Heart Disease/Issues?

sillav nitram

Just wondering if anyone on here is or has experienced any issues around their heart?

There's a history of heart disease in my family, my grandad and my father.

About 2 years ago I had a stent fitted because I'd been experiencing pain in and around my heart. I can't remember how effective or not it has been, because I'm also now on the usual medication and maybe that has masked it, dunno?

The pain has come back, sometimes its constant and at the moment intermittent, its not specifically painful, I'm just aware of it being present.

I've had further tests that have all come back normal and I'm now being sent for a scan, no idea when that'll be as the waiting list is long but I'm assuming that if I have pain something must be causing it?

Interested to hear any lifers experiences that could be helpful or the opposite worrying;)

BTW I'm 68, keep it to yourself though.

cafcfan

If it was me I wouldn't wait. Your life is too important. That would leave two options. First get your scan done privately. Second, cheat. By cheat I mean call 111 tell them you are experiencing pain in the heart area, tell them you have a stent and ask if you should be going to A & E.  

That's kind of what happened to me. I thought I was having a heart attack. Called 111they requested an ambulance for me but that failed to arrive so I had to take myself to A & E. Spent 36 hours in A & E having various tests and turns out it was pericarditis (probably a side effect of a COVID jab). Which is usually treatable with ibuprofen.

Get yourself checked out pronto is all I can say really.

Algarveaddick

I have two stents, and one non-functioning artery. I get occasional pains, but usually very brief - either a stabbing pain or an ache for about three seconds. I have an ECG, a blood test and a scan every year, a stress test every three years and nuclear x-ray every five years and they tell me I am normal for a bloke with two stents and a calcified artery, the doc says a bit of pain occasionally is to be expected when you are functioning at about 75%. If you get a constant pain and start feeling unusually tired, I would go to A&E and lay it on a bit thick, hopefully they will get a finger out with the scan then? 

Best of luck Martin.     

      

Wheresmeticket?

My partner called down the stairs to me this morning as I was about to leave to go to work to say she felt "ill".  When I asked her about symptoms she said she had been feeling chest pain and pain around her neck and shoulders all night and now was feeling nauseous.  She has had angina for around 10 years and recently has been very tired.  I called 999 immediately and she is hospital now.  I've spent all day with her in ED and she is now going up to a ward.  They haven't identified what exactly happened - they are calling it an "event" but not heart failure.  An x ray has now revealed that ALL of the arteries around the heart are clogged.  My neighbour who loves to tell a horror story reckons the waiting list for major bypass surgery is a year or more.  

I am fucking terrified.

I'm also furious that she left it til this morning to  tell me.

Algarveaddick

Wheresmeticket? said:

My partner called down the stairs to me this morning as I was about to leave to go to work to say she felt "ill".  When I asked her about symptoms she said she had been feeling chest pain and pain around her neck and shoulders all night and now was feeling nauseous.  She has had angina for around 10 years and recently has been very tired.  I called 999 immediately and she is hospital now.  I've spent all day with her in ED and she is now going up to a ward.  They haven't identified what exactly happened - they are calling it an "event" but not heart failure.  An x ray has now revealed that ALL of the arteries around the heart are clogged.  My neighbour who loves to tell a horror story reckons the waiting list for major bypass surgery is a year or more.  

I am fucking terrified.

I'm also furious that she left it til this morning to  tell me.

She may well just need stents to keep the arteries open, so don't panic. Best of luck to Mrs W. 

