Coronary Artery Spasm

• By TigerWiger
• Reply 3476170
• October 21, 2012 at 11:01 am
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Try to take the lowest possible dose and/or see if it is possible to be on an every other day regime.

I think this happens with all medicines. Your body gets used to it, then, when you don't take it, the problems come back worse than before you were ever on the medicines. It's called the "Rebound Effect." I have had it with Metoprolol. I have even had it with Advil, getting rebound headaches, when I took Advil everyday.

I keep telling myself that I am going to go on the Ornish Diet. Dr. Dean Ornish is a cardiologist, who proved that diet and exercise could reverse heart disease. One of the testimonials regarding his program was from an 80 year old man, who had angina so bad he couldn't even lift his arm to shave. After adhering to the Ornish diet/exercise program, he was out jogging 3 miles a day. Dr. Ornish has a website, http://www.ornishspectrum.com/ornish-certified-site-directory/reversing-pro grams/, that tells you about his 35 years of research and his health clinic, located in California.

• By special85
• Reply 3478639
• October 22, 2012 at 11:39 am
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Hi, Anna
I see you live pretty close to me. I have never missed my dose of Imdur. I take 60 mg at 8am and 2pm. I have had two heart attacks from these nasty spasms before being diagnosed so I know how important it is for my body to have the nitro when it needs it. My body is usually telling me "It is time to take your meds!!" when they are due. There's no doubt in my mind if I would forget to take my meds I would be on the way to the ER. So remember to take your meds. They are literally life savers for the ones of us that do not make enough nitric oxide to keep our arteries from spasming. Be sure to take the sublingual nitro when they come back with a vengence.
Hope this helps,
Special85

• By vampyrra1
• Reply 3479741
• October 22, 2012 at 6:07 pm
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Meds are intended to be taken at specific intervals and you must take them accordingly to experience their full benefit. Forgetting is not an option if you want to remain stable and relatively pain-free. I've been treated for prinzmetal's and arrhythmias for 32 years and have yet to forget a dose of anything. Even when my home burned two years ago with all my meds inside, I immediately called the pharmacy to have them replaced. A friend picked them up and brought them to me while the firetrucks were still fighting the blaze. I literally had nothing left but the clothes I was wearing, my purse and my new bag of meds! When my 6:00pm doses were due, I took them right on time.

Hopefully nothing this extreme ever happens to you, but it just highlights the importance of taking your meds and taking them on time.

Terri

• By houston
• Reply 3480894 · In reply to 3478639 by special85
• October 23, 2012 at 6:01 am
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Dear special85,
I just recently have been told I had an extreme spasm in the LAD when they were putting in a stent. The stent was put in the RCA. I have had attacks early in the morning since that I would call extreme. I take nitro which helps. The doctor called yesterday and is putting me on Imdur and Verapimil. sp? My concern is she tried another calcium channel blocker that gave me terrible heart burn. Is it usual that one is put on two when they had trouble with one? I have been told by another cardiologist that I am sensitive meds. Also, the Verapimil is 180 mg. Would it be better to be on 30 mg taken through out the day to see how you tolerate it? I pick it up today.

• By MountainLoverNY
• Reply 3481065
• October 23, 2012 at 8:02 am
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When I was on the Imdur if I was 15 minutes off the normal time I would have break threw attacks it was crazy but I was having sever back pain with imdur so I hate to go off it.

• By special85
• Reply 3481559
• October 23, 2012 at 10:37 am
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Houston,
I , too, am very sensitive to medications and have tried a variety of calcium channel blockers but I usually come back to Amolodopine. I've tried Dilitizem which contains some sulfa which I'm allergic to so that nearly put me under. I don't think it is that unusual to try a variety of calcium channel blockers to determine which one your body will react better to. The Imdur will cause you to have headaches for awhile just be sure to take Tylenol before taking it and don't give up taking it because of those headaches. They will eventually go away and you will feel so much better. They have had to increase my dose several times until I've gotten to 60 mg in the morning and 60 mg 6 hours later. Each time they increase the dose the headaches would return and I would grab for the Tylenol. I've gotten so now that when I'm in the hospital for the nitro drip that it doesn't even cause a headache anymore. The nurses will say " Now this will cause you to have a headache" and I reply " No, it won't I live on this stuff". For me , every 7 to 9 months the chest pain, pressure, back pain, heartburn etc... will not go away even with nitro under the tongue and I have to be hospitalized for the drip. My cardio calls these clusters of chest pain that only the drip can break the spasm cycle. I think that I've got a more severe case of this condition than some or that's what I've been told.
I don't know about the dose of Verapimil. I would just follow your doctor's advice and be sure you can get in touch with them if you do have a reaction. I never start a new medication over the weekend as I know it is real hard to get in touch with a cardio. I'm very fortunate to have one that is always available.
Hoping for a chest pain day for you,
Special85
Verapimil,
You sound just like me. I would be so paranoid if I missed a dose of meds. So sorry you had to lose your home but at least you had a very good pharmacy that supplied your meds for you promptly. I carry a water bottle in my purse at all times so I can take my 2pm Imdur if I'm out of the house running errands and such. Not a good idea to miss those meds especially after having a heart attack. They are way too important to our bodies to miss a dose.

• By TigerWiger
• Reply 3481841
• October 23, 2012 at 11:53 am
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http://www.lef.org/magazine/mag2003/mar2003_cover_effects_01.html

• By annaeaster35
• Reply 3485291
• October 24, 2012 at 1:15 pm
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Thanks everyone for kind and insightful comments. It's nice to know I'm not alone. I just recently had my gallbladder removed due to stones. I was hoping that was my problem but it wasn't. I guess sometimes I wish there would be an easier outlet than taking meds every day but the spasms are horrible! I will settle for nitro and amlodipine and short acting nitro.

• By TigerWiger
• Reply 3487839
• October 25, 2012 at 10:24 am
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I would suggest that if you truly wish not to be so reliant on high doses of medication, try to find an integrative cardiologist, who will help you control your spasms with medication, lifestyle changes, i.e., diet, exercise, stress control. Dr. Dean Ornish, a California cardiologist, is world renowned for reversing heart disease with lifestyle changes. http://www.ornishspectrum.com/

Or, alternately, see if you can talk to your doctor/local hospital about helping you to integrate the lifestyle changes recommended by Dr. Ornish.

• By Writer01
• Reply 3490969
• October 26, 2012 at 9:49 am
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I have been something like that and find it's a lighter way of eating. I can see there are many benefits especially for people with heart issues. I struggled with giving up ham and cheese subs, I still miss them...

• By TigerWiger
• Reply 3491301
• October 26, 2012 at 11:35 am
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My downfall is sweets. It was much easier when I lived alone, as I didn't keep anything in the house that would tempt me. My husband loves sweets, chips, coke--all the empty calories--and, if I don't buy them, he goes to the store and buys them. So, we always have a house full of goodies (or baddies, as it were).