I have been having 'heart' spasms for 5 years. Ed describes it accurately. Nitro tabs helps in an acute attack but helping prevent them can be in the form of a calcium channel blocker medication that helps calm the heart's blood vessels and a continuous-use nitro in the form of a patch. People can also be helped by some of the long acting nitrates like Imdur and Ranexa.Your Mom needs to identify what can cause the spasms (like activity,emotional upset,too much food) but in most cases they just happen, without warning.It is important for your Mom to find out if the doctors saw any disease in her arteries when they did the cath.If yes, then she needs to take care of those things she has control over, like not smoking,good diet etc.But, you can have NO disease,no placque,no narrowing and still have spasms.Keep nitro handy! They can be trouble.Let me know.Joan.
2 things that cause them. 1. Plaque in the artery can cause a spasm near where the blockage is. 2. Sometimes they dont know what it is, the arteries are clear.
They think the nerves in the heart have something to do with it. Stress, too, is a factor.
Artery spasms can occur at any time, day or night and it doesn't appear to matter what you are doing at the time. I have to say though, some people have artery spasms when the catheter touches the artery lining during an angiogram, and never experience another one again. I believe that the first thing they try in the way of medication is a Nitrate patch which slowly dissolves into the bloodstream. It works a bit like nocotein patches and keeps the arteries open. This first step works with most people, but unfortunately not everyone.