I was aware that female heart attacks are different, but this is
the best description I've ever read. You all take care out there!
>
> Women and heart attacks (Myocardial Infarction)
>
> Did you know that women rarely have the same dramatic symptoms 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 swa llowed 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 admini stering 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 mysel f 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 a 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 buil ding 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 a s instructed and lost
consciousness, as I don't remember the medics coming in, their
examinatio n, lifting me onto a gurney or getting me into their
ambula nce, 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, a nd 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 pe rhaps 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 O R 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 v ery 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) 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 befo re. 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 k now 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 r eading 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 b e 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**

That sounds like me. Being a heart attack survivor I feel it is important that women know this. I was atypical. I had a heart attack 1/29/07 and I never thought it would ever happen to me. i had normal cholesterol, weighed 105 pounds and lived a fairly healthy life. I did smoke but quit the day I found out. The golf ball analogy is absolutely on point! I had what I thought was a gas bubble in my throat that spread and then the pressure and left arm pain started. I took an aspirin and DH called 911. I never had the clutching the chest kind of pain that you hear about. (It did hurt though! Like an elephant sat on my chest) I was sure they'd tell me it was indigestion. Unfortunately after doing the enzyme tests I was told it was an MI and was wheeled into surgery shortly after. It's frightening and I appreciate each day like I never did before.

thanks for the info. I always heard it is different for women than it is men. When my dh had his first heart attack we also thought it was gas and he kept eatting rolaids. He finally thought and we went to the ER. It was mild but it was a heart attack.

Thank you for the great post.The thought of this really scares me and I appreciate any information on 'unwanted heart attacks'. Its post just like this that can save lives.