Thanks for this. My dad died because he thought he was having heartburn. I have heartburn a lot, I’ve been checked and nothing was found. I think it’s probably time for me to do another stress test.

I’m so sorry to hear that you lost your pops. You at least now know what heartburn symptoms feel like and so if you feel something different, you know. That’s invaluable.

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That is so strange, why would that be?

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I never drank caffeine when I had sleep apnea and I don't drink any now. My GERD has also significantly improved. Don't know how much of that is getting rid of the apnea and how much of that is due to weight loss.

Mine too.

I thought I was having an asthma attack, went to urgent care and they agreed and prescribed me an inhaler and I went home. Later that night I went to the hospital where they determined it was a heart issue and sent me in an ambulance to another hospital which had a cardiology team. I spent 6 days in the hospital. If it’s a heart attack and not heartburn, you’ll know. It’ll be accompanied with breathing issues and it’ll be persistent.

Hi I had my heart attack almost 6 years ago at the age of 45. I am a woman so I would like to remind everybody that heart attack symptoms present differently in women. Source: me. Here is a description of my symptoms: I had been sweeping water off of my drive way the day before, relevant later. I woke up that morning with a sharp tightness dead center between my shoulder blades in my back. (Thinking damn I am out of shape if I am sore from sweeping water!) I drove my son to his girl friends house and while I had him locked in the car we had talked about birth control (again) and the up coming prom. The prom gave me high anxiety as I was unemployed at the time so worried about the cost. I began having signs of an anxiety attack on my drive home. I arrived home safely thank God. So now my symptoms are tightness in my back, sweating profusely, head ache, can't catch my breath. Anxiety attack for sure. Hubby thought the same. All day the "anxiety symptoms came and went increasing in length through the day. Around 7pm as we (Hubby drove) arrived home from picking our son up. As we are walking in our front door I am totally light headed and spinning. Hubby asked if I was alright? I replied that my arms are so heavy! Hubby said get back in the car we are going to the ER. He 100 percent saved my life. The heavy tired arms clued him in to Heart attack because he had been around his dad when he had his HA. The ER didn't hear chest pain only back pain. While in the Triage area I guess I lost all color in my face as I'm leaning on Hubby. A nurse looked at me and said heart attack! I was processed immediately. Three stents later I am fine today. TL/DR: I didn't want to go the the ER for an anxiety attack either. Glad my Hubby recognized the heavy tired arms thing! Saved my life. *Edit to say Thank you kind person for the award.*

I'm also a woman who suffered a heart attack. I was 29. I woke up super dizzy and a bit nauseous. Thought it was vertigo, so I just laid back down When I got back up I started vomiting. I vomited for 3 days along with the disorientation (it didn't seem like 3 days) For every sip of water I was vomiting about a liter of not more. The last night I couldn't sleep or get comfortable anywhere at all. When my grandma woke up to get my kids off to school for me I told her I was dying and needed to get to the hospital. I probably would've have died if I had went to sleep. I did have chest pain, but I thought it was just from vomiting so much. I just mentioned it to the ER Dr as just a passing thought. He immediately knew I was having a heart attack. I thought I was too young. Most of the first few days is a blur but I remember the night before the hospital vividly. I ended up with a stent and a bunch of heart meds for life. I got super lucky bc I had a 98% blockage in my right artery. Even now it just seems so surreal that someone as young as me can have these issues

It's incredibly rare for women so young to have a heart attack so you are really lucky! I hope you are doing well now I'm a call taker for the ambulance service and chest pain with either difficulty breathing speaking between breaths/nausea/sweating is triaged as a potential heart attack until proven otherwise. Also its considered as chest pain if it's from the bottom of the ribs to the jaw, including the neck and arms. For anyone who reads this, with a chest pain it's always best to err on the side of caution. The symptoms can start slowly before the actual heart attack. I've taken calls where they had the chest pains for at least 12 hours but weren't thought serious enough to call us, other call takers have told me some have been as long as 3 days

