OT: Heart attack symptoms in women?

Hey Guys and dolls,

Um not being an alarmist is getting me in trouble, ok so i'm avoiding going to the dr's but I think this is just all to do with my intercostal muscle spasms and nothing, well not nothing but you know what i mean lol I've just had a serve from my brother who isnt impressed with my logical explanation of muscle spasms and not heart attack related, so I thought i'd talk to you guys about it.

This is what i have been feeling for the last couple of days......

left side chest pain, preasure and spasmic crushing - i'm thinking intercostal muscle spasms
left side back chest pain - same as above
left side neck up through the jaw line stiff and hurting - I'm thinking its from holding my self tight throught the spasms
left arm tingly and wrist throb, heavy from the shoulder down - I'm thinking its from the blood flow issues i have
left under arm pain and preasure, i feel bruised - I'm still thinking muscle related
Intermittent sharp stab of pain - Still thinking its from the muscle spasms

I feel like carp but thats nothing new, its more in line with the chest pain i've been having on and off all year, slightly different but not by much. I do think because i have upper and lower vein engorgement probs and i half pass out a lot, he can't get past the posibility of a lack of blood supply to my heart. Its sort of funny, the first time the left side went haywire i did think i was having a heart attack, i'm sort of getting use to this pain so now I dont think its anything more than the intercostal muscles being stuck in the contracted phase. My butt hurts too but i'm sure i'm not sitting on my heart ROFL!

Anyway, there is no huge impending doom feeling or anything, seriously i would think i'd be having my heart racing or at least something if it was my heart but there is nothing even remotely like that going on. Apart from telling me to see a dr, (yes i know i'm working on it) do you think i'm right and it is just my intercostal muscle spasms??

Oh happy days! lol

cheers......JJ

[twopack]

JJ, I understand the desire to stay home and make assumptions rather than run to get every chest pressure and pain checked out....

BUT

THERE IS NO WAY TO TELL IF THIS IS YOUR HEART UNTIL YOU HAVE AN ECG AND BLOOD TESTS TO TRACK LEVELS OF CARDIAC ENZYMES

THERE IS NO SURE CORRELATION BETWEEN DEGREE OF DISTRESS AND SEVERITY OF HEART DAMAGE DURING A HEART ATTACK.

You may be right about all your explanations for these symptoms but even when a diagnosis of MS is certain, we can't afford to assign every body malfunction we experience to it.  MS is capable of intruding on nearly every aspect of our being.  One thing it can't do is stop other disease intruders from challenging us.

Spending an afternoon wired up and poked isn't fun or productive.  The only perk might be the ability to throw an, "I told you so" toward your brother.  Then again, maybe he'd end up being the one to pitch that line.

GO GET THIS CHECKED OUT!!  EVEN IF YOU DON'T WANT TO KNOW, I DO!

Mary

[essdipity]

Stop analyzing and go to an ER!!

Really, this is important. Please write back once you've been tested. I too hope it really is nothing, but you won't know without testing. Please.

ess

[Lulu54]

I think you don't have the medical expertise or equipment at home to know for sure what this is....  

Take it from me, who had a heart attack at the age of 54 - it rarely happens like you see it on tv or in the movies.  The symptoms you describe very well could be cardiac related.

My former GP had awoman complain of this type of discomfort - thinking she had strained her shoulder/arm with painting.  He sent her to the er anyway to be checked and she had a major heart attach there while be checked out.

I went to the hospital with the gut feeling that something was wrong - my HA didn't happen until several hours AFTER I got there.

Your body is trying to tell you something - be smart and listen to it.  It may not be your heart- but  you really need to know for sure.  

Time is muscle when it comes to heart problems - so stop wasting time and go to A&E.

hugs, L

[Sailorsong]

The other are right. Heart attacks don't always present as they are show on TV. With both of my heart attacks the only thing that I had as a Sx was an ache ( kind of like a pulled or strained muscle ) in my left forearm.

The first time I just thought I had pulled the muscle and went to get some pain mad and within an hour of getting to the hospital ( drove myself) I was having an angioplasty done. The second time I just happened to be only a mile or 2 from the hospital and proceeded to the ER and was undergoing a 3x bypass within 2 hours.