Valley Ant

Don't wait.
Different circumstances I know but I had a heart attack in 2018 and sat there until it calmed down. I am now living with heart failure as my heart is working at around 40%
For the previous year I had had loads of tests as I felt something wasn't right and they all came back as normal. 
I have since heard the doctors' mantra of "Time is muscle".
I wish every day that I had called 999 straight away...

jdsd42

Hi 

I had  a bypass 4 years ago - Jan 2019 I was getting breathless when walking and that caused a pain round my chest - once I stopped and got my breathe back - felt great - but was masking the obvious - be and my family made me get an appointment 

My appointment at Kim’s diagnosed my aorta was 87% blocked and Kim’s had me blue lighted immediately - admitted me to St Thomas and I was operated on 3 days later - it saved my Life and I actually recovered to be at the Sunderland play off 😃

Operated in Jan 2109 back to work in April and touch wood all is well - and took advantage of all the rehab and advice possible 

please get an appointment and get yourself sorted don’t wait  owe my life to wife and daughter nagging me to get sorted 

Always contactable for a chat if you wanna know more 

good luck 

Denis

66 years old now was 61 when all happened 

ShootersHillGuru

Wheresmeticket? said:

My partner called down the stairs to me this morning as I was about to leave to go to work to say she felt "ill".  When I asked her about symptoms she said she had been feeling chest pain and pain around her neck and shoulders all night and now was feeling nauseous.  She has had angina for around 10 years and recently has been very tired.  I called 999 immediately and she is hospital now.  I've spent all day with her in ED and she is now going up to a ward.  They haven't identified what exactly happened - they are calling it an "event" but not heart failure.  An x ray has now revealed that ALL of the arteries around the heart are clogged.  My neighbour who loves to tell a horror story reckons the waiting list for major bypass surgery is a year or more.  

I am fucking terrified.

I'm also furious that she left it til this morning to  tell me.

My daughters father in law had chest pain and after attending ED was told he needed a stent which was fitted 24 hours later. Hopefully if your wife requires surgery it will hopefully happen pdq. Best wishes to you both.

IdleHans

Wheresmeticket? said:

My partner called down the stairs to me this morning as I was about to leave to go to work to say she felt "ill".  When I asked her about symptoms she said she had been feeling chest pain and pain around her neck and shoulders all night and now was feeling nauseous.  She has had angina for around 10 years and recently has been very tired.  I called 999 immediately and she is hospital now.  I've spent all day with her in ED and she is now going up to a ward.  They haven't identified what exactly happened - they are calling it an "event" but not heart failure.  An x ray has now revealed that ALL of the arteries around the heart are clogged.  My neighbour who loves to tell a horror story reckons the waiting list for major bypass surgery is a year or more.  

I am fucking terrified.

I'm also furious that she left it til this morning to  tell me.

Firstly, don't be terrified - they know what they're doing. Your partner will be subject to more tests than she's ever had in her life, and they'll do what's needed.

This heart stuff happens gradually over time without you knowing anything about it then blam! The first you know about a heart problem is a cardiac event. I've been through it recently, ending with a CABG operation, which I've now largely recovered from. They tried a stent first but I was so clogged up that they couldnt get it in, hence the operation. Three months on I'm feeling good and am back to being able to do just about everything I want to. If her treatment goes down this route, please be reassured that the mortality rate is very low and her prospects will be good, the younger she is the better, but the guy in the bed next to mine was well into his 80s and looking forward to getting back to his golf. Trawl the "How are you?" thread where you'll find several lifers have been through something similar.   

I have only good things to say of my experience of the NHS on a clinical level, but sometimes you have to kick up to get them to do something, so be your partner's advocate and dont take no as an answer if you believe action needs taking more quickly. Chase them if it goes quiet until they get fed up with you. I was miscategorised as a yellow not a red and only when the surgeon called me personally to find out 22 weeks after my event why I hadnt yet had my op did things get moving - the op happened about 10 days after that call. The initial indication of my waiting time was 6-8 weeks, and it would have been done even more quickly if I hadnt had a minor chest infection at the time. My first hospital was the Royal Berks in Reading, but the op was done at Bart's.

Best wishes to both of you. For all the above, it's a worrying time.

And disregard the 12 months nonsense from your neighbour.

IdleHans

And if she's a reader, get her a copy of Bob Mortimer's autobiography 'And Away...'
It's very readable and spends a good deal of time discussing his own heart diagnosis, operation and recovery in a very real way.
I also recommend the bhf website for all the background and medical details you could want.

