Has anyone here ever had a heart attack? (Women)

[AlmiraGulch]

Or, has someone close to you had one? 

 

If so, would you feel comfortable sharing here how the whole thing went down?  Was it a sudden, chest-clutching event like you see on TV?  Or was it something for which you had warning signs, maybe over a period of days or weeks?  And how about the aftermath?

 

 

 

 

[Harriet Vane]

A friend's mother had a heart attack. Her symptoms were nausea, vomiting, and fever. She did not have specific chest pain, and it presented as a more general illness. No-one diagnosed properly for days. When they figured it out, she passed away.

[Prairie~Phlox]

I am 39 now and had a heart attack last June. I had a dissection though, so it was a SCAD heart attack, my artery split and collasped causing blockage. I had two strnts put in. I woke up on a Saturday morning, was working in the kitchen, reached up for something and then got nauseaus, wasn't sure why or what happended, I did throw up, got sweaty, tightness in my chest. Went to tge ER, two days later in the hospital was diagnosed. It was my circumflex artery, so hidden until an angiogram reviled this. I am pretty sure mine was due to heavy lifting/exercise. You can research SCAD, it happens to fit or pregnant women mostly. I can answer questions if you have them.

[AlmiraGulch]

A friend's mother had a heart attack. Her symptoms were nausea, vomiting, and fever. She did not have specific chest pain, and it presented as a more general illness. No-one diagnosed properly for days. When they figured it out, she passed away.

 

This is interesting.  My father's presented in much the same way, plus what he described as a general malaise.  He thought he had the flu.  He was wrong.  (He's fine now, by the way, after surgery last summer).

 

I am 39 now and had a heart attack last June. I had a dissection though, so it was a SCAD heart attack, my artery split and collasped causing blockage. I had two strnts put in. I woke up on a Saturday morning, was working in the kitchen, reached up for something and then got nauseaus, wasn't sure why or what happended, I did throw up, got sweaty, tightness in my chest. Went to tge ER, two days later in the hospital was diagnosed. It was my circumflex artery, so hidden until an angiogram reviled this. I am pretty sure mine was due to heavy lifting/exercise. You can research SCAD, it happens to fit or pregnant women mostly. I can answer questions if you have them.

 

This is frightening!  Thank god you had the presence of mind to go to the ER.

 

When you say you had  "tightness" in your chest, was it a very strong feeling?  Was it sharp, like pain?  Or really just kind of tight?  Could you have mistaken it for something muscular, or was it a feeling that was unmistakable for you?

[Jean in Newcastle]

RoughCollie has had at least one heart attack.  

[G5052]

Multiple nurses and doctors recommended this as being very accurate while being funny too...

 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t7wmPWTnDbE

 

 

 

[AlmiraGulch]

RoughCollie has had at least one heart attack.  

 

I didn't know.  Thanks.

[AlmiraGulch]

Multiple nurses and doctors recommended this as being very accurate while being funny too...

 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t7wmPWTnDbE

 

Thanks.  This is informative.  And funny!  But mostly just informative.

[sassenach]

Q- jumping to conclusions here, but if you're having any suspicious symptoms, just go into the ER!

 

[Lolly]

I had a good friend who died from a heart attack when our kids were small. She was in her mid 30s. She was very much into physical fitness. Worked out almost every day. Ate an excellent diet. Was in great shape. Her death was very shocking to everyone. She went shopping with a friend, they headed home early because she wasn't feeling great, she died in the car on the side of the interstate. Turns out she had been having symptoms and had an appointment scheduled with a heart doctor for a check. Needless to say, she didn't make it to the appointment. I don't know what symptoms she was having. She hadn't mentioned anything to anyone, her husband included. 

[Prairie~Phlox]

When you say you had  "tightness" in your chest, was it a very strong feeling?  Was it sharp, like pain?  Or really just kind of tight?  Could you have mistaken it for something muscular, or was it a feeling that was unmistakable for you?

