What does it feel like to have a fatal heart attack?

[Rosemary349]

Hi there

I need to know for two reasons.  My father died of an acute ruptured MI last week, despite having no health problems and never having seen the doctor much in the last 20 years.  He seemed to go out like a light but unfortunately we resuscitated and then the ambulance people did for about 1 hour 15 mins.  I say unfortunately because i am so frightened that my dad might have been concious through some of it and that he was terrified.

He went blue really quick.  Does it feel like suffocating?  That's what i'm worried about.

Secondly i'm worried for me.  I'm female and 39 years old.  I get 'twinges' in my chest and i've had an irregular heartbeat issue recently.  I am on treatment for hypothyroidism and when they increased my thyroxine the symptoms seemed to abate - but since dad's death i feel and am aware of my heart a lot.  I feel twinges, not pain and i'm aware of my heartbeat a lot.

My doctor is willing to give me a stress test but i have to wait for it to be arranged.  My last cholesterol check was very good, he said he'd wished a lot of people's were as good as that.  He's tried to reassure me but i'm frightened.  I'm not so much frightened of dying, but of suffocating.....that's why i need to know what it feels like?

I know that sounds crazy.

They tell you to call an ambulance the minute you feel a chest pain, well with those tiwnges i'd be doing it all the time......so what do i do?

thanks for your time!  :-)

[qtpie82152]

Rosemary, I know this post is old, but I am like you 5 years ago. I just lost my father on March 28th, 2015 due to cardiac arrest. My mother was with him at their house at the time it happened. She said he came out of the bedroom (he just got done mowing the lawn and had showered) and told her to call 911...something's wrong. My father had no prior known illnesses, and didn't go to the doctor very often. My mom said she grabbed the phone (my dad had gone and laid down on his bed), and went into the bedroom and he had already turned blue, his jaw was locked, his hands were jerking (like someone having a stroke) and she did mention the gurgle noise. He had no pulse and the 911 operator told her to get him on the floor and start CPR, so she did CPR until the EMT's arrived. They then worked on him for at least an hour if not more. They flew a helicopter in to airlift him to the hospital. When they were trying to get him to the plane, they stopped at least 3-4 times in the road to resuscitate. They never put him on the helicopter, they ended up taking him to the nearest ER in an ambulance (which makes me think he was already dead before they left with him). My mom didn't want an autopsy done (I didn't agree with this, but it wasn't my decision - I'm the type of person who likes to know why, what, when and where). The death certificate reads "arteriosclerotic cardiovascular disease" as the cause of death. A couple days after he died, I found one of his personal calendars (he liked to keep notes of his daily activities) and on the Monday before he passed, he had recorded that he experienced dull/tingling pain in his left shoulder/arm with heart palpitations. This happened twice to him on that Monday, once in the morning and once in the evening. He had nothing else recorded after that regarding pain or heart issues, so I assume it went away. He had setup an appointment that week with a doctor, but the appointment wasn't until a couple weeks after he passed. Sorry if I'm being longwinded...just want to make sure I get all the details in. When we got to the hospital, we waited for about 30 minutes and then they said we could come back. We were walking down the hallway and finally got to the door, which had "Chapel" written on it. That's the moment I knew he wasn't with us any longer. He had just turned 60 this past Nov. While we were in the chapel (or lack of), one of our church members came in (my dad was a preacher). The gentleman was at the house while the EMT's were working on my dad. He said that when everyone left to go to the hospital, one of the EMT's came up to him and asked him who Linda was (Linda is my mom). He said that every time they would resuscitate him, he would say "Linda, it's beautiful". My dad was a man of few words and I know you don't know him, but if he said it's beautiful, it was most definitely beautiful. That part gives me a sense of peace that I don't think I would have if I hadn't heard it. But I am like you....my mind keeps wondering if he went through any pain or suffering or was he unconscious before he knew what was going on. There's no doubt in my mind he knew something was wrong and that he had some pain in his arm when he came out and told my mom to call 911, but I dread the thought that he had severe pain and fear the whole time the EMTs were working on him. My dad was very dear to me, and everyone around him. There were people standing outside the church listening through the windows at the funeral because there weren't enough seats. He lived his live helping and giving to others and (not that anyone deserves it) did not deserve any suffering or fear. I keep telling myself that he didn't or why would he be able to say "it's beautiful" in a time of pain an fear, but I mentioned it to my mom and she said if I could had seen him, he looked like he was in severe pain. The prior posts have helped ease my mind that he was not conscious for the whole thing, but then if he wasn't conscious then hoe could he speak those words? There are so many questions that run through my head (like if he had told us earlier in the week he was having pain, someone would had made him go to the doctor right away and he might still be here with us). I know they can't be answered with certainty, but I think it helps talking about it and hearing what other people have gone through who have experienced the same thing. I know the pain will never go away completely, but I hope it gets easier to deal with time. It seems like right now, the ache in my heart will never stop and I can't do anything about it. Hope you and your mom are well. Thanks for listening to me.

