For the past few days I’ve been having pain in my chest and neck. It feels tight and like a bunch of pressure on my chest. I was worried enough to go to the ER for it yesterday. My resting HR was 104 and blood pressure was 130/95 when i got into the hospital. It lowered while waiting for the doctor to see me. They did an ECG and a blood test.
Doc says my ECG looked normal, but they had to redo my blood test because my troponin levels were at “7”. They said that I didn’t have a heart attack, but when I’m researching troponin levels, anything above a 4 is indicative of damage to the heart.
I also told the doc that i have depression and anxiety. he chalked it up as anxiety attacks.
At this point, does it sound like I should go see a cardiologist?
If you have a general practitioner that you go to for your normal illnesses, start there. If the ER doc didn’t tell you to make an appointment with a specialist, maybe start smaller.
Stop googling. You didn’t study this stuff. And my guess is it won’t help with anxiety either.
That’s probably great advice. I’m not a doctor. But at any rate, I’ll go see my GP just to be safe. Probably should stop being so stressed, too but obviously that’s easieraid than done.
I disagree. Wanting to know, researching and googling isn’t a bad thing. Sure, googling does always make the problem seem larger than it is, but other thanthe anxiety there are no ill effects.
Do go to your doctor. Let them take a look at you, and ask for concrete tests. I know a family friend who felt off and had gained weight quite rapidly with no change in lifestyle. She went to the doctor who brushed it off and 6 mo. later she died from a cancer the size of a large infant. The doctor said she should stop worrying about her weight. True story.
Most definitely, this won’t haooen to you, but remember - doctors are human too. They’re also lazy and like to not spend their budget on tests. And then stuff like this happens. It was totally avoidable. The doctor just needed to take a fucking look. She’d have noticed somethig was off. Now she has no job. I’d say I was sad for the doc, but it wasn’t even incompetence that caused this avoidable death, but rather pure laziness.
Morale of the story: Looking out for yourself is not a bad thing. Try not to worry, see a doctor, inquire and ask for a check-up. It takes only a little bit of their time. If they say all is fine without doing jack-shit, call them out on it. Hell, be a Karen if need be - it’s your health on the line, not your kid’s football match causing you to get home 5 minutes later than usual.
Odds are you’ll worry much less when you know you for sure your’re fine than when you have no clue what causes your ailment.
Well, I disagree with you.
but other thanthe anxiety there are no ill effects.
Anxiety, for some of us, is a bad thing in itself and not a negligible side effect. It may not be for you. And consequently I would not have advised you to stop googling medical problems.
But I felt that OP’s anxiety was not helped by excessive googling. And it was in this spirit that I advised OP against it.
They might be a free market slave waiting for affordable care.
Go and see your GP. It wasn’t a heart attack but it was a wake up call and I don’t think jumping to seeing a cardiologist will be that helpful, although a GP can refer you on if they think you need it.
I was in the foothills of heart health problems - high BP, cholesterol creeping up, etc. and the health staff were starting to express concern (suggesting I might need to go on statins). So I turned it around in two years and at my last health check my weight and bloods were all “perfect” according to the nurse. So it is doable.
However, from what you say, mental health issues may be holding you back and making important and sweeping changes to your lifestyle require effort and focus. So the GP may want to get this addressed while starting to monitor your health through regular checks. I found the checks motivating in themselves as the data can really prod you into action because you no longer can say you are probably unhealthy - it is there in stark numbers. I also suspect I was slightly gamifying it as I made beating the numbers a focus and figuring out what I needed to do to adjust each on (as lowering triglyceride levels requires different action to lowering LDL, bad cholesterol). I even made a spreadsheet.
As a rule of thumb, if you think you need to see a doctor, see a doctor.
A first step may be your general practitioner. But it’s not unreasonable to do a check-up with a cardiologist once a decade, better identifying risk factor when they’re still risks rather than disease.
Yeah, you definitely need to see a doctor.
I’m assuming the er doc was giving you the easier to understand numbers, but a “7” would still be a good bit higher than you’d expect to see in someone with no damage to the heart muscle unless there’s something else weird going on.
Nobody online can tell you what’s going on, obviously, but I would consider this an urgent matter. It isn’t absolutely a heart issue, but none of the things that can cause elevated troponin are beneficial. With a normal EKG, you weren’t having an immediate issue, but I would definitely be calling your GP now to get the ball rolling. Most of the things that would have your troponin levels to be at that range are very treatable, as in after treatment, the problem is resolved and only needs monitoring over time. The rest are still treatable, but may need more than monitoring.
So don’t fuck around about it, but also don’t panic.
With the ER doc not being overly concerned after two tests (which is the norm; changes in levels matter a good bit), it isn’t something where you have to see your doctor now, as in go and camp out in the office until you’re seen. But I would say to request the earliest possible appointment because they probably will refer you to a cardiologist, and the sooner you get the referral, the sooner you’re seen by one.
Again, don’t panic, your health isn’t ideal, but since it’s confirmed you didn’t have a heart attack, chances are really good that with treatment and lifestyle changes, you’re going to be fine long term.
Sounds like a wake up call to take your health seriously
shot in the dark but do you eat before going to bed? If yes, stop doing so.
What does that have to do with heart attacks?
Nothing, but it can trigger symptoms that feel similar.
You should see a cardiologist. If you have unexplained chest pain, don’t ignore it.
What is your diet and lifestyle like?
honestly , sit around and eat more unhealthy food than healthy food. I’m constantly stressed out and rarely exercise. I’m surprised that it wasn’t an actual, verifiable, heart attack, when taking into account those variables. I want to change my lifestyle, but the depression really has a way of making me stay on the sofa.
Sounds like your depression is literally slowly killing you.
In the end it’s really just a decision. Not saying it’s easy but the keys are in your hand.
This is a great opportunity to change your life for the better. You got a warning, and can use that to motivate change.
I’m a strong believer in a low carbohydrate Diet, and moderate exercise. Remove the sugars from your diet, and go for long walks. As you improve you will find more energy to do more
Find a workout buddy? A local health coach, or trainer? Join a gym? Those are ways to motivate more activity.
Join a food community, that can help you stick to a better eating pattern.
deleted by creator
Definitely anxiety.