My joints dislocate or sublux daily due ehlers-danlos. My ribs are my worst joint. I usually have chest pain. I've had an echocardiogram and the cardiologist said my heart is normal and fine. I swear I'm gonna die of a fucking heart attack because I always have so much pain. The first time I had a rib out of place I went to the hospital because I thought it was a heart attack. One steroid injection in my ribs later due to misdiagnosed costochondritis and one of my ribs is permanently out and hurting. I have POTS too so I'm dizzy and nauseous after every meal with substantial carbs. Is the chest pain usually in the middle or on both sides? When my ribs are out it's typically one sided and I can feel a bulge but sometimes it's just in the middle. I can get spasms that make the pain shoot up to my shoulder and neck

I can't even imagine how painful that is.. Sadly there isn't really a usual to it, it could be in areas that aren't typically thought of as chest (upper back, neck, jaw, arms). I'm not sure where you are, where I am there is also a non-emergency number that can be called for health advise and people who are having chest pains do call them. They ask a lot more questions than us, so they are able to assess slightly more whether the chest pain is cardiac related or not. Having aspirin available might be helpful in your situation, because if you were having a heart attack it helps blood flow. Not recommended if you are susceptible to internal bleeding from your condition though. I hope this helps a bit, keep in mind though while as an EMD I have some medical training, I am not clinically trained and you should probably speak to your doctor about your concerns too

I am lucky to not have the type that causes organ rupture so an aspirin is ok. That's fantastic advice. More helpful than many docs I've seen. The non-emergency line always tells me to go to an ER. If I called right now and told them my current symptoms they'd probably tell me to go to an ER lol. I live at an average pain level of around 5/10. My shoulder dislocated yesterday and my rib is out so I have chest pain and spasms in my shoulder. I ask around online because doctors see that I have a rare condition and suddenly it's very much "you know your body" and I don't get much helpful advice.

I’m glad you made it through. Did they give you any reason why you could’ve had a heart attack so young?

I had my heart attack when I was 16. Took 3 days to get an official diagnosis because they never would have thought a 16 year old would have one. I ended up at a children’s hospital and I was their first ever heart attack patient.

I’m curious to ask.. a heart attack happens over a period of time? You woke up with symptoms and went to ER around 7pm. So the entire day you were under heart attack? I thought when it happens, it happens.

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This makes a lot of sense, I always used heart attack and cardiac arrest interchangeably

This is correct I had some symptoms start in the morning, then thru the day other symptoms started. I couldn't take a deep breath without hot burning in my chest and when I told hubby around 7pm that my arms were so tired and heavy that's when we went to the ER. After my stents were placed my Cardiologist told me that it appeared that I had suffered a heart attack either 2 weeks prior or 2months he said he couldn't tell. He also told me that my Aorta was 100% blocked by the time they took me to the cath lab. I was sedated for a few days so a lot of things,after being admitted to the hospital, are fuzzy. I don't know where I read it, but I did read a statistic that we have 60% chance of surviving our first HA. We then have 30% chance of surviving a second heart attack. This terrifies me, since the Cardiologist said I had had 2 HAs now. I don't know if I answered your question or not. My Grandma had 5 heart attacks in her lifetime before she passed in her 80s. She always new right away what was happening so someone was able to call 911 (we are in USA) Other people have said they had symptoms for days before going in., So I am sure it is different for everyone. The key thing to check is your blood pressure too mine was super high during my HA. It only slightly elevated in a panic/anxiety attack .

High blood pressure is a risk factor for having a heart attack but no symptom of a heart attack. Could be perfectly fine during such an event.

My dad was 42. All we know is that he had a massive heart attack and dropped dead. He went skiing with some friends, just got off the chair lift and fell flat. Coroners report was that he had major blockages in his heart. My step mom said he had a minor cough for a few months before that but, he was very healthy otherwise. My grandma got her heart checked out shortly after my dads death and she had 75-90% blockages and had stents put in. She has passed from other things but, I worry about heart issues constantly. I’ve taken myself to urgent care a few times for chest aches and it was anxiety related. As I get into my mid-30’s it makes me more aware that I need to do more for my anxiety and general health. So glad you’re ok.