JiMMy 85

I'm on beta blockers for an undiagnosed heart condition. No real clue what's going on, waiting for a doctor to explain it. Pretty sure it's COVID related. Get chest pains and shortness of breath but all the tests have come out okay. Beta blockers make my toes really cold though. 

_MrDick

I’d just turned 60 when I had prostate surgery. All went well and I was in and out within a day. However, the anaesthetic put my heart into atrial fibrillation.  During the night, I was getting alerts on my Apple Watch that my heart rate was 165 bpm and it wasn’t coming down. Thing is, I didn’t feel unwell and I didn’t have any symptoms. 

Thinking I was going to be alright, I left it until my partner came home and she insisted I phone 111. They told me to present to A&E straight away and when I got there they put me straight into re-sus. Long story short, they couldn’t get the heart rate down for a week and I was in the heart ward at Darent Valley under 24hour observation. What they did was a cardioversion when they stopped the heart and restarted it. That did the trick and they sent me home with blood thinners and beta blockers.

Fast forward to September 2022, the same thing happened when I was doing the gardening. Week in Darent Valley except this time the drugs worked. But what it left me with was a flutter. My heart would jump as high as 170 bpm and drop down to 35 bpm. I could feel the heart rate drop. Strange feeling.

A couple of weeks ago, I went up to Kings to have a catheter ablation. An ablation is where they go into the heart through a vein in the groin and burn off blood vessels and create a new electrical circuit to make the heart beat in Sinus. It was all done under local anaesthetic, I was wide awake and I watched the procedure on the big screen. In theatre at 9:30, discharged at 3pm. Home by 5pm. The missus wasn't happy that I came home on the train.

I feel like a new man.

Edit: The Apple Watch save my life on two occasions. If I hadn’t have had the alerts, I would have carried on as normal and my heart would have just stopped. AF is known as the silent killer.

IdleHans

sillav nitram said:

Just wondering if anyone on here is or has experienced any issues around their heart?

There's a history of heart disease in my family, my grandad and my father.

About 2 years ago I had a stent fitted because I'd been experiencing pain in and around my heart. I can't remember how effective or not it has been, because I'm also now on the usual medication and maybe that has masked it, dunno?

The pain has come back, sometimes its constant and at the moment intermittent, its not specifically painful, I'm just aware of it being present.

I've had further tests that have all come back normal and I'm now being sent for a scan, no idea when that'll be as the waiting list is long but I'm assuming that if I have pain something must be causing it?

Interested to hear any lifers experiences that could be helpful or the opposite worrying;)

BTW I'm 68, keep it to yourself though.

Did you have just one stent fitted? I'm no doctor but is it possible a second artery to the heart is starting to become clogged? Mind you I'd expect that to show up easily on a scan or an ECG.

I think once you've had treatment for heart problems you're likely always to have to take medication, whether it's low dose aspirin, blood thinners, statins etc, but I doubt they've given you painkillers so they won't be masking anything.
I agree with @cafcfan, don't wait and push them for a diagnosis soonest.

sillav nitram

Yes, only one stent fitted at  @idlehans I think I remember at the time of fitting, there was consideration of another artery that was showing signs of needing attention but not something that needed to be done then and there. Although one may ask if they were already putting one stent in, why didn’t they do the other at the same time, cost?

Thanks to everyone whose responded and thanks for the suggestions.

I suppose I’m inclined to trust the medical people but as some of you have alluded to, that something could be missed and perhaps I should press them a bit more urgently. I will call 111.

JohnBoyUK

Off on a tangent, I've had 2 bouts of anxiety over the last couple of years thinking I had a heart issue.

I think deep down I still have a deep routed trauma seeing my grandad sitting in bed at St Tommys after his quadruple bypass in 1988 as a 12yo (I'm 47 now) in the old days where they literally opened you up from front, back and sides.  No where near as bad as that now thanks to modern medicine.

