BETTER SAFE THAN SORRY !! PLEASE READ !!

Monday afternoon I was shopping at Catos ..my favorite place to shop btw. I got alittle light-headed then broke out in a cold sweat and my heart started racing like ninety miles an hour. I thought it would slow down in a minute or two but it just kept going. The gals were going to call an ambulance but I wasn't hurting and it didn't sound like symptoms of a heart attack or any that I'd ever heard of so I waited about 10 minutes and it slowly started to slow down enough for me to drive home. As I was driving home it seemed to get better and better so I really wasn't all that worried until I got home and I looked up the signs of heart attacks in women. I decided to go to the emergency room later that evening and the doctor admitted me for testing as a precautionary measure. They gave me a nitro glycerin tablet and an aspirin in the ER. The Nitro worked immediately to take away the squeezing pain in my chest. But the after effects of the nitro made my head feel like it was going to split. And the head pain lasted for hours. I had an EKG, and the following evening I had a nuclear heart test. Nuclear ventriculography is a test that uses radioactive materials called tracers to make heart chambers and blood vessels visible. Anyways the Cardiologist reported that my heart appeared to be in good shape but I will be wearing an event or cardiac monitor in case the same symptoms should happen again it will record the event. Has anyone else ever had anything like that to happen to them? MAYBE I WAS OVERLY EXCITED ABOUT SHOPPING ...YA THINK ? OK...SERIOUSLY...I literally took my life into my own hands...it's never advisable to wait or to drive when you've had an event with your heart that isn't normal. Please read the following What are the symptoms of a heart attack? Share this information with your family members and caregivers so they learn to recognize the symptoms of a heart attack and when to help you seek emergency treatment. If you are having any one of the symptoms described below that lasts for more than 5 minutes, SEEK EMERGENCY TREATMENT (CALL 9-1-1) WITHOUT DELAY. These symptoms could be the signs of a heart attack and immediate treatment is essential. Symptoms of a heart attack include Chest pain or discomfort in the center of the chest; a "squeezing," "heaviness" or "crushing" feeling that lasts for more than a few minutes or goes away and comes back. Pain or discomfort in other areas of the upper body including the arms, back, neck, jaw, or stomach. Difficulty breathing, shortness of breath. Sweating or "cold sweat". Fullness, indigestion, or choking feeling (may feel like "heartburn"). Nausea or vomiting Light-headedness Extreme weakness or anxiety Rapid or irregular heart beats Do not wait for your symptoms to "go away." Early recognition and treatment of heart attack symptoms can reduce the risk of heart damage and allow treatment to be started immediately. Even if you're not sure your symptoms are those of a heart attack, you should still be evaluated. Some people have a heart attack without having any symptoms (a "silent" myocardial infarction). A silent MI can occur among all patients, though it is more common among diabetics. If you have a silent MI, your heart attack may be diagnosed during a routine doctor's exam. The first symptoms start the clock. DO NOT WAIT GET Fast action can save lives - including your own At the first signs of a heart attack, call for emergency treatment (911). The best time to treat a heart attack is within the first one to two hours from the first onset of symptoms. Studies show that the people who have symptoms of a heart attack often delay, or wait to seek treatment, for longer than seven hours. People who delay tend to be older, female, African-American and to have a history of angina, high blood pressure or diabetes. REASONS PEOPLE DELAY: They are young and cannot believe it is happening to them Symptoms are not what they expected They may deny the symptoms are serious and wait until they go away They may ask the advice of others, especially family members They may first try to treat the symptoms themselves, using aspirin or antacids They may think the symptoms are related to other health problems (upset stomach, arthritis) They may put the care of others first (first take care of children or other family members) and not want to worry them. Waiting just a couple hours for medical help may limit your treatment options, increase the amount of damage to your heart muscle, and reduce your chance of survival. Know in advance: The symptoms of a heart attack. Who to call for emergency help. DO NOT call a friend or family member. CALL for an ambulance to take you to the nearest emergency room (Dial 911 in most areas). Treat all chest discomfort as angina or a heart attack unless your doctor has told you otherwise. Treatments (medications, open heart surgery and interventional procedures) do not cure coronary artery disease. Having had a heart attack or treatment does not mean you will never have another heart attack; It CAN happen again. I was truly ignorant of heart attack symptoms...they aren't the ones that I'd always heard so it was news to me of course to find out that a racing heart, cold sweat, and light-headedness were among the symptoms. SUUZ

hope you are feeling better .slow dwn on the shopping lol.will be praying for you take care becky

Wow - that's scary. Thanks for posting the info. I'm glad to hear you're wearing a monitor and just hope that nothing comes of it. You're so right. It's much better to be safe than sorry. We tend to think that things won't happen to us or that we're making too much of something, but those first moments may be very important. Hope you're feeling better. Keep us informed on how you're doing. Love, B

