wondering if i have angina?

Last year I had eight attacks. They all woke me up out of a dead sleep and all happened around the same time between the hours of 1:30 and 2:30 am. I had chest pain that radiated to my back. my back felt like it was on fire.The first attack I did have shortness of breath and another time I felt clammy.I have been to the doctor and he said he highly doughts I have angina.Lomg story short he ordered an abdominal ultrasound and it ends up I have a gallstone but I have no abdominal pain.Said I needed surgery so went to surgen and he doesnt think my attacks are related to my gallstone.HE told me to call him if I have another attack but so far I haven't had one yet this year. Is that possible?He too said he highly doughts I could have angina.I am now lost and wondering if my symptoms sound like anyone elses and could I really have angina? thank you


This discussion is related to MI, Prinzmetal Angina?.

[Jack54]

Good morning :)

I can tell you for sure that you can have angina in the back. It just depends on which artery is blocked, or in your case, in regard to Prinzmetal Angina, which artery is in spasm. This spasm causes constriction of a coronary artery(ies), which in turn causes angina.

I have six stents. About 2.5 years ago when I could exercise on the treadmill, I would get this strange, numb, slightly burning feeling that radiated from my heart, and straight through to this angina I was feeling in my back. This is the only "stable angina" I have ever experienced. Now all of my angina is due to "unstable angina", which is due to known blockages in my coronary arteries, not Prinzmetal Angina.

This angina was totally resolved when I had two stents placed, which opened 2 arteries.. One artery that was stented, supplied my PDA artery on the back side of my heart. The heart can radiate pain or "refer" pain to many places in the body such as the jaw (right or left), the throat or neck, left shoulder, left arm, left center of the chest and the back. I experienced each of these regions of pain, while having the classic, extremely painful heart attack in 2003. I will never forget the locations of these pains.

I believe that Prinzmetal Angina is hard to diagnose, but if the pain were to come back, I would find a doctor that would treat me with medicines for Prinzmetal Angina, which usually include calcium channel blockers (CCBs)and long-acting nitrates (Imdur).

I found this in my book:

The majority of people with Prinzmetal’s angina also have coronary artery disease (CAD or heart disease), characterized by atherosclerosis (“hardening of the arteries”).

The gold standard for confirming a diagnosis of Prinzmetal’s angina is the coronary angiogram, a test that produces an X-ray of the heart’s arteries on a monitor. The physician will give you medication to see if it induces a spasm (the spasm will be visible on the monitor). If a focal spasm (a spasm at just one spot, rather than all over) occurs and you have ST-segment elevation on an ECG, you have Prinzmetal’s angina.

[sugieshay]

Thank you for your response.I also had for got to mention that all my attacks happened in the winter months and is it possible to go 6 or 7 months without an attack?

[ireneo]

Never heard of that test before. Pretty interesting. But convincing a doctor that you may have angina instead of GERD or gallstones is another matter. Can Prinzmetal's Angina last for less than a minute? You mentioned that it's a spasm. Yes, I'm asking because of my own concern. Selfish brat, heh? Happy to see you posting, Jack.

[sugieshay]

my attacks have lasted anywhere between 20 min. and 1 and a half hours.

[ireneo]

Ahhh, OK. I get these chest "cramps" I call them. Usually when rushing around, riding my recumbant bike, whatever. One day for example I got off work, rushed across the street to my car, unlocked the door and sat down. Zing! a deep cramp through the middle of my chest and out my back. I felt like a bug pinned to a corkboard. My tachy also flared up at the same time. That's my typical chest cramp, only lasts a short time, less than a minute. Wore the monitor, etc. The doc didn't have the results when I last saw him, just told me he didn't think it was cardiac related, put me on Diltiazem. Funny, after I'd been on the med for a couple weeks, no more chest zingers. Even when I pushed myself on the treadmill. Nah, just coincidence. LOL

[Jack54]

I guess that anything to do with heart disease is possible....With regard to going so long without an attack. One reason for this condition is emotional upset. So if you resolved an ongoing problem in your life, it could have stopped. I really don't know.

Thanks Irene :) and I hope you are doing great. I just checked your med and it says:

"A patient with Prinzmetals angina developed periods of asystole (2 to 5 seconds) after a single dose of 60 mg of diltiazem." (asystole is a dire form of cardiac arrest)