At 4am, I woke up in the dark with crushing chest pain, nausea, shortness of breath, and pain radiating to my left arm and jaw. I was terrified. You would think that such symptoms would lead to a quick diagnosis. But as a young woman in my 20s who looked “healthy,” my journey to finally being diagnosed with Microvascular Angina was anything but easy.

My name is Arthur. I am a Scot but have lived in London for nearly forty years.

In 2014, I had my first heart attack. In the following six years, I went to A&E at least twice a year. Every time, I was sent home and was told it was reflux.

My own doctor in about 2015/16 put me on half an angina pill. When I was in hospital, I was told by the cardiology doctors that I did not need it as I never had angina at all.

I consider myself one of the lucky ones.

I was a runner, triathlete, skier, scuba diver, etc. before my problems got severe enough to seek medical help.

Most doctors took my health decline seriously from the start.

Later, it was not uncommon for doctors who were unaware of my athletic endeavours to assume my subsequent lack of fitness was the cause of my condition rather than the result.