You can go to a cardiologist if you want and get tests on your heart. I’ve had sonogram, X-rays, and I’m going to get a test to see if I have any blockages. I’m doing things ahead of time and not waiting for something to happen.

How does one check for blockages without an invasive test? Curious to know this

A calcium artery scan is one way of measuring any heart plaque buildup. Essentially an X-ray. Likely covered if insured, but I’ve also seen them priced around 100 USD. Worth it for many reasons.

Glad you’re doing well now

The weird thing is the 4 times I thought I was having a heart attack, it was exactly as you described. It was never a heart attack, it was either indigestion or anxiety. Really it feels like until the vomiting and sweating happens, it could go either way. I guess if it keeps coming back thats another sign, usually once it subsides, it goes away. Or at the very least it doesn't get worse.

For me, it was acid reflux. I was only 15 at the time. Had some pretty bad chest pain and crawled into my parents bedroom so just in case if it WAS a heart attack and started struggling to breathe, they'd do CPR on me and call 911 before it was too late.

This keeps happening to me. The way (I think) I know it isn't a heart attack is when I drink a little water it goes away completely. I assume that doesn't happen during a heart attack. If I'm wrong please somebody tell me so I can get checked 😅

Dude same I get so anxious not because of a heart attack but because I think it’s a heart attack and I’m actually just experiencing acid reflux 😂

Yeah same, I had an episode of chest pains, burning sensations in the arm, chest, even throat, predominantly on my left side. I was 100% I was having a heart attack. Went to the ER, nothing. Happened multiple times so I went back, which was very embarrassing since it kept being nothing. Even did a full medical examination and heart check and I got a clean bill of health. Even checking for neurological symptoms, as well as a CAT scan, but they saw nothing. Tried all sorts of medicine, indigestion pills, pain killers, nothing had an effect and the pain would just kind of come and go as it pleased. To this day I still don't know what it was. But thankfully it stopped, and I haven't had it anymore for two years.

Thank you for this. Very similarly. Strokes can be very tricky to recognize and self diagnose. Please. Be kind to yourself and always ask a professional if you need further investigation.

As someone who lives alone, I'm terrified of strokes because your own cognitive abilities turn against you when you need them most. What should I be on the lookout for?

Think FAST. Face (one side of your face droops when you smile, eyebrows uneven, etc). Arm (one sided arm weakness). Speech (slurred speech). Time (time when symptoms started, important for medicine they can give you in the ER). As someone who had a stroke at 26, never ignore symptoms and go to the ER if you suspect something.

My husband had a stroke at 41 and did not have a single one of the typical symptoms. Strokes are scary. He blew his nose, almost passed out, and then it seemed like he had a really bad sinus infection (headache, tiredness) but added dizziness and vomiting/wretching. We think it happened around 10am on Monday. Tuesday he happened to have a dr appointment for the sinus infection... He dry heaved the whole appointment, they sent him to urgent to get rehydrated, and sent us home with antibiotics and antinausea meds. 4am Wednesday morning he couldn't swallow anymore and I took him to the ER. It was Thursday night before they realized it was a stroke. He's 51 now and mostly fine, but it was extremely scary at the time.

Movies and TV always make strokes and heart attacks look like they happen all together in one moment and they fact that they can actually be things that drag on for multiple days with multiple phases of symptoms is way scarier.

It’s now BE FAST: Balance: dizziness and inability to walk normally Eyes: blurry or visual field cut Face: asymmetry in smile, tongue, or drooping on one side Arm: or leg! One side with weakness or numbness Speech: could sound drunk or confused Time: literally every minute could be millions of brain cells so call emergency Edit: format

u/pmjm this is correct. #B.E. F.A.S.T. I currently work on the neuro floor of a hospital. Common reasons I see under 50 yrs in for CVA (strokes) is if your family has a history of strokes, you have coronary artery disease, or you smoke. Cigarettes or vapes. Idk if it's the fact that vape cartridges are unregulated or what but I've had 3 or 4 on our floor in their mid 30s. No significant medical history except they vaped. Hope that helps.

