cardiac syndrome x

[meaford49]

Has anyone been diagnosed with Cardiac Syndrome X and could you tell me your symptoms?  I was told following a stress test that I might have blockage of the small arteries but this was not conclusive.  I frequently experience premature heartbeats which are supposedly not serious but definitely annoying and life limiting when they are severe.  During prolonged bouts I also experience a fist-like sqeezing in the middle of my chest which only lasts a few seconds
but recurrs frequently during the arrhythmias, and shortness of breath. I'm wondering whether this is angina or Cardiac syndrome X. I am a somewhat overweight 63 year-old-female.

[ChatterAlly]

Cardiac Syndrome X is also referred to as Coronary Artery Spasms, vasospasms, Prinzmetal Angina and such. It depends on the doctor that is treating me at that time.  I have 5 stents in my heart and 1 in a peripheral artery (iliac). I have very high trigs that cause plaque and it blocks my arteries.  I also have blockages in smaller vessels that cannot be intervened.  I suffer with "spasms" and the chest pain with those is exactly the same as with my heart attacks. I almost treated my last heart attack as "spasms" and was told had I waited any longer I wouldn't have lived to tell the story. I got so used to having these chest pains I didn't know the difference. I too have missed beats and think it may be from the flow being stopped around a blockage. Who knows. But it is just as Ed has said.  You need to have an angiogram to really know if you have any blockages.  And if you have been diagnosed with Cardiac Syndrome X I would think they would be treating you with some meds, at the very least. Certainly I would hope they are running more tests on you to find the blockages.

[ed34]

The only way to conclude this, is to have a ct or normal angiogram to eliminate coronary artery disease in the main arteries. If these are clear, and all other possible causes for your discomforts are eliminated, then you will probably fall into the syndrome X catagory. This basically means that the tiny arteries in the heart are restricting blood flow, vessels too small to see in an angiogram. You would be less likely to have a heart attack than someone with disease in the main vessels, but it would be time to ensure it stays that way by altering your lifestyle for a healthy one. The syndrome X, if diagnosed, can be treated medically with heart medications such as nitrates, beta blockers, calcium channel blockers etc. There is no physical intervention available because the vessels are simply far too small.
Unless they do a ct or normal angiogram, and eliminate all other possibilities such as the digestive system, then there is no way you can really be properly diagnosed as Syndrome X. Syndrome X is obviously ischemia, which means it gives the same symptoms as standard angina. In other words, discomfort upon exertion.