women, do you know the symtoms of a heart attack?

Question by catz: women, do you know the symtoms of a heart attack?
Something we should ALL want to know!

PLEASE READ ALL THE WAY THROUGH!

She said she didn’t feel well and had a back-ache and was going to lay
down on the bed with the heating pad. Awhile later her husband went to
check on her and she was not breathing. They were not able to revive her.

I was aware that female heart attacks are different, but this is the
best description I’ve ever read…Women and heart attacks (Myocardial
infarction)

Did you know that women rarely have the same dramatic symptoms that
men have when experiencing heart attack…you know, the sudden stabbing
pain in the chest, the cold sweat, grabbing the chest & dropping to the floor
that we see in the movies. Here is the story of one woman’s experience with
a heart attack.

I had a completely unexpected heart attack at about 10:30 PM with NO
prior exertion, NO prior emotional trauma that one would suspect might’ve
brought it on. I was sitting all snugly &warm on a cold evening, with my
purring cat in my lap, reading an interesting story my friend had sent me,
and actually thinking, “A-A-h, this is the life, all cozy and warm in my soft,
cushy Lazy Boy with my feet propped up.” A moment later, I felt that awful
sensation of indigestion, when you’ve been in a hurry and grabbed a bite of
sandwich and washed it down with a dash of water, and that hurried bite
seems to feel like you’ve swallowed a golf ball going down the esophagus in
slow motion and it is most uncomfortable. You realize you shouldn’t have
gulped it down so fast and needed to chew it more thoroughly and this time
drink a glass of water to hasten its progress down to the stomach.

This was my initial sensation—the only trouble was that I hadn’t taken a bite
of anything since about 5:00 p.m. “After that had seemed to subside, the next
sensation was like little squeezing motions that seemed to be racing up my
SPINE (hind-sight, it was probably my aorta spasming), gaining speed as they
continued racing up and under my sternum (breast bone, where one presses
rhythmically when administering CPR). This fascinating process continued on
into my throat and branched out into both jaws. “AHA!! NOW I stopped
puzzling about what was happening–we all have read and/or heard about
pain in the jaws being one of the signals of an MI happening, haven’t we?

I said aloud to myself and the cat, “Dear God, I think I’m having a heart
attack!” I lowered the footrest, dumping the cat fr om my lap, started to take
a step and fell on the floor instead. I thought to myself “If this is a heart
attack, I shouldn’t be walking into the next room where the phone is or
anywhere else……,but, on the other hand, if I don’t, nobody will know that
I need help, and if I wait any longer I may not be able to get up in moment”

I pulled myself up with the arms of the chair, walked slowly into the next
room, and dialed the Paramedics… I told her I thought I was having a heart
attack due to the pressure building under the sternum and radiating into my
jaws. I didn’t feel hysterical or afraid, just stating the facts. She said she was
sending the Paramedics over immediately, asked if the front door was near
me, and if so, to unbolt the door and then lie down on the floor where they
could see me when they came in. “I then laid down on the floor as instructed
and lost consciousness, as I don’t remember the medics coming in, their
examination, lifting me onto a gurney or getting me into their ambulance, or
hearing the call they made to St. Jude ER on the way, but I did briefly awaken
when we arrived and saw that the Cardiologist was already there in his
surgical blues and cap, helping the medics pull my stretcher out of the
ambulance. He was bending over me asking questions (probably something
like “Have you taken any medications?”) but I couldn’t make my mind interpret
what he was saying, or form an answer, and nodded off again, not waking up
until the Cardiologist and partner had already threaded the teeny angiogram
balloon up my femoral artery into the aorta and into my heart where they
installed 2 side by side stints to hold open my right coronary artery.

“I know it sounds like all my thinking and actions at home must have taken
at least 20-30 minutes before calling the Paramedics, but actually it took
perhaps 4-5 minutes before the call, and both the fire station and St. Jude
are only minutes away from my home, and my Cardiologist was already to go
to the OR in his scrubs and get going on restarting my heart (which had
stopped somewhere between my arrival and the procedure) and installing the
stints.

“Why have I written all of this to you with so much detail? I want all of you
who are so important in my life to know what I learned first hand.”

1.. Be aware that something very different is happening in your body not the
usual men’s symptoms, but inexplicable things happening (until my
sternum and jaws got into the act). It is said that many more women than
men die of their first (and last) MI because they didn’t know they were
having one, and commonly mistake it as indigestion, take some Maalox or
other anti-heartburn preparation, and go to bed, hoping they’ll feel better
in the morning when they wake up….which doesn’t happen. My female
friends, your symptoms might not be exactly like mine, so I advise you to
call the Paramedics if ANYTHING is unpleasantly happening that you’ve
not felt before. It is better to have a “false alarm” visitation than to risk
your life guessing what it might be!*

2.. Note that I said “Call the Paramedics”. Ladies, TIME IS OF THE ESSENCE!
Do NOT try to drive yourself to the ER–you’re a hazard to others on the
road, and so is your panicked husband who will be speeding and looking
anxiously at what’s happening with you instead of the road. Do NOT call
your doctor–he doesn’t now where you live and if it’s at night you won’t
reach him anyway, and if it’s daytime, his assistant (or answering service)
will tell you to call the Paramedics. He doesn’t carry the equipment in his
car that you need to be saved! The Paramedics do, principally OXYGEN
that you need ASAP. Your Dr. will be notified later.

3.. Don’t assume it couldn’t be a heart attack because you have a normal
cholesterol count. Research has discovered that a cholesterol elevated
reading is rarely the cause of an MI (unless it’s unbelievably high, and/or
accompanied by high blood pressure.) MI’s are usually caused by long-
term stress and inflammation in the body, which dumps all sorts of deadly
hormones into your system to sludge things up in there. Pain in the jaw
can wake you from a sound sleep. Let’s be careful and be aware. The more
we know, the better chance we could survive.

A cardiologist says if everyone who gets this e-mail sends it to 10 people,
you can be sure that we’ll save at least one life. Please be a true friend and
send this article to all your friends you care about!

Thank You
this is not my personal experience, but one of an acquaintance………

Best answer:

Suggestion by nevadablondie2008
I knew we were not like men. I knew some of the symptoms. Thank you!

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