The pain of angina can vary in severity from a slight twinge to a severe, crushing pain. The pain is usually centered in the chest, although it may radiate out to the neck, shoulder, arm or lower jaw. Occasionally the pain is felt in these areas alone and not in the chest. It usually comes on gradually and lasts for several minutes and is often accompanied by breathlessness.

Carolyn recalls her first experience of angina: ‘We went away for a long weekend to Stratford-upon-Avon. Two of the evenings were very damp and cold and I started getting tightness in my throat and couldn’t catch my breath properly. In the morning after a rest it was OK. The next day we decided to go to Warwick Castle. We parked the car but I hadn’t got half way up the hill when I felt pain in both arms and my ribs and a tightening in my chest. My husband put it down to anxiety but I knew deep down that something physical was wrong. I went to the doctor who in turn sent me to see a specialist and he diagnosed angina.’

Clive describes angina as ‘a somewhat dull pain with tightening of the chest and a feeling of breathlessness, but it’s never really stopped me or made me double up’.

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