[bizi]

Heart attack in women and how it feels......


I've meant to send this to my women friends to warn them
that it's true that women rarely have the same dramatic symptoms that
men have when experiencing a 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.
Having had a completely unexpected heart attack about 10:30 p.m.
with NO prior exertion, NO prior emotional trauma that one would
suspect might've brought it on, it was this past April,'06, about 1-1/2
hours after I'd spent a pleasant 2 hrs. rehearsing with the
Note-a-Belles.
I was sitting all snuggly & 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 wa ter to hasten
its progress down to the stomach, which doesn't do much good, as your
esophagus and throat muscles are in spasm and it hurts to swallow.
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 a heart attack 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 from 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 guess when one reaches
them, your address automatically flashes on a screen, as the operator
verified my address immediately and asked my symptoms.
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 hyst erica l or afraid, just stating the facts, ma'm. She
said she was sending the paramedics over immediately, asked if the
front door was near to me, and if so, to unbolt the door and then lie
down on the floor where they could see me when they came in. No, I
didn't take an aspirin, as I'm allergic to it, but I did take a 100 mg
magnesium oxide capsule...which bottle I keep handily in reach on the
kitchen counter...which is a small detour on my way to the front
door...with about a 3/4 glass of water to get it dissolving ASAP into
my bloodstream.
Magnesium relaxes blood vessels as it dissolves to get them
expanded to let blood get through the constriction of the vessels. 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 two side-by-side stents to
hold open my right coronary artery and now was being taken into the
CCU, and looking up at the three anxious faces of Karen, Mark, and
Wendy. Since I'd been a patient at St. Jude in 2002 for my TIA
treatment, they had my emergency info in their system and had called my
kids. I spent two days in CCU and two in general ward, then was
discharged.
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 stents.
Why have I written all of this to you with so much detail?
Because I want all of you who are so important in my life to know what
I learned firsthand, as a Certified Medical Back-Office Assistant in
Internal Medicine Clinics, and as one who has lived through a heart
attack due to:

1. Being aware that something very different was happening in my 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!) heart attack 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/friend who will be
speeding and looking anxiously at what's happening with you instead of
the road, and so are your kids or friends a hazard as well. As sure as
I sit here, they will get the attention of a cop who will pull you over
for speeding--more wasted time.
Do NOT call your doctor--he doesn't know where you live and if
it's at night you won't reach him anyway, and if it's daytime, his
assistants (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 -- I did, and do, too. Research has discovered that a
cholesterol elevated reading is rarely the cause of an heart
attack (unless it's unbelievably high, and/or accompanied by high blood
pressure.) heart attack'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 (and, of course, family
genetics can be a factor. I qualify for the latter, and the years 2005
and 2006 have been the most stressful of my life since Jack died in
1981.)

A serious note about heart attacks: Women should know that not every
heart attack symptom is going to be the left arm hurting. Be aware of
intense pain in the jaw line, or even pressure there and under sternum,
or "indigestion" symptoms, especially if you haven't eaten in several
hours. You may never have the first chest pain during the course of a
heart attack, but heaviness /pressure under the sternum is common.

Nausea and intense sweating are also common symptoms, but not
necessarily in the women. 60% of people who have heart attacks while
they are asleep do not wake up.

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.

[befuddled2]

Thanks Bizi,

Good stuff to know.

befuddled2

[Fancylady_2006]

My Dad had a massive heart attach and did not awake from it. he did vomit then died. It was so sudden, and they told us later, all artries were blocked. I was in so much shock from not being prepared. My Mother was never the same after that. I know now that a little of her died too.

My husband was at least sick before he died of cancer. It does change a person. I'm glad you done the right thing. Thanks for sharing.
___
BC

[bizi]

I am sorry that you lost your dad so suddenly.
I wanted to clarify that this was an article...
this did not happen to me.
bizi

[befuddled2]

Billie, they say losing a spouse is the #1 stress in a person's life.

Bizi, thanks for clarifying that.

befuddled2

[Fancylady_2006]

Yes, it is hard on you, but the Lord as helped me thur it. Bob passed away 8 months ago. The people in my life have been there for me and that makes a lot of difference. It's his own family, that never call or visit that hurt me the most. I could count on one hand the number of phone calls any of them have made just to talk to me. One has never been here to check on me. Thats life I guess.
____
BC