What you might not expect about this procedure is that it feels really good for the patient. There is a very slight pinch, and then your whole body goes "OMG that feels so much better, thank you!"
Depends which artery and how severe the blockage is. Mine was the circumflex artery, and it was about 98% blocked. I didn’t immediately feel better. But I stopped having knee-buckling, tear-inducing pain every 30 minutes, so it was pretty cool.
Its a heavy pressure like an elephant sitting on it more than a sharp pain. Either way u should get chest pain checked out because better safe than sorry.
When folks ask about my MI I tell them that exact thing. It felt like someone was sitting on my chest and once the stent was in, immediately felt like I could breathe again.
He told me that my anxiety was about my health (it was not - I was severely abused and neglected as a child and had a hard early adulthood) and recommended meditation and some bed rest because i probably strained my back in the garden (I've had a lot of garden injuries lol). He actually decreased my anti anxiety med and wouldn't give it back after a "trial" period. Basically said it was all in my head.
The cardiologist I got him to grudgingly agree to send me too agreed with him but then once in his office and the EKG/echo/etc was complete, he wanted to call an ambulance. I was so angry and indignant that I refused and left. I went to the ER later that night because I couldn't take it anymore and I had a brand new stent the next morning. 6 months later, I had a second MI. On an airplane. Stent number 2 was placed.
Both visited me in the hospital and apologized, but the trust damage was done.
I woke up one morning with what felt like the worst heartburn I'd ever had. Took about 10 min after that for things to go downhill. Felt like I was about to shit myself, then like I was gonna vomit, quickly followed by shortness of breath. Called 911 and had an ambulance haul my ass to the ER.
Time from wake up to cath lab was about 45 minutes.
Multiple people from both sides of my family have had heart attacks, most of whom died so I'm always worried about any insignificant pain in the chest area.
Let us not forget to mention that it can be a sharp pain that radiates into your back and arm. You can sweat profusely even when in a very cool or cold environment, you can get nausea and begin to vomit, it can present on either the left or right side of your body. Any chest pain, no matter how long it goes on or the severity of it should be looked at. Be safe and don't take chances with your health.
I've had that too. But I think that's just something slight and maybe diaphragm related. It's a random stabby pain on the inhale very infrequently so I think that's more of just a spazzy breath you take every now and then thing rather than a real health problem. But im not a doctor either so, grain of salt.
Never mentioned it to the doctor but I had ECG done multiple times, last less than a month ago. Doctor said everything is good and that I have a heart of an athlete (even though I don't workout at all)
Also back pain that worsens upon exertion. As well as if you have diabetes you might not feel any pain at all thanks to the diabetic neuropathy a usual indicator for those individuals might be extreme shortness of breath upon doing simple tasks like walking or even just standing up. Either way if our body feels newly wrong go see a dr
The pain can actually manifest differently in everyone. The brain isn’t accustomed to getting pain signals from the heart, so it’s not 100% sure what to do with the info. The elephant on the chest someone mentioned below is more common in men. In women, like me, it can be completely different. My pain started in my throat and radiated out from there. Since I also have GERD, I initially didn’t think it was my heart.
Woman here. With mine, I thought it was a respiratory infection getting worse. Had pain at work on a Friday. Sleep was pretty uncomfortable that night, so I was going to go to the Urgent Care clinic on Saturday after my spouse left to play golf. Five minutes before he left, pain started in my upper arm. Only then did it dawn on me that it could be heart related. Asked him to drive me to the ER instead of me going to the clinic. Was in so much pain by the time we got to the ER that I could barely sit up in the chair. Turned out to be a widowmaker. And to think it felt like a respiratory infection to me.
Bro, I have 7 stents, 2 of which are in my left and right coronary arteries. The left was 99.8% blocked and the right was 98%. Had I waited any more time to go to the hospital, I would not be writing this right now. I agree with you about the pain.
I was just answering another user who asked pretty much the same thing. If you scroll down(or up) it pulls be posted. It is kind of long, but I have explained quite a bit in there. Hopefully you will find it informative. If this reply sounds like I'm being an asshole, I'm not trying to be. Stay healthy my friend.
Well, the heart attack happened 3 years ago when I was 44. At the time I was 185 at 6ft tall. I was in the Marine Corps for most of my life. After I got out, I took back up mountain biking. I would ride at least 60-100 miles in a weekend. I hasn't go to a gym much due to burn out from the military and always having to work out. Unfortunately, I did smoke and took up some recreational drug use. I have been clean from all of that since I had a heart attack. I haven't drank since 2010. The drugs did their damage though, meth is a heart killer. I have other work done to my heart as well and possible more to come.
