I was at work and my chest kept hurting and my arm would go numb and cold and also my jaw would hurt! finally i hit the floor with such bad pain and went to hospital. But because of my young age they were not thinking heart attack they were thinking blood clots. they ran a bunch of tests and sent me home!! I later returned that night because i knew something was wrong because all the symptoms came back but much worse. they then decided to tell me i had had several heart attacks! It was 8 days before my birthday. They took me to another hospital were they put stent in my heart and i feel alot better. I will never wait again if my chest hurts the feeling is awful....Just lucky to be alive!!!!!

November 9, 2011 I was at work and feeling odd. I was fatigued in a strange way and knew there was something that just wasn't right. I decided to go to the E.R. but on my way home (smoking as i was driving) I started to feel better so I thought I would stop by my house and check on things. After 2 hours of watching CSI I decided I better just bite the bullet and see what was going on inside of me. The E.R. doc ran all sorts of tests and said I was fine but he was going to touch bases with the on call cardiologist. When the cardiologist came in he said all my tests were fine and he should send me home but he had a feeling and he wanted to keep me over night and do an angiogram the next day. While on the table having my angiogram I had a heart attack. I had an artery that was 99% blocked and 2 others also in the 90s. First thing the next morning (Nov. 11, 2011) I went in for a triple bypass. Not something I imagined happening at 39 yrs of age! One week before I was to return to work I lost my job. I was unable to go through cardiac rehab because I no longer had insurance.

I had done well for awhile with weight loss but since I have had to move back home with my parents (i have lost pretty much everything and am starting my life over) I am back up to my pre surgery weight. But today is a new day and I am looking forward to a new healthy adventure!!
Krissy

Hi I went to the doctors last week about my creaky knees and just mentioned to her that I had a fluttering heart a couple of weeks ago so they booked me for a ECG. I thought I had nothing to worry about, I have lost 6 stones (84 lbs) in the past 18 months and go to the gym 5 days a week. I was stunned to be told that I had had a heart attack, I just could not believe it. I now have a cardio appointment on 6th June, worrying times.

I had not realised that anything was wrong, I have had a silent heart attack. As I am going through the change I may have mistaken a hot flush foe the symptoms. Now I keep on imagining that I am feeling pains on my chest.

Hi Vailara, I should find out on Wednesday when I go to the hospital. Problem at the moment is that when I go to the gym my heart rate keeps on spiking, only for a minute or so, today it went up to 230. Must admit I have a feeling of uneasiness at the moment. Hopefully the doctors can sort me out. I have added you as a friend, thank you.

New here as well.

Had my Heart Attack on June 1 , was home watching TV after being on vacation all week and decided to just take it easy for the day. Had severe chest pains, that just kind of came and went for about 20 minutes before it became so severe I I knew something was up, sweating, pain in my arms. I finally broken down and called 911, was still in the middle of the HA when the paramedics arrived. The ER was unsure if I had a HA as all my symptoms had subsided by the time I got there but my blood test confirmed. RCA was blocked in 2 places 99 and 95% but I only have 1 stent that covered both blockages.

I am half way thru the 24 week Cardiac Rehab that was offered to me and doing much better but still a long way to go.

@ BlestBliss yes the fatique is horrible for the 1st month or so, your body took a major hit, add in all sorts of new meds for your body to adjust to, give your self plenty of time to recoup and get back on your feet. I couldnt walk to the end of my drive with out getting winded, now I walk 2 miles a day in just under 35 minutes on my lunch hour plus the rehab 3times a week.

@KCRunnerSteve That's very recent. I hope you have a good recovery. Sounds like you had very quick treatment. Thank goodness you were at home and near the hospital!

My story is similar to KCRunnerSteve's, except I've never been in shape enough to run a marathon. But it sounds like we had the same kind of attack.

On 7/25/12 I had just finished a lunchtime workout on the elliptical (36 minutes at max heart rate) and had just started my cool down when I felt chest pains. I hoped it was reflux, so I finished the cool down, had some water, and the pain lessened. After showering I went up the long staircase at the gym and the pain came back, then lessened again. I drove back to work, then walked up the stairs to my floor when the pain returned, a bit harder. I called our emergency number at work. They came, ECGed me, and there was no heart attack signature at that point. With the chest pain on exertion though, they strongly urged me to take an ambulance to the ER. I knew that was the right thing to do even though my pain was only mild to moderate. However, while in the ambulance the pain became intense as a blockage in my left coronary artery became complete. I went straight up to the cath lab and the blockage was gone 20 minutes or so later and a stent was placed.

