What to do when angina symptoms start

Sit in a supported position and stay calm. If a clinician has prescribed quick-relief nitrate spray or tablets, use them exactly as your personal instructions say. Do not borrow medicine, take an extra dose outside that plan or drive while symptoms are present.

Angina reflects a temporary mismatch between the heart muscle’s oxygen needs and its blood supply. A familiar episode triggered by exertion may ease after stopping, but a first episode cannot safely be identified at home.

Pain at rest, a lower threshold for symptoms, greater intensity or reduced response to prescribed medicine can signal unstable angina or a heart attack. Normal pulse, blood pressure or oxygen readings do not exclude either problem.

Keep the phone nearby and ask someone to stay with you if possible. Note when the discomfort began, where it spread, accompanying symptoms and which medicine you used. If symptoms settle as expected, avoid immediately resuming the activity that brought them on.

Arrange a medical review when episodes become more frequent, start with less exertion or interfere with ordinary activities. Continue long-term medicines as prescribed; stopping heart, cholesterol or blood pressure treatment suddenly may create avoidable risk.

Call 998 in the UAE for new or unexplained chest pain, severe or persistent pressure, symptoms at rest, or discomfort that remains after following your prescribed action plan. Call immediately if there is fainting, marked breathlessness, cold sweating, nausea, confusion, or pain spreading into an arm, the back, neck or jaw.

An ambulance team can begin assessment and treatment on the way to hospital. Do not ask someone to drive you when emergency features are present, because your condition could worsen during the journey.

Confirm the correct technique for your nitrate medicine, how it should be stored and what to do if the first use does not help. Ask which activities are suitable, whether cardiac rehabilitation applies, and which symptom changes require an urgent review rather than a routine visit.