*FEMALE HEART ATTACKS*
*Women rarely have the same dramatic symptoms that men have ... you know, the sudden stabbing pain in the chest, the cold sweat, grabbing the chest & dropping to the floor that we see in movies. Here is the story of one woman's experience with a heart attack.*
*I had a heart attack at about 10:30 PM with NO prior exertion, NO prior emotional trauma that one would suspect might have brought it on. I was sitting all snugly & warm on a cold evening, with my purring cat in my lap.*
*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. 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 it 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 spasms), 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 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 to me, and if so, to un-bolt the door and then lie down on the floor where they could see me when they came in.
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 first hand.
*I had a heart attack at about 10:30 PM with NO prior exertion, NO prior emotional trauma that one would suspect might have brought it on. I was sitting all snugly & warm on a cold evening, with my purring cat in my lap.*
*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. 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 it 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 spasms), 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 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 to me, and if so, to un-bolt the door and then lie down on the floor where they could see me when they came in.
I unlocked the door and then laid down on the floor as instructed
and lost consciousness,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 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.
2. Note that I said 'Call the Paramedics.'
And if you can, take an aspirin. Ladies, TIME IS OF THE ESSENCE!
Do NOT try to drive yourself to the ER - you are a hazard to
others on the road.
Do NOT have 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 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). MIs
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 mail sends it to 10
people, you can be sure that we'll save at least
one life.
Labels: heart attack symptoms, indigestion, jaw pain, pressure in chest, women
posted by G S Iyer at 2:31 AM
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