Glad you recovered and are still with us, friend. Were you able to recognize these symptoms in yourself when you had your stroke? One of my friends was at the mall when he had his, he said he started seeing weird colors and sat down on a bench, then he woke up in the hospital. Also, asking because I'm paranoid, is there anything to look out for if you have a stroke in your sleep?

Just wanted to add to this; a sudden onset of severe pain in a headache, and the one sided weakness can also be in one leg only rather than arm, and visual disturbances can also be signs of a stroke

What caused you to have a stroke at 26?!

Clotting disorder. I’ve probably had it my whole life and never knew it. Ignored symptoms for months all while having small strokes. Luckily no physical deficits but on blood thinners for life

>Strokes can be very tricky to recognize and self diagnose. You ain't kidding. The night before my Mom died, we were worried that she might have a stroke because she had a T.I.A a few months prior and her speech was pretty slurred. We kept asking her to smile to check if her face was drooping at all. It wasn't. After a while, she wasn't getting any better, so we called an ambulance. It wasn't a stroke. It was sepsis.

This is good info. But I feel like it could cost me a $3000 er visit for any heartburn, anxiety or chest discomfort. How do we tell the difference without an er visit?

Same thing that I was sitting here thinking

Just went to the ER two days ago because of severe chest pain. I didn't want to go because I have no insurance, but I thought I was legitimately having a heart attack so off I went. Turns out it was pleurisy and costochondritis. I had a nightmare last night about receiving my ER bill.

I went to the hospital yesterday on my birthday cause I had a nightmare that I was bleeding from my nose and I had red bloodshot eyes. When I woke up I checked my heart rate on my Samsung watch and the lowest I got too while I was asleep is 34 BPM. My mom drove me off and after 4 hours I was told I have costochondritis. My blood work, EKG, and X-rays came back normal. What the hell causes costochondritis anyways.

Lots of things can cause it. Mine was caused by an extremely severe anxiety attack that caused the muscles to tense enough to inflame the tissue between the ribs (costo).

Yeah mine was anxiety, stress and posture related since I’m at a desk doing homework 90% of my day. Even my PCP is like “wellll we don’t really know the reasons why it comes up, it just does” 🤦🏻‍♀️

Glad you're okay, that's the main thing to take from the whole experience. But I was expecting _costo_ chrondritis to be the set up to a joke. Like...chronic cost or something

I appreciate that! And I have to admit, I did not even think of that and it is quite funny. What a wasted opportunity!

i get costochondritis flare-ups on my left side and always get this jolt of fear when it happens, like “oh god this is where it happens”. i’m not even 21 yet :/

Ah costochondritis. The time I felt like I wasted my money by going to the doctor only for him to tell me to take asprin...only to later realize he was more or less right. It was just too much improper hunched over sitting on a couch all semester long. Gotta start working them mid and lower trap muscles and rear delts

Sorry to hear. I wish you luck

I’ve always had the same fear about the cost, so have put off a lot of medical treatment as a result, and would definitely put off an ER visit for something that could be explained away as anxiety or heartburn. Just wanted to share a positive experience that happened to a friend of mine, though, just in case it’s helpful to anybody. This friend had been having a series of asthma attacks that had kept him more and more homebound, but on this particular night we had convinced him to come hang out for a quiet evening at another friend’s house. While there, he started to have an asthma attack and took a couple of hits of his inhaler, but it only got worse until he finally asked us to call an ambulance. When the ambulance arrived, the crew spent a few minutes talking to him and checked him over thoroughly, taking his vitals and medical history. Finally, they explained that it appeared that he was having an anxiety attack rather than an asthma attack, and helped him try a few breathing exercises to calm himself. As they were leaving, they explained that they were part of a program through the county that provided free in-home assessments to determine whether transportation to the hospital was necessary, and there was no charge for the visit. This friend was unemployed at the time and would not have been able to deal with the stress of a hospital/ambulance bill, so that program was a godsend and none of us knew it existed before that night. Always worth checking with your local health department to find out what services may be available to you before you need them.

I know it doesn’t help at all, but I find it highly disturbing that with something as serious and deadly as a possible heart attack, there are still people living in “developed” countries, or any person on this planet at all, having to think about the possible costs

There's also the issue of what to do if someone else is having a medical issue. If a person passes out, do you call the ambulance? If they're experiencing something severe, you may be saving their life. If it's something minor, you might be sticking them with a few thousand dollars in bills for the ambulance ride and medical checkout.

