Do I have angina/heart problems?

There is quite a bit to tell so please bear with me.

I am a 47 year old, 6 foot, 170lb. Canadian male, non-smoker with a family history of heart disease. My father had a quintuple bypass at age 62 and died of heart failure at age 81. My job is quite physical being a home renovator. I have hypertension and am taking Atacand (candesartan cilexetil) 24 mg a day and Indapamide 1.25 mg. My 30 day average is 133/86. For the last couple of years I have occassionally experienced what I can only describe as a momentary head rush. It's not dizziness, it feels more like a pressure. Not pain. Occassionally it would last for several minutes. My MD thought the head rush might be sudden changes in blood pressure. She didn't seem too worried about it. I wondered if it was the medication. She said no.

In early 2007 my father's health began to decline more sharply so I began to be concerned about him. Not long after (coincidence?) I began to have occassional chest tightness which feels deep inside. My MD ordered a chest X-ray, an EKG, stress test, 24 hour heart monitor - all came back fine. The discomfort continued on and off. She suggested it was my work causing muscular issues. In August of 2007 I suffered from a perianal abscess which had to be lanced. The resulting fistula did not heal and I was scheduled to have surgery. The discomfort of my bum caused me to sit abnormally and favour my right side. I began to have mid/upper back pain mostly to the immediate left of my spine. My chiropractor and massage therapist suggested that the chest discomfort could be muscular/skeletal related. When my massage therapist presses firmly in the costochondrital area it can be quite painful. (Costochondritis?)

In January of this year I had minor surgery for the anal fistula. In preparation for the surgery I had another EKG and chest X-ray - both clear. I now have a Seton loop and thus have an opening near my anus. I still sit abnormally.  My father died a week after my surgery. I live in a different part of the country so was unable to attend the funeral because I couldn't sit on a plane for 4 hours. Obviously, I have experienced a lot of stress around my father and my bum, which makes me wonder if my symptoms are anxiety related.  A couple of weeks after the surgery the chest discomfort became worse and more frequent. Sometimes I would get a feeling of a lump in my esophagus. My MD put me on Prevacid (lansoprazole) 30mg - one a day. This seemed to work for about a month (though I'm still taking the Prevacid).

The problems returned even worse with other symptoms. The chest tightness can last hours at a time or all day. But some days there is nothing. The longest I've gone with no symptoms is 3 days. Sometimes it seems to kick in a half an hour to an hour after I eat. Other times it comes out of the blue even if I am immobile, reading or watch TV. It rarely happens when sleeping. A couple of months ago I had an episode of severe pain at the base of my sternum which lasted about 4 hours (felt like heartburn). I considered going to emerg but it disappeared. My MD ordered an X-ray of the sternum - it was clear. About two months ago I started getting weird sensations down my left arm, into the hand: sometimes a tingling, other times a mild, dull pain. I get similar sensations through my left ribcage up the front/left side of my neck into my jaw and face and the odd time into my lips. Occasionally I'll get a sharp pain that shoots through my abdomen lasting a couple of seconds. The chest tightness can get quite extreme.

Of course this all seems like heart issues and I get quite anxious and then it feels like I having heart palpitations. Lately when I exert myself (i.e. walk up a hill) the tightness starts or gets a little worse. My MD has referred me to a cardiologist. A week ago I had an echo-cardiogram in preparation for seeing him. He is so booked up that I don't actually consult with him until late August. I'm obviously very worried about what is going on with my body, but I can't see him any quicker. By the way, perhaps foolishly, I decided to experiment and go off my indapamide to see if the head rush would improve and it in fact has. Coincidence? And my blood pressure doesn't seem to have been effected.

Anyway, does this sound like heart problems? Do you have any suggestions as to other courses of investigation or should I wait on the cardiologist.