I did not have the elephant.

newberry · ‎03-10-2010

Funny thing happened to me last week. I had jaw pain took a Motrin and felt better. Went to a regularly scheduled doctors appointment the next morning. Told her about my jaw pain she checked out my ear to see if it was an earache. Nope looked good so she suggested and ecg. Had that done and BOOMB It showed a possible heart attack. Called my cardioligst and got an appoint and just went to the cardio yesterday and by looking at the ecg results he said yep I have had a heart attack. Next week I go back for an echo and tredmill test to see about damage done. I must say I feel good. Have no idea when it happened. I just went up 5 flight of stairs the week before with no problem except my knees said ouch and don't do that again to soon but no shortness of breath or any distress.

What I find the most scary of all of this is I had a heart attack and did not even know that is what it was. I probably went ouch, got up off the couch and went and cleaned the kitchen or bathroom and didn't even give the "ouch" another thought. When you get to be my age we have a few aches and pains don't even think twice about doing anything but taking a aspirin or Motrin. Being women we go about our life doing our jobs and attending to our families and not really paying attention to our own health. I just wanted by writing about this to to remind everyone here that women's symptoms of a heart attack can be very different than the ones we hear about for men.

So ladies....... pay attentiion to feeling off and not just not quite right. Not feeling like yourself and just not feeling on top of your game can actually mean something serious to us and our health. Female symptoms of a heart attack are not always the elephant on the chest. I did not have the elephant. No clammy skin or shortness of breath at anytime. Jaw pain, shoulder pain or tiredness can be signs of a female heart attack. Get checked out and be safe

itiswhatitis · ‎05-27-2016

@newberry wrote:
Funny thing happened to me last week. I had jaw pain took a Motrin and felt better. Went to a regularly scheduled doctors appointment the next morning. Told her about my jaw pain she checked out my ear to see if it was an earache. Nope looked good so she suggested and ecg. Had that done and BOOMB It showed a possible heart attack. Called my cardioligst and got an appoint and just went to the cardio yesterday and by looking at the ecg results he said yep I have had a heart attack. Next week I go back for an echo and tredmill test to see about damage done. I must say I feel good. Have no idea when it happened. I just went up 5 flight of stairs the week before with no problem except my knees said ouch and don't do that again to soon but no shortness of breath or any distress.

What I find the most scary of all of this is I had a heart attack and did not even know that is what it was. I probably went ouch, got up off the couch and went and cleaned the kitchen or bathroom and didn't even give the "ouch" another thought. When you get to be my age we have a few aches and pains don't even think twice about doing anything but taking a aspirin or Motrin. Being women we go about our life doing our jobs and attending to our families and not really paying attention to our own health. I just wanted by writing about this to to remind everyone here that women's symptoms of a heart attack can be very different than the ones we hear about for men.

So ladies....... pay attentiion to feeling off and not just not quite right. Not feeling like yourself and just not feeling on top of your game can actually mean something serious to us and our health. Female symptoms of a heart attack are not always the elephant on the chest. I did not have the elephant. No clammy skin or shortness of breath at anytime. Jaw pain, shoulder pain or tiredness can be signs of a female heart attack. Get checked out and be safe

OMG. My teeth bother me sometime. I never consider it much of anything. Boy are you lucky you followed up. Think I should do the same thing.

THANK YOU SO MUCH FOR SHARING YOUR STORY.

*Call Tyrone*

Plaid Pants2 · ‎03-14-2015

@newberry

Thanks for the reminder, an I am glad that you are okay!

Noel7 · ‎03-09-2010

Heart Attack Signs in Women

Uncomfortable pressure, squeezing, fullness or pain in the center of your chest. It lasts more than a few minutes, or goes away and comes back.
Pain or discomfort in one or both arms, the back, neck, jaw or stomach.
Shortness of breath with or without chest discomfort.
Other signs such as breaking out in a cold sweat, nausea or lightheadedness.
As with men, women’s most common heart attack symptom is chest pain or discomfort. But women are somewhat more likely than men to experience some of the other common symptoms, particularly shortness of breath, nausea/vomiting and back or jaw pain.

If you have any of these signs, call 9-1-1 and get to a hospital right away.

American Heart Association

newberry · ‎03-10-2010

I just found out that jaw pain and top of shoulder pain can be a sign for womens heart attacks. It does not even have to radiate down the arm. Signs can be subtle.

cherry · ‎03-09-2010

I'm glad it wasn't a severe one. I have always heard that asprin can save your life it you take one in the first moments of an attack

I have never known jaw pain was a symptom

CareBears · ‎08-30-2015

@newberry Thank you so much for posting this, I had a heart attack at the age of 38, and I too did not have "Normal" symptoms, I had been feeling off for a couple of weeks and I had even gone to the doctor the day before and told her I had been feeling off, she basically dismissed the symptoms because as you I was still going about my every day activities, but the morning of my heart attack I had a tremendous pain in my left arm, and as the day progressed it just kept getting worse, I finally went to the ER where I sat for another 3 hours because I kept dismissing my pain as no big deal, when I was finally seen by a doctor, I was in a full blown heart attack mode, I suffered 45% damage.

So PLEASE do not ignore what your body is trying to say to you, it is better to be safe than sorry!

Noel7 · ‎03-09-2010

George Carlin's only heart attack symptom was pain in his jaw. Luckily he knew that to be a heart attack symptom.

Did your cardio take a blood test and give you meds? I hope you are OK!

Burnsite · ‎03-10-2010

So glad you sought help, newberry. Thanks for posting. I didn't know about jaw pain as a symptom.

The aspirin you took might have helped prevent further damage, perhaps.

Noel7 · ‎03-09-2010

@cherry wrote:
I'm glad it wasn't a severe one. I have always heard that asprin can save your life it you take one in the first moments of an attack

I have never known jaw pain was a symptom

************************

It helps @cherry , it acts as a blood thinner. If it's bad, it's not going to save your life. But yes, you should take one or two if you have symptoms, right away.

Call an ambulance and go to the ER. Never worry that you may be bothering them, get in there.