chest pain after stents

[sophia113]

Is it normal to have mild chest pain  and pressure the same day or a day after having an angiogram and having had 4 stents placement. When is it a sign to return to the emergency

[oldie]

it's good to hear an advocate of the medication-lifestyle-exercise alternative to angio. I had a stress test with dubotamine five months ago. Three cardios urge the angio; two say, not too enthusiasticaly, that i could go the medication route.  I'm 81, BP120/80, run/walk or bike 3 to 4 miles five times a week with no pain and no breath problem. I'm still dithering. I really don't want that intervention. Got any more argumments on my side please?

[blondiebay]

A related discussion, stent scar tissue was started.

[ed34]

A related discussion, Stenting was started.

[Healthyself2]

Don't know what symtoms that you have that you are considering angio for.  Stents are a foreign object in your arteries.  When inserted in younger people, many times they doom them to further procedures or bypass surgery.  Bypass surgery is good, on an average for 10 years, so, chances are, someone stented at 40 or 45 will become a very good continuing customer.  I opted, at 50 with triple vessel disease and a totally occluded RCA, to go with multi-drug cholesterol therapy, daily walking and hiking, and put a little more green in the diet.  Within 5 years, I felt that my disease was in total remission.  Only problem is that in the last couple of years I have reverted to some old bad habits and put myself at risk again.  Right now I'm hoping/trying to get back to the condition that I was in a few years ago when I could hike up to 5,000' feet of vertical in a day.

That said, the body doesn't react of foreign objects, such as stents when you get older.  Most people in their 80's, without general vascular disease, may get a stent to fix a particular defect or injury and that stent will perform well for the rest of their lives.  A friend of mine's mother, who is now 96 and still active had a stent about 10 years ago after experiencing some chest pain and is doing fine.  Of course their is more risk to the procedures as you get older.

If I run into further heart problems, I feel that it is because I did it to myself.  It's pretty hard for me to go to a doctor and say that, through my life choices, I wrecked my heart and now I want them to fix me.  But I probably would take a stent or CABG surgery, if it was the only option to save my life.  I made out my will this year just in case.  My downfall was becoming infactuated with a 29yo woman and then going crazy when it didn't work out and doing a couple years of heavy alcoholism.

[Southern_woman]

I have stent,s and you can have pain after the stent,s are put in, it,s called ghost pain
and sometime,s the stent,s put pressure on the arterys,,but 4 stent,s is not to many if your blocked, I have 5 in my heart because my arterys are really blocked
but see your DR. to make sure nothing   is wrong,  good luck.

[Cleveland Clinic]

Absolutely, but it should be checked further by obtaining an ECG.

[Tarheelguy1967]

Healtyself2.....I think you'd need way more information then was in the original post to determine whether CABG or drug therapy would be better than stenting.  Agree that it might be overdone in many places, but you simply don't have enough information to make that call.  And to accuse the doctor of being "criminal" w/ the info you have is irresponsible in my opinion, although you clearly (by your post name) have an agenda and strong opinions on the subject.  You should have more info to jump to such a condemning assumption!

Sophia.....to answer your actual question.....if you are having the same symptoms you had prior to stent emplacement, then you should contact your doctor asap.  I've had similar symptoms post stent emplacement, and at times it has been simple "ghost pain", and at other times it has been due to the stent being quickly blocked.  Either way, if you've had stents put in you clearly have heart disease, so your doctor (and you) should take your symptoms seriously.  Hope and feel sure that it is nothing to worry about, but if you are worried (as apparent from posting in it this forum), then you should definitely get it checked.  Wish you the best!

[Healthyself2]

I hate to say this, but stenting is tremendously overpracticed, especially in these small hospitals who are just being approved for the procedures.  If you truly needed 4 stents, you probably would be better served by CABG surgery.  My belief is that you would have had a better outcome with agressive cholesterol and BP therapy coupled with daily exercise and diet and lifestyle changes.  Perphaps 1 stent in your worst blockage would have been an acceptable risk.

Now what do you do.  First of all you have to do the best thing for your health.  But second, I would consider getting a lawyer and new doctors in a large medical center.  Dropping 4 stents in you border on criminal.