u/BB101988

My wife, who is a healthy 53 year-old woman was traveling to Wyoming for a work conference. While she was there, she experienced severe chest pain, jaw, pain, throat, pain, and arm pain so her coworkers took her to the ER. Doctors gave her four aspirin to chew right away. The EKG was normal. The pain went from a nine to a three after about 10 minutes. The first troponin blood enzyme test came back elevated at 100. They said that normal is 30 or below. Second test two hours later 618. The third test two hours later 780. The fourth test several hours later 598 and the fifth test the next morning 285.

Echocardiogram score of 57, which they said was normal. the heart is functioning normally. I jumped on the first flight to Wyoming and got to her the next morning while they were doing a heart Cath to find the blockage. By the time I got to her room they were wheeling her back in and the cardiologist said “pristine arteries “no blockages anywhere.

They also did a D dimer, which is a test to see if there are blood clots in the lungs. It came back negative.

They discharged her the following morning stating that she had no restrictions, even though she was still feeling breathless and chest pressure and when laying on her side, she also gets a sharp pain in the middle of her chest. They wrote a prescription for nitroglycerin and said that if it gets bad before getting back home to Florida, take a nitroglycerin.

I felt very nervous putting her on an airplane four 5 hours so we drove from Wyoming to Denver, which was only 90 minutes away and we stayed in a hotel next to the hospital for three days. She had light chest pressure and shortness of breath every day.

We finally had the courage to fly home. We found a direct flight and got home with no issues. Once Home the following day after a long, hot shower, the pressure got very strong and I took her to the ER. Troponin score is now back in normal range. They did a deep vein thrombosis ultrasound on her legs and it came back negative. Normal EKG. They also did a contrast CT on her lungs and found no blockages. After six hours in the ER, her pressure/ pain was down to about a two and they released her.

The first cardiologist appointment we could get was two weeks later. Pretty much the same pattern every day waiting for the appointment with the cardiologist. Light pressure and shortness of breath when she’s up moving around. She cannot lay on her side, her left side or her right side. That’s when the sharp pain right in the middle of the chest comes back.

While sleeping one night, she inadvertently rolled over onto her side and it woke her up with chest pain. This is the first time she decided to take a nitroglycerin pill. The pain was gone within five minutes But the shortness of breath and the light pressure stayed throughout the day.

Three days later, one week before the cardiology appointment she had another bad episode and took a nitroglycerin pill but this time the symptoms did not go away, so I took her back to the ER. Troponin score was normal. EKG was normal while laying in the hospital over six hours It came down to a 2 and they released her again. This time the doctor in the ER said “it’s probably a G.I. issue” which really upset us because a classic rise and fall Troponin score did occur and I highly doubt that a heart attack and a G.I. Issue happened at the same time.

Over the next several days, symptoms were mild but pretty continuous, and we finally had our appointment with the cardiologist.

He explained in detail what could cause a MINOCA heart attack and that yes this did occur based on the troponin scores. He immediately ordered a cardiac MRI, which I was very happy to hear because the Wyoming hospital did not even do that test.

The MRI is tonight. We should have some answers over the next few days as well as a treatment plan.

Does my wife’s story sound anything like anybody else’s story? And if so, were you able to live a normal life after this happened? Also, did you get clear answers as to what caused it and how to avoid it again?