It felt very tight, yes, I could have mistaken it for something muscular, I just thought I had pulled muscles from lifting the day before. I was doing Chalean Extreme and had started into the third month. I have always been a strong person, so this was a complete shock. I do not lift heavy now, but still work out and used 3 & 5 lbs weights. When I went into the ER, the pains would come and go, they took blood and as I went downhill the next day, I had stomach pains that finally I determined felt like labor pains. By Monday, my triponin had gone significantly up and they said I did have a heart attack and I had an angiogram right away.

 

Are you having pains?

[Word Nerd]

A friend of a coworker's had a heart attack last year. The only symptom that she had (at least that she told anyone about) leading up to the heart attack was extreme fatigue. Around a week before, she had mentioned to some friends that she couldn't seem to get enough sleep and felt tired all the time. She had been planning to have a checkup, but she died before she made an appointment. It was a shock to everyone, as she was in her mid-40s, a healthy weight, and she exercised regularly.

[thewaka]

I actually went to the ER two weeks ago because of tightness in my chest and upper back and pain in my upper left arm. Ends up I did NOT have a heart attack, but my BP was dangerously high. After many tests, they think I have previously had a heart attack. If so, the symptoms did not trigger enough concern in me to do anything about it. Women have odd symptoms, like that youtube video shows. Especially the sweating, which is a lot like the hot flashes I get now that I'm in my 40s.

 

I agree with PPs that if you have any concern, go to the ER.

[RoughCollie]

I had emergency double bypass surgery when I was 46.  My left main artery was 96% blocked,and another one was extremely blocked too.  The docs couldn't figure out why I hadn't had a heart attack, and why I hadn't died suddenly 6 months earlier.  Nonetheless, I lived through, and went on to have 9 stents placed over the years.

 

My symptoms had been going on for over a year.  I was very, very tired.  DH would have to come home by 6, and I'd go straight to bed.  I would suddenly black out for no reason for a second or two.  I had chest pressure -- which I didn't realize was pressure b/c I thought that was a squeeze, but it was actually like something was sitting on my chest or pressing down on it from the outside.  I also had a strange feeling pain running down my left arm -- it wasn't like regular pain.  It felt like my veins were hurting.

 

At that time I was a Girl Scout leader.  I should have realized how very ill I was because every Monday I would wake up dreading having to go to that week's meeting.  There was no reason for that high level of dread, other than it was pretty much a tipping point for me -- that little event was more than my body could handle.

 

My doc should have realized something was wrong, too.  I had a yearly physical.  I did say what was going on.  Stress of homeschooling, all those kids the same age ... I heard this many times over the years.  The docs were always wrong, btw.  There was always something major going on with my heart.

 

I had an actual heart attack 2.5 years ago.  For awhile I'd been afraid I would have one because we didn't have health insurance (which I couldn't get bc of pre-existing condition), and we couldn't afford my meds (nearly $1000 a month).  I was outside, lifting 20 lb. bags of cat litter to put around my SUV's tires, bc it was stuck in the snow and blocked the driveway.  I felt the heart attack, the pressure, a bit of pain (not awe-inspiring pain), no arm pain.  I just knew it was a heart attack.  So I finished getting the SUV out of the driveway and into a parking space so the ambulance could get close to the house.  Then I went in and called 911.

 

Oddly, with all of the cardiac events I've had, my heart has sustained no damage at all.

 

Now, tell me to shut up.  I'm old, and I talk too much.

[AK_Mom4]

Hugs, Collie! And we are glad you are here so talk away!

 

My mother had a heart attack. Shoulder pain mostly and difficulty breathing with a cough. She thought she had bronchitis. We finally nagged her into the ER and they slapped her into ICU and put in a stent that night. Shoulder pain was dull and achy, with no injury to explain it.

[PrincessMommy]

Are there any kind of tests you can request from the doctor if you suspect you may either be at risk or have had a heart attack?  Especially if you're going into the doctor's already.  I've been to the doctors with several of those symptoms.  Two years ago I thought I had pneumonia, the doctor dx me with acid reflux (something haven't had an issue with since). 

[Lizzie in Ma]

My Mom just had pain in her arms, like they were heavy, both arms.  No other symptoms, started on a Thursday.  By the time they called an ambulance on Sunday she had a 100% occlusion and we almost lost her.  Twenty minutes to put in a stent.  Miraculous.  While she had a very rough recovery and we almost lost her again due to the liter and a half of fluid that built up when she went home required another ambulance and admission, she now has had a complete recovery.

