Is Angina always accompanied by a sense of pressure on the chest or heart, and located more mid-thorax?
I’ve been researching angina on internet and it appears that pressure on the chest is symptomatic. What about a simple, non-throbbing but continuous dull pain in the heart region on the left side of the chest but not mid-chest in location and no feelings of pressure? Could that be Angina? Or something else?
Please provide your information reference or source as this is a medical question where credibility, versus laymen’s guess, is key.
I had angina for 3 years. Then I had a heart attack
Then I had a triple by-pass .. That’s my source, and I trust it is good enough for your purposes?
I never once experienced any "pressure" on my chest, (either mid- or LHS.. .) Many people I spoke with on the ward said the same, and my opinion is that the expression "pressure on the chest" is heard so often is (a) because it’s difficult to describe angina pains, and this is one way of trying to get the ‘feel" of it across, and (b) once it’s been said, the phrase trips off the tongue very easily. It even sounds plausible, like the other phrase "tight bands round my chest"… which also crops up many times.
The most accurate description of the symptoms I felt is as follows:
First, a dull ‘heart-burn’ – like pain and discomfort in the pit of your stomach, which then got more and more intense, cold, and hostile, spreading from the centre outwards into the whole chest cavity, but then becoming an intense dull ache, not just pain.
This radiated out as the attack progressed and the heavy painful ache radiated into the upper arms, neck, and shoulder-blades.
Because the cause is pulsed blood trying to pass into the heart, it is a throbbing pain, obviously.
TNT alleviated it, as with the inhaler. This I would suggest, is one of the surest ways of telling if your dull throbbing pain is angina. Get a spray and try it.
The other way is to experiment, and exert yourself physically.
Angina will come and go, precisely in line with the exertion. You can induce it, and then alleviate it. THat’s Angina.
If it doesn’t, then it’s not.
But when the heart attack came, the additional symptom was a steadily rising pulse (up to about 200 bpm +) and falling BP readings.
Posted in angina
April 30th, 2010 at 5:59 pm
I know several people who have heart attacks and when i talk to them about it they all have different stories with the exception of one detail, they all said that it felt like someone heavy was sitting on their chests. they all had difficulty breathing with this.
some had headache, some did not.
some had nausea, some did not.
some had pain radiating down the left arm, some did not.
one thing i do know for sure is that if you are having any kind of chest pain you need to go to the er. do not hesitate.
i hope i have been helpful and i hope u are ok.
References :
April 30th, 2010 at 6:17 pm
I had angina for 3 years. Then I had a heart attack
Then I had a triple by-pass .. That’s my source, and I trust it is good enough for your purposes?
I never once experienced any "pressure" on my chest, (either mid- or LHS.. .) Many people I spoke with on the ward said the same, and my opinion is that the expression "pressure on the chest" is heard so often is (a) because it’s difficult to describe angina pains, and this is one way of trying to get the ‘feel" of it across, and (b) once it’s been said, the phrase trips off the tongue very easily. It even sounds plausible, like the other phrase "tight bands round my chest"… which also crops up many times.
The most accurate description of the symptoms I felt is as follows:
First, a dull ‘heart-burn’ – like pain and discomfort in the pit of your stomach, which then got more and more intense, cold, and hostile, spreading from the centre outwards into the whole chest cavity, but then becoming an intense dull ache, not just pain.
This radiated out as the attack progressed and the heavy painful ache radiated into the upper arms, neck, and shoulder-blades.
Because the cause is pulsed blood trying to pass into the heart, it is a throbbing pain, obviously.
TNT alleviated it, as with the inhaler. This I would suggest, is one of the surest ways of telling if your dull throbbing pain is angina. Get a spray and try it.
The other way is to experiment, and exert yourself physically.
Angina will come and go, precisely in line with the exertion. You can induce it, and then alleviate it. THat’s Angina.
If it doesn’t, then it’s not.
But when the heart attack came, the additional symptom was a steadily rising pulse (up to about 200 bpm +) and falling BP readings.
References :
Cardiovascular Physicist, heart attack and unstable angina survivor