The anxiety started when one of my pals from my old run club announced he was going into KCH for a triple bypass at 49.  Couldnt bloody believe it.  I had 3-4 weeks after that of stress winding me up that I was going to die young leaving my 3 kids and wife behind,

I'd just been diagnosed with high blood pressure 6 months beforehand and I'd spent the next 6 months avoiding blood tests, and the two scans I'd been booked in for just in case they found something wrong!

My wife eventually got me to the GP, had a melt down before the blood test but Vicky the Vampire (as she calls herself) got 3 vials of blood out before I realise the needed had gone in my arm and the ECG and Kidney scans game back all clear.  The bloods came back good, normal cholesterol levels and 5% chance of developing heart disease as per the stats.  It was a huge weight off my shoulders tbh.

In the meantime, I dumped my old Garmin watch for a new Apple watch so I could run ECG and heart scan reports when I want and I'm trying to look after myself a bit better now, although I wish I could give up my vice - cheese on toast.

My mate is doing bloody well, already running again.

In conclusion - Dont delay, go get yourself checked out ASAP.  Dont be a prized grade A melt like me by trying to bury my head in the sand.

Best of luck!

ElfsborgAddick

jdsd42 said:

Hi 

I had  a bypass 4 years ago - Jan 2019 I was getting breathless when walking and that caused a pain round my chest - once I stopped and got my breathe back - felt great - but was masking the obvious - be and my family made me get an appointment 

My appointment at Kim’s diagnosed my aorta was 87% blocked and Kim’s had me blue lighted immediately - admitted me to St Thomas and I was operated on 3 days later - it saved my Life and I actually recovered to be at the Sunderland play off 😃

Operated in Jan 2109 back to work in April and touch wood all is well - and took advantage of all the rehab and advice possible 

please get an appointment and get yourself sorted don’t wait  owe my life to wife and daughter nagging me to get sorted 

Always contactable for a chat if you wanna know more 

good luck 

Denis

66 years old now was 61 when all happened 

Glad you're back on track.

ElfsborgAddick

IdleHans said:

sillav nitram said:

Just wondering if anyone on here is or has experienced any issues around their heart?

There's a history of heart disease in my family, my grandad and my father.

About 2 years ago I had a stent fitted because I'd been experiencing pain in and around my heart. I can't remember how effective or not it has been, because I'm also now on the usual medication and maybe that has masked it, dunno?

The pain has come back, sometimes its constant and at the moment intermittent, its not specifically painful, I'm just aware of it being present.

I've had further tests that have all come back normal and I'm now being sent for a scan, no idea when that'll be as the waiting list is long but I'm assuming that if I have pain something must be causing it?

Interested to hear any lifers experiences that could be helpful or the opposite worrying;)

BTW I'm 68, keep it to yourself though.

Did you have just one stent fitted? I'm no doctor but is it possible a second artery to the heart is starting to become clogged? Mind you I'd expect that to show up easily on a scan or an ECG.

I think once you've had treatment for heart problems you're likely always to have to take medication, whether it's low dose aspirin, blood thinners, statins etc, but I doubt they've given you painkillers so they won't be masking anything.
I agree with @cafcfan, don't wait and push them for a diagnosis soonest.

I'm on the three you mention, they are for life and fortunately I have no problems taking tablets, some people do.

Kap10

Sounds like Charlton Life could run a "who has the best chest scar competition" Seems like a few of us have them.

IdleHans

Kap10 said:

Sounds like Charlton Life could run a "who has the best chest scar competition" Seems like a few of us have them.

Mine's 9 inches long. And I've never been able to make that boast before!

RickAddick

_MrDick said:

I’d just turned 60 when I had prostate surgery. All went well and I was in and out within a day. However, the anaesthetic put my heart into atrial fibrillation.  During the night, I was getting alerts on my Apple Watch that my heart rate was 165 bpm and it wasn’t coming down. Thing is, I didn’t feel unwell and I didn’t have any symptoms. 

