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left arm pain...how long for a heart attack?
Ok, first off hello as am new to the site. Second...i'm a wreck. 32, just started Zoloft 2 days ago for anxiety, on 10mg lisinopril, have acid reflux/gerd am on prilosec for. Just had my blood work done, LDL 131 HDL 42 TRI 328. everything else normal. had a ekg done at docs on Tuesday and was normal and have a appointment with a cardio tmrw morning. My concern is this: lately around 3am i wake up with a racing heart rate 120+ and feel like i'm having a heart attack....takes awhile for me to calm down and subside. Last night fell asleep on the couch woke up at 3am with racing heart however had a numb left arm.....all day today it has been either numb/hurting/tingling/warm. So of course I look online and everything for left arm says "your beat...heart attack". If my arm is still numb/tingling/warm tonight could it just be a pinched nerve or slept on it wrong or is it heart related as i have no other symptoms...except rapid heart beat that comes and goes due to anxiety. Thanks for your time, I appreciate any answers.
thanks so much for the response. i'm looking back on it tonight as am have that kind of pain in different areas of left arm again and its comforting. Went to cardio today and are going to have me get echo/stress test/holter. I mentioned about my arm pain and she said say much which I guess is good? For the jumping out of the chest they put me on toprol 25 mg in conjunction w/ the lisinopril to help w/ pressure spikes and heart rate. Again thanks for your response
First, it's important to understand that in general, medicines like zoloft require at least *two full weeks* for you to begin to feel their true effect, so if you do not get instant relief, do not fret. If at two weeks you are not feeling significantly better, then call your doc for an update. If during those two weeks, you are just feeling jittery or weird, your doc can provide you with a little short-acting Xanax or something to get you over the hump.
Second, at 32, your risk of heart attack--in the absence of a terrible family history or significant risk factors like obesity and so on--is very, very small.
Third, the symptoms you describe of numbness, tingling, and warmth are not those of angina or heart attack. They are consistent with nerve compression, as might have happened if you fell asleep in an odd position. This is more likely to happen when alcohol has been consumed, btw.
Fourth, when you wake up and feel as though you are having a heart attack,' you definitely do *not* have the symptoms of a heart attack. Those are nausea, an incredible crushing sensation in the middle of your chest, and a profuse, drenching, icy cold sweat like you cannot imagine.
If you are just feeling as though your heart is trying to jump out of your chest, that is most likely a panic attack. Strangely enough, the symptoms of a nocturnal panic attack that wakes you out of sleep are quite different from those of a daytime panic attack. Read about it here:
http://www.mayoclinic.com/health/panic-attacks/AN01760
Second, at 32, your risk of heart attack--in the absence of a terrible family history or significant risk factors like obesity and so on--is very, very small.
Third, the symptoms you describe of numbness, tingling, and warmth are not those of angina or heart attack. They are consistent with nerve compression, as might have happened if you fell asleep in an odd position. This is more likely to happen when alcohol has been consumed, btw.
Fourth, when you wake up and feel as though you are having a heart attack,' you definitely do *not* have the symptoms of a heart attack. Those are nausea, an incredible crushing sensation in the middle of your chest, and a profuse, drenching, icy cold sweat like you cannot imagine.
If you are just feeling as though your heart is trying to jump out of your chest, that is most likely a panic attack. Strangely enough, the symptoms of a nocturnal panic attack that wakes you out of sleep are quite different from those of a daytime panic attack. Read about it here:
http://www.mayoclinic.com/health/panic-attacks/AN01760
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