I had the angioplasty 18 months ago and have had no problems since apart from the morning tirednes from the beta-blockers. Hospital doctor suggested taking the beta-blocker at night instead of the morning. May sound daft but it seems to have made a difference and I only changed on Sunday night.
For the first in a year I was up before 7!
Only problem is that I seem to be starving hungry when I wake up and not very hungry in the evening.
When it works Angioplasty is good ~ but only when it works
They tried to put four stents into the left anterial artery and hoped that the increase in blood supply would "force" the rest of the artery to open. It didn't. Two and a half hours of invasive procedure under local anesthetic wasted. Even the Cardiologist was cursing when he decided he could do no more. Now the hope is that drug treatment will assist the heart which is busy growing it's own little "bypass" type arteries to cope with the fact that the left side is f*cked.
Beta Blockers ~ I take 75 mg Atenolol morning and 50mg at night which is above the recommended maximum dose but the Cardiologist says "You're a big chap, you can cope with that"
I also take (This is the new one) A Calcium Channel blocker each morning
An angiotensin II receptor antagonist morning & night
A diuretic each morning (They've changed that too as the one I was on caused a potassium deficiency)
A Statin each night
Aspirin (of course)
Sundry other pills connected with insulin levels (Not Metformin) and cholestoral lowering drugs.
Valium morning noon and night to help me "cope" with taking so many pills!
In total I take some 12 different drugs a day so the potential for conflict between them is great. Most of them come with warnings that they should not be taken with the others
which is a little unnerving.
Hungry? I am always hungry because of the dibetes and the need to follow a diet regime.
Tired? Permanently