Thinking I was going to be alright, I left it until my partner came home and she insisted I phone 111. They told me to present to A&E straight away and when I got there they put me straight into re-sus. Long story short, they couldn’t get the heart rate down for a week and I was in the heart ward at Darent Valley under 24hour observation. What they did was a cardioversion when they stopped the heart and restarted it. That did the trick and they sent me home with blood thinners and beta blockers.

Fast forward to September 2022, the same thing happened when I was doing the gardening. Week in Darent Valley except this time the drugs worked. But what it left me with was a flutter. My heart would jump as high as 170 bpm and drop down to 35 bpm. I could feel the heart rate drop. Strange feeling.

A couple of weeks ago, I went up to Kings to have a catheter ablation. An ablation is where they go into the heart through a vein in the groin and burn off blood vessels and create a new electrical circuit to make the heart beat in Sinus. It was all done under local anaesthetic, I was wide awake and I watched the procedure on the big screen. In theatre at 9:30, discharged at 3pm. Home by 5pm. The missus wasn't happy that I came home on the train.

I feel like a new man.

Edit: The Apple Watch save my life on two occasions. If I hadn’t have had the alerts, I would have carried on as normal and my heart would have just stopped. AF is known as the silent killer.

Coming home on the train?
Proper Charlton!

Hoping your latest treatment keeps on working for you.

jdsd42

Kap10 said:

Sounds like Charlton Life could run a "who has the best chest scar competition" Seems like a few of us have them.

Not to forget the Leg where they found the 
much needed or arm 😀

jdsd42

IdleHans said:

Kap10 said:

Sounds like Charlton Life could run a "who has the best chest scar competition" Seems like a few of us have them.

Mine's 9 inches long. And I've never been able to make that boast before!

Show off only a 8 inches here

but 14 inches on my leg work of art 😀

Algarveaddick

ElfsborgAddick said:

IdleHans said:

sillav nitram said:

Just wondering if anyone on here is or has experienced any issues around their heart?

There's a history of heart disease in my family, my grandad and my father.

About 2 years ago I had a stent fitted because I'd been experiencing pain in and around my heart. I can't remember how effective or not it has been, because I'm also now on the usual medication and maybe that has masked it, dunno?

The pain has come back, sometimes its constant and at the moment intermittent, its not specifically painful, I'm just aware of it being present.

I've had further tests that have all come back normal and I'm now being sent for a scan, no idea when that'll be as the waiting list is long but I'm assuming that if I have pain something must be causing it?

Interested to hear any lifers experiences that could be helpful or the opposite worrying;)

BTW I'm 68, keep it to yourself though.

Did you have just one stent fitted? I'm no doctor but is it possible a second artery to the heart is starting to become clogged? Mind you I'd expect that to show up easily on a scan or an ECG.

I think once you've had treatment for heart problems you're likely always to have to take medication, whether it's low dose aspirin, blood thinners, statins etc, but I doubt they've given you painkillers so they won't be masking anything.
I agree with @cafcfan, don't wait and push them for a diagnosis soonest.

I'm on the three you mention, they are for life and fortunately I have no problems taking tablets, some people do.

I am able to lead a completely normal life ten years on from my heart attack thanks to the pills. A statin, a blood thinner, an anti-coagulent and a beta blocker. 

As Elfsborg says, keep taking the tablets... 

IdleHans

Algarveaddick said:

ElfsborgAddick said:

IdleHans said:

sillav nitram said:

Just wondering if anyone on here is or has experienced any issues around their heart?

There's a history of heart disease in my family, my grandad and my father.

About 2 years ago I had a stent fitted because I'd been experiencing pain in and around my heart. I can't remember how effective or not it has been, because I'm also now on the usual medication and maybe that has masked it, dunno?

The pain has come back, sometimes its constant and at the moment intermittent, its not specifically painful, I'm just aware of it being present.

I've had further tests that have all come back normal and I'm now being sent for a scan, no idea when that'll be as the waiting list is long but I'm assuming that if I have pain something must be causing it?

Interested to hear any lifers experiences that could be helpful or the opposite worrying;)

BTW I'm 68, keep it to yourself though.

