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Angina - what to ask your doctor
What to ask your doctor about angina and heart disease; Coronary artery disease - what to ask your doctor
Angina is pain or pressure in the chest that happens when your heart muscle is not getting enough blood and oxygen.
You sometimes feel it in your neck or jaw. Sometimes you may notice only that your breath is short.
Below are some questions you may want to ask your health care provider to help you take care of your angina.
Questions
What are the signs and symptoms that I am having angina? Will I always have the same symptoms?
- What are the activities that can cause me to have angina?
- How should I treat my chest pain, or angina, when it happens?
- When should I call the doctor?
- When should I call 911?
How much exercise or activity can I do?
- Do I need to have a stress test first?
- Is it safe for me to exercise on my own?
- Where should I exercise, inside or outside? Which activities are better to start with? Are there activities or exercises that are not safe for me?
- How long and how hard can I exercise?
When can I return to work? Are there limits to what I can do at work?
What should I do if I feel sad or very worried about my heart disease?
How can I change the way I live to make my heart stronger?
- What is a heart-healthy diet? Is it OK to ever eat something that is not heart healthy? What are some ways to eat healthy when I go to a restaurant?
- Is it OK to drink any alcohol?
- Is it OK to be around other people who are smoking?
- Is my blood pressure normal?
- What is my cholesterol and do I need to take medicines for it?
Is it OK to be sexually active? Is it safe to use sildenafil (Viagra), vardenafil (Levitra), or tadalafil (Cialis)?
What medicines am I taking to treat or prevent angina?
- Do they have any side effects?
- What should I do if I miss a dose?
- Is it ever safe to stop any of these medicines on my own?
If I am taking aspirin, clopidogrel (Plavix), ticagrelor (Brilinta), prasugrel (Effient), or another blood thinner, is it OK to take ibuprofen (Advil, Motrin), naproxen (Aleve, Naprosyn), or other pain medicines?
It is OK to take omeprazole (Prilosec) or other medicines for heartburn?
References
Fihn SD, Blankenship JC, Alexander KP, et al. 2014 ACC/AHA/AATS/PCNA/SCAI/STS focused update of the guideline for the diagnosis and management of patients with stable ischemic heart disease: a report of the American College of Cardiology/American Heart Association Task Force on Practice Guidelines, and the American Association for Thoracic Surgery, Preventive Cardiovascular Nurses Association, Society for Cardiovascular Angiography and Interventions, and Society of Thoracic Surgeons. J Am Coll Cardiol . 2014;64(18):1929-1949. PMID: 25077860 www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/25077860 .
Morrow DA, Boden WE. Stable ischemic heart disease. In: Mann DL, Zipes DP, Libby P, Bonow RO, Braunwald E, eds. Braunwald's Heart Disease: A Textbook of Cardiovascular Medicine . 10th ed. Philadelphia, PA: Elsevier Saunders; 2015:chap 54.
Sabatine MS, Cannon CP. Approach to the patient with chest pain. In: Mann DL, Zipes DP, Libby P, Bonow RO, Braunwald E, eds. Braunwald's Heart Disease: A Textbook of Cardiovascular Medicine . 10th ed. Philadelphia, PA: Elsevier Saunders; 2015:chap 50.
Review Date: 8/2/2016
Reviewed By: Michael A. Chen, MD, PhD, Associate Professor of Medicine, Division of Cardiology, Harborview Medical Center, University of Washington Medical School, Seattle, WA. Also reviewed by David Zieve, MD, MHA, Isla Ogilvie, PhD, and the A.D.A.M. Editorial team.
