Please help...Prinz Metal Angina

[silhouette20]

My daughter is now 35 years old. She suffered MI at age 32 and now has seven stents. She has been daignosed with Reynaud's and Prinz Metal angina. The problem we are having is that her condition is rare and she is being treated as if she is crazy. All tests are coming back negative and there is no ST elevation showing. As a result of this, her primary care givers...doctors and nurses do not believe she is in pain. They have gone as far as to label her as a morphine addict, assuming her pain is all in her head. I have read that it is possible to have these attacks with no changes showing, Could someone please confirm if this is so. My daughter is in the hospital as I post this. She is suffering in extreme pain and being told repeatedly that it is all in her head. I fear she will have a nervous breakdown if someone does not believe her soon. She has said that because of the way she is treated the only way she will return to the hospital is in a body bag...Can someone please help me get the information I need to convince the care staff that she is in fact experiencing severe pain ...Thank you

[Cleveland Clinic]

It is very difficult to achieve this. I would recommend that you transfer her care to a large tertiary care facility where the physicians are more alert to rare conditions and generally do not ascribe continued episodes of chest pain in a patient with 7 stents and premature CAD to a psychosomatic disorder. If you would like to transfer her to ours or any other referral facility, you have the right to do so and simply tell her doctors that you want that done, and they will initiate it for you.
It is very difficult for me to comment on the actual care she is receiving without being able to examine her and review all of her tests, except to say that because of her history there is likely to be something that can be improved, from epicardial blood flow, to improved medical management.

[macsambo]

A related discussion, hereditary? familial? or what? does nayone know please? was started.

[silhouette20]

Thank you so much for your help. Things got much worse after my first post...to the extent that my daughter was put on a form one for psychiatric evaluation because it was felt that there must be something psychiatrically wrong with her to make up being in so much pain. Needless to say the pyschiatrist found her to be totally sane. We are taking your advice and are now in the process of researching the best place for her to obtain the care she needs. We would love to transfer to your facility but I believe that cost would be a barrier as we are in Canada and you are in the United States. I do not believe that our medical would cover it but we will also be checking that out. Thank you again for your response. It is greatly appreciated and has given us some hope for a better future.