 

[Lizzie in Ma]

Are there any kind of tests you can request from the doctor if you suspect you may either be at risk or have had a heart attack?  Especially if you're going into the doctor's already.  I've been to the doctors with several of those symptoms.  Two years ago I thought I had pneumonia, the doctor dx me with acid reflux (something haven't had an issue with since). 

 

stress test is standard for a start, you need a cariologist

[Prairie~Phlox]

Stress test, echo cardiogram, find a good cardiologist.

[unsinkable]

Ummm, QV...please check in and let us know you're OK!

 

(((Hugs)))

[trinchick]

My mom had a heart attack a couple of years ago. She had been suffering from pneumonia and a pulmonary embolism (like that isn't enough trouble). Then on Christmas Eve she fell and didn't know why. We had company so she just got up and carried on. A few days later I insisted she go to the Emergency Room because she looked horrendous: gray skin, swollen ankles, could hardly stay awake. An EKG revealed she had had a heart attack. The doctors suspect it was on Christmas Eve. Like a PP's mom, they put in the stents, and she recovered quickly and has been fine for two years.

 

Then a couple of weeks ago, same thing. Another fall without knowing why. Overwhelming exhaustion and she looked terrible. Another trip to the ER, more EKGs. Not a heart attack this time, but she needed a pacemaker. She's doing much better now, but the cardiologist said if she hadn't been treated she would have been dead in 10 days.

[Jean in Newcastle]

Are there any kind of tests you can request from the doctor if you suspect you may either be at risk or have had a heart attack?  Especially if you're going into the doctor's already.  I've been to the doctors with several of those symptoms.  Two years ago I thought I had pneumonia, the doctor dx me with acid reflux (something haven't had an issue with since). 

They can do a blood test to check your cardiac enzymes if they suspect that you have had a heart attack or are in the process of having one.  

[Carrie Sue]

Not an attack, but a dissected aorta about a year and a half ago.  My cardiologist suspects that I had a heart murmur that went undetected for a long period of time, but I think I had high blood pressure in the last few years (I'm not a doctor-goer unless I am really feeling awful)..well, I wasn't back then, anyway.

 

So...symptoms...I initially said I had none except for breathing trouble (I have asthma).   But looking back, I had some serious heart POUNDING during sex or heavy exertion, my asthma revved up more frequently and severely, and I was tired for absolutely no reason (well, the reason was that my heart was leaking, but I didn't know that then).

 

The urgent symptom was chest pain (after sex)...a vertical squeezing sensation in my chest, kind of a dull pressure/pain.  I got to the ER at 11pm and was in open heart surgery within a few hours.  They put in a mechanical aortic valve eventually (I was in surgery for over 20 hours) and then couldn't get my heart to restart.  After several attempts over a few days, they sent me to Chicago for a transplant, but God had other ideas...my heart started beating again on it's own during a routine procedure. 

 

Recovery was grueling.  It took about 4 months to feel pretty normal again, though it's a new normal.  I have a leak where the aortic root was removed, so my EF is in "heart failure" range.  Exercise is vital!

[Catherine]

My dh had one at 46. He actually gave a talk while it was happening-he didn't feel that bad at first. When he had had persistent upper abdominal discomfort, a feeling of fullness, he called me (I am an internist) and asked me what he should do. When he told he it didn't hurt at all when he pressed on that area, I told him to go in to the emergency room! He looked fine at first because they told him they would send lab work, and his initial EKG was not abnormal. However, around the time his lab work came back with the troponin elevated, he started to feel much worse, more classic symptoms of chest pressure and sweating, and a repeat EKG was very abnormal. The cardiologist was called in and he had a stenting procedure. He has been fine since.

 

What we did recognize, in retrospect, was that he had been tiring much more easily than usual for several months. He's active, so it was more that he'd have to rest more often when running around with the boys, but it was suggestive, if we had suspected it. We are SO very fortunate that he did not die and was treatable.

