Cardiac cath came back normal, but I still have problems
A few years ago, I had a session of extremely hard and extremely fast exercise. I didn't warm up, I just immediately started exercising hard and fast. I did that for about 15 or 20 minutes, and then all of a sudden, my heart and chest started hurting really bad. I felt like my heart was going to beat out of my chest. Since then, my heart has never felt the same. I get heart and chest pain when exercising, skipped beats, palpitations. I even get those symptoms when I am just sitting and not exercising.
I had a treadmill test, and my heart rate shot up really fast really quick. I had an EKG and another stress test, and heart imaging, those tests where you stay at your cardiologist's office all day. My tests were abnormal, so they suggested I get a cardiac catheterization.
I got that, and it came back normal. I am glad that it came back normal, but I still have the same exact symptoms.
I am facing a situation where my family thinks I am making things up to get attention. The only reason I involve them at all because I don't drive, so I have to rely on them to get me to appointments. I live far away from any doctors, so I am not able to rely on public transportation.
I am feeling really depressed over this. How can I make my doctors understand that my problems are a direct affect of that session of overexercising? I get these symptoms every day, and they make the quality of my life go down. I can't do anything that makes my heart beat above resting. (And even when I am resting or sitting down, I get the symptoms anyway).
Re: Cardiac cath came back normal, but I still have problems
-I understand where you are coming from completely. I don't have insurance so I am terrified to go to the doctors, but the last time I visited the ER they showed no results for an EKG, and they saw no enzymes released that would indicate my heart being damaged. Previous to that visit, however, I had atrial fibulation, but since then I, too, have had ongoing problems that I would like to address. I also feel like my family thinks my symptoms are superficial, so I am very reluctant to approach them about heart related issues now.
-My advice is to keep hitting forums and seeing if you can find out some more information. Be very specific about your symptoms when describing them too. Try different doctors as well. I've read multiple stories on here where people tried a different doctor and got the correct diagnosis. Haha, until then, I recommend my cardiologist to you: water, electrolytes, and aspirin.
-Incidentally, what kind of training did you do? It sounds to me like you were doing some form of sprinting. If so, have you ever heard of HIIT? It's a high intensity interval training that's incredibly anabolic and really helps with your VO2 max. The studies on it are incredibly interesting. I recommend it!
Re: Cardiac cath came back normal, but I still have problems
First of all why do you keep doing exercise that gives you those symptoms?...secondly my husband also had a cardiac cath for crushing chest pains that seemingly come out of the blue and yet his tests are all negative. Cardiologist says that his conculsion is that he having heart spasms and it is very real and very painful so he takes Nitroglycerin pills(those tiny little pills)that you put under your tongue to take the pain away...and it does and since it does there is obviously something wrong but just doesn't show up on testing. Dr. also put him on daily Indur to see if that reduced the amost daily crushing pain and that also helped so bottom line was....there was no evidence of these spasms but with the aid of the nitro pills and the daily Imdur it has made things not so scary however, pushing yourself to the point of pain is not the smartest thing to do. Just because your doctor says there is nothing wrong you know that there is and I suggest you go to another doctor for second opinion or at least ask for the Nitro pills to see if that helps...they won't harm you if nothing is wrong but if they help then it is a good diagnostic tool that there is something wrong. good luck.
Re: Cardiac cath came back normal, but I still have problems
Thanks for your advice, but you seem to have misunderstood something. I do not continue to exercise. I don't exercise at all now.
I will be seeking a 2nd opinion very soon. I
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Re: Cardiac cath came back normal, but I still have problems
I would consider an EP study for heart rhythm problems. When they do a cath for heart disease they do it through the arteries and when they do it for a rhythm problem through the veins so you are checking for 2 different things. Make and appointment with an electrophysiologist (cardiologist that specializes in heart rhythms). It seems to me like you are having a rhythm problem not a heart disease problem and that is why the artery cath would come back negative. I know this because I have/had AVNRT (atrioventricular nodal re-entrant tachycardia) and had an EP study done and they found an extra pathway in my heart and ablated it and now I'm 100% normal again. I had it for 18 years (should have done the EP study sooner). If your problem is A-Fib it's harder to cure with an ablation then mine was but still it can be done but with A-Fib you should at least be on meds I would think A-Fib sufferers would agree with that. Most likely though you have a rhythm problem and not heart disease and that's why the cath was negative. Best Wishes.
