Can you help in anyway please - Heart Disorders Message Board

robert uk · 03-18-2005, 07:27 PM

I am a 38 year old male living in the United Kingdom and recently nearly 2 weeks ago was went to the accident and emergency here in the UK with pains in my chest and head. After numerous blood tests they said that i may have a possible blood clot and so they did more tests over the next few days to rule it in or out which the VQ test came back as Low Probability, while i was having the VQ test i was getting bad chest pains again and they did an ECG at the Nuclear Department which the staff and the doctor said something about the ECG showing AF which i don't understand what AF means. The doctor at the time said to me he could not let me go anyway as my heart rate was high. Last year i was also in hospital with bleeding stomach ulcers, and whilst in started to get chest pains and my heart rate reached 190+ at times but they said to me it was a problem with low potassium and gave me some potassium drinks. Now over the past 10 or more years on different occasions i have ended
up at the accident and emergency for chest pains but the only thing they always said is that i had tachycardia which is a fast heart rate i think and let me go each time. When i was released this time from hospital they gave me two medications named Cardicor and ramipril and never explained to me what the medication is for. The reason i am writing is that when i am admitted they never seem to get to the bottom of the problem and now this evening i am feeling a tightness and heavy in my chest again and pain up the right side of my neck but i am hesitant to go to the accident and emergency again as i feel they will just release me after a while with no real answers. Is there anyway you can put me in contact with someone in the UK or give me some information as i am at a loss on what to do next.

This is an update to the above text which i wrote a few days ago until i found somewhere like your website that i could ask for some advice. I was admitted to hospital again yesterday morning but released the same day later that night after being taken ill at the outpatient department that i was attending for a routine appointment for another condition not connected to all this what as been happening to me lately. I had not felt well since i was first released from hospital the first time which is explained above. I will outline what happened to me yesterday Thursday 17th March. It was around 10:30 am and i started to get severe chest pains and also felt terribly sickly and my heart was pounding and short of breath. The staff at the outpatient clinic phoned for an ambulance. When the paramedics arrived they first of all gave me oxygen as i could not get my breath and they also gave me a squirt of a spray under my tongue which they said would help with the pain until we reached hospital. The paramedics also did an ECG and the only thing i could hear them talking about it was that the ECG came back with a result of a VT which i tried to look up on the Internet but could not find much information on what that means. Anyway when i arrived at the Hospital assessment area they did numerous blood tests again and another ECG.A little later that afternoon the Doctor came back to me and wanted to do another chest Xray and also another VQ scan as again one of the blood test came back as positive for a chance of a blood clot which i already had both those test 2 weeks ago. The results of the VQ scan again came back again as low risk but the staff in the Nuclear department were very surprised they let me out of hospital the first time and thought i was still in hospital and they sent me for another follow up scan. The Doctor in the Nuclear department also told the staff i think he would be better off with a different kind of scan and the Staff Nurse and other staff were urging him to put a request in for it but then he said no to them because it was another doctor that arranged these same test again that i already had. I am not sure what the name of the test he said to them would be better as i had already had this one only 2 weeks earlier as i was still getting some chest pain and my heart pounding as they were doing the test again. They also squirted a spray again under my tongue during me having the VQ test again as i could not keep still with the pain in my chest whist breathing trough the mask.

Anyway a few hours later that evening the Doctor came back saying that the VQ test again came back as Low Probability of a PE. Now i was still feeling very sickly but the pain in my chest had lessoned somewhat, just leaving the sensation i have been getting now for over two weeks since i was first admitted which is a very heavy feeling over my chest like a weight on my chest. He said that i should just take the medicine i was given before which was Cardicor for my heart rate and ramipril for my very high blood pressure which he said was unusual for someone my age. He also said he thought the pains were muscular which i very much doubt, but he is the doctor and who am i to argue that point over to him. So here i am again at home and the sickness feeling and heaviness is still there and i have hardly eaten anything since coming out as soon as i have eaten a bit the nausea sickness feeling seems top get worse, the only pain in my chest i have been getting since i was out is every now and again i get a sharp pain in center of my chest which then takes my breath for a few moments and my heart pounding on and off all day and i keep burping every now and again.

I just don't know what to do next as if i feel the same again..I will feel such a fool to go to the emergency department or call for an ambulance as i feel nothing will be done and this will just go on and on with no end in sight.

Sorry for explaining this how i have but i just don't know who to turn to next.

Thanks for listening

Best Wishes
Robert

Fizzickle · 03-18-2005, 08:49 PM

Robert:

I presume that the AF reference is to atrial fibrillation (afib). If your heart is in afib, it will beat very rapidly (like 200 bpm). Because atria are wildly fibrillating, they don't assist with blood flow into the ventricles, which is their normal function. As a result, the heart pumps very inefficiently. This will frequently cause angina (chest or shoulder pain). They were evidently giving you a nitrite spray or something similar to relieve angina.

The VT reference is, of course, to ventricular tachycardia, in which the ventricles beat rapidly.

Were I you, I would try to find out if the doctors have made any sort of definitive diagonsis. Is it afib or VT? Because if it's afib you're experiencing, there is a strong danger of blood clots which may be thrown to the brain.

In atrial fibrillation, blood pools in the atria. In addition to the heart beating fast with consequent low efficiency, blood clots can form in the atria. For this reason, heparin is usually used in the hospitals in the US to thin the blood and prevent or dissolve clots before they can do damage. On dismissal from the hospital, the doctors will sometimes prescribe warfarin to thin the blood for a patient who tends to frequent afib..

I have a strong tendency to go into atrial fibrillation, and have taken warfarin for several years. There are medicines which slow the heart rate and assist with keeping afib at bay. So long as I take Betapace (Sotalol HCl, a beta blocker), my heart tends to stay in sinus rhythm.

I sympathize with your problem. I think the doctors owe you a definite diagnosis, and a reference to a cardiologist.

Hope this helps,
Bill

goldenwings · 03-20-2005, 06:00 PM

Dear Robert,

I really want to say I can totally understand how very frightening and frustrating all this is for you. I had a triple bypass 20 months ago, so I do know a little of heart issues.

I obviously can't comment on the results and technical terms that have been used by the hospitals in your case. The thing I wanted to suggest is that you ask them next time (I hope there isn't a next time but in case there is) if there is a chance that you are having attacks of pericarditis.

I have had these attacks on and off for a number of years. The pericardium is the sac that is around the heart. It can be inflamed or infected, and believe me the pain that is given off is unbelievable. The symptoms are so much like a heart attack, which I can comment on as I have had 2 of these, but because the pericardium is not a muscle, it doesn't show up on an ECG. It gives rise to a sick feeling and when you are indeed sick it is normally a horrid tasting bile that comes up. Does your pain recede a little when you lean forward? If so, this is because the pressure is shifted in the sac when you do this. Normally, there is heard a scratching sound that they term as a "Rub" when you are examined with a stethoscope. I really do think it is worth speaking about to the doctors.

From the symptoms you describe though, this is what it could be. I am not a medical doctor and I am not diagnosing you, but speak only from my own experience of this If you are able, please do suggest this to the medical staff.

I would be interested to hear how you get on. I too am in the UK and know first hand the difficulties the NHS presents us with at times. Please insist that they listen to you, only you know how you feel, perhaps then suggest what I have told you about. It can't do any harm, it might even do you some good. I hope so.

I hope you are ok.

goldenwings