[Laurie4b]

Are there any kind of tests you can request from the doctor if you suspect you may either be at risk or have had a heart attack?  Especially if you're going into the doctor's already.  I've been to the doctors with several of those symptoms.  Two years ago I thought I had pneumonia, the doctor dx me with acid reflux (something haven't had an issue with since). 

 

 

• EKG (will show some kinds of damage or irregular rhythms. However, can look normal if you've had heart attack in past.)
• Echo stress test (plain ole stress tests have too many false negatives for women, givng you the all-clear when it's not) THis watches your heart under ultrasound at rest, then you do a stress test, then it looks at your heart right away after peak stress
• Nuclear stress test is another possibility but you may want to avoid the radioactive stuff if there is not a lot of evidence of need.
• Enzyme tests measure heart damage but there is a window of time (I believe) that they show up
• Chest x ray (Will see enlarged heart--the echo stress should accomplish this)
• Angiogram if they suspect blockage

[I.Dup.]

what usually causes heart attacks in young, non-obese people? We have a lot of heart disease on both sides of my family, and I eat quite a bit of saturated fat (chocolate) but I am on the underweight side. I know weight doesn't seem to matter much, I guess?

[SJ.]

This thread is very informative and a bit frightening.  Many of the symptoms listed I have felt at one time or another and it is easy to see how easily it is to dismiss them.

[PinkyandtheBrains.]

My mother has been in the hospital twice once with a heart attack, once with a suspected heart attack.

 

She had nausea, vomiting, and dizziness, arm pain. No chest clutching drama like you see on T.V.

 

One time it was a severe ear infection, the other was an actual heart attack.

 

The symptoms of a heart attack in women are often different that "tradition" male symptoms. Something doctors are finally realizing <eye roll>

[AlmiraGulch]

Thanks so much for sharing your experiences with me.   Some of you have really been through some stuff!  

 

So yes, the symptoms were mine.  

 

Pressure in the mid to left chest

Slight pain and numbness in the left shoulder, arm, between the shoulder blades, and a little in the jaw

Swelling of the ankles

Dizziness

Extreme fatigue

 

I've been having the symptoms for a few weeks now, and they would come and go.  Honestly, I noticed them all but attributed everything to something else.  Stress and anxiety (my mother has been quite ill), muscular pain from driving to and from St. Louis twice in less than two weeks (I drive primarily with my left arm), greater than normal tension at work, some additional personal stuff.  

 

I decided to go to the ER anyway, because I think it's not smart to mess with chest pain.  They didn't find much.  EKG normal.  Cardiac enzymes (tested twice) normal. Some other enzyme that could indicated a blood clot was elevated, so they did a CT of my chest.  Nothing.  Chest x-ray showed nothing.  Echo stress test came back normal.  My BP is slightly elevated, as are my cholesterol and triglycerides, but none alarmingly so.  Kidney function slightly abnormal. 

 

Regardless, here I sit, finally home after they kept me overnight, and I'm having all the same stupid symptoms.  And now, a giant hospital bill to add to the stress.  

 

Fabulous.

 

They told me to follow up with my regular doctor, which I'll do, but I'm not sure for what.  If they already did a full battery of tests and found nothing, I'm not sure what another doctor will do that will have a different result, and I don't need the bills.   Ugh.  

 

[Prairie~Phlox]

I have to say that when I had mine, it was unlike any other pain I had ever experienced, but I did not think it was a heart attack, maybe it was just because I couldn't believe that "I" this fit, healthy person could be having a heart attack. The pain did come and go, so I think snyone that has pain and ieven if it comes and goes, do get checked out.

[Laurie4b]

Thanks so much for sharing your experiences with me.   Some of you have really been through some stuff!  

 

So yes, the symptoms were mine.  

 

Pressure in the mid to left chest

Slight pain and numbness in the left shoulder, arm, between the shoulder blades, and a little in the jaw

Swelling of the ankles

Dizziness

Extreme fatigue

 

I've been having the symptoms for a few weeks now, and they would come and go.  Honestly, I noticed them all but attributed everything to something else.  Stress and anxiety (my mother has been quite ill), muscular pain from driving to and from St. Louis twice in less than two weeks (I drive primarily with my left arm), greater than normal tension at work, some additional personal stuff.  