Did you have just one stent fitted? I'm no doctor but is it possible a second artery to the heart is starting to become clogged? Mind you I'd expect that to show up easily on a scan or an ECG.

I think once you've had treatment for heart problems you're likely always to have to take medication, whether it's low dose aspirin, blood thinners, statins etc, but I doubt they've given you painkillers so they won't be masking anything.
I agree with @cafcfan, don't wait and push them for a diagnosis soonest.

I'm on the three you mention, they are for life and fortunately I have no problems taking tablets, some people do.

I am able to lead a completely normal life ten years on from my heart attack thanks to the pills. A statin, a blood thinner, an anti-coagulent and a beta blocker. 

As Elfsborg says, keep taking the tablets... 

The worst thing now is if I cut myself, even a small scratch, I bleed like a bugger for ages. Shave very carefully and keep plenty of plasters around the house.

sillav nitram

I phoned 111 this morning and they suggested I follow the advice I was given by the hospital re having the echocardiogram and wait for the appointment. With the proviso of going to A&E should it get much worse.

T_C_E

IdleHans said:

Algarveaddick said:

ElfsborgAddick said:

IdleHans said:

sillav nitram said:

Just wondering if anyone on here is or has experienced any issues around their heart?

There's a history of heart disease in my family, my grandad and my father.

About 2 years ago I had a stent fitted because I'd been experiencing pain in and around my heart. I can't remember how effective or not it has been, because I'm also now on the usual medication and maybe that has masked it, dunno?

The pain has come back, sometimes its constant and at the moment intermittent, its not specifically painful, I'm just aware of it being present.

I've had further tests that have all come back normal and I'm now being sent for a scan, no idea when that'll be as the waiting list is long but I'm assuming that if I have pain something must be causing it?

Interested to hear any lifers experiences that could be helpful or the opposite worrying;)

BTW I'm 68, keep it to yourself though.

Did you have just one stent fitted? I'm no doctor but is it possible a second artery to the heart is starting to become clogged? Mind you I'd expect that to show up easily on a scan or an ECG.

I think once you've had treatment for heart problems you're likely always to have to take medication, whether it's low dose aspirin, blood thinners, statins etc, but I doubt they've given you painkillers so they won't be masking anything.
I agree with @cafcfan, don't wait and push them for a diagnosis soonest.

I'm on the three you mention, they are for life and fortunately I have no problems taking tablets, some people do.

I am able to lead a completely normal life ten years on from my heart attack thanks to the pills. A statin, a blood thinner, an anti-coagulent and a beta blocker. 

As Elfsborg says, keep taking the tablets... 

The worst thing now is if I cut myself, even a small scratch, I bleed like a bugger for ages. Shave very carefully and keep plenty of plasters around the house.

My wife’s the same, her arms are covered in what resemble birth marks where she plays with the dogs and gets bumped, not forgetting not a day goes by without her bumping into something or cutting herself. 

SoundAsa£

IdleHans said:

Algarveaddick said:

ElfsborgAddick said:

IdleHans said:

sillav nitram said:

Just wondering if anyone on here is or has experienced any issues around their heart?

There's a history of heart disease in my family, my grandad and my father.

About 2 years ago I had a stent fitted because I'd been experiencing pain in and around my heart. I can't remember how effective or not it has been, because I'm also now on the usual medication and maybe that has masked it, dunno?

The pain has come back, sometimes its constant and at the moment intermittent, its not specifically painful, I'm just aware of it being present.

I've had further tests that have all come back normal and I'm now being sent for a scan, no idea when that'll be as the waiting list is long but I'm assuming that if I have pain something must be causing it?

Interested to hear any lifers experiences that could be helpful or the opposite worrying;)

BTW I'm 68, keep it to yourself though.

Did you have just one stent fitted? I'm no doctor but is it possible a second artery to the heart is starting to become clogged? Mind you I'd expect that to show up easily on a scan or an ECG.

