Groups explained
Groups are mini communities on topics of special interest such as a local fundraising branch or an international trek, You can suggest a new group at the bottom of the group home page.
Bouts of angina and sob. Overdoing it?
Hello everybody.
I just wondered if anyone else could tell me whether they seem to get catch up bouts of angina etc. The reason that I ask is that before Christmas I was going out a lot more, shopping, nativity plays etc, and seemed to be doing really well. However, all of a sudden I started getting bouts of angina from Xmas Day on, and have been so short of breath, that I have really been struggling ever since. This seems to have happened before, when I get a really good spell, it seems to be followed by a bad one. Is this my imagination, or does this really happen. At the moment it is an effort getting up out of an armchair and I just don't know whether to push myself or not?
Thanks for listening. Regards and a Happy New Year Jenny
Thanks Helen, I am in fact feeling much better thankyou. I am still very short of breath so cannot do a lot lot anyway. Also I am having to tell people, such as the nurses at the hospital yesterday when I went for tests (not cardiac related), who tended to walk very fast, and I found it impossible to keep up. It makes me feel a bit useless and very old (I am 57), but I am just going to have to take it as it comes I think. Hopefully I will get some breath back soon and be able to walk a bit further but if not at least there are some better programmes on T.V now !! I wish you a very happy and healthy 2012. Kindest Regards , Jenny
Hello Jenny and Helen,
Glad you're feeling better, Jenny. I know I'm a newbie to all this (heart attack 3 weeks ago, 46, no particular risk factors, angio clear), but I'm also having bad days. earlier this week I was feeling vitually normal and had upped my walks and even braved taking our slightly crazy dog out. Then felt rough on Wednesday evening and not really right since. I just can't work out if I'm just tired and a bit stressed because I 'should' be doing more, or if there is something actually going on. I have this vague chest pain, mainly central and going into right shoulder and just feel a bit 'off' (along with the strong urge to lie down!). I've made a GP appt for Monday and start cardiac rehab in a couple of weeks. I've resisted using the GTN spray (don't fancy the headache and drop in BP) - but do you think this is a mistake? I'm thinking that next time I have some chest pain, as long as my husband is around, I'll try it and see if it helps. I guess that if it does, that's a sign that it is angina! if it makes me feel worse, maybe it isn't!
Because I'm a nurse (but nothing to do with hearts!), I feel I should know all this stuff, but that just increases the pressure I put on myself, so I'm trying to ignore that fact. I'm really keen to hear what people who experience this have to say - hence the joy of this forum!
best wishes and thanks
caroline
Dear Jenny & Caroline,
Jenny, first of all I hope you get good news from your tests, and the breathlessness becomes easier. You mentioned your age, I'm a bit older being 64 - I was 61 when I had my heart attack, and its difficult & frustrating reconciling your real age with what your body is doing when you have health issues. Please keep in touch if you want to just offload and chat - sometimes no matter how supportive your family and friends are they don't know what you are coping with and feeling (I get frightened a lot of the time). This is where our group is so good, we know some part of what others are going through. Keep well.
Caroline, firstly welcome to the on-line forum. You are very young too for all this and it must have been a shock, and it has only been weeks!!. I know what you mean about the gtn spray - its a double edged sword. If it works then its angina , if it doesnt you are worrying about what is causing the pain. Although I couldnt comment on medical advice the bhf health team are so helpful and they could advise you. Personally, and because you obviously know about the bp drop, I aways sit down when I take my spray, and I've found the headaches are not so bad when you get used to taking it (Ok thats not a good sign either if your taking it a lot- but on the bright side the headaches arent so bad!). After my heart attack I wasnt recognising the pain as angina but on one occasion whilst in the car thought I'd give the spray a try - and when it worked I cried all the way home - because it did.
Anyway Caroline, good luck with the cardiac rehab, after my husband has his by-pass he was so enthusiastic about it and felt it made such a difference both physically and mentally. Let us know how you are getting on.
Kind regards to you both Helen
hi to you all
i think im going through the same thing its been 3 days now ive been feeling restless and sob
ive had 3 heart attacks reading your posts have helped me and im struggling to do the simple things i try to do my job and im finding it hard at the momment, i carnt think of why i feel like this i have unstable angina and my left side of my heart is damaged due to the heart attacks.
im 52 years old and im also frightened this hasnt happened before and reading your posts i decided to use my gnt spray and it eased off for a bit i was wondering can you get help for example if i gave work up because its a struggle for me im always tired i only work 16 hours but this week has been a nightmare for me and embarrasing i just feel unwell and i dont know what to do im going to tell the doctor but he dosent seem to understand i even tryed to get a blue badge because when i do my shopping im so sob and gasping i tought that would help me but he the excercise will do me good.well in these cases we need the doctors back up but because of the cutbacks i dont seem to qualify i am usally a happy go lucky person but this week im at my wits end thank you al
Hi, al, I will message you about some benefits you could claim, but I'm afraid that you do need your doctor's backing. It is also a very long process and you have to fight all the way, I know, I have recently been turned down for an increase in my mobility (I get low rate), because the hospital measured me and said that I could walk 10 metres at normal speed before I was so out of breath I had to stop. They said that as I could walk by putting 1 foot in front of the other then I wasn't entitled. At the moment the Government are saying they should test all claimants. I wish they would as I might get a bit more!! Still, I should be grateful for what I get, and I am believe me.