I'VE BEEN TRYING TO CATCH UP ON OLDER POSTS BUT I JUST SAW YOUR POST ABOUT YOUR HEART INCIDENT & WANT TO ANSWER IT RIGHT NOW SINCE IT IS SO IMPORTANT. I HAVE BEEN GOING THROUGH THIS TYPE OF THING SINCE 1993. IN MY CASE, IT IS AN ELECTRICAL IMPULSE ISSUE WHICH THROWS MY HEART RATE/RHYTHM INTO TACHYCARDIA & ARRYTHMIA - I HAVE "MINI ISSUES" EVERY 5 - 10 MINUTES 24 HOURS A DAY. MEDICINES ONLY LESSEN THE SEVERITY; THEY DON'T STOP THE CONDITION. I HAVE PSAT (PAROXYSMAL SUPRAVENTRICULAR ATRIAL TACHYCARDIA). THIS ISN'T TO SAY THAT THIS IS WHAT YOU HAVE, ONLY THAT I HAVE SIMILAR SYMPTOMS SO MAYBE I HAVE SOME INFO THAT COULD HELP. REMEMBER WHEN MY DOC HAD SUCH A HARD TIME RE-REGULATING MY HEART MEDS AFTER WLSurgery ?? ... & LATELY, HOW EXHAUSTED I'VE BEEN ?? ... DOC BYRNE THINKS A LOT OF MY EXHAUSTION HAS TO DO WITH THE LARGE AMOUNTS OF HEART MEDS I'M ON ... OTHER THAN THAT, HE'S NOT SURE WHY I'M SO EXHAUSTED. I'VE HAD ALL THE HEART TESTS INCLUDING THE ONES YOU MENTIONED ... AS PER THE DOCTORS ... ABOUT 1/3 OF THE FEMALE POPULATION HAVE SIMILAR HEART RYTHM/RATE ISSUES &, AS PAR USUAL, "THEY" DON'T KNOW WHY. BEFORE WLSurgery, I WAS ON TOPROL XL, WHICH WORKED VERY WELL & IS USED A LOT IN MANY HEART PATIENTS. BUT, IT IS A TIME-RELEASED MEDICATION SO I COULDN'T USE IT AFTER WLS. WHEN MY HEART BECAME SO UNSTABLE AFTER SURGERY, THEY PUT ME ON CLONIDINE & MY RATE WENT DOWN BELOW 30 bpm & WE WERE WONDERING IF I WAS GOING TO MAKE IT. PER THE HEART SPECIALIST THAT DR C BROUGHT IN ON MY CASE, CLONIDINE CAN, IN SOME PEOPLE, ACTUALLY CAUSE & INCREASE THE HEART PROBLEMS IT IS TAKEN TO RELIEVE ... A HEAVEN & HELL SITUATION MEDICALLY. SO IF THEY SUGGEST CLONIDINE, BE AWARE OF THIS LITTLE GLITCH & IF YOU FEEL WORSE, CONTACT YOUR DOCTOR IMMEDIATELY. SO, THEN THEY PUT ME ON A COMBO OF LOPRESSOR & CARDIZEM 4 TIMES A DAY. THEY ARE LESSENING THE SEVERITY OF MY HEART INCIDENTS, BUT NOT THE NUMBER OF INCIDENTS OR THE INCIDENTS THEMSLEVES. BUT, THIS IS THE BEST I'VE BEEN IN A LONG TIME. NICK & I ARE TOYING WITH THE IDEA OF ASKING FOR A REFERRAL TO A HEART SPECIALIST, BUT WE ARE SO EXHAUSTED BY ALL WE'VE BEEN THROUGH LATELY THAT WE HAVE PUT IT OFF FOR THE SHORT TERM. YOU ARE DOING THE BEST THING POSSIBLE & THAT IS WEARING A MONITOR. I WEAR A COMMON HEART RATE MONITOR THAT ANYONE CAN GET FOR MONITORING YOURSELF WHILE EXERCISING. THE POINT IS TO SEE IF YOU CAN RECOGNIZE PATTERNS & TRIGGER POINTS. FOR INSTANCE, I NOTED 4 DIFFERENT PATTERNS THAT REGULARLY OCCUR OVER & OVER IN THE ARRYTHMIA/TACHYCARDIA ISSUES ... AS FOR TRIGGER POINTS, LET'S SAY YOU DRINK A CAFFIENE PRODUCT & YOU HAVE A HEART INCIDENT SHORTLY FOLLOWING IT ... MAKE NOTE OF THAT IF IT APPEARS TO HAPPEN EVERY TIME YOU INGEST CAFFIENE. ANOTHER THING TO WATCH IS IF YOUR OTHER MEDICATIONS SEEM TO TRIGGER AN INCIDENT, EVEN IF THAT INCIDENT IS MINOR. OTHER MEDICATIONS CAN ACTUALLY CAUSE HEART INCIDENTS ... OR, COMBINATIONS OF MEDICATIONS CAN EFFECT YOUR HEART. YOU'RE OBSERVATIONS ARE SO HELPFUL TO YOUR DOCTOR, SO KEEP A CLOSE EYE ON YOUR HEART SITUATIONS & WHAT YOU WERE DOING, EATING OR DRINKING, OR WHAT MEDS YOU WERE TAKING AT THE TIME & NOTE THIS DOWN IN WRITING SO YOU DON'T FORGET TO TELL YOUR DOCTOR SOMETHING. WE SURE PRAY THAT THIS WAS JUST A ONE-TIME INCIDENT! WE HOPE THE ABOVE INFORMATION IS HELPFUL IF YOU FIND YOURSELF IN NEED OF MEDICATIONS OR FUTHER MEDICAL ATTENTION. GOD BLESS DAWN & NICK

