Heart Attacks

Hi Girlfriends-got this today and I'd thought I'd share (just in case)


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 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 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 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 stints 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
stints.


"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 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...