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Sent: Wednesday, July 25, 2007 12:17 PM
Subject: Women & Heart Attacks: The Detailed Symptoms
If this saves just one life.....
> Women and heart attacks (Myorcardial Infarction)
The Detailed Symptoms for Women Only
>
>
>
> Did you know that women rarely have the same dramatic symptoms men have
when experiencing a heart attack...you know, the sudden
stabbing pain in the chest, the cold sweat, grabbing the chest and
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 and 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 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
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
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 fem oral artery 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 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 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
doctor 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.
>
>
**Please be a true friend and send this article to all your friends
you care about**
