Question:
I am almost a year out and just left the hospital-said heart attack...
Just left the hospital, went in this past Monday for ulcer and chest pains. They were ready to send me home, then said "no, your not going anywhere, your troponine levels are elevated which indicates you had a heart attack or are having a heart attack". Long story short, I had a cardiac catheterization today and yes, my troponine levels had been high (thats an enzyme only released into the bloodstream if your heart has experienced muscal damage) but since the catheterization didn't show any permanent damage or blockages, they gave me a clean bill of health. WELL: TROPONINE IS ONLY RELEASED WHEN THERE HAS BEEN AN ISSUE WITH THE HEART-so did I or didn't I have a HEART ATTACK??? NONE of the 12 doctors that originally stated: "YOU HAD A HEART ATTACK, YOUR TROPONINE LEVELS ARE HIGH" could explain to me WHY I had high troponine levels if I didn't have a heart attack, most of them (including the cardiologists) avoided answering any questions priot to my release from the hospital this evening. What am I supposed to think? All the research says TROPONINE ONLY GETS INTO YOUR BLOODSTREAM IF YOUR HEART HAS BEEN DAMAGED-yet those doctors said MY HEART ISN'T DAMAGED. Any ideas where to turn folks? Thanks for your time. Teresa Parsons 7/28/2003 down 156 pounds to date. — teresaxxxx (posted on June 25, 2004)
June 24, 2004
Hi Teresa, dod you know your CPK ot tropinine levels. the CPK tells you if
there is muscle damage to your body. the tropinine is specific to your
heart muscle. are your coronary arteries clear now because they removed
placque biuldup?did they say what they did while in there? was there any
intervention or stent placement?i would get a copy of your labs and all
tests and the cardiac cath report.when do you follow up with your MD?
Tracey
— traceybubbles
June 24, 2004
Call up your PCP. Have him/her review the hopital records and then run
some more tests (and EKG can determine if there is anything wrong). People
tend to think heart attacks are impossible to NOT realize you've had them.
In truth...they can be so mild that you might not even seek medical care.
Just because it wasn't severe enough for the doctor's to shout "heart
attack" doesn't mean it wasn't one. My father had 7 heart attacks and
only 2 were severe and required hospitalization (and finally surgery which
corrected the issues). Like I said, seek a second opinion. No harm in
double checking.
— Renee B.
June 25, 2004
Actually, the CPK levels were NORMAL. That's what is so darn freaky about
the whole thing. WHen they went in and did the cardio catheterization,
they said there were NO BLOCKAGES, that my heart was in A+++ shape! SO WHY
THE ELEVATED TROPONIN LEVELS?????????
— teresaxxxx
June 25, 2004
A few years back my levels were up too, it was attirbuted to anxiety,
which gave me palpitations. Once the palpitations were under control
everything went back to normal.
Take care
— Kriola
June 25, 2004
This could be related. Did you have your gallbladder out? I had mine out in
August 2002 and had chest pains for 6 months thinking I am having a heart
attack. Turned out to be a spincter muscle that the gallbladder was
attached to called the spincter of oddi. They had to clip that thread like
spincter and I had no chest pains again but the draw back to this is that
after wls they can't go through the stomach to clip this. This is one thing
to look at. The weird part of this was that I had the attack first thing in
the morning and missed so much college that I decided after I had the
procedure done to drop out that semester. Less than one week later I was
approved for wls surgery. I wouldn't have had this surgery done when I did
if I hadn't had these attacks. Go Figure...but back to the chest pains that
radiated to my back...if your gallbladder is out check with the doctor to
see if this might be the problem ..they can give you smooth muscle relaxers
and this could stop the problem. Patti
— classydame1
June 26, 2004
Hi Teresa,
Sorry you are having problems. Heart problems are scary! You should know
though that the heart is a an amazing part of our bodies. When it is
damaged it creates what is called collateral circulation. It makes new
blood vessels to supply oxygen to the parts of the heart that have been
damaged or lost circulation due to heart attack. Many people have what are
referred to as silent heart attacks, where there are actually no symptoms.
An EKG may show an "old inferior infarct" which is a heart attack
history when the person never even knew they had a heart attack. Maybe your
troponin levels were elvated because of a spasm of the blood vessels in the
heart. This could cause chest pains and it could have been mild enough to
not leave permanent damage. That would be lucky. In the future if you have
any chest pain at all I would call the doctor. Getting a second opinion or
simply following up with your PCP would be a good idea. Your PCP could
monitor you heart status for the future. Good luck. PS I am a nurse and
used to work on the telemetry unit. :-)
— catleth
June 29, 2004
4 years ago my husband had a hart attack, requiring the insertion of a
stent. The Drs. have said that his ekg is now normal as that of someone
who never had a heart attack. Maybe they were saying that you were one of
the lucky ones who had a relatively mild attack and your heart was lucky
enough to not incurr permanent damage. If you are not satisfied, you can
consider a cardiac work up with another group of Drs.. Best of luck!
— Fixnmyself
April 9, 2005
Now, I know my answer is being posted long after your question but, I had
to reply. Troponins can also be elevated if there are problems with your
kidneys and/or serious hydration issues going on. Also, they should have
run atleast three sets of troponins on with atleast two consecutive sets
coming back positive before that preformed anything so severe as a cardiac
cath. on you.
Since we take in high amounts of protein(THIS IS ONLY MY SPECUALTION,
PLEASE NOTE), our kidneys have to work harder to process and this MAY be
the reason you trops. were elevated. Of course, I don't know what the
levels were, how many sets they ran, if they ran sets the next days you
were in the hospital, if they checked your kidney function as well, if this
was the hospital of your wls or atleast a hospital familiar with wls
patients, etc.etc.etc. You get the point.
— Roni C.
August 17, 2005
Hi, I think you are obsessing a little too much about the troponin
level...just the troponin level does not give you a full picture...no more
than just a stress test gives you a full picture without a scan. Just my
opinion. I think you should listen to your doctors and not freak out too
terribly or else you will send yourself back in and it will be more than
troponin next time that is out of whack. Take care!
— Jeannie B.
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