Thanks for letting us know and GOOD FOR YOU! Now really, doesn't that feel better?
Keep us posted,
Jon
Thank you for writing back and also for going in to be checked. We don't want you to be another statistic on the cardiac events graph. Take care.
Just wanted to let you all know that I followed your advice, today. I went to the ER at the Heart Hospital (a different hospital) and explained the situation. They checked me out again and this time my EKG was normal - my cardiac enzymes are also still normal. The doc is having the hospital call me tomorrow to schedule a Cardiolite stress test. He said he is leaning heavily towards this not having been a cardiac event, but wants to get me tested further because of my risk factors, family history, and the symptoms I described. So that's a relief!
For what it's worth - I was unable to get an appointment to see anyone, including my primary care physician, today, because it was the day after a holiday.
I appreciate the good advice, and thank you for responding.
I'm here to put on the pressure too and I don't mean on your chest. You really should go back for further testing. Not next year or next month or the next time you're on the floor in pain. Go now. All that pain is a warning of something bad going on. Maybe you got lucky and it wasn't a heart attack this time. It could be angina caused from vasospasms or a partial blockage. But either one of those need to be managed.
Do you really want to live on the edge waiting for the next pain to hit?
I am the "AMA" queen here in Texas. What you are describing does sound like it could be cardiac in nature. I get what I call a burning ache in my chest that radiates up to my cheek bones and down both arms. At times there is a tingling in my upper back between my shoulder blades. I would definitely go back and let them run the tests. Take care and keep us posted. Ally
I had a heart attack last year and my advise, for what it's worth, is - go to the hospital. A heart attack is far worse than claustrophbia. Have the stress test - have every test you can and please DON'T WAIT. Your GERT and heart issues are closely related; that's why so many women mistake angina or heart pain for GERD or acid reflux. Please, please go back to the hospital and take advantage of the warning your body gave you. I didn't know the pain I felt was a heart attack because it wasn't like you see on TV and I even slept through it. If some instinct hadn't made me get my daughter to call 911, I don't know if I'd be sitting here writing this.
Regarding asking questions - write them down so you can remember them (I forget when I'm anxious) and if the doctors don't/won't answer don't leave their office till they do. If they still won't answer, find another cardiologist. It's YOUR body and you have the right to know what is going on. Keep asking and sometimes it's good to take someone with you for moral support.
I wish you the best.
First off, it it were me I would be back on my way to the hospital, leaving was not a good idea, to me anyways. Your symptoms are classic for a heart attack, unfortunately they are also classic for an esophageal spasm as both affect the same nerve bundle, have identical symptoms and both are relieved with nitro. Having said that, I would have stayed.
Since you did not, I would get whatever test they had recommended. You definitely need a stress test, preferably with nuclear profusion and an echo so they can check the blood flow to you heart muscle, get a more detailed EKG and check the structure of your heart. There is way too much to risk here and you need to see if it was your heart or GERD.
It's not too late to go back, just give them a call.
Good luck,
Jon