Hello and Hi :)

Diseases & Conditions Heart & Cardiovascular Disease
1
My name is RJ and I wanted to climb aboard with ya's. I am 53, and have had an mi and 2 stents. 2.5 years ago my ramus artery, which is small, went fully closed. The mi was supposedly light with little damage.
 
I am taking the standard regime of heart medicines. Beta blocker, ace inhibitor, plavix, and timed released nitroglycerine. I take plavix because I cannot tolerate aspirin.
 
The cad increased and ~5 months ago I had my lad and obtuse marginal stented. I have a left dominant heart and my rca is congenitally small and ~60% blocked and unstentable.
 
I had 4 days of fairly extreme angina, but it was relieved by fast acting nitro. This lead me to a doc. This led me to the GREAT 64 slice coronary ct scan. It was right on with the percent blockages and locations.
 
I have a question if I may. Have any of you went to the hospital where all of your cardiac care has been received, and obtained copies of your medical records? I did and am very disappointed with what is actually in a report. An mri report contains maybe 25 words. The results of the ct scan the same. Same for the stress test. My question really is, do you think the doctors have more records on file at their group's files, or are the reports really that short? I am a tad frustrated because I think my doc may be holding something back from me, because of what his nurse told me.
 
Thanks for listening,
 
RJ
2
cool  hi rj i will just just jump in and say they really do keep things short, facts just the facts. i do not think a doctor would withhold any information, you just have to ask a lot of questions and i have really worn my docs out with redundant ones.  i am curious about something though, di you go on statins and stay on them after your first stents? it usually takes a bit longer than two years i thought for arteries to reclog. did you have the medicated stents put in or the older ones?
3
Thanks for your reply Dreamgirl. Sorry for the confusion. I didn't explain it well. Prior to my heart attack or mi, I didn't know that I had coronary artery disease (CAD). The small ramus artery was too small to stent in June of 2003. It was left closed. At that time, other fairly small blockages were noted in my lad and rca, during the angiogram or cardiac catheterization. The CAD progressed and I had 2 more cardiac caths that showed increasing blockages. Then I had the bout with angina about 5 months ago, had the ct scan, a cardiac cath and 2 Taxus Express 2 medicated stents inserted. I cannot tolerate statins.

Blockages can increase in just a short while, I have read. I guess it depends on a lot of other factors.

I had an echo cardiogram in March of last year. My cardiologist told me all was well. In the records I retrieved, it showed I had mild tricuspid and mitral valve regurgitation and irregular Lv wall motion. I don't know if this is all normal due to my age, or heart disease.

Thanks again for your reply,

RJ
4
cool  well that explains a bit. i have gone off and then back on the statins, tried them all really, they make me so tired and depressed, is that how you felt or was it some other reason.  i am afraid to go off permanently. and by the way, you are not very old to have this happen , neither am i my dr. just keeps telling me life is a marathon not a sprint.so he has been quite patient with my changing my meds. how are you controling your cholesteral numbers? do you keep track of your good bad and the ugly(triglyserides) HA HA
5
My cholesterol is very high due to an inherited disorder, hypercholesterolemia. I cannot tolerate statins or any medicines to lower my blood lipids. This is hard to believe, but all too true. I get the immediate "unexplained muscle pains" they mention in the commericials. I kept taking Crestor, after the onset of these pains, and almost developed rhabdomyolysis, which can be fatal.

Thanks again for your response :)

RJ
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devil  THAT CRESTOR IS ROUGH, I TRIED IT TOO TWO DAYS LATER I HAD SHARP PAINS IN MY BACK. I MUST SAY I HAVE THE MUSCLE ACHES BUT IT IS HARD TO TELL AS YOU GET OLDER WHAT IS CAUSED BY WHAT. I HAVE TRIED ALL BUT ONE OF THE STATINS, PRAVACHOL, WILL START IT NEXT MONTH SOMETIME. I AM TOO AFRAID TO STAY OFF, WHAT IN THE WORLD ARE YOU DOING FOR YOUR HIGH CHOLESTERAL THEN?
7
Diet, diet, and more diet, lol. I am going to start an attempt, for the humpteenth time, to take statins again. I was given really high doses in the past, because my lipids were so high. I am going to start "baby doses" of Lipitor fairly soon.

I am recovering from what I don't know, but one of my doctors thinks it could be an allergic response, or an adverse reaction to the polymer and/or the paclataxal medicine in my 2 stents, which I received at the same time. He told me that the effects of the adverse reactions usually peak in ~3 months after the stents are placed. I had mine on August 29, 2005.

