So a few weeks back I posted about my increased
angina episodes and the decision for me to start using a low dosage
Nitro (glyceryl trinitrate) patch.
Ten days ago I bought the patches but because I was feeling good, had not had an angina episode for a few days, me being me, put off starting to use these patches.
And I won't mention my inherent fear of starting a new medication when it comes to my heart!
Well that all changed over the weekend when early Sunday morning around 3.00am I woke up with pressure on the chest,
SOB and a bit of a racing/pounding heart - I have a history of heart
arrhythmia and get it from time to time. Got up out of bed and used my
GTN spray and things improved pretty quickly. Checked my
blood sugar level and it was 3.8 (68 mg/dl) which for me is on the low side and being so early in the morning I knew they would be going further down over the coming hours. I had some juice and nuts and cheese to get the sugar level up and then went back to bed.
For most people a reading of 3.8 would be considered good but I know for me, most times when I go below 4 and definitely below 3.5 I tend to get typical HYPO symptoms and over the years have noticed that at the same time I can also get SOB, racing/pounding heart, pressure on the chest issues and using my GTN usually brings these under control - the racing heart and SOB are not common to HYPOs.
Maybe I did it to myself, overdoing things on Saturday - going to a Jazz festival event during the day and meeting up with friends we hadn't seen for years and then that night going to a music tribute show with me busy taking photos at both events. In a way, I probably brought the latest episode upon myself given I have very low stamina levels and
heart muscle damage following my heart attack in 2007.
And having other health issues including a thyroid condition, means I am on a multitude of medications. In 1996 I was diagnosed with
Graves disease and two years later had my thyroid burnt out and have been on on thyroid replacement medication ever since.
In May 2014, I had an episode of angina which landed me in hospital. Having just had a sandwich for lunch I started to feel unwell, thought it was angina, took my GTN spray and it didn't help. When the paramedics arrived they found my blood sugar level was 3.8. In hospital a discussion between endocrinology and cardiology decided my angina episode which included chest pain, sweating and pressure down both sides of my neck was related to my diabetes. In the following weeks I did a
Holter monitor test (for the heart) and wore a
blood sugar monitor for seven days.
Here I am after being brought into hospital in May, 2014
Whilst I have not had such a bad experience since, I am always conscious of my sugar levels and the effect a "low" can have on me when it comes to my heart.
Holter Monitor test in 2014
After the angina/HYPO episode early Sunday morning and then needing to use my GTN spray twice more during the day, once later in the morning and again in the afternoon when I had pressure in the chest and SOB issues I made the decision that today, Monday, I would start using the Nitro patch. The brand my chemist has given me is called
Nitro-Dur 5.
In accordance with the instructions I have put one on my upper right arm and leave it on for twelve hours and then take it off tonight and put another one on tomorrow morning after a twelve hour break.
Nitro-Dur 5 patch applied per instructions to upper arm
Need to be aware that as I am getting used to these patches I can get similar side effects like headache, dizziness, light headedness etc. that can come with using the GTN spray.
We shall now see in the coming days, weeks if this will help with my angina issues.
This may be of interest regarding Diabetes Heart Disease: http://www.nhlbi.nih.gov/health/health-topics/topics/dhd/
Another article which may be of interest regarding diabetes and heart disease: http://www.abc.net.au/radionational/programs/healthreport/high-blood-sugar-levels-as-risk-factors-for-heart/3381068#transcript