Exercise or not

I also heard that but if you are on medication just check there is no potential interaction .I checked my huge list of prescription meds and in my case cayenne was contra-indicated

Think you are right,its powerful stuff

Thank you Cheryl, am I right in saying a Angiogram is very dangerous ?

Just asking, not saying that would put me off.

As in all procedures there is some risk but these are heart specialist that do this procedure daily and the results outway the risk factor. Let us know the results.

Not dangerous at all. If straightforward can be done in ten minutes. My cardiologist often does ten a day.

There are now CT and MRI scans that do the job.

Well I feel better for that anyway,thank you.

Per my cardiologist the MRI and CT which I had do not give them all the details only the angiogram confirmed how serious my Hocm condition was but I was and what needed to be done. I had an alcohol septial ablation within a month which was successful and I have been very heart healthy since than.

All procedures have a very slight risk but the risks of not having it done and something being amiss is greater.Anyway if you are really anxious where I have had two done they offer you diazepam.I never take it as I am on enough that if you turned me upside down I'd rattle.

When you have it done you will probably like me think "what on earth was I so wound up for".Good luck

I've had two without any problems although the last one took a while as the registrar was 'On a learning curve' and had some difficulty getting round an awkward bend in one artery. Each time my arteries were clear after false positive stress ECG's and stress echo cardiograms.  

That is good. I'm waiting for an AV Node ablation at the moment.

I was very nervous before my first one and the cath lab was so cold that I was shivering and the table is very narrow ! When he started I could feel the pressure in my groin as he pushed the catheter in that seemed to go on for a while but he soon turned away and started looking at his monitor that I had not been able to see. I asked him when he was going to continue.  Continue ? he said, I'm watching the action replay and turned the monitor towards me to explain it.

The lab at my hospital is in type of trailer at the back of the day unit.You have to get wheeled out on your bed and mine have both been done in the winter-the first time it was actually snowing and the second time it was howling a gale and I felt sorry for the nurses trying to keep the bed from hitting the walls.As you say the Cath lab is cold-must be because of the machinery😂

Has this procedure been scheduled and how soon? I have a pacemaker as I had a total heart block after my ablation and it's been beating fine since. The catherization lab doctors put in a temporary pacemaker after my procedure and a few days later a surgeon put in the permanent one.

Doctor made a face and said 'it could be some time before you get a Angiogram'.I waited 5 months for the hospital ECG.

Are you in the UK?

Scheduled several times but had to be cancelled. You just will not believe this!! I was seeing an NHS neurologist who decided that I needed  a whole spine MRI scan. It could not be fitted in prior to the pacemaker being fitted in mid-July of last year. It is an MRI compatible Boston Scientific  Pacemaker but it needed 8/10 weeks to be OK for scanning so I privately had a CT scan instead and took it to the neurologist in mid-September who decided that it was more a neuro surgeons problem.

It is a 39 week wait for an NHS neuro surgeon appointment in this area so I went to see one privately. Even that takes time and it was December before I got an appointment. He said that the CT scan did not show enough and I needed an MRI scan. He thought it more convenient for me to have the privately scan at the hospital where the pacemaker was fitted and let cardiology there reset the pacemaker for the scan.  Then a six week silence before the imaging department said that they did not have a protocol for scanning the make of pacemaker being fitted there!! The MRI scanner there belongs to the Private company Inhealth as the NHS cannot afford one.

It was then arranged for the scan to be done at a hospital in another town and they wanted about £600 more than others charge for the makes of pacemaker that they can scan. Local hospital then said that they were about to agree the protocol with InHealth so I cancelled the other hospitals one. I then had pre scan tests, pacemaker check and a chest X-Ray. They then said the protocol had not been agreed but soon would be so I said that I would wait for them. Weeks later they said that InHealth still would not agree the protocol so the neurosurgeon contacted the other hospital for them to do it. Another six weeks have elapsed and despite him contacting them several times we have not had a reply.

The MRI deprtment at our local BUPA hospital said that they would do the scan if I went to the NHS hospital to have them reset the the pacemaker before and after the scan. The pacemaker clinic agreed to that but then the two cardiologists at the BUPA hospital said that they could not agree to that. Strange as they are also consultants at the NHS hospital. 

Meantime my back gets worse and I have difficulty in walking. InHealth have MRI scanners at more than 20 hospitals in the South East. Most do not scan any MRI compatible pacemakers or like my local hospital only scan one type. I have contacted other hospitals with MRI scanners in  the South East and London without finding one that does the Boston Scientific one.     

The AV Node ablation is being held back as they do not want me to be pacemaker dependent when it is done.

I've never had to wait any length of time for an ECG but I waited 17 weeks for a stress echocardiogram and then 10 weeks for an angiogram.

Wow I have a question why did they put in a pacemaker last year without doing an angiogram at that time? Wouldn't they have had all the answers to your heart issues and than put in your pacemaker?

My last required angiogram was in 2011.

Yes,live in Norfolk (just)so go to West Suffolk Hospital-have always had good care and speedy appointments

Yes,so N.H.

New Hampshire  USA?

 No United Kingdome.

Could the  echo cardiogram take the place of the Angiogram,I still do not like the sound of the Angio,plus they have MRSA at the hospital.

Is there a good alternative to an Angiogram,in this day and age ?

The stress echocardiograms and ECG's  will not do that and in my case they gave a false positive result that caused me to have two angiograms.

There are CT and MRI scans that can show the condition of your arteries. Not all hospitals do them but ask your GP.

Another thing to fear in hospitals are slippery floors so watch you don't break a leg as someone I know did as he was about to be discharged.

I had those but my main issue was left ventricle of the heart and these test didn't give them the results they needed to diagnose me with Hocm only the angiogram gave them this information. i was very lucky and take minimal medication and all shortness of breath I've had for 15 years is gone. My heart is working as it should be now.

Thank you,going to ask a lot of questions when my doctor gets 'back from holiday'.

Glad to hera that Cheryl.