I am weak and having too many strange pains now, to start an attempt. I have also had strept throat. That may be the most of my problem now.

Is your cholesterol high? I really understand and can relate to the vague aches we get, as we age. I took Tricor to lower my triglycerides for quite a spell. Tricor is a fenofibrate, BUT carries the exact same warnings as statins. I believe it caused peripheral neuropathy (PN) in my arms and legs. My triglycerides were >2000, about 6 years ago. They average around 700 to 800 now. I take many many supplements...
8

Aldo

Being in the medical professiona and a VOl first responder we are taught short sweet simple.

My reports are about 10-12  words long and some are long and some are short. But if you want to know more abut your report please ask your dr next time yuo go. I get all my care, test  etc at the same hospital. Onlything is my thyroid test is a bitmore longer but my thryyoid ct scans and sonograms maybe 3 sentences at the most. HOpe this helps.

HEidi

9

Thanks for your reply Heidi.

When it comes to information about my condition, I don't want it short and sweet. That is a big problem I think, and it keeps us from finding out what might help us. When we present with many symptoms, then go and have a very sophisticated test, such as an MRI done, we want a detailed explanation of all the abnormalities seen in our brain. Here is an example; "changes noted in the brain due to small vessel disease"..... How would you like to see that, with no further explanation? I can give many other examples, but due to the "changes in my brain due to small vessel disease", I cannot remember? Why wasn't these "changes" described? I think it is because of lazziness that we, as patients accept.

Have you ever read the nice letters, written on expensive stationary, that, say your cardiologist sends to your family doctor? Your condition of concern is discussed in a lengthy manner. The cardiologist wants your family doctor to know your total, current cardiovascular status, as he sees it. He gives the family doctor the "big picture" out of professional courtesy. He knows the family doc does not specialize in cardiology.

Do you think the cardiologist should send the patient a copy of this letter? Would you like more information than you are getting? I know that I would. I am ultimately responsible for my own health, by managing the information provided by the various doctors that I see.

Thanks again for your reply, and I do hope that you feel as well as possible.

Regards

RJ

10

RJ

I haveno problem ith my Dr's all practice at the same hospital just on different floors and yes they do discuss my MRI"S. I have small vessel disease on top of my heart and they explained it more to me when i asked

1.what caused it?

2.How can I prevent it from getting worse?

3.Any foods to avoid?

4.Is it gentic?

They really explained it was gentic since my heart disease is very gentic I am lucky lets see my moms folks and mom dead by 65 my dads sisde by age 60  had my first heart attack in Jan of 1999 on the OR table second one in 2003 NOv adn then in 199 lost my twin brother to a heart attack 3 days before we were to turn 43 and I am fst approching 50.

For the letters that they send please ask the person usally the medical manager to send yuo a copy too.It helps if yuo know the lady's name here I deal withthe referall coordinator for the Dr's and know her name.

You culd also pay to have  copies of yur records to.

Now for the small bessel disease of the brain is a different story

I wuold ask

how calicified are the vessels with plaque

can I reverse the  plaque in my vessels

What foods should I avoid to help the situation to.

Yes it is hard but we are the patients and have a rigfht to ask questions.

Please bring yur wife or if notmarried yuor girlfriend or someone with yuo to your next Dr's visit and get more  answers to yuor questions please it always seems to help with me I go to my husbands dr's visits he goes to mine and we both ask questions butu me more in depth. Best of luick getting answers but please ask the secretary or referral coordinator yuo wuold alsop like a copy of the letter they send to your fmilyDr.

I have a PCP, Cardio, Endo Dr for now lost 4 dr's by  trying to improve myhealth but yuo are the patient yuo do have rights and please speak up for them ok.

HEidi

11

Good morning Heidi and thanks so much for the information :)

Have a great day

12
cool  HI ALDO, THOSE TRIGLYCERIDE NUMBERS ARE PRETTY STAGGERING. THANK GOD I CANNOT COMPETE, I HAVE A MALE FRIEND WHO HAD TWO STENTS PUT IN SEVEN YEARS AGO AND HE HAS BEEN FINE, MINE ATE ONLY A BIT OVER A YEAR AGO, AND I DO NOT STRUGGLE WITH ANY OTHER HEALTH ISSUES, SO WE ARE ALL A BIT DIFFERENT AREN'T WE. DO NOT WORRY YOURSELF about ASKING QUESTIONS, I HAD TO GET OVER FEELING ASHAMED CALLING ALL THE TIME WITH QUESTIONS, I FINALLY CHANGED DOCTORS AND FOUND ONE I CAN E-MAIL WITH ANY QUESTIONS. GO FOR IT.