Angina and just your average chest pain

I thought it was a heart attack. I'd read about "silent" heart attacks and I thought I was having one yesterday, which was a VERY stressful day for me (argued with my hubby all day, stressed out about a bunch of stuff and trying to get the house cleaned up).

Yesterday, when I finally sat down for a five minute break, I did so mainly because I was having trouble breathing. I also had very bad chest pain; it felt like indigestion. But it spread throughout my chest and was pretty significant. I was surprised at how much my arms were sweating. Pretty soon, I was very disoriented. I honestly thought I was going to pass out. I couldn't see anything because my vision was spinning.

But pretty soon the pain went away. A little after that, I was able to walk okay.

I mentioned it to my hubby and he said something about "angina." I looked it up and got this:
www.nhlbi.nih.gov/health/...hatIs.html

It says all chest pain incidents should be checked by a doctor. Well, too late for that now. But does it sound like something like this could be more than your average chest pain? I've had low and high blood pressure before in addition to my breathing problems (which are either because of asthma or iron deficiency -- which I've had problems with before, too). But I don't know what this could've been. All the pain was localized in my chest.

Thoughts?

The symptoms you describe do sound like angina. It can be very difficult for doctors to distinguish angina from heartburn. I had an attack of chest pain a year and a half ago (no sweating, dizziness, or vision problems), lasting about two hours and fading gradually. I had an abnormal EKG and was hospitalized for two days. They didn't ask me a single question about stress, although I believe that was the cause.

If I were you, I'd look for suppressed anger.

Greenwolf, I'm not sure you're asking the right forum. You can get good advice here about the gerund and the adverbial clause, but I suspect there's not an MD among us. (I'm a keen amateur gynaecologist, but that doesn't count.)

I can understand your reluctance to consult doctors (8 visits in the past 35 years in my case), especially in the good ol' US of A, where society has elevated medicos and lawyers to the top of the income pyramid while consigning writers to the rung beneath lavatory cleaners; but it's not worth risking your well-being for fear of enriching them further. Your family needs you alive and kicking, and so do we.

It's probably a stress attack, considering the circumstances, and the symptoms can be very similar to angina, but you need to know for sure. Do the right thing by yourself, and your loved ones, by looking for fact rather than comfort.

Pianoman, as I understood Greenwolf's post, she was looking for fact, and I don't think this forum is a bad place to start looking. In a group this size, there's a good chance that several persons will know enough about any common medical condition to answer the basic questions.

True, reph, but it's impossible to diagnose anything over the internet. The only sure way to eliminate concern about a potentially serious condition like this one is, regrettably, by thorough examination. I'm only warning against false comfort.

If the chest pain was brought on by activity and went away after you sat down and rested, it does sound like angina.

On the other hand, given what you said about your stress levels, it might have been a form of panic attack.

Either way, I think you should get it checked out. Better to be safe than sorry.

Take care,
aq

Dawn, I'm a pediatrician, so it's outside my area of expertise, but your symptoms are significant enough that I'd definitely recommend going to see your physician. Today.

And, if it happens again before you see your doctor, dial 911. I'm not trying to be an alarmist, but if you are experiencing angina, it's not something to be taken lightly.

Please go get it checked out and let us all know how you're doing.

:hug

Holly

By all means check it out with a doc but I can volunteer at least one other condition that mimics heart attack-like pain.

I have a hiatus hernia that spazzes out periodically. Trapped gas in the chest can cause excruciating pain, sometimes lasting up to 20 minutes or more at a time. Relief only comes (stop reading if you're easily grossed out) after many, many belches. Sometimes hundreds.

Whatever the cause though, severe pain warrants checking out.

Thanks, everyone, for all of your advice and support. It really helps and I appreciate it from each one of you. :hug

I realize you can't diagnose anything over the Internet. I just wanted some opinions on what happened; possibly what it could be, comments on angina, if I should go see a doctor, etc. Your posts have really helped.

And, Frank, you didn't gross me out. I've actually experienced the gas buildup before. I know dispelling it isn't very ladylike, but if that's what it takes for me to get through it, then that's what it takes.

Have a great day, everyone.

--Dawn

Best bet at this point, and this is only if you have good medical insurance, is to take a thalium stress test. It's good for diagnosing and it's also good, if the test is negative, for panic attacks in that it relieves your mind. Family history is also a good indicator of potential problems.

Since most or all writers are neurotic, we do have our negative, imaginitive moments, but still it's best to check it out.

I'm guessing that Frank's gas problem is his reckless abandonment when he downs a poached salmon.

I think Frank's gas was fudge-induced (were those peanut-butter fudge burps or choco-walnut, Frank?)

Seriously, though, my advice would be to get a thorough physical as soon as possible. Don’t wait…don’t put it off.

I had an episode with my husband this summer that scared the daylights out of me. I thought I had lost him, and it happened in less than a minute.

He had lost his job two weeks before and was under tremendous strain. While helping me on a brochure project, he squatted next to me at my computer to look over photographs. It took a while, and his legs got numb, so he stood up to get feeling in them again. After a few moments he said he didn’t feel well and had to sit down. Once he sat down, he said “Everything’s getting white…” and his head lolled to one side. His breathing got very loud and labored. It was if he was asleep, but his eyes were open. I yelled, smacked his cheeks, shook him—nothing. He was totally unresponsive, and his pupils were fixed and dilated.

