Posted , 9 users are following.
48and been diagnosed with angina,currently waiting for hospital appointment but I have no knowledge of what happens now,my GP was not very helpful she just gave me medication and told me to wait and see what the specialist says,been prescribed Asprin (75mg) bisoprolol 2.5 mg and a GTN spray,
Can anybody give me any advice
Anthony
1 like, 57 replies
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seangreen420 anthony13459
Posted
Hi Anthony
i am so sorry that you have been diagnosed with angina, but please don't be frightened as many if us were I the same boat, and in my case some 20 years ago.
i presume your appointment at the hospital will be with cardiologist. One of the routine test they will do to confirm your GP's diagnosis is the cardiac stress test. This is when you are wired up for ECG and get on the treadmill. The speed increases every few minutes and a stage will come when you won't be able to cope and that will be the end of the test. At that stage you will be absolutely puffed out. The Dr will study the resulting ECG.
Basically, I would not worry about anything. If they confirm the diagnosis then they will tell you what lifestyle changes to make, and may modify the medication.
i hope that all goes well.
lady_ami anthony13459
Posted
Hi, sorry to hear this, lve had angina for so long now about 40+ years so lm old hand at it..
When you see your consultant you will have a ECG( wires with stickers on ends attached to your skin in certain places, this machine then takes a reading of your heart beat ...doesnt hurt one bit .
Following this you may be asked to have an echocardiogram Same sort of machine they use to look at babies in pregnant woman...doesn't hurt at all.
If they cannot find out the reason for your pain they may ask for a special CT angiogram this involves you laying down under a scanner ,a small drip attached to your arm .....a small amount of liquid is them sent around your heart and it is picked up by the scanner , it doesnt hurt at all , but you may think your peeing yourself when the liquid goes through !!!
The consultant will then assess your results, you may be put on calcium channel blocker , higher doses of beta blockers, painkillers or a tablet form of GTN ( l cant take these as it sets of my other heart problem )
If a reason is found for your angina like : hole in the heart.....value problem.......furring of arteries....there is quite a list , then further tests may take place.
These could be 24 hour heart monitor ( you wear it attached via a sticky pad to your heart) or possible a 27/7-10 day heart monitor.
There is also another sort of monitoring which involves cutting a small opening above the heart to insert a wire there to get more delicate readings of the heart.
As well as this they may ask permission to look down your throat ( under sedation ) to check things on the heart.
One other test which is more invasive is an angiogram , a cut is made in your groin or wrist and a small tube run up a main vein to your hear ( uncomfortable but not painful) you will be able to watch this on a screen like the doctors do, if a blockage is found a stent can be taken up into the tude and opened up to clear a blockage
What with X rays, scans, monitoring.........they will lm sure see if it is a stable or unstable angina ( stable is normally on exertion ...unstable is exertion and when sleeping ) .
With todays modern drugs and technics you will be looked after and hopefully if something can be done to ease or stop your pain it will be done.
But remember if you use your GTN spray and after 2-3 sprays your angina keeps coming back call for help or go to the doctors /hospital....dont do what this idiot did and wait until she had had 9 in 28 hours before doing somthing ......lm now waiting for surgery .
Hey, keep well, dont get stressed and remember we are here to help you or talk if you need it .
Lady Amelia. Xxxxx
derek76 lady_ami
Posted
Now you have really worried him.
Until he has more tests angina still has to be proved. Even a stress ECG may be a false positive. I've had two and a stress echocardiogram that were found to be false positives when angiograms showed my arteries to be clear.
Do you only get the pain when active? Does the spray actually help?
lady_ami derek76
Posted
Hello Derek.
I get angina at rest and in general 24/7 at any time day or night.
The spray helps ....sometimes, they tried me on GTN tablets that l take moring and afternoon ( not under the tongue ones) but they set off my 'POTS' another heart problem l have so l l had to stop taking them.
l cant have stress tests done on me as my POTS condition has attacked my hip joints so exercise activities are a no no .....in any case as soon as l start to walk fast l sweat all over very badly then drop my body temperature to 27 and below....so not very nice.
