Re: AF and Chest Pain

Hi Gord-

Some people with affib develop chest pain as their chest muscles go into a benign spasm from the way the affib affects their chest area , others "carry" their bodies unknowingly in an akward,unatural manner while they are in affib- Sometimes I will have chest pain when I am in affib also. Usually if you can replicate the pain by moving your body around you will know it is muscle related- The only way to be certain that it the chest pain isnot more serious is"

1)Have an echocardiogram test which will then rule out any structural heart damage that could cause affib & chest pain- This will determine that you have "Lone Affib", also known as LAF which is affib caused by idiopathic, non heart related issues- An echocardiogram is a good idea to have done annually if you have affib-

2) The "gold standard" test for CAD (Coronary Heart Disease) is a Nuclear Stress Test which is NOT a regular Stress. Instead it is a test that involves a dye injected into you at various times. You are on the stress machine for only small periods of time and most of the time is just waiting until they put you back on the stress machine at certain intervals-The dye shows any type of coronary artery blockage and once you know that you have no blockages, you can really relax about the chest pain- Jerry Tweet