So do get this checked out immediately. In both cases the damage to my heart was greatly reduced because I go there early in the episodes.

Dennis

[Audrey_M]

I have to agree with the others on this one, which is that you do have to get urgent care.

It's very difficult when one has preexisting conditions that can mimic more serious medical problems. I had to go to the ER a month ago due to a chest pain that lasted 2 days; I was more concerned about a PE (hx of blood clots). Came up clean both heart and lung wise, but ER doc said I made the right decision.

Chest pain is now recurring, so appears to be nerve pain.

I guess we should be asking our doctors if, given our sx and medical histories, there is any way we can rule in or out something serious. If not, then it's off to urgent care.

Audrey

[figuerpa]

I agree with everyone too, you can't play around with it and I know MS presents a lot of symptoms but when they are symptoms that resemble a heart attack it is better to be safe than sorry.

Don't take chances, go to the er and get the EKG and blood work if not for yourself then for your loved ones who are concerned.

Take care and keep us updated
Paula

[shermay]

PLEASE listen to the above post's and get yourself off to the ER.

Not everything is related to MS....however it will put your mind at rest also.

PLEASE let us know what's happening OK??

hugs,

Debs xxxxxxx

[supermum_ms]

Wow guys, talk about putting me in my place, lol in a good way like a hug!!

Ok, I couldn't and didn't go to the ER, I understand why your saying what your saying, didn't actually expect it, though I really dont know why, I would of said the same things to someone else lol. It really does sound worse than it is, believe me i've delt with a lot worse and in comparrison this isn't anything i'm worried about but i am going to get it sorted!

DH didn't get home until after midnight, but we had a chat and he is thinking my vein issues are something i should stop playing down, he thinks everything is going haywire now and its time i faced some truths, even if all I get out of it is some 'real' medical help and still no dx. He admitted, he doesnt know what to do, but he isnt going to let me get away with saying "i'm fine" when even the cat knows i'm not, its become to easy to believe when its just not true.

He booked an appointment with his dr, who he trusts will keep looking until all the answers make sense, so i'm going! He's very old school, and its who dh took me to when i first collapsed so many years ago (he sent me straight to the ER), he is nice but so far away. I cant go through all the hoops and still be left dangling over the ledge again, i think i will crack!

DH is sure whats happening to me is wrong regardless, he reminded me of picking up his 5 kilo weight the other night, which i'd totally forgotten about. I picked it up with my left, my god it was heavy, hard to believe it was only 5kilo, that would of set off the muscles in protest, it doesnt take much anymore but i forget!

I'm fine guys, no, i am not fine but i'm doing my best to be fine lol and i do have an appointment out of this, so there is a positive which hopefully will set off a chain reaction of positives!! :-) I dont really have a death wish, but sometimes it seems like that would be a whole lot easier on everybody, especially me lol. I cant even begin to explain why I cant bring my self to take the steps i do need to make, I dont understand why its become easier for me to do nothing, it just has been that way for a long time but i am taking the first step and we'll see what happens.

THanks for being who you are, you are my safe port in this storm!

Cheers........JJ

[sllowe]

Though I do understand (I'm big procrastinator) - GET YOUR FANNY TO THE DR. FOR A CHECK-UP.

Heck, they can run a couple labs and know immediately if you already had a HA.

I've come here for a talkin'-to-too and I know you needed one or you'd not have told on yourself. If it's nothing, or the weight, so be it.

Make the appt. (oh, did I already say that), lol
(((hugs)))
shell

[twopack]

You apparently missed our point JJ!  To be clear.....

NOBODY HERE AGREED WITH YOUR ASSUMPTION THAT THIS SOUNDS WORSE THAN IT ACTUALLY IS.

YOU DON'T KNOW HOW BAD IT IS BECAUSE YOU HAVEN'T BEEN CHECKED OUT BY A MEDICAL PROFESSIONAL.

