Things That Happen Right Before a Heart Attack
14 September 2011
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On a Monday morning in April, Merle Rose, a New Jersey woman, experienced what some doctors call
"female heart attack symptoms;" a feeling of indigestion and extreme fatigue. Later, she had nausea, vomiting and fainting.
But she never had chest pain- a "typical" male heart attack sign.
When she got to the emergency room, doctors couldn't find any sign of heart attack and Rose says, "They would have sent me home."
As Rose's experience shows, many doctors-and women themselves--still don't realize that female heart attack symptoms can look very different than those of men. In fact, according to a study of women's early heart attack signs published in Circulation, women have more unrecognized heart attacks than men and are more likely to be, "mistakenly diagnosed and discharged from emergency departments."
Precaution is always better that the treatment after a heart attack. It is recommended to make sure that a person does not fall victim of a heart attack because of his own negligence and carelessness. If you know your medical condition and there are chances that you could suffer a heart attack, then it is better to be vigilant rather than negligent. Every woman should learn about women's heart attack symptoms to make sure emergency steps are taken in time.
Women Heart Attack Symptoms are different when compared to men´s heart attack symptoms . Every woman should understand the symptoms that are experienced when a person is about to have a heart attack.
Dizziness, nausea and persistent anxiety are clearly symptoms that a heart attack is about to hit. In the presence of these symptoms one should never ignore them.
Heart attack symptoms should not be confused with symptoms of other diseases.
Feeling pressure in the chest is also a sign of heart attack. Before a heart attack usually all these Women Heart Attack Symptoms would appear after one another, but they all would appear in a group.
It is not that just a single symptom would appear. Therefore it is important to understand this combination. If a person notices that he is having trouble breathing and there is anxiety that is leading to fast heart beat then he should raise the alarm. For a fighting chance to survive in the event of a heart attack it is important that women have knowledge of
Women Heart Attack Symptoms.
With the large number of incidents every year it is important for you to understand what to look for by way of women heart attack symptoms. As you probably already know ,a significant number of women are killed by heart attacks each year.
In common with others you will be aware that there are a number of reasons for heart attack, sometimes it is old age, or high levels of stress, but unfortunately there are others reasons as well. Hence it is vital for you, to look out for other women´s heart attack symptoms . These symptoms simply should not be ignored.
Both men and women can fall prey to heart attacks but over time studies have shown that the symptoms in men and women can be very different. With the increase in studies on heart attacks , we know now within medical research circles that there is a difference in the heart attack symptoms in both sexes. For both sexes to ignore the evidence of possible risk of heart attacks can be fatal.
There are some common women heart attack symptoms that should cause you to seek immediate medical care, these include nausea and headache along with severe anxiety. When all these factors are in evidence at the same time, then it is seen that the combination form what can be said to be the initial women heart attack symptoms.
However there are other things to look out for, things that give further evidence of the risk of having a heart attack. For women always check to see if you consider that you are experiencing swelling in your joints of your lower legs, particularly the ankles. This is a major cause for concern if the swelling continues even when you are undergoing treatment to relieve it.
Another symptom of women at heart attack risk is when you feel breathlessness and experience difficulty in waking up and in rising after a period of sleep.
Women heart attack symptoms will possibly also be identified with faster heart rate and sometimes palpitations of the heart. This is perhaps the clearest indication of either a heart attack or of the imminent risk of a heart attack.
Combinations of these symptoms along with dizziness and sweating will highlight the bad news that the person is in fact having a heart attack. Strangely women are much more likely to ignore or to not take action when some of these women heart attack symptoms are present.
Obviously action should be taken to try to relieve the symptoms as quickly as possible. Anyone in this situation needs to seek immediate medical attention. If you come across anyone suffering a heart attack and has stopped breathing it is vital that you can undertake CPR.
In such situations professional medical help is vital.
