Angina

[deb49319]

I have Microvascular Angina.  I am 52 year old woman and I had small heart attack recently and still have frequent angina.  Can anyone relate to my story?
Thanks,
Deb

[microvasculargirl]

Hi Deb. I have also been diagnosed with microvascular angina. I am 33 now and have had angina since I was 10. I had my first stress test at 19 and it showed ischemic changes. My cath was normal, no blockages. They did a thallium stress test, but gave me nitro just before the pictures were taken. The nitro was a revelation! Something actually helped the pain! Of course the test was invalidated by it since it opened everything back up. I found a good cardiologist who diagnosed me with Prinzmetal's. The calcium channel blockers helped for a couple years, but by 22 I was just in too much pain to continue working. I have not worked since. I have pain every day whether I am resting or not. The pain is worse with activity, but not gone without it. When my dr retired I had trouble finding another who believed the condition existed or felt qualified to treat it. Finally I found Dr. Pohost at USC. He did a 3TMRI with cold pressor stress test and finally we had a picture of my left ventricle not getting blood. Proof at last! At least now I know I am not crazy. We are currently treating with nirto, calcium channel blocker, oxycontin, and trying progesterone. About 5 years ago I also began having PVCs. Whenever my heart is angry it goes into bigeminy and I feel quite nasty. I am interested in other people's stories about this condition. For years I felt like I was the only one. I know better now, but still it is a difficult road.

[joanincarolina]

I've had a decent summer and now that I have more time on my hands I'd like to reconnect with you and see if I can help. No docotrs treat MVD well as it is a BIG time issue and we are all a little different. I hope you catch this as it's been a while. Emory sent a patient to me back 3months ago to assist with her management of this MVD. Please answer back. Joan.

[careh]

You are not alone. I am a soon-to-be 51 year old who has been diagnosed with MVD. I also have electrical problems made worse by a failed ablation back in 2004. I have found that nitro is the best thing for MVD. I am on a 0.8 nitro patch for 12 hours a day, and on some really bad days, I have to also take the sub-lingual pills. I am also on Verapamil which is a calcium channel blocker, plus digitalis and a beta blocker. My main problem is that since I am uninsured, i haven't had any test done since early 2004 except for irregular EKG's on my yearly visits to my cardiologist. My cardiologist told me that I was at high risk for "a cardiac event" when I saw him in March, but I canceled the stress echo and blood test he had scheduled (against medical advice), because we are already so far in medical debt to collection agencies.I do take nitro as needed though.
I am here if you need to talk and discuss symptoms. Sometimes it is hard to get a doctor who treats MVD well.
Carolyn

[joanincarolina]

Catch my post/comment on this forum. I have news and relief from pain. Joan.