hi supernan
i know the system is hard yes i can put one foot in front of the other but just lately the stairs
are making me sob abd the dull ache in my back and chest is doing my head in i shall go to my docs today walking to the kitchen is an effort talking to people is an effort i feel like im 80 (some 80yr olds are better off than me) im finding it hard at the momment swings and roundabouts the spray relieves it for a while but the head aches take over and im on isosorbide mononitrate twice a day whats going on i havent felt like this for months and since monday ive been struggling maybe the cold snap we had who knows anyway i shall see what the doctor says thank you for taking the time to answer me xx
Hi Helen and all, I just thought that I would update you. Went and saw cardiac clinic last week and saw a different doctor (registrar?), who was very nice and explained everything. She said that I had in fact had another heart attack last Feb, whereas when I had thought that originally they said that no it was angina!!! She also said that they could not see why I was still getting angina!! I don't think she liked me being on some of the pills as she kept saying that my arteries were being 'bleached' and that it was nigh on impossible for me to have a heart attack. I should have come back at her and asked her why I had had one then. Shame you don't think about these things at the time.! However, she had said that although my main arteries are clear, apart from the one that is completely blocked and dead, my angina symptoms must be coming from the smaller vessels off the arteries that do not show up. I did remember to ask about whether you do have 'catch up' and she said that every single patient with angina says that, so although they don't know why, it does happen!!!! My breathlessness is as much to do with my asthma and weight and being an ex smoker so there is nothing to be done about that either. It has been left that I 'know' when to go in, and if not i will be seen in clinic in 6 months. All in all I don't quite know yet if it was classed as good news as I am a bit more confused about the angina. I think the easiest thing to do is carry on as I'm doing and hope for the best. Regards all. Jenny
P.S. Just realised that this sounds a bit 'moany' and I didn't mean it to be, it is just that I prefer things that can be explained rather than 'could be's'.
Hi Supernan and All,
I don't think you sounded moany at all - I'm not surprised you felt more confused about the angina! Did the Dr think that it isn't angina, or just that you 'shouldn't' be getting it?! It's so difficult, the vagueness of what symptoms are, combined with the potential seriousness of them... no wonder we get stressed!
I've been doing generallly really well - enjoying cardiac rehab and back at work on a phased return, also walking the dog and even tentatively taking up some social life again! but this week I've been having some very peculiar dizzy spells. They have mainly been in bed if I turn to the right - literally the bed feels as though it's falling away from me and the ceiling is whizzing by! it goes away quite quickly, but leaves me feeling a bit freaked out. Yesterday I felt very odd and so ended up going to the out of hours doctor. After waiting an hour and a half (it is so busy there, i've never been before!), I was seen by a very nice GP who checked me over, including an ECG, and said all was fine. She thought it might be a side effect of Ramipril (I'm only on 2.5mg), so suggested I start taking it at night, which I'll do this evening. I felt okay most of yesterday, though I spend the day mainly sitting by the fire, but had another spell this morning which has left me a bit tentative and wobbly.
Does anyone else have this? Any tips?
At least the cold weather has died down - I seem to have become much more susceptible to the cold since my heart attack, not sure if that's physical or I'm just generally a bit more fragile..
Hope everyone's doing okay - did you get anywhere with benefits, Christina?
best wishes
caroline
Hi Caroline, Thanks for the reply. The Dr. said that they can't see any reason why I should get angina, but they don't doubt that I do. That is why they think it must be the small vessels branching off the main arteries which they can't see. This is supposed to make me feel better!!!!! Also my ECG shows up the angina that they know about?? I just feel a bit bit more confused than normal with it all. I am going to try and lose some weight but as my breathing is affected by the cold weather and I cannot eat fruit or vegetables due to a stomach complaint, it is hard work! Still I am determined that when I see them in 6 months I will have lost some.
Hope everyone else is doing OK.
Dear Jenny,
After reading your post just last night (but too tired to reply at that time), it made me appreciate the community even more. I'm sorry you aren't feeling great at the moment, but you almost word for word wrote what I have been feeling. So, no I dont think its our imagination, but probably when we have a good spell we feel invincible and really push our boundaries - and I believe it does catch up with us. I know from reading the Heart Failure manual that there is the danger of getting into a bad cycle of overdoing it, with the resulting bad days. It can then be quite depressing because whilst having a good spell, mentally you start planning things and feel you are able to do more, and its great to feel optimistic.
Like yourself before Christmas I was feeling ok (walking any distance is still a problem), and at times I feel I have absolutely run out of steam and must lie down (this has been interesting over the past week or so, as I had to lie down on a sofa in a furniture store -pity I couldn't make it to the bedding dept!) and the week before Christmas whilst in M & S ended up on their changing room floor. I didnt even have anything to try on - just wanted a seat. They wanted to get the paramedics (due to my colour and blue lips). but I was sure I'd be ok if they just left me for a while. I think these awful sudden 'turns' is cardiac de-compensation? Basically supply and demand! Anyway after a while they took us upstairs and we got a cup of tea! See what lengths we Scots will go to to get a free cuppie (only kidding!)
Maybe we both have just to ease up on the good days, but dont you feel there is an in-built attitude that if we give in to our heart problems, we are somehow being a wimp and not trying hard enough. I'm still on a guilt trip because I didn't, well couldn't finish cardiac rehab.I'm telling you this because although the angina was ok(breathing not) and I managed some days, when I went home I was fit for nothing. Angina and breathlessness. The staff were good but said that shouldnt happen as they did proper cool down procedures, but one day this other lady whispered to me that she knew exactly what I meant as it also happened to her. So yes I actually believe what you said and that the angina does catch up with you. I wish we had a visible 'battery charge display' so we could stop whilst we were ahead instread of keeping going - doing just one more thing! I'm sure you recognise that syndrome.
Anyway I hope you are feeling better and maybe we should have a new resolution this year - perhaps to be sensible!!!! Probably not. Take care and all my best wishes for this New Year. Regards Helen