Women Heart Attack Symptoms Summary
"female heart attack symptoms; " a feeling of indigestion and extreme fatigue. nausea, vomiting and fainting headache along with severe anxiety. Feeling pressure at the chest and heavy chest Swelling in your joints of your lower legs, particularly the ankles Feel breathlessness Experience difficulty in waking up and in rising after a period of sleep. Dizziness and sweating Faster heart rate Palpitations of the heart.- Nausea
- Dizziness
- Lower chest discomfort
- Upper abdominal pressure or discomfort that may feel like indigestion
- Back pain
(3 votes, average: 2.67 out of 5)
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I have been having sharp tingly pains in my left side of my chest.I get an ache down the side of my neck every now and again, then to my shoulder which goes to my elbow.The tingly pains seem to stay for a period of time then go. I am very tired all day long and have to force any energy that I can to do the simpliest house hold chore. I used to be on the go at all times but lately something has stopped me. I would appreciate any help
Teresa please go to the doctor right away and have a EKG done, as well as a complete blood count.
If everything is normal, then ask your doctor to send you to have physical therapy, you may be sitting, standing or sleeping in a position that causes all these problems. Good luck and let us know.
I had an experience with my heart in May—I had Atrial Fib, I mowed the grass on a Wednesday. My shoulders hurt so bad, but I thought it was because that was the first time that year I mowed. The next day I went in to get my weekly shot, The nurse said I will give you your shot but then I am walking you over to ER——-We did that–I was having lots of problems with the heart , but after 3 hours they decided to let me go home. The next day we went out to eat, came home . I sat down and said I really feel funny–I took my blood pressure–It was high. I said maybe I better go in to ER—well they kept me then and the next day flew me to the big city for triple Bypass. It was a lesson to listen to your body. Only you know how your body should feel.
This is a really good article … but someone needs to edit it for clarity and correct English. The 4th paragraph alone needs lots of work, as well as other paragraphs.
That aside, I’m very grateful for the information. Thanks so much. =)
WOW just what I was searching for. Came here by searching for signs of heart attack
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Heart attacks can be prevented if we just do regular cardio exercises each day and we also watch our diet, avoiding fats. `;”.
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41 yr old female, single mother of 2…These are my symptoms which have me really worried but cant go to the doctor till next week when my insurance kicks in… First symptom, upper back pain between shoulder blades, pain not letting up after 2 weeks, now pain is radiating into rt arm, achey and sometimes a sharp pain shoots thru it.. Indigestion and a feeling like something is in the back of my throat but want go away no matter how many times i clear my throat.. Extreme fatigue, body feels very hot even in air condition, yesterday had heavy burning feeling on chest and little sharp pain on inner lt breast..I am scared to death because if something happens to me I have nobody to take care of my kids.. All I know is I have never felt this way before…
Dear Teresa,
Please go to the Emergency Room as soon as possible. You are in need of an EKG.
Good luck!
Sonia Paz Baronvine-Silva
Editor
Women’s Press
Heart attack is one of the leading cause of death in US. we should always find ways to manage this disease.;
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A few weeks ago, I woke up after a good nights sleep and felt very dizzy. I couldn’t get out of bed to walk to the bathroom. I also felt nausea, a tightness in my chest, and lifeless. I found it difficult to even dress to go to hospital. I did not sweat though. I was taken to the hospital by my son and I had to tell all my symptons to the Dr. and I was checked for my BP, they did an ECG, blood sugar test and all reports came out clear. I am 43. I was given an injection for my dizzy spell and sent home! Is there anything else I should do to check if I had a silent heart attack? I’m not sure if this hospital took a proper look at me, and just treated me for vertigo. I am scared that I may have had a heart attack unknowingly and could have another one and will not be prepared. Both my parents were heart attack patients. Any medical advise is appreciated.
Tania,
Make an appointment with a Cardiologist. ( a heart’s specialist)
Go to the hospital record’s department and get a copy of the tests results done to you, when you went to the ER
and bring them along to the cardiologist.
Good luck!
Sonia Paz Baronvine-Silva
Editor
Women’s Press
Hello,
I am a 33 year old female. I am slightly overweight and do not workout. My exercise consists of a couple of walks per week. My diet is not terrible but not good either. I have noticed that my heart rate increases sometimes after I eat certain foods. It can also be faster when I wake up during the night. I have a pain in my neck that travels a little to my back but I take care of a baby all day also and tend to lean forward a lot. I have ansiety but have always had it since I was 21 so I wouldn’t know the difference between normal anxiety for me and heart attack anxiety. Sometimes I have neausea but I didn’t notice it until I started a new medication. I recently stopped the medication but still have small bouts of nausea now and then. I had trouble waking up the other morning but I also take trazadone and sometimes that makes it harder to wake up. I am tired today after doing some errands but there is illness working its way around the community. My family all had it. I am just so confused as to what is normal and what I should look out for. I smoked for a year and quit last month as well. I don’ know. What do you think?
