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zip2play · 10-18-2003, 09:42 AM

I'm getting tired of chest pain on exertion...about 10 years of it, on and off.
I really want to get to the bottom of it.
I've been on Lipitor for about 4 years and run the gamut of HBP meds (all except channel blockers).

About 3 years ago I had a stress test WITH the old chest burning furiously throughout. At doc's urging I worked through it and finished the 12 minutes and had an immediate echocardiogram:
Results, Much better than average stress tolerance for a man "his age"

.(truth)
"No ischemia during test"...an outright lie, the man must be deaf since I told him my chest was killing me about 5 times.
BP went super high....oh well.
Diagnosis: "Probably not cardiac."

Now:
I stopped my Lipitor for 2 weeks to try to determine if it's responsible for the many aches and pains I suffer....knees, shoulders, back, neck...YADA YADA old age.
Last night running for a bus...about a 10 second sprint BURN, BABY, BURN. It stopped after sitting in the bus about 5 minutes. I had a miserable night of worry...another of many.

What is the routine for me. My EKG's are always normal, I don't think I want to repeat another stress test but I also don't want to do nothing and be found dead at a bus stop.

Should I push for angiography or something less invasive like MRI, CT scan??
Is anybody up on the state of the art for determining whether I have any cardiac artery blockages. Least dangerous first always a better choice.

I am a very good diagnostician but for the life of me I cannot decide for myself whether this pain is GERD or angina pectoris...or other things like esophageal spasm or some sort of bronchial sensitivity. The scariest thing is the pain most often occurs LONG after eating....and walking into a cold wind

But I know I can't live with the stress test result of :"Probably not cardiac."

Oh yeah, my mom died of progressive heart disease...arterial blockages that only got worse and worse. Her first clue:
Doctor: "When did you have that heart attack?"
Mom: "What heart attack?"

Any help or advice GREATLY appreciated.

[This message has been edited by zip2play (edited 10-18-2003).]

JeanE716 · 10-19-2003, 04:16 AM

Zip - Go see a pulmonary doctor and have him/her check you out. You may just have a pulmonary problem causing you this pain. I was diagnosed with angina for a year after having had a heart attack but nothing worked to stop it. I went to a new cardiologist who told me that I have a lung problem causing the pain, ordered a PFT and sent me to a pulmonary doctor. Turns out that is is COPD causing the pain. Ask your dr about this possibility. Jean

zip2play · 10-19-2003, 05:06 AM

Thanks Jean.

[This message has been edited by zip2play (edited 10-19-2003).]

rachelh69 · 10-19-2003, 02:10 PM

I'm surprised they haven't tried harder to find out what's causing your pain.
There is a test, I'm not sure what it's called, but it is a heart ultrasound where they can look at your arteries. My MOm had the carotid(neck arteries) ultrasound done and you can see the arteries and any blockages or buildup.
Since they haven't determined what's causing your pain it seems they need to do as much as they can to see what's causing it.
I'm curious, what have they done besides the stress test?
Also since you MOther had heart disease, that does put you at higher risk.
Anyway, I hope you can get your Dr to do as much possible to find the source of your pain. And if not, my advice would be to find a different Dr.

zip2play · 10-20-2003, 07:18 AM

rachel,
Thanks for your response.

That's the sum of it: stress test, echocardiogram and a couple EKG's...one visit to a cardiologist.

Working on lining up a GOOD cardiologist within my insurance plan and I have a new GP as of last year whose head and shoulders over the lazy, stupid jackass I kept on for 20 years (I'm a terrible creature of habit.)

Thanks for that tip on "heart ultrasound". Is that MORE than an echocardiogram because the echo I had surely wasn't able to discern any blood vessels (I was watching like a hawk.)

I'm hoping for a good test to rule out any significant blockage without doing the riskier dye-angiography...at least not til absolutely necessary.
I need all the mental ammunition I can muster before seeing the cardio man.

[This message has been edited by zip2play (edited 10-20-2003).]

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