Hello @huge and welcome to Connect,

Thank you so much for joining this discussion and sharing some of your history. I cannot even begin to imagine how frightening the myocardial infarct must have been!

As @lisab62 mentioned, this type of angina is indeed rare, and unlike typical angina, which usually occurs with physical activity, coronary artery spasms often occur at rest. I hope Connect members @anniestith @crazyheart @mxdpoet @tiny7 will also join in and share some of their insight.

@huge, @lisab62, have your doctors explained what can trigger these spasms?

Stress or activity can cause it but majority of the time it's nothing. I can be sitting or in bed and within seconds I'm fighting to breathe. During the 5 heart caths each one showed the spasm in different stages from looking as flat as a piece of paper to looking like a slinky. The bad ones back my blood up to the point of my carotid arteries swelling up, I become hoarse or I totally cannot talk and barely breathe. Mine is the worst the Drs have ever seen

Stress, physical exertion may bring on the symptoms, but quite often it just happens. I now have 6 stents in my right coronary artery. Usually, once I get a mild attack it comes and goes with each successive issue becoming stronger. I usually have to take a nitroglycerin dose under my tongue within a few hours of the first symptoms. Once that happens I am usually down on the couch for the rest of the day and often a couple of days. I am often short of breath and have little stamina, unlike how I was before this came along. As my cardiologist says, this is my new normal. I don't have to like it, but I do have to get used to it.
I have a hearing for SS Disability in a couple of weeks. We'll see where I go from there, but I am not able to go back to work.

Yes it's tough having to live a whole different way. My disability was approved I think it was the fact all the Doctors reported I would not make it through a 3rd heart attack. Now i believe I will be going to a different stage with a lot less I can do. I see many Doctors in the next month and will know then

It's heart wrenching to read your story it also hits home too close to home I also have stents throughout my arteries in my heart 8 in the right inferior artery a couple of stance in each of the other arteries during these procedures they have noticed prinzmetal angina happening at the same time. Your comment you don't have to like it but you do have to live with it. I am up for heart bypass surgery I am wondering if they bypass all the arteries in your heart with new arteries from elsewhere in your body will the prince metal go away I have read all the post on this site and have not found any reference to bypass surgery correcting the problem I have not talked to my cardiologists about this as of yet. good luck to all the stories are endearing would be nice if they could find a cure for this.
Bob Smith