Hello,
Have you mentioned all these symptoms to your doctor?
As soon as possible, ask him/her to do a series of heart tests, they are simple and quick and they will give you the peace of mind of knowing if all these sensations are coming from your heart or if they are a side effect of the medications you are currently taking. Good luck and let us know!
In sisterhood,
Sonia Paz Baronvine-Silva
Editor
Women’s Press
Are there any test that can alert us prior to a heart attack?. Why do we have to wait until a fatal moment?
This past Monday night I started getting dizzy right after work, it was accompanied with nasusua. The dizzy spell lasted for hours The next couple of days I have felt overwhelmed with work and still experiencing bouts of nausea. By Wednesday I had pain in my neck that radiated down the right side if my back shoulder blade. Yesterday I called in sick to work and was in bed all day so fatigued and the pain in my back had radiated to my right shoulder and right Breast. I took an aspirin and it eased the pain. I went back to work today and was weak, nauseated and kept breaking out in a sweat, I am at home now and feeling tingling in my feet, earlier my lips were tingling. I am 49 years old and have family history of heart disease. My husband thinks its just anxiety and indigestion, but I am worried. Any suggestions
Go to the Emergency Room as soon as possible!
This article is very informative, thank-you. Having said that, this piece is rather confusing to read because of some of the language. I understand the reasons for the language – so the search engines will pick it up – but, including the phrasing to make the search engines happy makes it difficult for your readers to understand. A simple solution would be to include the text without the search engine optimisation (SEO) immediately after the article. However, search engines don’t like that either. I appreciate the time you took to write and share this. Thank-you.
i would like to tell you as a woman of 48, have existing copd and experienced a mild heart attack a couple of weeks ago, a symptom that I had was a Very stiff neck, almost like a muscle pulled, was a sign of a heartattack I didn’t know existed. Im am recovering okay with medicine but just wanted to let ladies know when you experience this kind of pain, please go to the nearest emergency room, I knew something was not right, but I did not think it was anything that bad, but it was.
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I’ve been experiencing some stress related issues with my family. For the past week, I’ve been having sharp pains in different areas of my head, right and lower back. On the left-side of my face, between eye and chin area, I’ve been feeling spasms. I’ve tried taking ibprohem and avil for the discomfort. Please advise.
I really needed to read this. Heart attacks & heart failure run in my family. I do have anxiety now (for the last 2-3 years)and sometimes it gets so bad Im afraid I am having a heart attack. When I went to the ER I found out that I have acid reflux. I have been taking nexium for about a month now & its much better. My feet were turning a purplish color today when I was sitting on the bed with my legs crossed. (Im not a skinny girl) and sometimes my face feels like its going numb. All of these things worry me althought all of my check ups, ekgs, blood work, etc have all come back fine. Is there anything that can be done to check for a heart attack before it happens?
Our advice is to make an appointment ASAP with a Cardiologist ( Heart specialist doctor )
and explaining to her ALL your symptoms.
Good luck!!
In sisterhood
Sonia Paz Baronvine-Silva
Editor
Women’s Press
Patricia,
Our advise is to see a Neurologist
and explain to her ALL your symptoms.
Request she do a CBC ( Complete Blood Count) the blood never lies and tells any imbalance in your systems.
Good luck!
