Not Feeling Well

[Tarheelguy1967]

Hello.  Just want to check in for advice.  I've got 5 stents, and have had some symptoms (i.e. light pressure off and on, back discomfort, etc) off and on since I got the first.  However, I've been fairly symptom free for the past 8 months or so, and about a year ago had a great nuke stress test that indicated my stents are holding up well.  My concern is that over the past few days, I've had some significant return of symptoms.  I can hardly walk up my stairs without being completetly out of breath, I have some light (not severe chest pressure), and have some light numbness in my arms and some back discomfort.  I tend, at this point, to "work my way through" the symptoms, and not go to the hospital, but these recent symptoms are a little stronger (not as strong as when I got my first stent) than normal.  My question is what do you recommend?  Should I work my way through the symptoms, should I schedule an appointment with my cardiologist for some sort of test, etc.?  My concern is that I don't want to have to go to my doc every time I have a symptom - if I did this in the past, I'd have been at the docs once a week.  I'm just trying to discern when I have a real problem, and when it's simply in my head.  But my shortness of breath and feeling really tired most of the day is wearing a little thin over the past week.  Any thoughts would be appreciated.  Thank you very much in advance!

[Darcy Green Conaway, MD]

I think this could be very serious and you should see your cardiologist as soon as possible.If your symptoms worsen you should proceed to the emergency room

[Tarheelguy1967]

Thank you for your reply - I'll try and set up an appointment with my cardiologist.  I just can't get over the shortness of breath, and popped a few nitro this weekend (which seemed to help).  Again, thank you for your quick response - it's just very hard to discern real problems from other non-serious issues.