Aces High Bulletin Board
General Forums => Aces High General Discussion => Topic started by: jimson on January 25, 2014, 10:24:14 PM
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Hoping maybe to help someone save their life here.
Saturday Jan 6th I wasn't feeling well at work. I had some chest pain that felt like gas, and when I burped, it did feel a little better so I just went home early. Sunday I went back to work and it happened again but got worse I felt a fluttering in my chest and got shaky, that's when I asked for an ambulance.
When they got me in the ambulance, they kept asking me how the pain was and it had really gone away and I never had shortness of breath and radiating pain in my arm I figured might have been in my head.
I truly expected to waste a whole day in the ER be told it was gastric in nature and be sent home.
Nope. Enzymes came back abnormal, it was a heart attack.
I was admitted and had a stent put in. The doc told me my left anterior descending artery was 99% blocked and I narrowly avoided a bypass.
Only at my follow up appointment did he say that what I narrowly avoided was death. This is called the widow maker artery and if it gets 100% blocked you have a 90% chance of coffin city.
I have read that the pain is unmistakable, the most you will likely ever feel. DON'T COUNT ON THAT. I never would have rated the pain over 5 on a 10 scale. I waited too long because the pain wasn't so bad. I should have went in the day before. I appear to have gotten away with that but how close was I to having one more little particle complete the clogging and send me 6 feet under?
DON'T SCREW WITH THIS STUFF!! Take the damn risk that you will waste a day at the ER for a stupid case of heartburn.
Right now I am dealing with depression over this but maybe that will lift and I will just feel lucky to be alive.
Whatever you do, take ANY chest pain seriously!! Don't think you are safe if you have no real family history of heart disease. I didn't have such a history. Better to have to listen to a doc tell you you are lucky to still be here, then to croak before you even have a chance to get your affairs in order.
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glad you're ok bud.
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Don't be depressed -- be very, very happy that you did end up catching it in time.
I'm not sure what I would have done in your place as it didn't sound like you had much in the way of symptoms (like you say -- felt more like indigestion).
I'm thankful you are OK now! <S>
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Thanks guys.
They say the depression is probably normal. The end of my care free, eat and do whatever I want life and the realization that I now have to take more pills than my 95 year old grandmother.
If I could impart anything it is listen to what your body is saying. You don't have to end up clutching your chest and falling to your knees to be in real trouble. There was a point that I should have recognized that though very similar, it was a little different from regular indigestion. I just didn't want to recognize it.
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One thing that will probably be recommended is some regular exercise, unless you already get plenty of that. 30 minutes of walking 5 times a week is one that is on the easier side of working into your routine, and if you get an account on audible.com, you can listen to books on tape as you do it, and it becomes a lot of fun.
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im screwed then. :rofl
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The problem is how to know when its real or when its the cheeseburgers you washed down with beer for lunch.
I dropped at work 3 years ago and spent 3 days in ICU cause my heart couldnt regulate my blood pressure. They did every test they had, including an angio, and never found out what in Hell the problem was. They said my arteries were clean and the defibs I was feeling werent really defibs. To this day I dont know what it was.
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Good to hear you caught it in time Jimson :aok
I was in to see the sawbones last week with similar symptoms. Good quality pain in centre of chest. Worse at night, not agonising but certainly uncomfortable.
Also I get occassional missed beats, about once or twice each 48 hrs.
I'm training 10-12 hours a week in the gym and otherwise fit.
They took an armful of blood and did an ECG, found nothing whatsoever, feel like a fraud now which is why your advice is the correct one. You need to get these things checked out.
Still wondering what my problem is though. Hypochondria
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Amen to paying attention to chest pain or any anomoly in the thorax. These sometimes silent killers mimic so many other things. Along with heart attacks, aortic tear or ruptures are also in the same group. Along with chest pain, a visible pulsation just under your ribcage while laying down can indicate an enlarged weakened aorta. Like the widowmaker heart artery, an aortic rupture is a death sentence and you have about 90 seconds to realize what's happening before you're gone. Just got mine fixed with a dacron graft last year.
