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Continued chest pain no diagnosis

trigrandma
0 Recommendations

I have been having chest pain with shortness of breath with rest and activity for nearly 6 months. Ive had a stress(negative) and a cardiac cath also neg. My Ekgs all unremarkable. Yet I continue to have throat tightness and chest pressure. Both relieved with nitro. I also have longstanding GERD with treatment. I have times when my chest pain is so bad i feel incapacitated. I have seen a cardiologist he is totally stumped. Is now saying its probably not my heart. Maybe i should see a gastro doc. Has anyone else had this happen? I wonder if I would be better served at a women heart center. I live in Michigan and giving serious thought to the UofM's womens heart center. Anyone have any advice? Thanks

Explore topics in this discussion:

Exercise Heart disease Surgery GERD Bypass surgery Angina Hernia Pain Menopause Heart attack Hiatal hernia

6 replies

gracie62

Please look up coronary artery spasms, vasospasms, arterial spasms, Prinzmetal's angina. They are all terms for the same condition. A lot of women on this board have this supposedly rare condition. It can lead to heart attacks in rare instances. It has to be seen happening during a cath to be diagnosed 100%, but some doctors will treat based on symptoms if they are familiar with the condition. My life was ruled by chest pain until I got on treatment - calcium channel blockers is the gold standard. I have both CAD and Prinzmetal's. I had a heart attack post bypass surgery caused by a combination of a blood clot and spasm in one of my new bypasses.

It might be worth looking up to see if any of your symptoms fit. Some doctors aren't aware of the condition or think it is too rare to consider. Sometimes all it takes is asking your cardio to get them to investigate.

Take care -
Dianna

Kennarina

While you're at it, look up microvascular disease or Syndrome X - same symptoms as a coronary artery blockage, but all standard tests tend to be okay.

If you've had GERD for some time, have you not seen a gastro doc already for this?

Check out all possibilities before you get used to just tolerating debilitating symptoms.

Good luck,
xoxoxo


http://www.myheartsisters.org

Yatchzee

My cardiac cath was also negative but I have Prinzmetal and had some of the symptoms you have. Yours could be Prinzmetal, too or microvascular disease, but like Kennarina says, usually you need a negative on a GERD test or a heart attack to get a diagnosis--go with the GERD test. :) My EKGs show an unusual T wave while I am having spasms, but is just fine when not. You should not stop looking for answers and I think I would go to a gastroenterogist and then the heart clinic you mentioned. Get all your medical records. You need answers. It sounds like it is your heart. Have you worn a heart monitor for a time?
Joyce

trigrandma

thanks all I have looked up mircovascular disease and the description seems to fit. I have low risk factors . I have not yet done the heart monitor. I have had 2 upper GI scopes no hiatal hernia but chronic gastritis, and take high doses of proton pump inhibitor. Sometimes I wonder if it is related to menopause, chest pain seems to have started around the time my menopause symptoms had gotten bad. Anyone seen any articles on that? Thanks again

Yatchzee

Some of us think that hormones play a part in Prinzmetal. I find it intersting that I started having symptoms right after I cut my hormone replacement in half ( 2002 scare of HRT) There are a few discussions on here about it but very little information on the internet. Here is a link where it was discussed by women here.
http://www.inspire.com/groups/womenheart/discussion/pma-migraine-and-oestro gen/
Joyce

kmps

I strongly encourage you(as the other voices here) to review the web sites related to microcardiovascular disease. Search the web there is a ton of information onSyn X.This is a REAL heart disease. I fought the same battle .... doctors kept saying it was unrelated to my heart. I had more information than the cardio doctor....everytime I saw him I "armed" myself with information...finally after ever test...he said "he guessed" it was MCVD. Calcium blockers and cardio exercise have given me back my energy.

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