Sharon, I'm praying for you sincerely. Lupus is making life very difficult and life-changing. I wish you good health with all my heart! It forced me to drop out of university and graduate school, and I deeply regret it. I was diagnosed with heart problems, specifically coronary heart disease, after suffering from crushing heart pain for a year (2025). They were very severe and terrible. I started taking nitroglycerin tablets, and then switched to a spray. Two cardiologists confirmed Prinzmetal's angina with a Holter monitor. The Holter monitor is now in place to monitor treatment progress while on felodipine. What's most interesting is that the pain initially occurred during physical exertion and stress; later, I observed it at rest. The cardiologist can't determine whether the pain is related to exertion or rest, as with Prinzmetal's angina (2% of cases of coronary artery disease), pain usually doesn't occur with exertion. It's possible I have angina with both exertion and rest, but this hasn't been proven by doctors.

Niranjana, today I put a second halter on my heart. My second cardiologist requested repeated Holter monitoring. At first, everything was fine. My attending cardiologist promised me to find a therapy to relieve my chest pains. Everything was fine at first today. But in the evening, constricting pains in the heart area began abruptly, as is usually the fear of death. I took nitroglycerin and the pain went away instantly. This is true heartache. To be honest, nitrospray has been lying next to me since lenten, because seizures can be very strong at night, they wake me up. Now I am being diagnosed with atrial ectopic rhythm (replacement), it most often occurs in people with age. But it happened to me before. It knocks my heart rate down. The blood pressure monitor shows the heart arrhythmia from time to time. I'll get the holter results, and I'll definitely share them with you. I am continuing Felodip therapy for coronary heart disease.

@SharonNearhoof--I'm sorry you're dealing with this, Sharon and Ekaterina. Lupus makes us more prone to arrhythmias (which I also deal with) and conduction system issues, along with a number of other cardiac problems. I hope you get good news from your doctor, and please keep us posted.

Hi Ekaterina,
Well, I didn't know I had a heart problem until I started filling up with fluid, fainting and feeling dizzy. It turns out I have heart block...an electrical problem in the heart where the upper chamber can't communicate with the lower one. I'm on my second pacemaker now and am fully paced, which means it's the only thing keeping my heart beating. Also, my latest echocardiogram shows that I have severe dilation of my left atrium. Seeing my Cardiologist on the the 24th, so I'm expecting bad news...like having to have a valve replacement.