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Very glad your ok sir!!!
They took an armful of blood and did an ECG, found nothing whatsoever, feel like a fraud now which is why your advice is the correct one. You need to get these things checked out.
Still wondering what my problem is though. Hypochondria
Yes, but your a healthy, upright hypochondriac......nothing wrong with that at all.....I would have done the exact same thing myself. Im slowly starting to learn that at 42 i am no longer the invincible 18yrold i once was. Taking meds for Highblood pressure after mine was found to be off the charts........ High stress job etc etc. Thankfully my cholesterol levels are good....but im keeping tabs on them every year with bloodwork.
Good luck...stay healthy :aok
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The problem is how to know when its real or when its the cheeseburgers you washed down with beer for lunch.
I dropped at work 3 years ago and spent 3 days in ICU cause my heart couldnt regulate my blood pressure. They did every test they had, including an angio, and never found out what in Hell the problem was. They said my arteries were clean and the defibs I was feeling werent really defibs. To this day I dont know what it was.
It was the chemicals the government sprays on the sky. Just look at the chemtrails on a clear day! :old:
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Join The GFC we will make you feel better :old:
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I had similar symptoms, and blew them off as well.
In my case, I kept having "heartburn" in the evenings, especially when laying down to go to sleep, and even asked my doctor about it. He ran some tests, and they came back clean, but he did not do the heart enzymes as I was having no other symptoms. Finally, I had the "big one" and it still felt like really bad heartburn. Still thinking it was a stomach issue, I went to bed, and told the wife we would go have it checked in the morning. Big mistake!
We went to the emergency room the next day because while I no longer had pain, I felt very bad, and had no energy. Fortunately for me, the doctor on duty that day was actually retired and working part time, and had seen this exact thing numerous times before. I knew I was probably in trouble when he overheard my wife describing my symptoms to the admitting nurse, spun on his heel and called for a crash cart :D
To cut the long story short, in my case, my left anterior was blocked so much they couldn't get a true reading, practically completely, the next two were around 90 - 95%, and for some odd reason the fourth was fine. The contrast only pooled when they injected it except for the fourth. I had to have an auxiliary pump installed to keep me alive until they could do the emergency triple bypass the next day, and they weren't greatly optimistic of my odds of surviving the surgery. The discomfort I felt in the weeks leading up to the big one were believed to have been a series of smaller heart attacks. I made it, but over time one of the bypasses failed, causing me to have another heart attack, this time due to it severely damaging a large section of my heart.
Sorry to bore you with so much detail, but I wanted to give a little background to emphasize both the OP's and my points: In the weeks leading up to my first heart attack, the heart attack itself, and the second heart attack, at no time did I have the "normal" symptoms of a heart attack, it felt like just some bad heartburn, and for the big one, I felt a little short of breath. No pain radiating into the left arm, etc. Even my doctor didn't see it. Looking back, I had a major clue that I overlooked that I want to share. Obviously, I am no doctor and this is not medical advice. When I had the "heartburn" I would grab some Tums, Maalox, or whatever, and it didn't go away. I think that should have been of much more concern to both me and the doctor.
For Danny76, better to have it checked and find nothing, than do what I did!
I'd also recommend to anyone over 40 to find a good cardiologist, and have a workup done. They can spot things your general practitioner won't, and have the specialized equipment as well. Make it a part of your annual physical.
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Damn Jimson, glad you caught it in time.
Hope you're feeling better. :salute
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I'm glad all of the guys with the above health stories are here with us and doing OK right now. <S>
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All I has was I got very nauseous sick enough that I went to my doctor. They called the ambulance and I had a stent put in. In the ambulance they gave me a nitro pill and I felt better real quick.
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I was having strange feelings in my chest about 14 years ago. I told my Dr about it and, after a checkup and an EKG she told me it was probably nothing and that I was too young (40's at the time) to be having any serious issues. Over the next month or so my symptoms became more frequent and more severe however I wouldn't describe what I felt as pain.
