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Avatar universal

Nausea/Vomiting

Hello all. Just a question. 26 year old female. On Saturday afternoon about an hour and a half after eating a chicken salad (which was leftovers from the night before) I had an episode of nausea, and I did vomit. I felt better after. Had some friends over that evening, ordered food. I had a turkey hoagie on wheat, no dressing, kept it simple just in case. Within an hour after eating that, I got nausea again, and vomiting. Took Pepto Bismol, threw it back up. Started to feel very warm, friends said my face was flushed, checked temperature and was 100.1, not extremely high but a slight fever nonetheless. Went to the ER to get checked out. Gave me some fluids, nausea medication, and did some bloodwork. The bloodwork was all good, except a slightly elevated white blood cell of 11.8, which I know can indicate an infection somewhere. They didn't do any scans. Doctor said he believed this was a bug of some sort and to follow up with my doctor. Which I have an appt tomorrow with him. Since being in the ER, I have felt fine with no further episodes. However, I know when having a heart attack, women can have nausea/vomiting/sweating etc, which of course worried me. I did have an EKG in the ER, and he said it was fine. They didnt do cardiac enzymes. The only reason I even THOUGHT about cardiac was because of issues I have been having for awhile, which have been checked out by my doc. Some upper shoulder blade pain, random left arm pains, which my DOC said was from trigger points he felt in my back. Anyways, am hoping this was just a bug, and not cardiac related, because I did have an elevated white blood cell count and a slight temp....wasn't sure if this could still indicate it was actually caused by a heart condition and not a bug. The ER doc didnt even want to do an EKG, but I asked him to so I could have a piece of mind. Thanks for your input.
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Avatar universal
Ohhh no I don't believe the back and neck caused me to vomit or get sick to my stomach. I thought either the food I ate or a bug, and was hoping it wasn't heart related! Yes after getting nausea medication in the ER I felt a ton better and only felt nauseated one more time after that, no vomiting, then never felt sick again. So it was a 24 hour bug or maybe even a little less.
Helpful - 0
976897 tn?1379167602
Yes there are common areas in the back and neck which can cause pain, but I am not sure if they would induce vomiting. Do I think it's a bug, well, your blood test did reveal an elevated white cell count which certainly would suggest an infection of some kind. Most stomach bugs are short lived, and so if you still have the problem after 7 days I would ask your Doctor to perhaps consider further testing, but I personally don't believe it is your Heart.
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Avatar universal
I understand. Based off of what you have read from my comments, do you think my symptoms could be cardiac related?

--The Nausea/vomiting-which the doctor and I thought to be a bug of some sorts?
--The back pain I had last month, and random left arm discomforts, were not brought on by exertion or anything in particular. When I saw him about that, after going to an urgi center and being checked out, he felt my back said he felt tension, kept on feeling, and found trigger points, which after reading up on those, I guess can cause referred pain to many different areas.
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976897 tn?1379167602
Well, your Doctor isn't strictly correct, but he is trying to reassure you. It is known that many people start to develop heart disease in their late teens and early twenties (those that are going to form disease). However, how quickly it forms, and to what extent it grows is down to lifestyle. One risk factor is stress, always being on edge and worrying. So, strange as it may seem, worrying about your heart can actually cause it to form disease.
There is a misconception that people have a heart attack before they are diagnosed with heart disease, but that is not the case. A vast amount of cases are diagnosed with Angina and most of those cases, the Angina is treated. If a blockage forms and grows, symptoms worsen until in the end, you report it to a Doctor. It is only when a blockage ruptures that a heart attack occurs. Now is a good time to have a blood cholesterol test and start taking each day as it comes. A very wise man once said "why worry about what problems tomorrow will bring, when today has enough problems of its own".
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Avatar universal
Well ed thank you very much for sharing all of this with me.

My doctor knows I have been anxious and worried over cardiac issues for the past few months. He has continuously reassured me, or tried to, that it is not cardiac related. I asked him why he says that, he says my age for one, and I told him it CAN happen to people my age, and he agreed with me that it can and does happen, but it is not common by any means, and stated regarding me it is very doubtful. Another visit I asked again about cardiac, I asked if he felt I needed a stress test, he said no I do not feel you need a stress test, and trust me if I was worried, then YOU should be worried, and says he is very paranoid about heart disease and takes it very seriously. So I hope, with all of his reassurance, that he is right. I have been seeing him since I turned 18, now 26.
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976897 tn?1379167602
My Angina would always start with a heart rate of 140 dead on. The higher my heart went over 140, the worse the discomforts got.
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Avatar universal
Ok. Call me crazy but...

