*Health Issues>>>Heart Diseases issues>>>

Is this Angina, or something different?

Issue
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?

Best Tip

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. Source(s): Personal experience.

Others
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 !
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!!
Limit your activity until your doctor tells you it's okay
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.
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.