Does Angina last long?

[dmthelp]

I hurt my lower back last week and have been pretty imobile for a week therefore . Even when lying down or standing i have been feeling chest tightness/pressure and some dull pain in my chest.  It seems to last for hours and goes away when I sleep.  It is not there when I wake but comes later in the day. Oddly I have been able to swim to get excercise in pool but the pain and tightness does not bother me while swimming. can this be angina caused from heart disease or something else?  Also, I have been very anxious lately.

Second question: Can Taking 1/2 of 25Mg of sleep aid (nytol) nightly for months cause any problems?  The active ingredient is Doxolymine Succinate

Thanks for your help/

[CCF-M.D.-RCJ]

Dmthelp,

Thanks for the post.

The chest pain could be something simple, like muscle strain, or something serious, like a heart attack.

From what little information you have provided, and given that today is a Sunday, I think you need to seek care at the local Emergency Room.  Please bear in mind that this site is not designed to provide treatment for acute problems.

Good luck.

[Emmaj]

I hate to answer before the doctor does, but I would suggest you get this checked out with an ekg and blood work in a walk-in clinic, if not an emergency room -- an emergency room definitely if you are having any other unusual symptoms, such as shortness of breath or nausea. Angina that occurs with a heart attack can come and go. A heart attack can occur over a few days (a week seems long though), and it's possible to be mobile while you are having the attack -- such that no one would even guess you were having one. This is from personal experience... There are other possible explanations for the pain that may or may not be related to cardiac matters, so please don't be unduly alarmed by my reply!!! Good luck!!!

[dmthelp]

I guess I should have given more info... I am 33 years old. 6 ft. and 220 lbs.  I recently had a stress test 1.5 weeks ago and ran 11 minutes on tread mill while dr. said there is nothing he sees on my ECG that indicates that there is anything to worry about.  after he received the nuclear photos the next day he thought there might be a very slight area of the right inferior wall with not as much blood flow after excercise.  It could hardly be seen on the photos. He wanted to do a catheterization . I did not want it.  Of course, I felt fine and had no problems until after he told me this. Since he told me this, I have been getting these feelings. So I was wondering if it was anxiety.

I have gone to the ER twice before and they found nothing in my workups that indicated anything wrong with my heart. They even kept me overnight for observation.

So I was wondering if this was all in my head and being caused by anxiety. I dont want to go to the ER again just for them to tell me the same thing and send me home with XANAX.

[HealThySelf]

I had an episode like that when I was 32.  After running about 4 miles, I didn't feel so good.  Stayed mostly in bed for about 4 days.  Didn't believe that I could have a heart attack at 32.  

When I was 50 I had a heart attack and was hospitalized for 4 days.  The only other time that I felt like that was the episode when I was 32.

An Angiogram discovered that, among other problems, my right coronary artery was 100% occluded and it was the cardiologist's opinion that it had been for many years.

So it's my belief that I did have some type of blockage in my RCA when I was 32.

Of course I had coronary artery disease in my family, had a terrible cholesterol profile, and have been somewhat overweight much of my adult life.

I would say that if you have high cholesterol and perhaps low HDL and a family history that you could have the beginning of a blockage.

You can have a angiogram to check that, but I don't think that I would take a stent in my 30's as my first course of action.

If you have a cholesterol problem, I would suggest aggressive therapy with some of the good drugs available today, coupled with diet and daily moderate exercise as a first course of action.

The recommended total cholesterol is <200, but I would suggest getting it <150 and keeping it there.  This is quite easy to do with one or more drugs.

If you have low HDL (<45) you can get it up with Niaspan + exercise.  The higher your HDL the lower your risk.

It's better to start working at it now than trying to push back the disease after you have several life threatening blockages when you are 50.

Good Luck.

[dmthelp]

thanks for the replies. my ldl is 128 and the hdl is 70. i do not have any family history but am a little overweight.  so i dunno.. maybe i should go ahead and get the angiogram..

[HealThySelf]

With that level of HDL, I truly doubt that you have any coronary artery disease at your age.