I just tested myself to see if I could provoke any symptoms. My stairs are 10 steps, a little landing, then 3 more steps. So 13 steps. I ran up and down them 5 times. Down 5 times, and up 5 times. Down, up, down, up, etc etc. I did not have any sensations with this. I did check my pulse afterwards to see what I got it up to, and it was as 155 bpm. But that was after I went to the bathroom really quickly right after doing the stairs. So probably a minute-2 minutes after the last stair climb, it was 155 bpm. So it was probably actually a few beats higher than that if I would have checked it right away. No chest pain or pressure or heaviness during this or after, no pain or sensations anywhere during this or after, except some shortness of breath, but I just ran up and down the stairs 5 times, not something I do in my every day routine...at least not all at once lol.
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976897 tn?1379167602
It really is difficult to describe the throat discomfort, but it is common among Angina sufferers. For a year my Doctor said it was heartburn and I kept arguing saying "I'm 46, don't you think I know what heartburn feels like", but he wouldn't listen. I guess the only way to describe the sensation is to imagine you eat a lot of strong cough sweets, or very strong mint sweets, LOTS of them, and then swig down some very cold water. That feeling that hits your throat is like the Angina discomfort and it stays there until the heart is relieved. If ever you get it, I promise you will know, it will feel like something you have never experienced before.
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Avatar universal
Thanks for sharing your experiences with me. I'm sorry you went through all of that, but glad you are okay today. It is very cold where I live right now, and before my doctors appointment today I was outside cleaning the snow off of my car, and I didn't notice any discomfort or weird sensations. What was the funny throat sensation you had? My throat did have some discomfort that evening I went to the ER, was burny/scratchy due to the acid when vomiting. Even prior to this, I remember as a kid and growing up, when I would throw up, my throat would bother me afterwards in the same way. I saw my doctor today and he just sent me home. Assumed this was a 24 hour bug of some sorts. Well actually, at first I think he was actually thinking this was because of my anxiety ( I have been having bad anxiety for a few months, switching medications and such), until I told him the temp 99-100.1, and then he assumed a bug or virus. My husband works in a nursing home and he said at least 15 patients there have this stomach bug, and now the employees are getting it too, but he hasn't. I have felt fine since being in the ER, they gave me nausea medication through my IV and also the same meds in pill form for at home. I only had one more episode of nausea after that the next day, but it went away without vomiting after I took the pill for it. My blood pressure today was 120/80 exactly, which I was happy with, because I get that white coat syndrome and get anxious everytime I see the doctor and it will go up.
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976897 tn?1379167602
Even a slice of buttered bread would cause the problem, the size of the meal didn't matter. As soon as food hits the stomach, a large volume of blood is redirected to the digestive system and makes the heart work harder. Warm tea also affected me, the only thing which didn't was cold water.
After having a stent, I was afraid to eat, scared stiff the pains would come back. I didn't start to eat properly for about 3 weeks.
With my colour, my cheeks were not red. I don't remember sweating, I think I felt cold. I have had a stomach bug since that time, and it didn't feel the same. The pains seemed to last longer and the pain moved, starting with the stomach but moving down over about thirty mins to an hour. I remember sweating heavily with the bug and still getting a little light headed sometimes where my blood pressure was rising.
I can give you another clue here though. If digestion is overloading your heart due to artery disease, then you will certainly have other issues. One such issue would be breathing cold air. Breathing cold air didn't cause the chest pains so severely, but they were there. It also produced a funny throat sensation. If I put my head in the freezer and breathed deeply, I could bring on the Angina. Sitting in a chair relaxed for 20 mins, then suddenly getting up and walking fast upstairs would also bring on the Angina. Doing this didn't give my heart any time to get adjusted.
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Avatar universal
You said going pale happened to you...my husband and friends said I looked flushed in the cheeks. I asked them if it was hot in here or was it just me, and they said they were actually a bit chilled. So I was warm, not sweaty sweaty, just SLIGHT sweat on forehead, but like I said I was warm, I felt as you do when you get embarassed, and your face gets all red and flushed. It wasn't a cold sweat or clammy.
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Avatar universal
I did not have any of those. Just got nauseated within 1-2 hours after eating, threw up, took pepto bismol, threw that up. Temp 99-100.1 throughout when this occurred. Is fever a symptom of angina episode? With your episodes of angina after eating, was this just after a large meal, or anytime you ate?
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976897 tn?1379167602
You can have attacks with no chest pain, but the usual symptoms when relating to food digestion affecting the heart are going very pale, feeling shortness of breath and dizzy.
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Avatar universal
Ohh ok. I did not have any chest pains. Or any other symptoms. Just what described above. Along with the small fever.
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976897 tn?1379167602
I had heart issues triggered by consuming food, which they diagnosed as stomach problems for a year. However, my symptoms were different. Around 15 mins after eating, I would get severe chest pains, and I mean severe. I would vomit and I would be as white as a sheet. This would last about 20 minutes and then settle.
Helpful - 0
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