symptoms of a woman's heart attack...

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yentasdoitbetter
yentasdoitbetter Posts: 82 Member
in Motivation and Support
so this past sunday my mother had a heart attack at 57 yrs old. turns out, she didn't even know she was having one, nor did she know that this was her second heart attack! the first time, her chest hurt like she had bad gas pains, broke out into a cold sweat, and was nauseus and dry heaving.

<b>one of the nurse's at the hospital said that women's symptoms of a heart attack are different than men's. it sooner feels like indigestion rather than a heart attack....<b>

Here are some symptoms to look for......

1. Pain or discomfort in the center of the chest. (mom said it felt like bad gas pains)


2. Pain or discomfort in other areas of the upper body, including the arms, back, neck, jaw, or stomach. (she was complaining about a stiff neck for a couple months before it happened, we just thought she was sleeping wrong and got a crick in her neck)


3. shortness of breath, breaking out in a cold sweat, nausea, or lightheadedness

just thought i'd share, if someone had told my mom all this, she would have gone to the hospital the first time around, preventing the second one. OHHH and the outcome...she had to have a stent put in one of her arteries and will be on blood pressure medication for the rest of her life. she just came home today and she feels much better! says she even feels more awake than before the surgery!

Replies

  • arewethereyet
    arewethereyet Posts: 18,702 Member
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    I emphasize the jaw pain because my friend was an inch from death by the time she went to the ER.

    She is a strong woman, but has health problems. She chalked up runnign short of breath to her age, and the jaw pain was so far away from anything you would think of as a heart attack.

    Turns out the arteries were clogged and this was were the nerve roots showed the pain.

    Take care of your selves!!

    :heart:
  • ivykivy
    ivykivy Posts: 2,970 Member
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    I'm glad your mom is better.

    A couple of years ago they started the red dress campaign to alert women about heart disease and the symptoms of heart attacks for women. It has been overwhelmed by the pink for breast cancer. We need to remember the red too.:flowerforyou:
  • FireMonkey
    FireMonkey Posts: 500 Member
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    Glad your mom is okay, and THANK YOU for the awareness raising.:flowerforyou:
  • amymeenieminymo
    amymeenieminymo Posts: 2,394 Member
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    Thanks for the posting the signs....I had actually heard about back pain and nauesea, but I'm sure many people don't know that, among the other symptoms.

    I am glad to hear your mom is home and doing better!
  • faithjobes
    faithjobes Posts: 104 Member
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    yes, thanks for passing this info on....my husband's father just had a heart attack friday. He's lucky to be alive. he thought it was a heart attack but kept thinking maybe not and he almost waited too long to call 911.
  • FireMonkey
    FireMonkey Posts: 500 Member
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    yes, thanks for passing this info on....my husband's father just had a heart attack friday. He's lucky to be alive. he thought it was a heart attack but kept thinking maybe not and he almost waited too long to call 911.


    Unfortunately denial is a big problem with people having a heart attack - not sure why. I remember working in a nursing home where one of the residents was a total hypochondriac - always "dying" of something or other. Except when she really did have heart problems she didn't tell anybody for several days until I came back on duty; then she told me. I thought "yeah, right" but took her pulse and blood pressure just to humour her and was shocked at the readings. She was whisked off in an ambulance and spent four weeks in cardiac rehab.
  • KirryD68
    KirryD68 Posts: 7
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    The last thing I want to be is paranoid. If I were to have any combination of those symptoms, I wouldn't necessarily seek help. I don't know how severe any one of those has to be to actually *mean* something. I'm 40 and doctors usually scoff when I ask about my risk--like having a heart attack is strictly for those over 50; but I have high cholesterol, heart attack and stroke in my family history so this is something I take seriously. I keep watch for warning signs of heart attack and stroke. Unfortunately, I must admit that I'm one of those people who probably would wait until symptoms were severe before I went to the hospital. How is someone supposed to know that the one time they're feeling lightheaded, nauseous, and achy means they're about to have a heart attack? How would one know when it's really that time?
  • FireMonkey
    FireMonkey Posts: 500 Member
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    A few years ago I had a gall bladder attack. Symptoms: intense upper abdominal pain and nausea. When I got to ER at 3am, the first thing they did was an ECG, even before I got morphine :sick:

    The problem is, you may not know. Even your doctor may not know until you've had an ECG. Some people get chest pain (angina) for weeks or months before they have a heart attack, but over half of the people who have a heart attack have NO warning symptoms - the heart attack is the first sign that there is something wrong.

    You can learn more at the American Heart Association:
    http://www.americanheart.org/presenter.jhtml?identifier=3053#Heart_Attack

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