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Can people who have had heart attacks explain exactly what it felt like?

I'd like to hear from people who have had heart attacks to learn exactly what it does feel like.
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Avatar universal
on a couple of occasions when my dad sighed in the last year or so i think i smelt that 'peardrops' smell on his breath.....I'm not sure and i never felt i could broach the subject with him....i also thought that it was just my anxiety, i worried about him all the time, he was the most important person to me.  Also at the time i didn't realise how likely a heart attack could be - or that it would kill him the first time...  :-(

So much we don't know.....or don't get taught

The day he died was not the day of the first heart attack.  The postmortem suggests it occurred 'several days' before.....but actually I think it occurred two days before.  He went to bed with indigestion.  He didn't stay there long and as he worked from home he still put in his long hours later that night, etc....

I don't think he had any sense of something being terribly wrong.....although while he was lying there in the bed his eyes kept 'drifting' away from me....I kept asking him questions and he kept reassuring me it was just indigestion and no chest pain, etc.....it was believable because up until that time he'd seemed in perfect health - very dynamic and hyperactive in fact.....sadly he died two days later.  I think he got a sense of impending doom then....he said 'the ache has moved to here and here (pointing to both armpits), i think that's a bit odd,' he said that and gave a slight nervous laugh.  I asked if there was chest pain and he said no, he then decided to make some more calls....he died suddenly whilst on the telephone.

but then i remember back in the summer, maybe 4 months before....he'd been out doing gardening and i looked out at him and he had a very odd look on his face and seemed 'transfixed' staring into space.....a few seconds later he looked in through the window, almost like he was wondering what had happened and if anyone else was reacting to anything.....at the time i didn't understand what that was about.....he saw me looking and then carried on with the gardening....again i thought i was being over anxious.....can people hallucinate with a heart attack?  It was like he'd experienced something and then brushed it off - if it was something like that he wouldn't have admitted it....and in any case he was extremely sane.  it was just weird.....

What i'm getting at is can a heart attack 'take you away' somewhere conciously?  I know this sounds daft, but on those both occasions it was like dad stared into space and was 'drawn' somewhere....and whatever it was he didn't then come back from wherever it was and tell anyone that he ought to get help......suggesting he didn't realise he needed help or that it was his heart....This was all very odd for someone who was extremely logical and solution focussed and not anxious like me - i got that from the other side of the family!

I'm rambling, but i guess it's likely he may have developed diabetes from the smell i talked about on his breath ...it wasn't horrible just 'sugary.'

What scares me too is that some of his relatives from Ireland who i've never really visited or had anything to do with have started telling me stories of people on dad's side of the family (maternal side) who all 'drop dead.'  Now i'm guessing that what's inherited is the heart disease....not a tendency to drop dead...?  Perhaps that is just unfortunate....or maybe they all get silent heart attacks in his family.....

thanks for listening - hope i'm not hyjacking the thread too much, just tell me to shut up if you must  :-)
Helpful - 0
315318 tn?1353251800
My first heart attack must have been a silent one because it was only discovered when I had an EKG done at my new GP ( Internist's ) office. When I had the second heart attack, I only had some pain in my left arm. Cardiac enzymes ( troponin) confirmed the MI diagnosis. In contrast to the above, when I did go to ER on two occasions after suffering intense chest pains, they could not find evidence of fresh heart attacks.

It is estimated that 50% of heart attacks may be silent and diabetics primarily have more chances of experiencing that.

I hope this helps.
Helpful - 0
237039 tn?1264258057
The other thing that most of us feel is this odd feeling that you are going to die.  I was shaking and trembling, and felt as though I was about to die. My first heart attack started on a Friday morning at work.  The pain and discomfort would come and go.  I drove myself to the ER that evening, but left. I was sent to wait in the waiting area to after triage.  I thought that since the baseline EKG didn't show anything I wasn't having a heart attack, so I left. I felt bad all weekend long.  So after working the following Monday I went back to the ER.  Same thing, The EKG didn't show anything, but this time I stayed.  It was the elevated cardiac enzymes that told the story.  This was followed by the echo and cath that showed damage.  So, you can have a heart attack and go on with your daily activities.  It's just that odd knowing that something wasn't right.  I hope this helps dear friend.  Take care, Ally
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Avatar universal
Perhaps I am in the wrong place,because I have had all types and occassions when I
had mine .I have a lifetime of heart attacks,and finally after two operations,I feel the best
in  sixty years.
    You will know what they are,but wont understand them when heart attacks happen
to you.No easy explanation,but be sensible and open minded and you will know when it'
happens.
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Avatar universal
Thanks.  I'm sorry to hear of your experiences but you are in the position to share as a result.  What amazes me when anyone who's had a heart attack talks about it - they seem to talk about it very calmly.  I witnessed one, yes it was fatal....but i'm full of drama and trauma about it.  I don't want to be like this, i don't choose it.....

and i know if my dad survived he would be describing it calmly too - that was his way.

thanks for helping me with processing this, i know this is also for the original poster  :-)
Helpful - 0
Avatar universal
A dull pain in my left sholder.  Like a pulled mussle from pitching a saft ball game. Advanced to restlessness and sweating, could not get settled when going to bed. Eventually could not move without left side pain. Result Ambulance took me to hospital. Diagnoss 3 blocked arteries resulting in Bypass
Helpful - 0
976897 tn?1379167602
If you imagine the worst stomach ache you've ever had, the one that feels like a twisting knife, imagine that in the centre of the chest, that's what it was like for me. It brought me to my knees. No arm pains, neck pains, but a weird tightening of the throat, heavy sweating, vomiting, dizziness. It was that kind of pain where you know if it gets any worse, you're going to pass out. Each episode lasted between 10-20 mins. I will certainly recognise it again.

But as correctly stated by jrbon, everyone feels different things.
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Avatar universal
I too am interested in this.  Sadly my dad died of a ruptured MI last year.  he looked startled at the end when it ruptured.  People say they can't believe i knew when it ruptured but i did....at the time i didn't know it was his heart but i kept telling the ambulance people 'something burst inside his stomach.'

First of all i don't wish to scare anyone who's got heart conditions.  My dad had discomfort for 2.5 days and there was opportunity to get it checked...but everyone thought it was just indigestion.  Usual sad story.  If he'd got it checked it's likely he'd have recovered....i was also told it's rare for the heart to actually rupture.

but I'm sadly and morbidly curious about what it feels like because i'm so scared of it now....and so worried that dad suffered.  He was one of those good people that didn't deserve anything bad .....like a lot of people i know  :-(

That sense of impending doom.....i get that a lot with panic attacks....I think that must be the most awful thing in the world....anyone's descriptions could be helpful.  The reason is that, even with something as serious as a heart attack, the reality may be less distressing than the imagination?

hope you understand where i'm coming from on this one, just so scared about it all.

Helpful - 0
237039 tn?1264258057
The chest pain was always centered and I described it as a burning ache.  It was more pressure than anything else.  And there is a shortness of breath.
Helpful - 0
Avatar universal
Hi,
What is your goal? You should know that every body feel it in a different manner, depending on his nerves structure, there are even people that has "silent" heart attacks.

Jesus
Helpful - 0
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