Is this Angina, or something different?

Question

First off, I will say I am under the care of my PCP and awaiting the results of an Echo. I am 31, male, not overweight, cholestoral is good, but blood pressure is borderline high, and family history of heart conditions. I will describe what I experience....

It only happens when I am doing something active like playing catch with my kids, playing football, or just anything active. I will have a little episode where my heart starts pounding super fast and my chest hurts, I get a little short of breath, and my eyes start to get black in my peripheral vison and it closes in like I will pass out.....I just kind of ignore it and walk it off with my arms above my head and take deep breaths until it goes away, which is usually only a minute or two at the most.......this has actually been going on for about 10 years and I just finally told my doctor and my wife. Like I said I am still waiting on the official word from my doc. Its been 1 week since my echo and no word......any thoughts?

Adding some details in response to a few answers.....

I dont smoke anymore, but I did for about 7 years. Quit 1.5 years ago.

My Dr. already did an EKG and said "its ok, not abnormal, but not entirely normal." whatever that means...she said something about my low being a little low. Or my pulse rate a little on the low side. But not major. I didnt know what to take of that.

I am fine when I go up stairs, and I am fine after my first little "attack" when active. I can continue being active after I get over the first, sometimes second one.

And, no Im not relying on your answers. Just wanted some thoughts. Sometimes you all bring up things I wouldnt have thought to ask to my dr.

Thanks for all the responses, this is great. But I have to add something now.........

So my doctors office called me back and the nurse that called said they just got my results faxed over and they looked normal. Granted, she was the only one that looked at them adn she thinks they are normal, but she will have the doc look at them and call me tomorrow.......thinking the nurse knows what shes talking about and everything is normal, should I still demand other tests? Surely what Im experiencing is something, but are other test going to find what an echo did not?

Answer 1

Call the doctor!!!!!!!!!!!! Demand (nicely) the results of the EKG. You are describing classic symptoms of restriction in the arteries which could lead to heart attack or stroke. DEMAND the Doc give you some nitro. DEMAND the Doc give you a nuclear stress test. I trust you have described all these symptoms to him/her, but if you haven't, do it first thing in the morning!! Angina can be a sign of many things - but this sounds WAY too familiar. I had to fight for the appropriate tests. The stress test is almost $5,000 alone. If the other test you mentioned was a little off - I forget what you said - there's something wrong and DEMAND an angiogram. FAST. If this has been going on for ten years that's ten years too long.
Please - take it from me - 2 M.I.'s at age 42. I'm lucky I'm alive.
I describe it as the rubberband - with sweating, dizziness, all of that. NO shooting pain down the left arm. How about pain between the shoulder blades or in your back?
PLEASE - MAKE HIM DO THESE THINGS. The Docs are so messed up with HMO's, uninsured's and just plain being busy - you have to be your own advocate. Make sure your wife knows everything and goes with you to all tests and appointments. If she can't - take a friend or relative - someone to take notes. I AM NOT EXAGERRATING!! You may already have had a heart attack - you just don't know it - but it might account for the anomoly on that test.
I was in good health - but I smoked and had a horrible family history of heart disease.
I'm a doctor - but not a medical doctor - you NEED a cardiologist - NOW!! Please - for your wife and kids.

Answer 2

Do not wait another week for the results of your echo, call and ask for the results. Hopefully your doctors should be setting you up for other tests, such as a stress test and even nuclear stress test. You can suggest these test. I am a survivor of a heart attack and I suffered over a year til I dropped. Don't wait for that. Go get answers. I was only 45 when my attack occurred. I had a stent put in an artery and had angioplasty. I am on medication for cholesterol and take an aspirin daily. Try to stay calm until you have results. You can live a long life if you live a healthy one. Deep breathing sends oxygen into your lungs so keep doing that. When you breath shallow your robing yourself of the oxygen your blood needs. You can breath normally too. Best wishes.

Answer 3

It sounds like you're taking appropriate action for some troubling symptoms. I can't tell you exactly what's going on, but the fact that you have presyncopal episodes (which means you feel like you're about to pass out) with exercise probably isn't a good sign and if nothing else merits a workup, which includes an echo. The symptoms you describe are, to my mind, suspicious for angina, which means that you may have a partial blockage in one or more of your coronary arteries. The echocardiogram you've gotten may help, but the best thing to do (which you've already done) is to talk to a doctor who knows you and see what he thinks about it.
I'm conservative and I work exclusively in a hospital, but I can tell you think, if a patient like you came in with those symptoms, we would at least keep him overnight to rule out any active ischemic disease (heart attack), make sure he had follow-up with a cardiologist, and I would consider a stress test, however, though I am a doctor, I'm not your doctor, I haven't examined you, and I don't know your past, so go with the advice of the guys who do. I would say though, if this doesn't stop, then it probably merits at least seeing a cardiologist to make sure that nothing serious is going on.