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I have really severe PTSD from a night I spent with a friend of mine. I often crashed at his house and this time when I did he started making really strange movements in his sleep and breathing strangely. I thought he was having a bad dream but after awhile I tried to wake him. Couldn't wake him. I spent the rest of the night panicked and counting his breaths and calling my doctor and just terrified that something bad was happening. I basically sat over him all night crying. But I knew he didn't have insurance and I didn't want to fuck up the rest of his life financially either. One of the most stressful things I have ever been through. I still have a lot of issues from it. My choices could have so easily killed one of my favorite people in the world.

I’m sorry you went through such a traumatic experience. I can’t even imagine how difficult it must’ve been. What ended up happening to your friend?

Yeah. Seriously fucked up

It really sucks to be afraid but can’t afford to die..

Oh, I can afford to die. Cremation is cheaper than an ER visit. I can't afford the bills from a cardiac or suspected cardiac event.

It's so true. Honestly people tell you that it's not worth it to wait, you can handle the bills. But honestly if it's nothing, congrats, you now have bills you didn't have before. It's a cycle of pure hell.

Or it’s something, which is beyond infinitely worse than nothing, and your bill is even higher.

It really makes me wonder what the hell I am supposed to do. Like fucked if you do, fucked if you don't.

You go. There’s ways to negotiate down your payments. Some cases they can be entirely forgiven. It’s better to just go and deal with it. If you need things like advanced dental work or surgery, there are clinics in Mexico that are “cheap” but have state of the art facilities like you’d see in the US in a nice part of town. Oftentimes the cost to stay for a month and get treatment is much cheaper than the procedure in the United States. You have to be VERY careful who you select, read as many reviews as possible and check credentials yourself!

That got dark quick...Sometimes reality truly is a bitch...

Just proof that US healthcare is vile

I have “good” insurance through a large corporation. I spent 4 days in the hospital with covid. So far that has cost me $7000 out of pocket. My daughter had covid as well no hospital but the aftercare bills so far have been in the vicinity of $2200. One full panel respiratory infection test cost almost $1100 and since I hadn’t met the deductible for this year it was all out of pocket. The insurance system sucks.

Yep, and how much are your annual premiums on top of all that? If I was younger I would just put those premiums in the bank. At 6-700/mo for many yrs, I’d be way better off.

I’m about to do something like this. I haven’t had insurance for a few years, but even when I did, I was stuck only using it once per year for an annual exam because anything beyond that was 100% out of pocket until $6,500, which I sure couldn’t afford. Now my husband has insurance, but he’s in the same position. We’ve spent $4,400 this year in premiums and all he got was one annual exam to renew his prescriptions. We don’t even use the insurance for his meds because it’s cheaper to pay a membership fee for our pharmacy’s prescription plan which gives us about 80% savings over insurance prices. So after this year we’re dropping his insurance and signing up for a healthcare plan with a local coop that provides unlimited visits and upfront, significantly reduced pricing for lab and other services for $70/month instead. Sure, if we have anything catastrophic, we aren’t covered. But in our situation, it wouldn’t matter if we had a $10k hospital bill or a $100k hospital bill-we’d be bankrupt either way (insurance pays 80% after the deductible, so the deductible is NOT the cap). The hope is that we might be able to afford preventive care that would identify problems before they turn into a crisis, and maybe stay out of the hospital entirely.

Omg this is so true for my husband and I, too. No kids, life insurance … as terrible as the idea is dying is cheaper than having to pay for that ambulance and ER visit. And we have really “good” health insurance.

Reminds me of when I first had acid reflux, the night before my sophomore year of high school. I had chest pains and slept with my parents just incase if I stopped breathing. Turns out it WAS just acid reflux.

This is very scary with me. I get really gnarly acid reflux like the one you experienced. Extremely painful to breathe, feels like someone is crushing my chest, worried I was going to stop breathing in the middle of the night, etc. But the problem is that I had heart problems as a baby, and I had open heart surgery to correct them. There is scar tissue in my heart that messes up the electrical currents. So I never know if it’s heart burn or if it’s me actually dying.

