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I'm feeling a little bemused.
Some of you may remember that I had a heart attack whilst out cycling in October; my LAD was completely blocked (and stented open) but the other 2 coronary arteries were described as only mildly affected and manageable with medication.
After the recovery period & Rehab. group I went back to work and slowly started cycling again, then, about 4 weeks ago, whilst cycling suddenly felt ill, went home and started getting chest pains & shortness of breath both whilst active and at rest (before the heart attack I'd only been getting symptoms when really active).
I was referred to a chest pain clinic but was admitted to [a different] hospital with chest pain (thought to be unstable angina) last Monday and given an angioplasty; my right coronary artery was stented whilst the ostial circumflex artery was stretch & medicated (apparently stenting here was too awkward).
The copy of the Consultant's letter to my GP arrived today and (in addition to mentioning that I'd had mild heart attack) describes both the mid-right & ostial circumflex arteries as having severe stenosis - so they've gone from only mildly affected to severely affected in 5 months despite that fact that I'm on bucket loads of medication (when I attended the chest pain clinic about 3 weeks ago my cholesterol was 3).
The NHS being the NHS, the hospital I was admitted to last week couldn't see the angioplasty images from the hospital that had treated the big heart attack in October but if my coronary arteries are going to fur up at that rate it doesn't bode well for the future!
Not a clue sorry mate but just wanted to wish you the best of luck with it sounds like you've had a pretty rough time. Hope you get it sorted
Something similar happened to me 12-15years ago. I had Angina, was stented, felt great, and then a few months later the cycle repeated. Twice...
I eventually had a double bypass and I've been right as rain for the last ten years. It's a pain in the arse but be patient; you'll get there!
You are right to be skeptical - it's highly unlikely that there has been a step-change of the degree you have apparently been quoted within that timeframe. Particularly if you are taking two anti platelet medication (Aspirin + Ticagrelor?) and a good dose of statin. I'd put money on different interpretations of similar-looking pictures.
At any rate, for angina it's medications and lifestyle intervention, not stents (or CABG) that improve your chances of trouble-free years ahead. I would advise you not to dwell on any estimated rate-of-change calculations since they are going to be pretty meaningless in this context. All the best for your ongoing recovery.
Source: Cardiologist, although I don't do coronary intervention.
Thanks all.
Superficial, yes I've been on Asprin, Ticagrelor and Atorvastatin (plus a variety of other medication) since October; I've recently had Isotard & something to protect my stomach added to the long list.
Now I've had all 3 major coronary arteries worked on I'm hoping that things will settle.
Sorry to resurrect this thread again but after a couple of weeks of everything going swimmingly, I went out for a walk today (following a route I walked trouble free a few days back) and had a reoccurrence of chest, throat and jaw pain; it subsided without the need to get out my GTN spray but was bad enough to worry me!
Since all 3 of my major cardiac arteries should be nicely open now I'm not sure what's going on.
I was discharged without any pamphlets but I was advised that, under normal (non-CV 19) circumstances I'd have been back to work in 2 weeks. Online searches do suggest that some folk do get chest pain following angioplasty but I'm not sure why I wasn't getting this from the off.
My Wife thinks that I'm overdoing it (and I can't say that that's not the case).