Whew--Suuz, i am glad that you are better ( feeling wise) and having the monitor sure has to help with your peace of mind. Pre-surgery, i had many issues that made me think i was having a heart attack..ultimately it was dx as acid reflux, but i tell you, on one of the incidences, when i was in germany, had mahaley who was 3 months old at the time, and i woke up, and couldn't breath, could not speak and it hurt to even walk..wayne was gone at work,, and i was so in pain.. ultimately the pain went away but over the course of 1 year, i went to the ER 3 times in fear i was having a heart attack. Always trust your gut..better safe than to be sorry.

WELL, HELL-O MS SUSANNE ... I ADDED YOU TO OUR SC WEIGHT LOSS LIST & I DON'T REMEMBER SEEING YOU ON THE BOARDS LATELY (OR, EVER) SO, WELCOME ... OR, WELCOME BACK! NOW, MS SUSANNE ... IF YOU ARE HAVING THESE HEART INCIDENTS EVERY COUPLE MONTHS, MAYBE NOW IS THE TIME TO HAVE THEM CHECKED OUT BEFORE THE NEXT TIME ONE OF THESE INCIDENTS OCCUR! NONE OF US WANT TO THINK WE HAVE A HEART CONDITION BUT KNOWING IS HELPFUL ... NOT KNOWING CAN BE DEADLY. SO, LET ME GIVE YOU A LOVING PUSH TOWARDS YOUR DOCTOR'S OFFICE! KEEP US UPDATED! GOD BLESS YOU DAWN & NICK

Good morning SUUZ, I had my surgery in June of 2000 by Dr Strickland, he and his staff are wonderful. The first 3 years were great, the last not so great, my body at first decided to make ovarian cysts the size of grapefruits. After 3 more surgeries, ovaries gone. Also during that time, I was having a tightness in my chest, not really a pain just tightning, low pulse, heart rate dropping between 60 and 40 at times, heart monitor, the works. They scheduled a stress test last Feb, found part of my heart not getting blood and scheduled me for a catherization. We went in, they were doing the cath (not bad at all), and my vessels in my heart started to collaspe, we (me and my cardiogist) were watching it on the screen. It was at a place that (he explained to me) you do not put a stint unless you are 150 percent sure that you need one. It was the curve on the main vessel on the right side of my heart. So he wanted to make sure that it was not caused by the cath so he sent me home with nitro and said we would watch it for a week or two. After 7 days and a bottle of sublingual nitro he went back in to insert a stint, thought it was just a weak vessel, no plaque, no blockages, everything else looked great. He went back in, both of us were watching the screen and the vessel would not collaspe. No matter what he did it would not collaspe. We have pictures of the first time. He told his crew to clean me up and send me to recovery. He came in and told me, my husband, and pastor that he has only seen this twice, one of his other patients and me. I have what is called Prinzmetals Angina. It caused the vessels of the heart to collaspe and cut off the blood flow to parts of the heart for really no reason. It is aggrevated by smoking(I had quit), stress(work) and weight. Please see my profile. I am now on 60 mg of Imdur a time released nitro first thing in the morning and it has been over a year and it is not bad at all. I carry my little extra nitro pills if I need them when ever. Not very often at all. Now I have been diagnosed with Rhuematoid Arthritis, my cardiogist says that there is a corralation between the two and I am on Prednoisone. No fun... The symptoms for a woman having a heart attack are quite different than a man's. Tightness in chest, stomach cramps, lower back pain, and the others you mentioned. Everyone, please take this seriously and have every symptom checked out. It is worth it... Suzanne