Lady Ami .
derek76 lady_ami
Posted
I had a drug induced stress echocardiogram rather than an exercise one.
lady_ami derek76
Posted
Im on loads because of both conditions including :
calcium channel blockers, Neofel xl, asprin,lansoprazole ,clonidine,bisoprolol,targinet,simvastatins , iron ,fluoxetine( effects POTS ) ,lorazepam ( for leg muscle pain ) paracetamol,tranexamic ( for bleeding under skin / joints) Oramorph, GTN spray and more ......l rattle at times .
l had a drug induced stress test as well but l was so ill afterwards ......all the machines started sounding off and l passsed out , when l came round l had nurses fussing over me ......wait for it saying ' the machine went wrong ' 😮
Hubby came in he said l was grey and cold and looked like death but the staff didnt really give a dam ....its been like this for 40-50 years , lve had heart failure, lung collapsing, shadow on the lungs , my heart twice the size
( half is swollen up now) mitral problems........all they do is add more drugs in and say rest .......
So now they appear to be panicking a bit .......at last now lm in my 60s they are doing something ......pah....humbug.
derek76 lady_ami
Posted
samuels anthony13459
Posted
Hi anthony,
Firstly does the medication work when chest pain comes on ? there are 3 - 4 different types of angina, the 2 most troublesome ones to diagnose is prinzmetal angina and syndrome X type, medication does initially help but over time our bodies develop a tolerence to angina medications, especially the GTN, in a single attack I have 15 + , because I know what it is I persist with the spray, when I usually reach # 8 - 10 sprays in 30 - 40 minutes I have to call an ambulance.
As what to expect from your specialists appointment, and one would hope it's a cardiologist and not a physician , by physician I don't mean a normal doctor, they specialise in everything in the human body, some do use a different title but it's generally physician. Everyone has pretty well explained what to expect on your visit so I won't repeat it, however I will say that if you have extremely high cholesterol the cardiologist may bypass everything with the exception of the ECG and then move straight up to the angiogram as in my case. I apparently have a very weird lipid profile, so much that it concerned cardiologists, hence the immediate angiogram to see if I had any blockages..
peter35137 samuels
Posted
samuels peter35137
Posted
Hi peter,
How are things going at the moment for you ? I'm basically in the same boat, when GTN stops working I have been instructed to take 1 - 2 endone (5Mg each) if pain doesn't subside within an hour or so call an ambulance. 8 times out of 10 the endone works in the pain department and I'm still alive the next morning
. for some reason I get severe spasms every 5 - 14 days unless high emotional stress, which has been the case for me and my partner, teenage kids deciding to take the wrong path in life and not listening to their parents......in the last 4 months can end up in emergency 3 times in a week. The other day a cold wiff of wind to the face set my spasms off.
Hope you get to see a cardiologist rather quickly. Take care
derek76 samuels
Posted
samuels derek76
Posted
Not back then and that was 10 years ago, had an NSTEMI in 2012 and had another one to find a baby blockage 60% RCA . Had another angio done in 2016 still 60% @ RCA and then found another baby of 50% stenois in the LAD, I was told this is normal in a person my age and they would expect to find that in most people in their 50's (50% stenosis in the LAD)
anthony13459
Posted
Thanks for all your replies guys.
I've already had the CT scan so I'm now waiting to see the cardiologist,it's just come as a shock ,I've been a member of a gym for 20years I've always eaten healthy,
It's hard not to feel stressed but I'm trying my hardest,hopefully feel a lot better after the cardiologist appointment,thanks again guys
Anthony
samuels anthony13459
Posted
Hi anthony,
Yes would come as a shock, but unfortunately we age and we either stay fit or our genes take over and bang we are hit with whatever hereditary condition we all maybe susceptable to. Think positive thoughts, I know it's hard but it's no use stressing any further to make it worse. wishing you all the best at your cardiologists appointment and I hope everything is top notch in the ticker department
. Cardiologist will take good care of you if anything is to be found.
anthony13459 samuels
Posted
Thanks for your support Samuels,seems like your going through some difficult times yourself,I'm guessing the thoughts I'm getting are pretty normal when anyone is first diagnosed with any serious condition,how,why etc,
But trying to stay positive hope your symptoms get better for you,take care
Anthony