Coronary Spasm.

[arTistapple]

Has anyone on here had this problem; possibly long before a hypothyroid diagnosis? I am curious to hear anyone else’s experience of this. I have not met anyone with this condition, it’s apparently ‘rare’. However, other than these fantastically organised blogs, I have never met anyone (that I am aware of) who is hypothyroid either, which is allegedly common. I know there is research from about 2008, linking sub clinical hypothyroidism with this debilitating condition. This was quite a few years after my original diagnosis of coronary spasm.

[humanbean]

I had never heard of coronary spasm, so had to look it up :

my.clevelandclinic.org/heal...

What is a coronary artery spasm?

A coronary artery spasm is a tightening (contraction) of your heart’s arteries (coronary arteries). These spasms don’t usually last long, and you may not even notice them. But they can increase your risk of heart attack and other heart complications.

What is the difference between a coronary artery spasm and angina?

Coronary artery spasms may lead to chest pain known as angina. While artery blockage from cholesterol plaque is a more common cause of angina, coronary spasms can also result in chest pain called vasospastic angina. Unlike angina from plaque, vasospastic angina can often happen while you are resting.

Who might get a coronary artery spasm?

If you have risk factors for heart disease, you also have risk factors for a coronary artery spasm. The most common risk factors include:

High blood pressure (hypertension).

High cholesterol (hyperlipidemia).

Smoking or using tobacco products.

Recreational drug use.

Many people who don’t have high blood pressure or high cholesterol experience coronary artery spasms. Often, these people smoke regularly.

Lots of questions...

How is a coronary spasm diagnosed? What are the symptoms? Do you get chest pain? Is your heart rate normal? Or fast (tachycardia)? Or slow (bradycardia)?

Could you have an internal bleed? Are you losing blood in your urine or faeces?

Have you ever had your iron and ferritin (iron stores) measured? If they are poor it could be the cause of your problem.

If you have inflammation anywhere in your body, ferritin can stay surprisingly good even with blood loss, but you could still be iron deficient.

I was diagnosed with angina when I had severe chest pain. It was a wrong diagnosis - I was suffering from extremely low levels of iron and ferritin due to a chronic bleed from a bleeding polyp in my colon.

Please note that I'm not a doctor and have no medical training whatsoever.

[arTistapple in reply to humanbean]

Humanbean thank you for getting back to me. I am trying to assimilate all the info I have picked up on this excellent ‘calm’ site. Brain fog kind of gets in the way and it is taking some time to get used to comprehending new information. I will take on board what you have said. Thank you again.

[Brightness14]

I would take 3 x day hawthorn capsules, plus a garlic capsule these would release the tension and bring down the Blood Pressure and Pulse Rate too.

[arTistapple in reply to Brightness14]

Brightness thank you for your interest. Please see my reply to AlicesMother above too. Many moons ago I did try your suggestion (except the garlic capsule) to no noticeable improvement. It’s too much of a coincidence that the heart stuff sorted itself out after the introduction of Levothyroxine. However as I said above there is all sorts of good stuff here I must get to. I don’t even know what my Ft 4 or 3 are. I suspect low levels of Vit D etc. Just need to get my head around what to discuss at next dr appointment and see just what he is prepared to do for me. Carte blanche if he won’t.

[arTistapple]

Without going into the whole dreary story, I thank you for giving me your thought. My heart symptoms, almost unbelievably (after more than 20 years of debilitation - why on Earth do we put up with them?) have been relieved almost as soon as I started on levothyroxine. I am pleased about this but perhaps not as appreciative as I should be. No dent in my more ‘classic’ hypothyroid symptoms. Therefore no ‘return’ to normal after one years treatment. However I have not harnessed any of the info - still learning - that this site is providing. I very much appreciate all the contributions I have seen. Not least your input. Thank you. I am sure I will be contributing when I can apply some of this information.