Is it normal to have chest pain immediately following having a stent placement?
365263
You don't mention how long ago that you had the stent placed and when you first noticed the pain (is immediate while you were still in the hospital?).  Also you don't mention if you are having other symptoms - shortness of breath, profound fatigue.  \n\nA few of thoughts.  If this were indeed cardiac you would expect a worsening of symptoms with activity  - why would it hurt at rest and not hurt MORE with activity?  After a stent is deployed people often will complain of "twinges" immediately afterward, usually promoted by moving - quickly passing discomfort in their chest - it is not serious and this will resolve on its own over the next week or so.\n\nSecondly it is not too uncommon that a person develops a reflux problem (esophogeal erosion) in the process of getting the procedure due to having layed on your back with no food for a long time and starting an aspirin daily.  It often is routine that a reflux medication (Protonix, Prilosec) be Rx'd as a precaution for about a month after the procedure.  \n\nThirdly, Plavix can cause stomach upset.\n\nFinally, in-stent restenosis is not entirely unheard of.  Though rare, it can happen and therefore should not be readily dismissed.  If there has been no change in your symptoms (progressive worsening) then call your cardiologist on Monday morning for further advice.  \n\nIf there have been progessive changes, go to your local ED for further evaluation and treatment.  I wished I had a dollar for every time a patient told me their heart attack "didn't hurt that bad."  The intensity of pain is a poor indicator of seriousness and don't take chances with your LAD.    \n\n95% LAD blcokage at age 42 should be a huge wake up call to you.  If you haven't been directed on lifestyle changes, seek the information and consider joining a cardiac rehab for further help.  Good luck and be well my friend.
1080156
Are you sure its heartburn and not chest pain? Chest pain isn't always sharp stabbing pains. Call your cardiologist.
180449
Well non-specific changes in one lead do not mean much in themselves.  In the setting of chest pain, they become a bit more worrisome.  Take comfort in the fact that you are in a facility where they will take care of you.  Many people come to this forum with no insurance...they have no benefit of "waiting for doctors to run tests on them;"  all they get is this forum (sad).  Even if you have blockages, the treatments now days are excellent.  So, wait for the tests and good luck!!
207506
Usually when the reperfussion of the clotted area happens and this can be within the first hour....and sometimes minutes after Retrovase or TPA is started, (clot busters), there will be an arrythmia of several PVCs in a row.  It always makes me catch my breath a bit when I see this run of PVCs.  So far, everytime I've seen this, the irregularity corrects it's self...WHEW!!  Usually within the next 24 hours the person is sent to cath lab for a cardiac cath and depending on what is found and the history of past medical intervention(s)(past by-pass surgery for instance) for cardiac problems, a decision is made to do a by-pass or put in a stent.
931856
been there.........you didnt have a panic attack, but your blood pressure most likely sky rocketed!!! The result is chest pains, shortness of breath, kinda tight around your chest. You were pissed, REALLY pissed.
546702
look i'm 18 years old and i've had chest pain since i was like 7 or 8 anyway i know how you feel not knowing what's wrong. i've been told it was caused by lifting stuff i'd strained/streched some muscles in my chest, i slept wrong, that they're panic attacks, it was caused by coughing due to a cold, that i had plorisy (or however you spell it), no one to this day can tell me what's wrong. i've been through the blood work, ekg's, ect. and they can't find anything wrong. i think it because when they schedule these things, during the time of having them done i'm not having the pain, so i guess that's why the basiclly tell me that it's all in my head. but hey i'm here for ya. it might take a while but in time they'll find out it's not all in out heads. in the mean time if you need omeone to talk to that understands the pain e-mail me at wolfspan16@yahoo.com . good luck though i know how painful they can be.
98377
Angina is a serious condition generally a precoursor to severe heart issues. Be careful about your self treatment for a suspected angina problem. Having said that...\n\nExcessive gas and bloating in the stomach can cause a type of angina attack. It puts pressure on the heart from the bottom side and feels like a heart attack. It is very difficult for the average person to be able to tell the difference. For more information of Angina, visit...www.webmd.com   good information and explainations. And then go see your doctor.
1012234
Could be your gallbladder. I felt like I was having a heart attack.\n\nHope you find out soon.