 

I decided to go to the ER anyway, because I think it's not smart to mess with chest pain.  They didn't find much.  EKG normal.  Cardiac enzymes (tested twice) normal. Some other enzyme that could indicated a blood clot was elevated, so they did a CT of my chest.  Nothing.  Chest x-ray showed nothing.  Echo stress test came back normal.  My BP is slightly elevated, as are my cholesterol and triglycerides, but none alarmingly so.  Kidney function slightly abnormal. 

 

Regardless, here I sit, finally home after they kept me overnight, and I'm having all the same stupid symptoms.  And now, a giant hospital bill to add to the stress.  

 

Fabulous.

 

They told me to follow up with my regular doctor, which I'll do, but I'm not sure for what.  If they already did a full battery of tests and found nothing, I'm not sure what another doctor will do that will have a different result, and I don't need the bills.   Ugh.  

 

I would follow up with a good cardiologist, not a regular doctor (or call your regular doc to help you get into a cardiologist asap). Those symptoms you were/are having are worrisome. I'd want someone to find out what was causing them before I dropped it. Angiogram is the gold standard to rule out blockage. There is a place on your back between your shoulder blade and your spine that can get a muscle knot in it. There is actually a syndrome in which pain referred from that will feel like it's in the middle of the sternum. Putting pressure on that knot will get rid of the chest pain immediately while the knot is being pushed on. But that doesn't explain the dizziness or the ankle swelling.

 

[fourcatmom]

I had an experience last Tuesday that had me concerned that I might have had a heart attack and wanted to get some advice. It was about 10pm and been a typical day for me, given my current health issues. I was sitting on the couch looking at my phone, hadn't eaten in the past few hours and all of a sudden my chest started really hurting. Pain right where my heart is. I then started feeling very heavy, like when you are sick and your chest feels full of crud that's how it felt. Within 5 minutes I was coughing and having a real hard time breathing. I then threw up. This was all in the span of about 10 minutes. I decided to do a breathing treatment and then chalked the dizziness and light headiness up to the new medication in the nebulizer. After my treatment I started having shooting pains up my neck and through my shoulders. I felt completely wiped out, more then normal. I was so close to telling the kids to call 911 and probably should have but just thought I was having a really bad reaction to the medicine and that clouded my judgement. The next day I felt completely wiped out, more then normal. Did not feel myself at all, crying for no reason and felt just exhausted but couldn't sleep either. I usually take 2 hours naps each day due to SOB and Sleep Apnea but this time as exhausted as I was I was resting but couldn't fall asleep. I was also really cold that night and then hot later on, not sweating hot just hot.

 

Went to the dr on Wed but my regular dr was out of town. Crying in the exam room, telling her I  just didn't feel normal. Felt in a daze. I really think she got too involved in my past issues and I felt didn't deal with the chest pain enough but I don't know. She did do an EKG and the way I understood it was that it looked okay on Wed but that didn't prove I didn't have something the night before? Not sure if I got this part right? She ran blood work but mostly just basic CBC, thyroid, Vit D and all the regular stuff. I was assuming she would do the blood enzyme test but she didn't. I follow up with my Dr. on Friday. Is it too late to ask for this test, would it still show anything?

 

Thursday I felt better and Friday was more typical.

 

Does this sound like a heart attack? She ordered a GI study but I really don't think it was indigestion. I have never had a problem with reflux or anything like that.

[Catwoman]

I don't know, Michele, but I think you need to see a cardiologist, not just your regular doctor.

 

I hope everything is OK!!! :grouphug:

[fourcatmom]

Thanks. Probably need a referral from my dr. to see one but I will ask. It scares me. I want to know for sure.

[Catwoman]

Thanks. Probably need a referral from my dr. to see one but I will ask. It scares me. I want to know for sure.

I would want to know, too. I'm sure it will turn out to be nothing serious, but it's not worth taking a chance.

 

You're doing the right thing by getting checked out, and by getting another opinion rather than trusting the first doctor's diagnosis.