Answer 4

Since you have been experiencing these episodes for 10 years, with no progression of symptoms, I doubt it is angina.
It sounds more likely to be a heart arrythmia called SVT (Supraventricular Tachycardia), probably induced by a catecholamine surge during your exercise.
It could also VT (Ventricular Tachycardia) which is a bit more serious.
Either way, it can be treated with medications, or an Ablation procedure. Extreme cases of VT sometimes require an implantable defibrillator.
You may want to ask your MD to refer you to an experienced Electrophysiologist ( a cardiologist that specializes in heart rhythms).
Also try the Heart Rhythm Society webpage.
Good Luck :>)

Answer 5

I'm not to sure why you would take the word of complete and unknown strangers over a trained professional (or two or three - you can always get another opinion).

But then again you did say you hadn't mentioned this for 10 years or so, which makes me wonder why you wouldn't....
Do you drink alcohol and/or smoke?
Or use anything else?
Have a stressful lifestyle?
Not saying you do but any of those could easily give you palpitations, breathlessness, dizziness, panic attacks.
Maybe it's nothing of the kind and you just fell you couldn't talk about things like that.
It's certainly much safer to talk to your GP/Doc than me - i'm no health expert.
I always think there's no point worrying til you know what it is your worrying about..
I wish you good health.

Answer 6

One of my male relatives has had both angina and PVC's (Premature ventricular contractions, commonly called "palpitations", or "skipped" heartbeats). He was told that these are harmless UNLESS they happen during exercise, which is when your episodes are happening!

I'd stay inactive, if I were you, until you get the echo results. Based on that, a stress EKG might or might not be helpful. Prior to that, you should also have a bloodflow test, which might rule out a stress test, since people sometimes collapse during them, due to the very condition they're trying to find!
Your other symptoms sound like this might be something more serious, if you are losing vision and coming close to passing out!

You should seek out a good cardiologist and have a full work-up, NOW! Sudden cardiac death is not at all uncommon in men your age and your symptoms coincide with those who succumb to this. It's usually something congenital AND runs in families.

At one site (See link below- you should check it out) I read this: ""Sudden cardiac death " often isn't all that sudden, and lives can be saved by training people about the symptoms of impending cardiac arrest and what action to take...A study of 406 sudden cardiac death patients indicates that they often have symptoms, especially the typical symptom angina pectoris [chest pain] for as long as 120 minutes before an arrest," said study lead author Dr. Dirk Muller, a cardiologist and emergency physician at the Medical Clinic II, Cardiology and Pulmonology, in Berlin.

"Two-thirds of cardiac arrest patients have a history that predisposes them to sudden cardiac death," Muller added,
...The most common warning sign was chest pain, which occurred for at least 20 minutes, and, in some cases, for hours, before cardiac arrest.

"Breathlessness was the next most common symptom, seen in 17 percent of witnessed arrests and 30 percent of other cases. Other common symptoms were nausea, vomiting, dizziness or fainting."

The writer goes on to urge all family members and others around you to learn CPR immediately...as it could save you life! Also, make sure your town/city has ambulances equipped w/defbrillators and ALS capability, as many do not. Home defibrillators are available and, though expensive, are definitely a good purchase to make in a case like this.

I'm not trying to be alarmist, but you sound a bit too casual about it to me (esp. w/your family history)! Good luck.

Answer 7

Have you had a stress test?
Sounds like your doctor is not looking for a heart problem, he probably thinks 31 is too young or you do not have other collaborating symptoms like a blood test that does not have cardia markers (CPT, SGOT, Alpha 6). What happens when you climb stairs? Do you have a gastric acid problem?
Keep Bayer aspirin nearby, if you get a crushing feeling, chew two and call 911!!

Answer 8

Your heart doesn't have to pound faster with angina, it could be, but it could be something else. Maybe even compound like angina and asthma...I'd say if you lived with it for ten years just wait for the test results. Are you on any medication, it may be a side effect of some medicine you're taking.

Answer 9

yes and no - one of your symptoms is angina ( the pain - which can effect the rest ) the pounding is not - good thing you are seeing a doc

i have similar symptoms which i ignored until recently - the heart attack sort of brought me around 8 meds a day now and i feel much better !

Answer 10

Limit your activity until your doctor tells you it's okay