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 sn uggly & 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 i s 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 hysterical 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 floo r 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 too k 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, an d 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.
A cardiologist says if everyone who gets this email and sends it to ten
people, you can be sure that we'll save at least one life.
**Please be a true friend, and send this article to all the friends you
care about.**
Patricia Newman
6318 Mossman Place NE Albuquerque, NM 87110
505-881-3816
505-228-3108 (mobile)
HEART ATTACK IN WOMEN AND HOW IT FEELS.........