1135530
Digestion problems, stress, inflammation infection, there are many things. Check webmd there is a symptom check list for chest pain. There is nothing more scary than chest pain. I hope you feel better soon.
1029657
The risks associated with stent placement are minimal compared to the risk of untreated blocked arteries and include clotting, further damage to an artery during the procedure, and an allergic reaction to the stent material. All patients are placed on an anti-coagulant, or blood thinner, following the procedure and then, typically, aspirin therapy is required indefinitely.\n\nThere is the possibility that an artery with a stent in place can collapse or become blocked again and it can be lethal for the individual. This is referred to as restenosis or reocclusion.\n\nThere are some stents, called drug eluting stents, that are coated with medication that releases into the artery and helps prevent the artery from becoming closed again. There are no known problems associated with the long-term presence of stents other than the possibility of restenosis. Patients who have had stents implanted will be monitored closely by their cardiologist, or other specialist, for a few weeks following the procedure and then at routine intervals for checkup
853203
In looking into your inquiry, it turns out that a very rare complication can be artery perforation and resulting cardiac tamponade.  I located a study from back in the 90's about this complication.  Here is some background information that will help you gain perspective on the whole matter.\n\nDuring the 3-year study period, a total of 15 patients had cardiac tamponade during or within 36 hours after 6999 coronary interventions, yielding an incidence of 0.21%. No cases of tamponade occurred among 14,927 patients undergoing diagnostic catheterizations during the same period.\n\nThe diagnosis of tamponade was usually confirmed by echocardiography, with the exception of 1 patient who had hypotension and tamponade physiology while in the laboratory. Fluoroscopy revealed immobile heart borders, and pericardiocentesis was performed immediately without prior echocardiography, with rapid restoration of normal blood pressure. The echocardiogram was performed within 30 minutes of onset of hypotension in 9 of 15 cases, and in all, within 2 hours.\n\nThe clinical circumstances leading to emergency echocardiography and therapy varied, but with a common theme of hypotension. The 6 patients who had tamponade in the catheterization laboratory were immediately recognized on the basis of sudden profound hypotension and (in the 4 coronary artery cases) by obvious contrast extravasation. Of the 9 patients with delayed tamponade, 8 had unexplained hypotension. Four of these also had chest pain, 3 had dizziness, and 2 had severe bradycardia. Only 2 patients had asymptomatic hypotension.\n\nTreatment was surgical in 9 (60%) of 15 patients. These patients had various indications. In 1 patient, tamponade was not suspected until the chest was opened for emergency coronary bypass graft surgery. In 5 patients, pericardiocentesis was not successful in controlling the bleeding, whereas in the remaining 3 patients, pericardiocentesis was not attempted.\n\nThe mean time from surgical consultation to arrival in the operating room was 1 hour. Four patients had surgery as the primary treatment, whereas 5 had a percutaneous pericardial drain placed but required surgery for continued active bleeding. Six (40%) patients responded well to conservative treatment with pericardiocentesis alone. In cases of coronary perforation, prolonged balloon inflations, often with the use of perfusion balloons, usually were used to achieve hemostasis or as a temporizing measure before pericardiocentesis.\n\nHere is a case of having cardiac tamponade/pericarditis incidental to the procedure.  Two problems not necessarily related to each other.  Infectious complications of coronary angioplasty and stenting are uncommon. A 70-year-old man is presented who underwent percutaneuous transluminal coronary angioplasty (PTCA) and stenting of an occluded left anterior descending artery. This was complicated by Staphylococcus aureus pericarditis with tamponade. He was successfully treated with a closed drainage and antibiotics. This is the first reported case in the literature that documents purulent pericarditis and tamponade following percutaneous revascularization.\n\nBacterial pericarditis is very unlikely but then your whole experience has been very unlikely.  See the attached link to learn more about pericarditis, which is what you are currently suffering from.  As you will see viruses and inflammatory diseases can also account for this presentation too.  \n\nhttp://www.emedicine.com/med/topic1781.htm\n\nSo now that I have done all of this footwork for you...two questions:  1)  Why couldn't you look this up yourself?  2)  Why didn't you select a best answer on your last question about this matter?
