Chest pain

[Richard Almy]

I am 6 days post procedure and find that after the second day I have experienced chest pain, not to the degree of pre angioplasty but severe enough to be concerned. I have been told that this is somewhat normal, is this true and should I seek another opinion. I am also an insulin dependent diabetic.

[Cleveland Clinic, MD]

The best thing is to notify your doctor.  It may be nothing but there is a small posibility that the artery worked on is having a problem.  You doctor should be able to tell if anything needs to be done.

[Larry Erickson]

Seven years ago I had a double bypass after experiencing unstable angina as a result of a treadmill test. There apparently was no heart attack at the time.  Three years ago I had a "minor" heart attack, preceeded by the same pains I experienced before the bypass.  An angioplasty was done at the time of the heart attack.

Two weeks ago, while walking I began experiencing the same pains, starting with an ache in my left arm, then in my right arm. Three sprays of nitogen over 15 minutes did not stop the pain so I went to the emergency room. Tests (blood, X-ray, treadmill/echogram) during a two-day stay at the heart-specialty hospital indicate that the pain is not heart related and the cardioligist did not want to do an angiogram test.

My primary care doctor now has me on Ranitidine (prescription-strength Zantac) to see if the pain might be digestive related.  So far the medication has made no difference.  Even a slight amount of activity (a 200 foot round trip to the mailbox) starts the pain, first in the arms, then a burning pain in the chest.  Usually the pain diminishes if I just sit down and rest.   Last night while sitting, the pain returned and got fairly severe.  The chest pain stopped about 2 minutes after a spray of nitrogen.  The arm pain persisted, but was less severe.

Since these pains feel exactly like those before the bypass seven years ago, and the heart attack three years ago, I'm extremely concerned that the hospital diagnosis might be incorrect.

Your thoughts would be much appreciated.

Larry L. Erickson