I shouted for my daughter to call 911, and yelled out that I thought Daddy was having a stroke. When the operator came on the line and I was describing what was happening, he stopped breathing. STOPPED! Thirty seconds…one minute…no breath sounds. I was just about to yank him out of the chair onto the floor and start CPR when his body jerked and he “woke up.” He was disoriented, sweating, and grey-faced. The paramedics arrived, gave him an EKG in the living room, stuck and IV into him and off we roared in an ambulance to the hospital. I’ve never been so frightened in my life.

He got medical care right away, and is fine now, but we learned our lesson. Don’t bank on the chance that if your symptoms go away, they won’t come back. Pay attention to your body, and don’t let stress get the better of you. I’ll never forget those moments of sheer panic--looking into my husband’s blue eyes and finding him “gone.” We just never know…

Dawn, I agree that you should have a physical and tell the doctor what happened. The problem about chest pain is, it's hard enough to identify the cause (heart? esophagus? intercostal muscles?) during an episode, and it's even harder to identify it afterward.

Apryl, if I may ask, what was your husband's diagnosis after that frightening event?

Apryl, that is very scary!! I'm so glad he came out of it okay. I, too, hope to know what the diagnosis was.

And, yes, I'll see about getting a physical ASAP. (Haven't yet because I need someone to drive me -- not driving too much at the moment, unless I really have to.)

Yikes, Dawn & Apryl!!

Apryl: I hope your hubby is okay now. :hug

Dawn: don't put it off, girl. We all :heart about you and want you to be well.

Hubby's fine now. His diagnosis in the ER was Vasovagal Syncope. Looking this up in a medical terminology site, I came up with this...

Vasovagal reaction: A reflex of the involuntary nervous system that causes the heart to slow down (bradycardia) and that, at the same time, affects the nerves to the blood vessels in the legs permitting those vessels to dilate (widen). As a result the heart puts out less blood, the blood pressure drops, and what blood is circulating tends to go into the legs rather than to the head. The brain is deprived of oxygen and the fainting episode occurs. The vasovagal reaction is also called a vasovagal attack. The resultant fainting is synonymous with situational syncope, vasovagal syncope, vasodepressor syncope, and Gower syndrome which is named for Sir William Richard Gower (1845-1915), a famous English neurologist.

We think it was an unusual combination of stress, dehydration, and prolonged squatting that brought this on. It seems to have been an isolated incident, but we're taking no chances! I've never seen a person faint with their eyes open, though...and what was with the heavy breathing??

"If the plural of louse is lice, shouldn't the plural of spouse be...spice?" Makes sense to me...

OK,what does it mean when you hve stabbing pains n your left side just under the ribs?

'm figuring it's just stress. I've been under a lot of that lately. I certainly hope it's nothing serious,becaus I have no money and no insurance. I'm going to hav to bring in aluminum cans to recycle to get busfare for later this wek.

My sympathies go out to those in this thread who are ill.

My day job (ha!) is doing medical transcription for a company that does physicals for people applying for Social Security Disablity benefits. I've learned quite a bit -- scratch that -- A LOT more than I ever thought I wanted to know about medical conditions and issues.

One thing is this: Chest pain is never "just" chest pain. It's always a sign that something needs to be looked at NOW. Even if it's "just" stress.

So, all that said, I'm with those encouraging you to get it checked out.

Thank you so much, CC and Jen!! :hug My mom freaked out about it and blamed my hubby, saying he almost made me have a heart attack.

I am going to get it checked out, though. I'm not putting it off, just having a hard time getting anywhere.

Re: my previous post. Can you say "irony" boys and girls? I knew you could!

A week ago I was having severe "hiatus hernia" pain. Finally went to the ER. I failed Diagnostics 101. It was a heart attack. A few days, lots of needles and one angioplasty later, I'm baaaaaaaa-ack!

Get checked out Dawn dear. Make time.

Yep, warning signs are good

Glad you're still kicking, Frank. I would have been SO upset if my subscriber base had suddenly been cut in half!

My boyfriend's mother had a torturous pain that turned out to be gall stones just two weeks ago. After her gall bladder was removed, they discovered she had a malignant tumor inside the gall bladder. That was fortunate--because gall bladder cancer is rare and almost never caught early. The attack gave the docs a chance to catch it and treat it early.

Take good care of yourself.

Sandra

Hmmm

Glad you're still with us, Frank. Maybe you can start a topic on how much you've learned from the trauma. We writers are so volatile--one minute so invincible, the next so much a hostage to fate.

As shocking as it was, it's still grist for the mill.

Go(o)d save.

Frank, I'm so glad to hear you are still among us!!

I will get out to a doctor as soon as I find a way to. There's an ER about 5 minutes from me but walking there isn't an option.

It's good that we get minor warning signs to catch the big things.

Thanks Sandra, Rich and Dawn.

And yep, it's all grist for the mill. Some's just a bit more painful to grind.

We're glad - but there's a lot of fish out there, muttering under their breath!

Great to hear you're on the mend though.

aq
xxx

So much for all that Omega-3-laden Salmon, Frank?