I suppose it's not as bad as it could be, since it hasn't killed you.  I'm glad you have a plan to see and follow through with your husband's doctor.  Just keep in mind that the hardest symptoms to be thrown your way aren't always the most deadly.  Sometimes what seems minor, especially because other matters are screaming so loud, becomes more dangerous for that very reason.

If you weren't suspicious of these symptoms yourself, you would have never written those long posts so devoted to the process of denial.  Truly, you didn't expect us to simply agree that your DH needed a scolding, did you?

Mary

[twopack]

Oh yeah, what does that mean.  "I couldn't .... go to the ER ...."

[supermum_ms]

Um i am going to get this checked out, I've got an appointment saturday week, which is the earliest appointment he could get, he doesnt take new patients very often because its a one man practice, in a way i'm lucky to even get one at all. My normal dr would of seen me maybe a day or 2 earlier, that would be the same dr who said i was 'healthy' and i was stuttering and tremoring so bad, I was in a bad bad way and she hadn't even bothered to look at me.

I dont think there is any point seeing my old dr, I've been going there approx 10 years and i've gone down hill on her watch. Over the years she has consistently dismissed all my sx,
Sheesh i saw her after i had been a good girl, waited over an hour for an ambulance and gone to the ER for this same thing, the fun ER trip of being treated like i was a junky looking for pain meds, sent home still in agony and unable to walk unaided, yep not doing that again!!!!!!!

Her take for the intercostal muscle spams, "it happens", note this was the third over the top muscle related issue i'd had, first was I tore the muscle off the bone in my arm, second was muscles going stiff and noticeble contracted even when not using the limb, all very weird and third was these intercostal muscle spasms. HELLOOOO isn't that abnormal and an indication that something is wrong with how my muscles are working?

I feel like i'm trying to justify why its not easy for me to get out and why its not that simple even to go to the ER, when there is just so much to the why, and its goes beyond the once bitten twice shy reaction. How is even bigger, its not like i have people around me that can take me places, or mind my boy for any length of time.

I have an Asperger brother who is an alcoholic with peripheral nerve damage and isnt that mobile himself, I have my elderly bipolar mother who isn't driving or able to handle stress or anxiety without going into a meltdown. I have my children, ones too young, has Aspergers and needs minding, the other is also Aspergers, doesn't drive and will panic or react to anything she cant comprehend which leaves only my DH, its always been up to me to get anything done.

I cant drive, nor be out on my feet with out someone who can pick me up, I loose the ability to communicate the longer i'm mobile, the tremors take over and i'm too dysfunctional, so I need someone to do the communication and desision making for me. There is only one person who knows what i live with and thats me, i try not to talk about it because it just overwhelms them, DH knows a lot but I dont even tell him because he gets so over protective its not funny.

I just told DH about me getting told off by you guys, and he totally agrees with you, i still dont understand why even he's now telling me off, i dont like it but I do need someone else to make it happen and he more than anyone actually knows this. I dont think i'm trying to shift responsibility, sheesh i'm responsible for everything, i know that, I really do but i am asking for help though how that its going to happen is really well and truely out of my hands!!

Sorry but I am doing my best with the hand i've been delt, and it is complicated.

JJ

[lovemy6monkeys]

JJ, can you go to an afterhours clinic when your DH is home? Or maybe the ER? I think we all have had times when we couldn't drive ourself to the doctor, I totally understand that. I'm just worried about you waiting so long to get checked out.

~Jess

[supermum_ms]

Oh boy do I regret posting this one lol talk about feeling even more guilty for being a bother. I'm not actually in denial, i have a lot going on that could be heart not just the motor muscles, but i do think i am being very realistic. I have no doubt that i'm going to fail a stress test, apart from not being able to get my legs to hold me up long enough, i also cant even on a good day, empty the dishwasher without being light headed and out of breath, so i do know, **** everybody knows, i'm not the one in denial here!

I'm not functioning, its not that i dont want to deal with this, I really do, i just dont have the energy pure and simple. Who do I tell, when no one really wants to hear it let alone see, so they dont see, they dont hear and there is nothing I can do but keep trying to get strong enough so that i can help my self, I am really trying guys!

