Lorraine's story: "Angina can be debilitating, but I've had a lot of support"

“After my heart attack, I’d get slight pains and heaviness in my chest if I pushed myself too much, for example, after a long walk with the dogs. This pain, called ‘stable angina’, would go quickly if I took my glyceryl trinitrate (GTN) spray, which I always carried in my handbag.

But in 2018, it became unstable angina: I started getting severe pains in my chest, jaw and neck, even when I was at rest. I was frightened it was building to another heart attack.

When I took the GTN spray, the pain eased but I’d feel drained. Because it was happening so frequently, sometimes multiple times a day, I wasn’t functioning as a parent. My older children had to take my youngest to school.

Angina can be debilitating, but I've had lots of support through the years

After a few months of this, my GP arranged an angiogram. This test showed that the two stents fitted to widen my arteries after the heart attack were still fine and my other arteries were not narrow enough to have new stents fitted.

I was put on ranolazine. This medication has been great for me. Now I only get angina once or twice a month when I’ve overdone things, like vacuuming the whole house. I manage it with my GTN spray and by resting.

Angina can be debilitating. Through the years, I’ve had support from my GP, my cardiac nurse and others who’ve gone through it, through Belle’s Hearties, an online woman’s group.”

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