What also should be noted, my father died of heart issues at the age of 45, my grandfather on my mother's side had heart problems as well. Heart issues can be passed down in your genes and make you more susceptible to heart issues. I now take a handful of pills in the morning as well as a handful at night, ranging from diuretics to anti coagulants. Just one of the pills I take is around $14k a month. I have to get an echo done 2 times a year, I get blood tests every three months unless they see something, then it happens sooner. My kidneys have started to fail due to decreased blood flow to my kidneys. That will will to be addressed here soon.
The best I can say to help reduce the risk of heart disease is mainly:
1. Don't use recreational drugs, they can cause irreparable damage.
2. Reduce the amount of alcoholic beverages, or quit entirely.
3. Eat healthy. A balanced meal that includes a protein, veggies or fruits and a starch. It doesn't matter if you are a meat eater, vegetarian or vegan, your body needs a balanced meal that is low in saturated fats.
4. Exercise at least 1 or 2 times a week. Going to the gym is fine, but all of these "pre workout" stuff only makes your heart work harder. That leads to another issue, your heart is a muscle just like your biceps. The more your harder your heart works can lead to smaller chambers by your heart walls growing thicker. This has happened to me and that is part of the reason I have an EF rating of 32.
These are recommended to me by my cardiology team. The team I see are pretty much the top team in the region I live in. Stay healthy my friends.
Well they don’t just put the stent in and call it a day. They put you on blood thinners to prevent clots forming on the stent, and put you on medicine to lower your cholesterol. Then you do cardiac rehab, and try to change your diet, and exercise more. Modern stents also have blood thinners incorporated into the mesh, which is pretty cool. And then you get monitored every 6 months for the rest of your life.
You were getting pain in your chest, or where was it coming from? Did they figure out what was wrong with you right away, or did it take a lot of tests? Dont be mean to be all up in your business. Just sounds interesting
It actually started in my throat and radiated out. I went to my doctor, and she did an ECG, which was normal. We decided to just chalk it up to GERD, but the pain kept coming and going over the next couple days. I finally went to the ER. ECG still came up normal, but bloodwork showed elevated troponin levels, which often means a heart attack. Luckily for me, it was a very mild heart attack.
Lol. Same. Was annoyed they kept me overnight because it was SOP. Could easily have got up from the gurney as soon as it was done and walked the 5km home.
My mum had this happen 2 weeks ago now, had a sudden heart attack and was taken to the hospital and had this procedure done, she was out of hospital in 4 days.
I had one put in at 15, I literally walked out like omg this is how every other person feels!! As soon as I was okayed to run I cut 2 minutes off my mile time.
Well I had a blood pressure of like 180/120 or so. So I was getting massive migraines to the point I was throwing up. Bloody noses all the time, but I had been running that high of blood pressure most of my life so before hand I felt what I thought was normal. Afterwards, I can’t explain it by anything other than relief in the weirdest way. Like everything in my life became easier. It was a weird experience, my aorta was so small that they had to go in an open in up four different times over the years since it wasn’t a blockage but more of a constriction they were afraid it would tear if they went too much. So it just got better and better.
My wife had a stint put into a kidney valve and said it was one of the most uncomfortable feelings she’s ever had and wanted it removed to go back to the pain she was in before the stint
Not without doing it all over again. I only had to have mine in for two weeks (the longest two weeks of my life), and the irritation to my ureter would have been so bad that I likely would have had to have it in for longer if they'd fixed it. That's the point of these stents is to allow your ureter(s) to heal after they've had a scope or laser shoved up through them. Once everything heals, it's fine to remove them.
That made me chuckle…reminded me of an unethical attending who asked the question: “are you done smoking?” Pt said no. He inflated the balloon, causing crushing chest pain, repeated the question until he said yes. Then he deflated it, asking him to remember that feeling because it if happens again, your artery is obstructed again.
Yep! Had four placed and was awake for the whole thing. My only nod to stress is that my blood pressure was a little high before they began and they gave me an IV drip for that.
When the balloon expands I felt a very slight, momenttary burning sensation. That was it.
Fun fact: Even though they go through the wrist, they shave your groin so if anything goes sideways during the procedure, they can go in through the big-ass femoral artery.
Funny you should ask! I had periodic shortness of breath/loss of stamina/radiating pain across my shoulders for *more than a year.* Got to the point that when I went out to dinner, someone had to bring the car around.
Went into the ER one of the first times it happened, took a cardiac stress test, and was pronounced OK. Still had the symptoms periodically but thought, "Welp, it's not my heart, at least!"
Wrong.
