July 2008

Medical-Intelligence
A Monthly Review of Recent Articles of Interest
July 2008
All back issues are available at Medical-Intelligence.Blogspot.com

Heart Attack Symptoms in Women

Women often do not have the same dramatic symptoms that men have when experiencing a heart attack ...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.


I had a completely unexpected heart attack at about 10:30 PM with NO prior exertion, NO prior emotional trauma that one would suspect might've 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 an awful sensation of indigestion, like when you've been in a hurry and grabbed a bite of sandwich and washed it down with a dash of water. That hurried bite seems to feel like you've swallowed a golf ball which is now going down your esophagus in slow motion and is most uncomfortable. You realize you shouldn't have gulped it down so fast and needed to chew it more thoroughly and then 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 that had seemed to subside, the next sensation was like little squeezing motions that seemed to be racing up my SPINE gaining speed as they continued racing up and under my sternum (breast bone). 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 to 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 the woman who answered my call her I thought I was having a heart attack with pressure building under my 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 unbolt it and then lie down on the floor where they could see me when they came in. I then lay 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 the hospital ER on the way, but I did briefly awaken when we arrived and saw that the cardiologist 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 stents 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 luckily both the fire station and the ER are only minutes away from my home, and, by the time I got there, a 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 stents.

Why have I written this to you with so much detail? Because I want you 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. 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 seriously unpleasant is 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.” Ladies, TIME IS OF THE ESSENCE! Do NOT try to drive yourself to the hospital -- you're a hazard to others on the road. Do NOT call your doctor – 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 doctor will be notified later. If someone other than a paramedic takes you to the hospital, when they arrive, have them go immediately to the ER desk (don’t wait on line), and tell them that you are having a heart attack.

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).