prinzmetals angina

Have you been to the doctors you need to have a complete workup with EKG,treadmill if you can't do the treadmill there was another test that is very painful I can't remember the name of it but it's where they inject dye into your heart and then make it be really hard I had that it lasts six minutes and it's six minutes of torture and then I had a catherization it did show up spasms of the arteries but no blockages I went into the emergency room and they could tell I was having heart stress you just have to keep bugging the doctors because you don't want to have a full-blown heart attack this disease is crazy I have severe anxiety because of it and have much fear of going out as I have had Spells at the stores and blacked out and had to go to the ER I just don't do anything but I do have nitroglycerine and my heart medicine I hope you get help for your condition you just have to keep bugging them is very very scary with a lot of medicine and Nitro you will get a little better but you will have it for the rest of your life that is what they've told me and I've had it for 5 years keep on your quest and bugging the doctor you do need help to have some relief I am so thankful that I finally got help from Loma Linda hospital in California I hope this helps you God bless you too

Nothing ever shows up via an ekg when a patient is having spasms. At least not for me. They diagnosed me with an M.I. (Heart Attcak) at the hospital via my bloodworm. My troponin s were high at around 19 or so at one point. The pain was devastatingly incredible. I just thought I was dying. I couldn't catch my breath. I almost wanted to die it was so bad, but I kept thinking about my kids. This was when I was off my calcium channel blocker, the medics gave me nitro in the ambulance (3 sprays) under the tongue. By the time I got to the hospital my pain was easing. This was early morning hours around 6 am.

That night I had another attack and needed more nitro. This syndrome needs more attention. Nobody seems to know what is going on. It's scaring the s**t out of me.

Hi rich,

Exactly, Prinzmetal will never show up on an ECG, An MI / STEMI would definately show up on an ECG, not so much with an NSTEMI, my NSTEMI's never showed up on the ECG's only in the troponin  blood test.

When you say 19 for your troponin down here where I am they would send you home with a reading like that after emergency doctors consult with cardiology especially if nothing else could be found via ECG, I know you would be feeling terrible as 19 is just above the cut off line for possible "heart event"  raised troponins will make you feel horrible at the best of times as it's a heart specific enzyme, although kidneys and pulmonary embolisms can raise them as well.

Cardiologists ears usually prick up for heart attack when troponins are 40ish, generally 50 upwards. Are you using the old troponin measurements or the new ones, the reason I ask is because of the number you stated on heer is the whole number with the decimal point moved, if you had of said 0.5 then that is the cut off point in the old troponin measurement where as 14 is in the new measurements, so that is only 5 markers above the cut off point, I have had a lot of readings ranging from 11-20 but just in the last 2 months they have been coming back at 35-42, that's an awful big difference between the cut off point.

I'm not saying you didn't have some kind of heart event but 19 is relatively low.

Hello Samuels,

I'm not sure what system they were using to gauge my troponin level for the three events I had. They did diagnose me as having an M.I. and they did seem to think it was a big deal. So did my job at FDNY, my career is over as a firefighter.

I can also tell you it was hard to breath and extremely painful.

This entire event has changed my life.

Hi rich,

Looking at the way you typed your troponin results your hospital lab uses the samemeasuring system as us here in Australia. Yes emergency staff will make a big deal of it because that's how they have been taught under emergency conditions with ECG's and the blood results.Did your M.I show up on the ECG or was it only picked up in the blood test?.

Yes heart attacks are life changing and can play havoc on us psychologically. I know exactly how it feels, just like you I have have had a couple of heart attacks myself. Cardiologists have told me they start to worry when trops are 40 upwards.

I'm curious to know have you been told your career as afirefighter is over ? I knew a couple of firefighters who have had full blown heart attacks return to work after around 3 months or so after cardio rehab and a bit of rest and recreation.

Wishing you all the best and take care

Hi rich,

I seemed to have missed the last part of your comment in regards to this condition needs more attention. Some cardiologists take a special interest in this condition, not a lot of them just a few. When I had my second mild heart attack the cardiologist that I was under while recuperating in hospital explained some things that I never linked to prinzmetal angina, he was saying that high cholesterol especially hereditary types and people with really weird lipid profiles is actually another cause for prinzmetal angina ( coronary artery spasms ). This is how he explained it to me as he thinks this is what's going on, my cholesterol is eating / absorbing the nitric oxide in the endothelium which is actually causing the coronary artery spasms because our arteries need that nitric oxide to keep them smooth and functioning normally, lack of causes them to go into spasms and cause us a great deal of pain as you well know.

How is your cholesterol ? some on here have said theirs is high so maybe there is some truth to what this cardiologist explained to me, as other cardiologists don't believe that theory, every cardiologist has their own opinion don't they.