In sisterhood
Sonia Paz Baronvine-Silva
Editor
Women’s Press
I am a 19 year old female, 34 weeks pregnant, with no history of heart disease. I was a smoker for about 5 years. I quit when I got pregnant. For 3 days now, I’ve been having this constant chest pain on the left side of my chest that has not and does not gone away or eased up. It is not a sudden or sharp pain at all. It feels like a deep, squeezing or crushing pain. It radiates to my left upper back and my left arm and wrist hurts as well. The back and chest pain, although not sharp hurts very badly. It also feels like my heart skips a beat and then the next beat is really hard, almost like a thump. I went to the ER and they did 10 second EKG that “seemed normal” and they also did lab work to check to see if it was my gallbladder and that checked my cardiac enzymes. Which they said all seemed normal. The doctor said I don’t really fit the description of someone likely to have a heart attack or heart problems. However, I did read that pregnancy increases your risk of blood clots so I am worried. They sent me home and I immediately took some Maalox and drank a lot of milk, incase it was acid reflux or heartburn. It took me a long time to get to sleep because of the pain (which does not ease up when I am at rest at all). When I woke up, I woke up still hurting and took some Prilosec OTC and have not been eating or drinking anything acidic at all. None of the medicine I took helped. At all. I am still having the pains and they do not go away with anything that I do. I went back to another ER last night because it is still constant pain and they did blood work and ekg and monitored me. I am having PVC’s like every third beat and sinus tachycardia, which the doctor said was normal. They then sent me home. All my pains are still there. It still feels like my chest is being crushed and my upper back hurts terribly. It’s like a band of crushing pain. My arm and wrist and shoulder and hand are hurting pretty bad now. I am very very scared. I don’t know what to do because if I go back to the ER, they will just say and do the same thing and then send me home, but if it is something serious, I do not want to stay home and have a heart attack. Help?!
Dear sister,
Was a chest x ray taken at the ER? If so, did your lungs and ribs looked ok?
I wonder if you pulled a muscle or cracked a rib, do you remember hurting yourself?
I recommend you make an appointment with a Cardiologist ( heart specialist) and also talk to your OB-Gyn doctor, and bring the results from both ER visits.
( you can stop by the hospital and go to medical records, and request a copy of the complete lab, and doctor’s notes, a good idea is when you visit the ER in the future, to have a copy given to you and also a copy sent to your primary care physician, that way everyone has the same information )
Do not take any medicine even over the counter ones, before talking to your doctor, remember you are pregnant now..
Good luck and let us know!!
Sonia Paz Baronvine-Silva
Editor
Women’s Press
Just wanted to share the unusual symptom I had with my heart attack 2 years ago at 54 years old. I woke up at 5:30 am to go get some water from the refrigerator because I had a cold and had been coughing. I took a swig of cold water and right after had a very sharp stabbing pain IN MY THROAT. I took some pepcid thinking it was severe indigestion ( never had it like that) and went back to bed. It slowly went into my jaws….and my right arm. Still didn’t think it was anything but did cross my mind “could it be heart related.” I was overweight with very high cholesterol and not taking anything because of the terrible joint and muscle pain I experienced from the meds. Then my left arm ached. I decided to go on computer to put in for a sub for work and while doing that thought I was going to pass out, throw up, or something. Got very sweaty. Went back to bed. Started having light chest pressure…End of story is that after 12 hours I went to the walk in clinic because I felt I was getting a bladder infection and figured I would have the chest thing checked out too. While there they did blood pressure, ekg, oxygen level and everything was normal. Thank God the doctor decided to do the blood test for the enzyme showing muscle damage from heart attack. They were just getting ready to send me home with steroids for the cough when the lab person knocked on the door. The doctor said an ambulance was on the way as the normal for the blood test was 0.0something to 0.0 something and mine was 7.5. I ended up with 2 stents for 3 blockages…2 were in the “widow maker” at 65percent and 97 percent and the one that caused the heart attack was the OM at 100 percent. So….. insist on the simple 10 minute blood test if you aren’t getting anywhere and you know there is something wrong. I had a normal ekg in the ambulance too with normal blood pressure. Take your cholesterol meds….muscle aches are better than being dead. I have been told over and over I am lucky to still be here. Also….don’t wait 12 hours, that was really stupid.
We are so happy too that you are doing ok!!
Thank you for sharing with us your story…many times we women do not take seriously our pains.
So, if you feel ” different” ” strange” or any of the above stymptoms, get to the ER right away!!
And please be and ADVOCATE for yourself, tell your doctor, you want to have a blood test, you do not want her to tell you are OK, you want to know you are OK!!
In sisterhood
Sonia Paz Baronvine-Silva
Editor
Women’s Press
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