I can do nothing but wait, i cant explain the reality of my life so that someone who's never experienced the love of family like mine will understand, its far too complex but please know that I am doing my best, if they cant cope they just cant cope and i have to be patient because they too are doing the best they can do.

I am so sorry i brought this up, i cant explain it any better than i've tried, know i would not hesitate to call an ambulance if i was in a medical emergency, i do need my heart looked at for sure but its not an emergency situation, more muscles are going haywire, and the heart is just another muscle after all, so it does need investigating but what i described is my intercostal muscle spasms, my sternum is cracking again and that happens when my ribs are giving me a kicking.

Please dont worry about me, she'll be right mate(s)!

cheers......JJ




  

[JemmAus]

Now look here woman! "She'll be right" indeed! I am hoping the forum is doing it's usual lame thing and giving incorrect times for when something is posted, but if it's NOT, then you posted the above at  approximately 2am Australian Eastern Standard Time.

What are you doing out of bed at the hour?????

[supermum_ms]

Ha, trust you to notice the time, its right unfortunately :-( my sleep pattern has been getting worse and worse, it's a bugger! I just cant seem to fall asleep at night, its been doing this for most of this year but i dont let it bother me, i just ly there and think dream, figgering its better to at least feel as relaxed as I can. I make up the missing hours later in the day when i take a nap, in some ways its better than what it was, which was sleeping all night and half the day.

Nights are worse because my body is doing a number on me, all the sensory stuff is going nutszoid, not fun and it doesnt care how exhausted i feel. Last night was a bit weirder than usual, i was composing in my head a letter to this new dr, still wide awake and trying to distract my self from my self lol. I had this hard knot feeling midline in my back, when all of a sudden the knot feeling rippled down and out my feet. My lower half was rippling like an electric current or better yet think fish out of water, so weird. It only happened the once but it really woke up my legs and not to mention the cat so instead of getting out the axe to chop them off, i got up and as you do, got back on line.

Just another day in the life of - lol

Cheers....JJ

[twopack]

I'm sorry if you were offended by the concern showed by myself or anyone else here.  Perhaps you were looking for something different than what has been offered.  There is no need for you to justify your actions here.  You are, of course, free to make your own decisions.  That just doesn't necessarily change our opinions.

I offer my personal apology for any negative tone my post may have carried.  On re-reading it, I can see where it may have sounded challenging rather than merely conveying the emphasis I intended.

Hopefully you will have some answers soon and be able to start helping and healing yourself.  Please let us know how you are doing.

Mary

[supermum_ms]

Hey Mary,

I'm a bit confused, i dont understand how anyone would be offended by displays of concern, i'm totally not offended, so there is no need for appologies what so ever!! I wasn't looking for anything, or even implying something i didn't say, i am if nothing else open and honest, sorry but i dont understand what your thinking of me.

I was in fact up set with my self for posting once i'd seen the reaction id got, it was spur of the moment after a difficult situation with my Aspie brother, i was exasperated. The topic heading was terribly evocative, at the time i wasnt thinking anyone would see the issue as being anything but my usual intercostal muscle spasms. My motive was just that i was alone, and tierd of being in pain, you guys are the only ones that truely understand that!

As soon as i saw the reply posts i realised how stupid the post was, hence why i was then trying to reasure everyone that it wasnt my heart, but i think i just dug my self into a bigger hole. It didn't help that i also tried to explain the complicated nature of my family, that i think confused rather than helped.

So i'll step out on a limb and say the words i've been loath to voice and just hope you might understand, I am no longer in a position to do much of anything for my self, can someone please help me brush my hair, can you hold me up whilst i try and brush my teeth, will you still love me if i stop laughing :-( I have asked for help too many times, i have brocken down and begged dh not to let me get so weak i cant hold my self up or communicate that i'm in trouble, he must take me to hospital, he promises he will but he doesnt.

If it doesnt make sense to me, how can i expect anyone else to understand, how do i change this, my choice, my choice is for someone to help me get out of this house because I cant do this anymore, no one is listening!

Now i really feel like carp, please forgive me?!

JJ

[JemmAus]

Yeah ok, we'll forgive you. Just don't drop dead. Cos then "supermum" will no longer apply.