[Jean in Newcastle]

If it happens again, call 911 and go to the ER.  Please.  Said by someone who has gone to the ER for a lot of heart false alarms but would still go again in a heartbeat.  (Get it?)

 

I agree on the cardiologist.

[Lanny]

Heart attack symptoms in women are frequently (usually?) much different from heart attack symptoms in men. It is very important that women understand what those symptoms, in women, are. I have seen a "Fox News Extra" about this subject, a number of times, in recent years. I don't remember what those symptoms are, but I do remember that they are frequently very different from typical heart attack symptoms in men.

[Lizzie in Ma]

We almost lost my Mom last year.  Her arm hurt for 4 days, then both arms, by the time she went in, she was 100% occluded and an emergency procedure saved her life.  She did have more than a few complications, mag levels plummeted, fluid built up and needed to be drained.  She was in and out of the hospital for 3 months.

She is fantastic now but it was terrifying.

[AlmiraGulch]

Interesting you should post this now.

 

First of all, your symptoms were all exactly the symptoms my father had when he had his heart attack.  Exactly the same.  He finally went to the doctor because he's a kidney transplant recipient and doesn't like to mess with illness, so he went in thinking maybe he had the flu.  It had been a heart attack.    I'd be following up with a cardiologist ASAP if I were you.

 

Meanwhile, I've been having the exact same symptoms I was having when I originally posted this in October.  I'd forgotten, honestly, that they were the same, but reading what I wrote then reminded me that they are really exactly the same.    I know that something is abnormal, but the enormous bill from the hospital stay that I'm still paying off is keeping me from just going right back.  If it was "nothing" then, then logic would tell me it's nothing now. Sure doesn't feel like nothing, though. 

[MBM]

My mother had jaw and shoulder pain for quite a while before she had her first, fatal heart attack. Her doctor did not take her symptoms seriously but that was back when it was believed women's symptoms were similar to men's. She was 120 pounds, strong, lively, normal blood tests.

 

******************

 

Keep in mind that people can have normal cholesterol, normal blood pressure, normal weight -- and still have heart attacks.

 

To check if your body has significant inflammation, here are six tests you should consider: 

http://www.bottomlinepublications.com/content/article/health-a-healing/artery-inflammation-six-simple-lifesaving-tests

 

Some more tests to read about and consider:

http://www.drsinatra.com/blood-inflammation-tests-for-heart-disease-risk (fibrionogen, serum ferritin)

http://my.clevelandclinic.org/heart/diagnostics-testing/laboratory-tests/blood-tests-to-determine-risk-of-coronary-artery-disease.aspx

 

A short article by Dr. Sinatra, a cardiologist, discussing heart disease:

http://www.drsinatra.com/inflammation-and-heart-disease

 

Dr. Oz -- who most know is a cardiologist -- is worth researching. His website is informative.

 

 

[Starr]

Check with your insurance but many policies have changed in recent years. Often you don't need a referral but sometimes they get you in quickly. 

[Laurie4b]

Check with your insurance but many policies have changed in recent years. Often you don't need a referral but sometimes they get you in quickly. 

 

When calling, I would say, "I think I had a heart attack. The symptoms were xyz." That should get you in ASAP. If you can't see a regular medical professional today, I would consider urgent care.

[Miss Mousie]

 Sure doesn't feel like nothing, though. 

 

Did you ever see a cardiologist?  And have an angiogram?

[DawnM]

This.

 

I thought I may be having a possible heart attack last year.  I had chest pain, shoulder pain, and was horribly cold even though it was over 90 out.

 

I went in.  They didn't let me go for over 2 days, so be forwarned.  I had to get a lot of tests and then didn't pass the stress test, so they made me do a chemically induced one (hated it but passed) and they did a gallbladder test as well.  Everything took forever to wait for.

 

I ended up not having a heart attack, in fact, they have no idea what was wrong.

Dawn

 

 

Q- jumping to conclusions here, but if you're having any suspicious symptoms, just go into the ER!

 

[AlmiraGulch]

This.

 

I thought I may be having a possible heart attack last year.  I had chest pain, shoulder pain, and was horribly cold even though it was over 90 out.

