Prinzmental Angina

Welcome to the board only just found this group myself and is such a God send because you think you are on your own which you are not. Just recently back from hospital myself after a attack and I'm on so much medication myself. I'm 37.

​I was around 26 when mine first started and I'm about to tick over to 50, A diagnosis wasn't put to mine until about 10 years ago although my cardiologist at the time did tell me it was the small blood vessels in the heart going into spasms and that I would have to learn to deal with them and the associated pain....easy for him.... I was told to go to emergency if the pain was becoming unbearble, well if it was bearable I'd be at home, it all comes down to saving the health system money , by that I mean blood tests specifically Troponins, ( making sure you haven't had a heart attack) .

​I apoligised to a very nice emerency doctor the other week for being such a pain in the arse with this, her reply was ever so kind and sweet, she understood the condition, I asked her out of curiousity I said, are there other Prinzmetal suffers here, she said Yes off the top of her head she can think of 11 others and they are there frequently if not more frequent than what I am, I felt a huge weight lift off my shoulders when I heard that answer. I have been doing some reading and have heard doctors and paramedics talking, We are all on the gold standard angina medication, "apparently" Cardizem (Diltiazem) is the topof the line medication for spasms, however as I was about to say all nitrate medication can just no longer work...or "cut it" as some say, we build up a tolerence to them , I know I have with the GTN spray, if it doesn't stop my spasms after about 8 sprays, it's not going to work  completely, I get very basic if that releif from it, it only lasts upto around 2-3 minutes sometimes I can get 5 minutes out of a spray but it all starts again in that time frame again, I can have up to 18-20 sprays before calling an ambulance and my blood pressure is hardly effected, when the paramedics arrive  my BP is usually 160/90 after 18- 20 squirts of GTN. Cardizem has helped me a lot until winter hit us and it hit us early this year, thank god it's spring time here now, my emergency department visits are starting to taper off again, I find a gust of wind to the face or even just the cold weather is enough to trigger an event.