Hello I've been experiencing the same thing .. drs can't find wats wrong. How old r u ? Drs say all my cardio work up is so far normal 

Hi alex ,

I am now coming up to 52 years of age. My spasms started when I was aged 38 and got worse as the years went on. I was 46 when I had my first heart attack, that's when they found the 60% occlusion in my right coronary artery. they did a routine angiogram Feb 2016 and had found a 50% stenosis in the LAD, the 60% occlusion in the right coronary artery was unchanged. I've had 3 mild heart attacks since 2012.

Hello there I'm 19 years old I've had a bunch of cardio work up various echos ecgs chest cts X-rays and blood work. So far everything normal but I have really painful chest pains. Drs jott it down to stress and anxiety. I need some answers. I've. Wen dealing with these bad chest pains for 6 months now. I've seen lots of drs including cardiologist. They say I'm a healthy 19 year old. I'm 5'4 very slim weigh 124 pounds. 

Hi.

I was actually between the ages of 34 -36 when I first started to get these spasms. I sat down and thought about it not long after replying to you

Yes they will always put it down to Anxiety or Stress when they can't find anything. Prinzmetal angina very rare shows up in any test or even ECG's ( EKG's) for that matter. There is a specific test that is considered the golden rule to actually diagnosing prinzmetal angina, it involves an angiogram and then a certain medication ,injected in to the artery(ies) if they spasm then you have your diagnosis of the condition, I hear it is still used in the USA but here where I am I have been told that it is no longer used here due to a high incidence /mortality rate. Another interesting thing that several doctors have indicated and to be honest I had never thought of it the way they do, it was said to me that if they use specific drugs to induce coronary artery spasms, I can't remember the names of them, there is 2 that is used, well that I'm aware of, I will go through my paperwork and find out, back on to what I was saying ,naturally arteries are going to spasm if these drugs are being put into our arteries, what they were conveying was that not everyones arteries will spasm but a lot will due to the medication causing them to spasm, sorry that's as plain as I can explain. If you ask me anything that has a foreign object or something inside of it in our bodies it's only natural that anything will go into spasm.

How's you cholesterol levels ? have they tried you on the GTN spray under the tongue when your chest pain comes on and if so did it actually work first off ? relieving the chest pain ?

I'm healthy as far as they say and know.. like I said I'm 19 and they've done so many cardio work up on me .. n no my blood pressure is always on the lower side but still within normal range. Do u think I have prinzmetal angina? Based on my symptoms.. is it possible for me to get them this young 😕? 

My doctors keep on saying that it's all in my head and if there was something really severely wrong with me that they would of caught it a long time ago 😕😕

I'm not a doctor and you haven't really stated your complete symptoms, I know you mention you suffer the same thing as others here but any chance you could be more specific with your symptoms, do they come on walking / working or just out of the blue sitting chilling out or asleep for that matter, what type of pain and associated symptoms do you get when your chest pain comes on ?  you mentioned your blood pressure is ok, how about your cholesterol levels ? they must of done the fasting blood test for that if they did a full cardio work up ?

I live in a small town in California in the Central Valley. I was seen by a cardiologist in the second biggest hospital here in California. I was pregnant at the time. My symptoms started wen I was 26 weeks pregnant. I'm 19 years old 

It's been almost 4 months since I had my baby ..

They said all my blood test were normal. And my blood pressure is also within normal range. And the chest pain comes out the blue. It's a heavy dull pressure like chest pain more towards the left side. But since all my test have been normal they say it's anxiety and stress 😕😕 I repeat I've had tons of ekgs X-rays blood work 4 heart echos 2 chest cts and holter monitors. Everything normal so far 

I've never had any issues wit my health or my heart ..

Hi alex,

From what you have just described in your short description certainly sounds like P M angina, don't hold me to this, I will have to read through all my research that I have done on the condition, I think I remember something about pregnancy and prinzmetal angina.

Yes everything will come back normal if it is only just prinzmetal angina, sometimes if the paramedics or doctors are quick and lucky enough to witness it on an ECG ( EKG ) they can occasionally appear on an ECG, rarely but can do.

Have you been back to see your Gyno in regards to this chest  pain since the birth of your child, I see bubs is what 4 months old, congratulations . Perhaps that's worth a shot, if you have to seek a second opinion go for it.

As I have said I'm not a doctor and perhaps it is anxiety, but as soon as you mentioned the left sided radiation kind of changed my mind, doctors won't tell you this until you do have a heart attack or some kind of heart event, but heart pain is generally felt central going into the left side, well majority of people, woman can present a lot different with their symptoms.

Do U think I can have this considering I'm so young tho? And can I die from this disease 😕 My doctors just don't believe me anymore cuz everything has been normal so far and I'm tiered of telling them that my pain is real 😔 How common is this disease?