I've been moderately overweight most of my life (I'm 56) and have a strong family history of cardiac disease. But I'd been trying to prevent this for a long time. I've been on statins and aspirin for over 10 years with my cholesterol reasonably well managed. I've been doing semi regular exercise for all that time as well. I have had regular checkups thru the years, including stress tests. My diet had been fairly clean--my problem wasn't that I ate junk, it was portion control. Still, I had a blockage in the "widow-maker" artery (the LAD) that wasn't large enough to cause symptoms on its own but apparently ruptured, leading to the formation of a blood clot that completed the blockage. (This was a "vulnerable plaque" heart attack.) I am very lucky to still be here and to have had a good outcome.

Two months later I've lost almost 15 pounds since before the attack (10 lbs since I started MFP), and am working out harder at cardiac rehab than I ever have before. I feel great. It was my rehab nurse who suggested MFP to me, and with the help of my wife (who's a clinical dietitian) I use MFP to track calories and sodium and fat intake. I think it's helping quite a bit.

I hope everyone is doing well out there, and that folks who have had an attack recently are well on the mend. @BlestBliss--yes, I felt fatigued too. I think part of it was getting acclimated to the beta blocker and much higher dose of statin. After a couple of weeks on rehab though, things really turned around for me.

Welcome, CathyD! Hope you are feeling better physically and emotionally after having gone through it. Best wishes to you (and to us all!) as you continue through your recovery.

Vailara, you've been losing weight, too! Good for you!

As I've told folks who ask my about "my secret" for losing weight, there's nothing like a heart attack to put you off your appetite. :ohwell: But still, now that I've come to terms with having had one, it still takes work and discipline to lose weight, so I don't really mean to underestimate what we're doing here.

No med changes for me, at least yet.

My LDLs are right about where they want them, so too soon to lower the statin I'm taking (too bad on that one because the stinking pill is the size of a house).

They were going to up the level of beta blocker I'm taking, but my resting heart rate and BP are all fairly low at present--probably also because of all the exercise I'm doing. After losing a bit of weight, I find that for the first time in my adult life I'm prone to feeling cold, especially my hands, so I might try talking them into reducing the beta blocker a bit.

Vailara - I am on 4 different medications now. I wasn't on any for heart related issues before. As soon I was home from the hospital I was scared "healthier". I quit smoking, no fast food and lower portions of everything. I did not lose a pound then once I faithfully started tracking my food I lost 3 lbs in the 1st week. I am determined to get control of this and hopefully off all the medicines, but my cardiologist said I would be on all 4 types of the medicine for at least a year. So that gives me a goal.....

joe_d - thanks for the welcome message and sharing your story. )

On January 21st, 2011, I was doing a fitness test at my employers gym facility. I had finished the test and was talking with one of the trainers afterwards to review my fitness results. He had congratulated me on my “elite” cardio fitness since I completed the 1.5 mile run in 12:11 (not bad for 50 years old!). We were going over workout plan recommendations and probably 5 to 10 minutes after I completed the run, I just collapsed with no warning whatsoever. No pain, no shortness of breath – nada. Just talking and next thing you know, I’m in full cardiac arrest after having a major heart attack.

One of the other trainers turned out to be my guardian angel as she started CPR immediately and then used an AED unit to restart my heart. The paramedics told me she had my heart going again before they arrived at the building. I was transported to the hospital in was out of the cath lab within an hour of my heart attack having the left anterior descending and right proximal arteries stented.

I had lost weight and become physically active back in 2007 by becoming a regular participant in triathlons, half marathons and marathons. My cardiologist said that my underlying fitness level was key to my survival and recovery.

I went through cardiac rehab to resume exercise with monitoring and was quickly released to resume running as long as I agreed to keep my heart rate below a certain level. As a result, I was able to complete a half marathon only 58 days after my heart attack/cardiac arrest.

I was given an unrestricted release about 10 months after the heart attack and I have continued to run half and full marathons since then. I just completed the Goofy Challenge 2 weeks ago completing both the Disney World half and full marathon.

Todays meds and treatment allow a much better outcome and it is possible to resume an active lifestyle. All things considered, I am very lucky and aside from having a governor on my heart with the beta blockers and needing to stay away from sharp objects on account of the Plavix, life is good.