all mine, but I, like others, could not live with what they were doing to me and decided to take the risk. My heart now beats at a normal (if slightly fast) rate, I haven't got palpitations AT ALL since I stopped the calcium channel blockers , my life business wise is as stressful as it always was, but I don't feel I am going to drop dead off a heart attack- stroke at any moment like I did on the medication.

You HAVE to take your health into your own hand,s unfortunately Drs (even specialists) do not have the time to do the research, only people who are desperately seeking answers do. You CAN go on to live a healthy long life, best off luck to you

[Hidden]

Thanks for your reply, I am booking myself in for a private non invasive angiogram (CT version) and if that comes back all clear as well I am going to start weaning myself off all these drugs. I'm not over weight I was fit and active and healthy before this unfortunate even. the last angiogram I had said my heart was clear of blockages apart from the 1 small 95% that had ruptured and blocked the LAD. I have a healthy diet and dont smoke so if my heart is clear the only thing causing these problems is the drugs. I will continue on the anti platelets for the recommended 12 months and will continue the asprin. I had a perfect heart rate and BP before all this so it should all return to normal after these poisons are out of my system.

[Raoudha]

Did you check for Lp(a) ?

[Fionalane in reply to Raoudha]

I've just been put on 40 mcg of Atorvastatin daily as I have found out over got Lipoprotien a. I am really upset that I've given in and taking Statins- there seems so much against them on here, but the consultant said Lip a, isnt helped by diet and theres no available medication for it yet so they put you on high dose statin to counteract the other LDL. I'm so confused. I don't want a stroke or heart attack( my mother and brother both died early of them) I just dont know what to do. The lipid specialist said I need the statins, but its bothering me.

[Raoudha]

I me on atrovastatine 10 3 times a week don t forget to take COQ10 with statines very important say my electrophysiologist because statin gives muscles pain and aches baby aspirin is a must for artheriosclerosis please check if Niacin ( B3 vit ) can help ?,,,,

Good luck

[Raoudha]

Please check lipoproteine( a) group on FB very helpful

Lipoprotien (a)Fondation _

Lipoprotien (a) patient support group