Sara S
08-14-2007, 06:22 AM
WOMEN AND HEART ATTACKS
I knew female heart attacks are different, but this is the
best description I've ever read. It's long, but worth it.
Our heart attack symptoms are not as dramatic as men's and it's
important to know.
Women and heart attacks (Myocardial infarction)
Women rarely have the same dramatic symptoms that
men have when experiencing heart attack... the sudden stabbing pain in the chest, cold sweat, grabbing the
chest and dropping to the floor that we see in the movies. Here's 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 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, and thinking, "A-A-h, this is the life; all cozy and warm in my soft, cushy LazyBoy with my feet propped
up." A moment later, I felt that awful sensation of indigestion, as if
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 (hindsight,
it was probably my aorta spasming), gaining speed as they continued
racing up and und er my sternum (breastbone, 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 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 told her I thought I was
having a heart attack due to the pr essure 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
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 an d 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 stents
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 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, 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. Do NOT call your
doctor--he doesn't know where you live, and i f it's at night you
won't reach him; 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. 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 mail sends it to 10
people, you can be sure that we'll save at least one life.
I knew female heart attacks are different, but this is the
best description I've ever read. It's long, but worth it.
Our heart attack symptoms are not as dramatic as men's and it's
important to know.
Women and heart attacks (Myocardial infarction)
Women rarely have the same dramatic symptoms that
men have when experiencing heart attack... the sudden stabbing pain in the chest, cold sweat, grabbing the
chest and dropping to the floor that we see in the movies. Here's 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 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, and thinking, "A-A-h, this is the life; all cozy and warm in my soft, cushy LazyBoy with my feet propped
up." A moment later, I felt that awful sensation of indigestion, as if
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 (hindsight,
it was probably my aorta spasming), gaining speed as they continued
racing up and und er my sternum (breastbone, 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 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 told her I thought I was
having a heart attack due to the pr essure 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
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 an d 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 stents
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 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, 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. Do NOT call your
doctor--he doesn't know where you live, and i f it's at night you
won't reach him; 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. 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 mail sends it to 10
people, you can be sure that we'll save at least one life.