HEART ATTACK SYMPTOMS

Subject: Symptoms of a HEART ATTACK (one woman's experience)
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 symp toms 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 PM.

"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 adminstering 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 foot rest, 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 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 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 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 a s 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 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. 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..