I went back to the Dr and told her it was starting to scare me. She hooked up a Holter monitor (portable EKG) and told me to keep a diary of the times and duration of my symptoms. This was on a Thursday and I dropped off the monitor on Friday with the diary book filled with entries.
On Monday morning my Dr called telling me I had to check into the hospital. I was leaving on Tuesday to go home for Christmas and told her I'd check in as soon as I returned. She said "You don't get it. You're checking in this morning".
I had a 95% blockage in my right coronary artery and got a stent placed to open it and, according to the cardiologist, was having a heart attack as they prepped me for surgery which was done the day I checked in.
Despite the fact they told me no damage had been done to my heart I've since had a regular heart arythmia. It causes a similar feeling to the one I had when this began and takes my breath away, sometimes severely. I take medications to try to control it.
About 12 years ago I had a minor stroke. I didn't go into the Dr until about 4-5 days later when the numbness in my left arm/face/side weren't going away. My Dr yelled at me but beside that, after the full gamet of tests, there was nothing to be done about it. I still have recurring symptoms from this when I'm tired.
I've had regular visits with my cardiologist ever since. My cholesteral and triglyceride numbers are almost spot on although my good cholesteral never gets as high as they'd like. Every few years I go through the entire series of tests (EKG, Cat Scan, Cardioechogram, Stress test, etc.) and every time I come up clean yet I still feel symptoms similar to those of both my blocked artery and stroke from time to time.
My point in all of this is that it's very difficult to know when and when not to call 911. A few weeks ago I lost taste in, and was getting numbness in the right side of my tounge. After calling my Dr then visiting the clinic at work I ended up in ER. After the full gamet of testing turned up nothing I convinced them to let me go. It turned out to be the onset of Bells Palsey (for my third time which thankfully resolved itself in a week).
In the meantime I haven't changed my lifestyle. I sill smoke, drink, eat bad things in moderation and don't excersise much. I figure one day I'll just keel over and die because I won't be able to decipher what's normal from what's not. Either that or I'll be riding in ambulances several times a year for nothing so I tend away from having these things checked on constantly.
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Jim
Glad to here your ok bud I had the exact same thing happen to me at the age of 35 same results high percent blockage and a stent. The Widow Maker missed me this time.
:salute
Molsman
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Take care Jim,glad you are ok it can be a scary thing to go through.
I saw a cardiologist last year,he told me I had a health heart...I looked at him and said are you sure..... :O I was having medication issues,as soon as I stopped taking the 1 med I felt better in a day or so.
Look after yourself Jim,take the time to smell the roses! :aok
:salute
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The problem is how to know when its real or when its the cheeseburgers you washed down with beer for lunch.
I dropped at work 3 years ago and spent 3 days in ICU cause my heart couldnt regulate my blood pressure. They did every test they had, including an angio, and never found out what in Hell the problem was. They said my arteries were clean and the defibs I was feeling werent really defibs. To this day I dont know what it was.
Maybe was good cheeseburgers and bad beer? No, not possible I know. Glad it wasn't serious. I have ms so any little twinge I right off as nerve damage. In my case with arm numbness was carpal tunnel. Easy to fix, but scared me a bit
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Glad you had it taken care of. The depression will pass, probably faster than your cravings for good ole cholesterol dripping fried foods. That's the hardest part I think. Hard to eat a salad with steak or cheese burgers right there so close :bhead :ahand
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Almost all the heart attak patients I transport in my plane are grossly overweight and have that 'don't let me die look', as young as early 30s. All the grossly overweight person I know 'laught it off like it will never happen to them'. Human behavior is mysteriously facinating.
It might be too late already, but it's up to you to motivate yourself to change your health habits. Try to scrubb as many years as you can. I'm sure their are people that need you, they should be your inspiration.
Glad you survived it. :salute