Most of this is coming from experience. Not my own, but of someone I know. Finding the clogged arteries and dealing with them saved their lives, as the problem was found before it could cause major damage.
Burning Sensation: He'd been on a hike. It was a hot day, and he'd been running. Suddenly, there was a burning sensation near the center of his chest. It felt exactly like a sore throat from breathing too hard with an open mouth. It didn't go away, but it was the first symptom of what turned out to be clogged arteries.
Out of Breath: Walking from his car to his desk at work was an ordeal. He'd have to stop and catch his breath. He'd never had anything like that happen before. He found it difficult to walk up and down stairs. He'd have to sit on the edge of the bed and catch his breath before he could get to sleep. It was beginning to be frightening.
Fatigue: Mind numbing fatigue. Concentrating was hard. Sleep was hard...he wasn't sleepy, just exhausted. He would be too tired to watch television in the evening. Even eating seemed like a chore.
So, I would imagine you'd like to know the rest of the story, and there is one. While he wasn't inclined to go to the doctor, he went. The family doctor couldn't find anything wrong, but he has a family history of serious heart disease. For that reason, he was sent to a cardiologist.
The cardiologist couldn't find anything. However, there was that family history, and those three major symptoms. It was enough to have him scheduled for an angiogram. If you are unfamiliar with this test, they inject dye into your blood, then they run a camera from the groin up to the heart to check the coronary arteries.
Three were blocked. One 90%, one 96% and one about 88%. The cause of the burning pain was the one artery not clogged at all. It was carrying the load, and it hurt.
One angioplasty and three stents later, he was released from the hospital. Now he watches what he eats, exercises regularly and keeps alert for symptoms of further problems. So does everyone else in the family.
Usually, clogged arteries don't make themselves known until after something dire has occurred. We were very lucky. His heart was (and is) perfectly healthy. Now we just have to keep him that way.
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