What should you know about angina pain at rest?

Do not drive yourself if the discomfort is ongoing or severe. Call the UAE ambulance service on 998 and follow the emergency operator's instructions.

Angina describes discomfort caused when heart muscle temporarily receives less oxygen-rich blood than it needs. It may feel like pressure, squeezing, heaviness, burning or tightness in the chest, with discomfort sometimes spreading to an arm, shoulder, back, neck or jaw.

Symptoms that begin without exertion, wake you from sleep, last longer than your usual episodes or respond less well to prescribed medicine may represent unstable angina or a heart attack. Indigestion, muscle pain and other problems can feel similar, but the cause cannot be safely determined from sensation alone.

Stop activity, sit in a supported position and stay with another person if possible. If you have a personal angina action plan or prescribed glyceryl trinitrate, use it exactly as your clinician instructed; do not take someone else's medicine or take extra doses outside that plan.

Call 998 if the pain is new, more intense than usual, does not settle as expected under your action plan, or returns quickly. Even if an unfamiliar episode settles, arrange prompt medical assessment because an electrocardiogram, examination and blood tests may be needed to check for heart injury.

Seek emergency help now for chest pressure or pain at rest that is severe, persistent, new or different from your established pattern. Also call 998 when it occurs with shortness of breath, sweating, nausea, faintness, marked weakness, confusion, or discomfort spreading to the arm, back, neck or jaw.

An unchanged pattern already assessed by your clinician still needs follow-up if episodes become more frequent or your medicine works differently. Keep taking regular heart and blood pressure medicines as prescribed unless the emergency team or your treating clinician tells you otherwise.

Ask what symptoms should trigger an ambulance call, how and when to use your prescribed angina medicine, and whether your current pattern changes the tests you need. Clarify which activities are appropriate while awaiting assessment and bring an up-to-date medicine list, including non-prescription products.

It is also useful to discuss blood pressure and cholesterol management, possible medicine side effects, and a written plan for recurrent discomfort. Mention when episodes occur, how they feel, where they spread, what you were doing and how they responded to rest or prescribed treatment.