I think once you've had treatment for heart problems you're likely always to have to take medication, whether it's low dose aspirin, blood thinners, statins etc, but I doubt they've given you painkillers so they won't be masking anything.
I agree with @cafcfan, don't wait and push them for a diagnosis soonest.

I'm on the three you mention, they are for life and fortunately I have no problems taking tablets, some people do.

I am able to lead a completely normal life ten years on from my heart attack thanks to the pills. A statin, a blood thinner, an anti-coagulent and a beta blocker. 

As Elfsborg says, keep taking the tablets... 

The worst thing now is if I cut myself, even a small scratch, I bleed like a bugger for ages. Shave very carefully and keep plenty of plasters around the house.

I have a good old fashioned ‘styptic’ pencil for when I nick myself shaving…..works a treat and available from any chemists.

TEL

Wheresmeticket? said:

My partner called down the stairs to me this morning as I was about to leave to go to work to say she felt "ill".  When I asked her about symptoms she said she had been feeling chest pain and pain around her neck and shoulders all night and now was feeling nauseous.  She has had angina for around 10 years and recently has been very tired.  I called 999 immediately and she is hospital now.  I've spent all day with her in ED and she is now going up to a ward.  They haven't identified what exactly happened - they are calling it an "event" but not heart failure.  An x ray has now revealed that ALL of the arteries around the heart are clogged.  My neighbour who loves to tell a horror story reckons the waiting list for major bypass surgery is a year or more.  

I am fucking terrified.

I'm also furious that she left it til this morning to  tell me.

That's horrific mate. I hope the initial prognosis isn't as serious. My thoughts are with you. 

TEL

I had a fluttering feeling in my chest back in 2017. Got myself referred to a Cardiologist. She did the ecg and initially said she thought I looked healthy but would do a stress test in a year. I asked if we could do it sooner and she seemed a bit surprised but agreed and I had one 4 weeks later. When we looked at the results, she looked at me and said, I should listen to my patients more often, you're right I'm sending you for an angiogram. 

Needless to say the results came back that all three major arteries were calcified. My blood pressure was high so she said cut all salt out of your diet and I'm sure it will improve... which it did after just three months. She put me on Statins and the cholesterol dropped from 6.1 to 3.4. 

I've been taking an aspirin for many years and another tablet occasionally that ensures the aspirin doesn't do any damage.
I did an experiment last year and stopped taking the statin for three months. The cholesterol rose to 5. So I resumed but in a different tablet as I had been betting cramps with Rosuvasttin. Been fine since. Yearly stress test, lost of blood tests and changed my diet drastically. Another Angiogram next year is on the cards as she did say if things got worse stents were out of the question and it would be heart bypass. 

Fortunately over here, you can get seen pretty much immediately, but hopefully I won't need to call upon her surgical skills just yet. 

I think the moral here is if things don't seem quite right, don't delay, get seen to quickly. 

Solidgone

It’s kind of strange that as you get older you don’t realise or want to realise that these minor squeaks and pains can be serious. It only happens to other people. I put some chest pains down to changing my type of pillow (a memory pillow). But I was concerned as I’ve never had that type of feeling before. My doctor arranged urgently an ECG and results are instantly wired to a cardiologist for immediate diagnosis. All is well, we’ll kind off. A few days later my doc phoned me to say that further analysis of the ECG showed an inconsistent murmuring. As I was about to go on holiday he said that I should have a good travel insurance and should I feel any discomfort to go immediately to a hospital to get checked out. That advice, although sound, made me feel ill at ease. I return soon to Blighty and im sure my doctor will call me in for a check up. 

Sillybilly

Heart attack ten years ago aged 48. All inherited heart disease related. I now have a total of five stents (3 separate procedures) and on a specialist statin plus fortnightly injections for my cholesterol and blood conditioners for my clotting issue.  It’s all under control. Echoing others’ advice - don’t hang about!!!   The stenting procedure is unpleasant because you are awake during it but it’s essentially a bit of plumbing. Better that than the alternative.