 

I went in.  They didn't let me go for over 2 days, so be forwarned.  I had to get a lot of tests and then didn't pass the stress test, so they made me do a chemically induced one (hated it but passed) and they did a gallbladder test as well.  Everything took forever to wait for.

 

I ended up not having a heart attack, in fact, they have no idea what was wrong.

Dawn

 

I went to the ER.  They kept me, too.  They did every test known to man, also including two different types of stress tests, x-ray, CT, blood tests galore.  Nothing, and they have no idea what was wrong.

[AlmiraGulch]

Did you ever see a cardiologist?  And have an angiogram?

 

No.  It wasn't even recommended, not even by my regular doctor.  

[Erin]

A dear friend had one this spring.  At 45, she's one of those ultra-dynamo type women.  She cares for her husband with RA, two geriatric neighbors, is incessantly working in her greenhouse readying for gardening season (her "garden" is two full acres) and has a business building/repairing fences for local farms and ranches.  

 

She just had general malaise and a bit of a backache across her upper shoulders (easy for someone so active write-off, btw).  Then shortness of breath... 

She was actually hauling one of her neighbors in for a checkup and said something to the PA.  Holy cow, girl!  You're having a heart attack!  Our local hospital isn't equipped to deal with anything beyond stabilizing, so she was sent 150 miles up the road for tests and follow-ups.   

[*lifeoftheparty*]

Thanks so much for sharing your experiences with me. Some of you have really been through some stuff!

 

So yes, the symptoms were mine.

 

Pressure in the mid to left chest

Slight pain and numbness in the left shoulder, arm, between the shoulder blades, and a little in the jaw

Swelling of the ankles

Dizziness

Extreme fatigue

 

I've been having the symptoms for a few weeks now, and they would come and go. Honestly, I noticed them all but attributed everything to something else. Stress and anxiety (my mother has been quite ill), muscular pain from driving to and from St. Louis twice in less than two weeks (I drive primarily with my left arm), greater than normal tension at work, some additional personal stuff.

 

I decided to go to the ER anyway, because I think it's not smart to mess with chest pain. They didn't find much. EKG normal. Cardiac enzymes (tested twice) normal. Some other enzyme that could indicated a blood clot was elevated, so they did a CT of my chest. Nothing. Chest x-ray showed nothing. Echo stress test came back normal. My BP is slightly elevated, as are my cholesterol and triglycerides, but none alarmingly so. Kidney function slightly abnormal.

 

Regardless, here I sit, finally home after they kept me overnight, and I'm having all the same stupid symptoms. And now, a giant hospital bill to add to the stress.

 

Fabulous.

 

They told me to follow up with my regular doctor, which I'll do, but I'm not sure for what. If they already did a full battery of tests and found nothing, I'm not sure what another doctor will do that will have a different result, and I don't need the bills. Ugh.

Did they check your blood sugar?

 

A few times I was scared I was having, or going to have a heart attack- but for me, it was because my blood sugar was too high.

 

I had recently had my A1C checked and it was 6.5- which is technically diabetic, but I was in denial :-/

[Alenee]

Interesting reading.  I thought I was having a heart attack about two years ago.  The doctor had me come in right away and ran what seemed like every test under the sun.  No heart attack but it turned out I had very low B12 which turned out to be Pernicious Anemia.  However, just about two weeks ago, I was lying in bed and had a sudden pain just under my breast, like a cramp almost, that spread up my chest and into my back.  I laid there frozen, breathing deeply, just waiting it out.  After about five minutes it slowly went away.  The doc said after those tests two years ago that I am at extremely low risk for heart disease but what does that even mean?  After reading this thread, now I'm wondering...

[Jean in Newcastle]

The problem is that the same symptoms that signal a heart attack can signal all sorts of things.  I've had heart arrhythmia caused by medication and hormones (per a cardiologist).  I've had heart attack symptoms from pericarditis (inflammation of the sack around the heart).  I've had heart attack symptoms from GI problems that radiate upwards.  But despite all these other things that have been diagnosed in the end, my dh who is an experienced RN, always takes me to the ER every time because we don't know until we have the tests if THIS time is heart or not.  (I've also learned to notice and take care of the other things that have caused these symptoms before they get that bad.)