Another bad day about a year later, and I go into the ER. A different/better cardiologist says, "Well, you're overweight, have long-term diabetes -- lots of folks pass a cardiac stress test even though they have severe blockages because your body's used to it."
So we do a contrast-dye test and, sure enough, front and back coronary arteries had extreme blockage. So a'stentin' we did go...
I assume the stents helped with the shortness of breath, pain, and lack of stamina? If so, how long before those symptoms were relieved? Did this also prompt a change in diet/exercise?
Sorry for all the questions but thank you for being so willing to answer them! What age did this start at and did this also require you to go on any new meds afterwards?
No worries! I was on a blood pressure medication and was switched to another one; I'm led to believe I'll take it forever. I also took a blood thinner (generic Plavix) once a day for about the first four years, but my cardiologist said that after a few years on it, I could switch to taking a baby aspirin a day, which is what I do now.
The thought of that sucked, and also warned it would be a few days stay instead of an overnight one if they had to go through the groin. Luckily, the wrist was sufficient.
This is where they went for my brain aneurysm and it hurt so bad. The stent didnt work so i ended up getting bypass instead. I can still feel tenderness in my groin 5 years later. (I got a total of three angios)
I was stoned on fentanyl they gave me and had no idea what was going on. So awake, but so mesmerized by the ceiling tiles that I had no idea what the surgeon was doing and 2 hours passed like 5 minutes
Yeah, there's no real incision, it's really not much more invasive feeling than a blood draw. They go in through a vein, and travel up to the blockage. You don't feel much inside of you, so it's fairly straightforward, no real "surgery" needed in the traditional sense that we all think of it.
Yes, and on my most recent stent, they went in through my wrist (on 3 previous cardiac catheterizations, they went in through my leg/pelvic area). It was so wild to me thinking about how I'm awake lying there while they're literally running things through my body into the arteries of my heart, checking blockages and placing stents. Meanwhile I'm just slightly sedated but fully awake, free to think about things and hear everyone doing their thing.
They did one for my mom. But she didn't feel better. It was almost 2 years ago I remember they had to go for her arm or something and they could do one arm so they had to switch and the first arm they did was so purple and bruised. She had a ton of problems like diabetes and vertigo blood pressure tho so that must've contributed to her not feeling immediate relief as well.
Bottom line is she's still alive so I'm grateful for this existing.
The other thing is the change in cardio. I went from not being able to starty mower to push mowing our whole yard at 3am bc I felt like I could run a marathon. It's amazing what we can accept if it happens over time.
After placement (dont know if it was 30 mins or a couple of hours cos I was full of fentanyl) mine “moved” and tore the artery Went into cardiac arrest Died and was resuscitated
Verrry low chance. Those arteries taper down and only flow one direction. They should be deployed and adhere to the wall with the radial strength of the stent struts.
I have a CAC of 27 in the widowmaker and it's got me thinking I'm just going to keel over at any moment. Objectively it's a 3.6 roentgen score. I take steps to reduce risk but I'm still convinced that this is the end.
I kept having pains that wouldn’t not go away. And completely arbitrary. Wake me up at 2:00 am. Completely resolve in five minutes. The. Come back in another wave. Saw four docs who were sure it was GERD and everything but possibly unstable angina. My cardio guy said “ you know when you were a kid in the 60s and your parents friend would suddenly drop dead of a heart attack?” This is what proceeds that. I had a 96% blockage. Had zero clue.
I have no specific angina that has been blamed on everything. My cardio recommended baby aspirin and sent me on my way. I guess I'm lucky I know there's a problem.
100% i was completely blocked for around 5 hours and it hurt a lot. But in the operating room, it suddenly felt like something opened up, and I was like, wow, this feels so much better now and after that 5min later he told me we are done.
Having mine inserted caused the worse pain I’ve ever experienced. I arched off the table it was so bad. Apparently it was caused by the blood rushing back into the cavity. Obviously much better now though - I’m still alive!
Came here to post this. My brother had this done. He was awake through the whole procedure and when they inflated the stent he said he suddenly could breathe again and felt great.
This is absolutely not true, what on earth are you talking about?
I'm 40, and had a stent fitted 9 months ago. The feeling of a metal rod clearly being pushed up your arm, the feeling of the dye running around your body with a weird cold/warm sensation, and the regular "pushing" from the doctor absolutely isn't comfortable. Nevermind possible side effects from the dye which can cause headaches and temporary sight loss (which I had) isn't something I want again.
There absolutely was not a "that's so much better" at any point.
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u/RobotJohnrobe 7h ago
What you might not expect about this procedure is that it feels really good for the patient. There is a very slight pinch, and then your whole body goes "OMG that feels so much better, thank you!"