1114278
Playing russian roulette.  Yes it can be quite dangerous.  Wishing it to go away is silly because without knowing what is going on and fixing the problem even exercise my be problematic.\n\nIf this true happened, call 911.\n\nPain has nothing to do with how mild a heart attack is.  How do you figure out the severity of a heart attack?\n\nPeople get heart attacks because the pipe/pipes (coronary arteries) that supply blood  to you heart muscle is clogged up. When the heart muscle cannot get enough blood (oxygen and nutrients), that muscle dies off.  Without knowing where the blockage is occurring and how much of a blockage, you cannot really assess the potential damage.  It is quite possible to have one mild heart attack and then another.  The key is time.  The faster you can open up your arteries the less amount of heart muscle damage.  \n\nIn addition, damages heart muscles are arrythmogenic.  It is not uncommon for patients with heart attacks to also damage the electrical system in there heart.  They can develope fatal arrythmias.\n\nNext, heart problems can occur on a spectrum.  Patients can have stable angina unstable angina and heart attack.  How can we be sure that your chest pain is not unstable angina?  The chest pain can be a warning sign for a major heart attack.\n\nLastly, without proper medicines after you heart attack, the dead area in your heart undergoes changes ie remodeling.  This remodeling is the normal healing process but it changes the mechanics of your heart.  It can worsen the functioning of your heart.
451081
Yeah I have. But I get blood clots periodically, so I know that that pain is from a blood clot blocking the oxygen flow to my heart.\nI hope you don't have the same problem I do!
671739
my friend had heart surgery and that happened to her due to an infection 2wks after her surgery.  Or it could be a brisk movement has torn stiches, either way have it checked out asap.
599164
it could be post tramatic stress syndrome where you are worried about it happening again and your body goes into a phase where it reacts as if its happening again. the orgasim thing i wouldnt worry to much about. for the last 6mo, i have been having chest pain and if you look at every medical website out there, and i told you the symptoms that accompany my chest pain you would tell me i am having the exact symptoms of a heart attack. i have been to a cardiologist and have had many, many tests done and there is nothing wrong with my heart, lungs or anything in my chest. the very idea that i will have an attack will bring on an attack. you could be experiencing the same thing. the fear that it will happen again makes your body react to the way it reacted when the action took place. i would talk to a family dr about it and see someone about it. usually you can see someone for about 20 mn once a month, just to give them updates and such, and it is very affordable. also, you might try to go to webmd.com and read about home treatment for panic attacks.
536839
Your vocab is a LITTLE confusing - there is no such thing as "pulmonary ventricular fibrillation" - just 'ventricular fibrillation'. This is the most serious cardiac arrythmia, and is rapidly fatal unless defibrillated (shocking the chest).\nThe vast majority of coronary angioplasty and stEnting (drug-eluting stents, or bare-metal stents) cases are performed without any occurrence of arrythmias. Especially if the initial blockage was only 80%, ie it was likely performed as an elective procedure, not as an emergency after an acute MI (heart attack).\n\nSo, in short, this is NOT normal.
1098099
First I would ask for an echocardiogram with & without saline (water bubbles); this will show any & hopefully all holes in your heart. I had it done & they found I was missing a chamber and had holes on the opposite side of my heart which required them to "cath" my heart. They make a small slice in the groin area & go through a main artery in your leg up to your heart. I'm only 5' & 100 lbs & they couldn't knock me out with morphine (I watched the entire procedure & ticked off my cardiologist -lol). My personal opinion would be 1. ask questions, make a list if you have to, 2. check out the surgeons & their history, & 3. if they are as good as they check out to be the procedure will be a cakewalk for you. I was 38 when they found all of this & now I'm 43 and alive to see my baby (23) get married this coming August to a wonderful young lady. My Dad had 2 triple arterial bypasses & he lost a leg in Korea and God bless him, he'll be 79 this July. Yes, I had a good role model but it is normal to get upset when a Dr mentions a prob w/the heart & that you have to face surgery. I now know how a lobster feels having its chest cracked but thorasic & cardiac surgery is so advanced that I can promise you that you'll be fine. Try to keep a positive attitude and have faith; they told me after 3 days that if I could walk up & down a flight of stairs 4 times, I could go home..........I bolted & got my boney butt outta that hospital & back into my own home in no time. My thoughts & prayers are with you (Navy brat here) but above all : keep the faith.\nBeth