[Rosemary349]

Glad I revisited, it's that time of year.....next week will be the 5th anniversary of dad's passing.

Bit weird reading my posts.  I talked too much back then, lol.

Ed34, yes that stuff is fascinating, I think there's a man/scientist named Sam Parnia in Southampton who's doing research into NDE's at the moment with people who are in cardiac arrest.  I will be looking out for his research findings and if they are of interest, I'll bring them along to here.

Erijon, thinking of you and your late cousin Tony at this time too.  You were the first person I 'found' who had gone through the same thing as I had.  All the best!!

[ed34]

I have been doing quite a lot of research on this over the last year and what I have uncovered quite astounded me. When patients have died and been revived, quite a substantial number report an experience regarding an afterlife. Science put this down to a natural brain reaction as it chemically shuts down. They concluded this because fighter pilots experience the same thing quite often when training in extreme gravity forces. A few years ago a Cardiologist noticed something odd though. His patients had brain activity monitors used to help the anaesthetist, and when these patients experienced an afterlife, they had no brain activity at all. Without brain activity we can't see, hear, dream or anything. Science is now at a loss again to explain this. Quite fascinating.

[Kaitu]

I had a massive heart attack and Sudden Cardiac Arrest, no prior ill health, and was one of the lucky ones to be resuscitated successfully. No pain initially, just sweaty and vomiting, then abrupt into a parallel world--when I was at the beginning of this I had the most awful pain in my chest. When that ceased I was fine, and into a most warm,golden and joyful place, where I saw people waiting---had no desire to leave, but a voice called me back. Truth. So, your dad probably had a similar departure , and welcome awaiting him.
Get any tests done to ease your mind. I had a heart check 5 months before, and came out with very healthy results! Try to avoid long term stress is my advice.

[Kaitu]

I had a massive heart attack and Sudden Cardiac Arrest, no prior ill health, and was one of the lucky ones to be resuscitated successfully. No pain initially, just sweaty and vomiting, then abrupt into a parallel world--when I was at the beginning of this I had the most awful pain in my chest. When that ceased I was fine, and into a most warm,golden and joyful place, where I saw people waiting---had no desire to leave, but a voice called me back. Truth. So, your dad probably had a similar departure , and welcome awaiting him.
Get any tests done to ease your mind. I had a heart check 5 months before, and came out with very healthy results! Try to avoid long term stress is my advice.

[Rosemary349]

PikaPika88

Thanks for your time!  It's good you have the pacemaker to prevent faints.  You have answered my question to a degree because my worry is that when my father lost conciousness, he didn't fully lose conciousness....and he knew what was going on around him and was afraid.  From what you and others say, when you lose conciousness you don't know what is happening at all.  Although your condition is very different from what was wrong with my father, it is comforting to know that when you passed out you are not aware of much.

That 'mesh' thing sounds really interesting, especially if it's to prevent ruptures...I will look out for news on that.

I hope i've made things a bit clearer.  Thanks for your post  :-)