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EnsenadaDr
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a woman's view of a heart attack.....
Bobby King
A nurse has heart attack and describes what women feel when having one:
NURSE'S HEART ATTACK EXPERIENCE
I am an ER nurse and this is the best description of this event that I have ever heard. Please read, pay attention, and send it on!
FEMALE HEART ATTACKS
I was aware that female heart attacks are different, but this is the best description I've ever read.
Women rarely have the same dramatic symptoms that men have ... you know, the sudden stabbing pain in the chest, the cold sweat, grabbing the chest
& dropping to the floor that we see in movies. Here is the story of one woman's experience with a heart attack.
I had a heart attack at about 10:30 PM with NO prior exertion, NO prior emotional trauma that one would suspect might have 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 it 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 spasms), 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 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 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 un-bolt the door and then lie down on
the floor where they could see me when they came in.
I unlocked the door and 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 radiologist 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
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.' And if you can take an aspirin. Ladies, TIME IS OF THE ESSENCE!
Do NOT try to drive yourself to the ER - you are a hazard to others on the road.
Do NOT have 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). MIs 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 (male & female) who you care about!*
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MrBillM
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Decisions, Decisions
"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."
What if you don't know ten people that you wouldn't want to have a Heart Attack ?
Just Kidding, of course.
Even I know Ten.
More or less.
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Whale-ista
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Thank you for this Information
Hope I don't have to use this, but good to know just in case.
\"Probably the airplanes will bring week-enders from Los Angeles before long, and the beautiful poor bedraggled old town will bloom with a
Floridian ugliness.\" (John Steinbeck, 1940, discussing the future of La Paz, BCS, Mexico)
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shari
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thank you Dr....always good to be aware of these things and keep them filed away in your brain.
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Bobvaso
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Thank you doc. The better informed people are the stronger public health becomes.
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Bruce R Leech
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thanks doc, keep the good info coming. you are saving lives.
Bruce R Leech
Ensenada
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J.P.
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Heart Attack
Good info . My oldest Sister died at 57 with a Heart attack, no one in the family including her knew she had heart problems.
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Barry A.
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This is great stuff, Dr.-------many thanks!!!
Barry
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DavidE
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Mood: 'At home we demand facts and get them. In Mexico one subsists on rumor and never demands anything.' Charles Flandrau,
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Has anyone bothered to gather data on BP and pulse during an infarction?
A Lot To See And A Lot To Do
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durrelllrobert
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Here's another story
www.cnn.com/2013/08/20/us/detroit-paramedic-heart-attack
Detroit paramedic has heart attack while giving CPR to man having heart attack
By Leslie Bentz, CNN
updated 10:39 AM EDT, Tue August 20, 2013
Detroit paramedic Joseph Hardman is being hailed as a hero for performing CPR on a patient having a heart attack -- even as he began to have one
himself.
One doctor said the odds of this happening are "one in a million."
"A sudden explosion-type feeling in my chest" is how Hardman, 47, described the incident to CNN affiliate WXYZ.
Hardman's partner drove him and the patient to the local hospital.
Both men had identical stents put in to remove blockages, and both are recovering.
Hardman knows how lucky he was to already be on his way to an ER, telling reporters "If I hadn't been in the position I was in, I would have been
deceased."
"I would have to say one in a million is about appropriate" a hospital doctor told WXYZ. "I haven't ever seen it and I haven't heard of it".
Hardman has been working as a paramedic in Detroit for 15 years, and says he has no prior medical history of heart problems.
The blockage was found in a key artery that is often referred to by cardiologists as the "widow maker".
Doctors say he likely faces months of rehab before he'll be able to return to work.
Bob Durrell
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DavidE
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Mood: 'At home we demand facts and get them. In Mexico one subsists on rumor and never demands anything.' Charles Flandrau,
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Forty seven ain't exactly old & wrinkled...
A Lot To See And A Lot To Do
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DENNIS
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| Quote: | Originally posted by DavidE
Has anyone bothered to gather data on BP and pulse during an infarction? |
You mean they go up when you have gas? 
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DavidE
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Mood: 'At home we demand facts and get them. In Mexico one subsists on rumor and never demands anything.' Charles Flandrau,
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I just ordered a recording pulse oximeter with adjustable alarm. I wonder wonder wonder what effect isosorbide dinitrate would have on an event?
Sublingual it works pretty fast. Would serve to get more O2 to the heart that's for sure. Beats shooting the breeze with the grim reaper while waiting
for medical help...
A Lot To See And A Lot To Do
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DavidE
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Mood: 'At home we demand facts and get them. In Mexico one subsists on rumor and never demands anything.' Charles Flandrau,
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And a giant freakin niacin to round things out!
A Lot To See And A Lot To Do
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EnsenadaDr
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You are right Soulpatch, and make sure a Viagra isn't in the mix, they might just fade away with a smile on their face!! | Quote: | Originally posted by soulpatch
Wouldn't over do it with the meds.... you throw a niacin on top of another vasodilator and you might not have enough sangre to keep the pump primed.
If your BP is below a 100 you need to be careful.... especially if you have a little morphine around.... or some other effective pain manager.
Pain management is a big deal.... less pain/less anxiety..... |
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EnsenadaDr
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Many thanks, Bruce and Barry, all kidding aside though, the first thing you want to do is pop an aspirin or two if you suspect a heart attack, and
Viagra is contraindicated with nitroglycerin. | Quote: | Originally posted by Bruce R Leech
thanks doc, keep the good info coming. you are saving lives. |
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Loretana
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Thanks, Janene. Great post.
"If you want to find the secrets of the universe, think in terms of energy, frequency and vibration."
-Nikola Tesla
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MrBillM
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Serious as a Heart Attack
Isn't "Going Out with a Smile on Your Face" a pretty good way to GO ?
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bajaguy
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Interesting Video
http://ahsc.arizona.edu/node/730
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EnsenadaDr
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Yes, probably but we don't want to go out earlier than we have to. | Quote: | Originally posted by MrBillM
Isn't "Going Out with a Smile on Your Face" a pretty good way to GO ? |
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