This information was posted on the Savvy group by a member. This article was not written by me...I did not know what the symptoms were of a Heart Attack until I read it. I knew they were not the dramatic chest pains... but I was told they were more like flu symptoms! So every time I had the flu... I would worry the entire time..... but this account did not sound anything like the flu.
So I thought I would pass this information to all of my readers... incase any of you don't know!
Women are normally the care givers of the family, we have to remember to recognize all type of symptoms to prevent something this serious.
ALL women need to know the FACTS! We women..... need to stay empowered! : ) Information.... is POWER!!! : ) Embrace YOUR awesomeness! : )
FEMALE HEART ATTACKS
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 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 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 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 PM.
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 his
partnerhad already threaded the teeny angiogram balloon up my femoral arteryinto
the aorta and into my heart where they installed two side by side
stints to hold open my right coronary artery.
I knowit 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 all
ready 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.
1. Beaware that something very different is happening in your body not theusual
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 likemine,
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.
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."
BE IN THE KNOW.... TO PROTECT YOUR HEALTH! Go on google... and search on Female Heart Attacks and find out more that might save your life!
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