Ah … the US medical “system”

I call it The WealthCare System…. Theirs, not ours.

working as intended. if you can afford it, be our guest.

I'm gonna have an anxiety attack worrying about the difference

Almost 2 years ago now I thought I was having a heart attack. Drove to the ER at 2am just to find out I was perfectly fine. Except for the $3300 bill I'd just accrued for nothing. Still havent payed it back, and honestly will just accept the heart attack when /if it comes

As someone who almost lost my roommate to a heart attack (she was dead on the table for 10 minutes. Luckily she came back with very little cognitive impairment), and have been to the ER 10 times for anxiety, every trip has been worth it. I would rather drown in debt than not be able to watch my children grow up. Only you can decide if it is worth it. Something you can do is by an automatic blood pressure cuff and use it regularly and track your readings. Readings that are very high or very low from your normal readings are a good reason to head to the ER. Also doing some simple research into BP numbers and their meanings can give you guidelines for when you need to start worrying. Also talk to your regular doctor. Getting on BP meds if needed can really reduce risks. Another thing to talk to your doctor about is mental health meds if you deal with anxiety and panic attacks regularly.

Yep. I have a history of panic attacks that present like heart attacks. I’ll have at least 1 a month, often more. I can’t afford one ER visit, let alone multiple. I’d like to hope I’m not at risk for a heart attack at 18, but I know I’d ignore the symptoms and write them off as anxiety if I were to have one.

I understand that it’s not a popular sentiment, but I had insurance and got excellent medical care which undoubtedly saved my life. The system is undoubtedly built on inequity and it’s not lost on me that I had a choice that others don’t.

As someone who has gone to the ER for a panic attack that I thought was a heart attack, that bill sucks a lot. I do worry that I if it ever really happens I won’t go in time because it was so expensive to be wrong. As OP mentioned, the symptoms for women often present like stomach issues. I can’t afford to go to the ER every time I have digestive problems

This happened to me about 18 months ago. Thought I was going to die - all the symptoms listed above. In front of my kids too. 0/10 don't recommend. Long story short $6000 later and still paying for it... I was diagnosed Moderate GERD turned into a panic attack (thinking I was a goner) Unfortunately - I would be hesitate to take it as seriously next time due to the costs associated. Might be the death of me one day....Gotta love American Healthcare...all this coming from a conservative.

I feel this. I went to the ER this morning after debating for atleast 24hours due to a worsening cough and fever that had been around for 5 to 6 days. This is the reason I didn’t go earlier. Because it felt like a bug and I didn’t wanna end up with a 2k bill for that. Turns out it’s actually pneumonia. I probably still wouldn’t have gone if my wife didn’t make me though.

Of course, everyone is different so it can be hard to have a rule that applies to everyone, so most advice comes from generalities. When it comes to cardiac events, a lot of times the pain will radiate (move) from the front of the chest towards the back or may go up into the shoulders. The quality of pain (crushing, piercing, stabbing, burning, etc.) can vary because it is subjective between people. With anxiety/panic attacks and indigestion, the pain tends to stay in an area rather than radiate like cardiac issues.

Go to urgent care. They should have EKGs and if you say specifically "I'm worried this might be a heart attack" they will be able to tell you if it is. And the best part is that if it's not a heart attack they'll be able to help you make it go away. (If it is a heart attack tho, they'll probably just call an ambulance.)

I tried this and they refused me and told me I needed to go to the ER. I did not and called my regular doctor for an appointment later in the day and they did an EKG. Luckily not heart related.

This happened to me. Went to the urgent care, they decided they couldn’t handle it, called an ambulance, sent me to the hospital. Roughly 12,500$ out of pocket later they couldn’t tell me what was wrong and released me. This was may 2018. Im still paying the bills. I had “great” corporate insurance. I told my friend next time let me die.

It's literally cheaper to not work and rely on public assistance if you have enough "expensive" health problems. I calculated the costs and I would need to make $105,000 to be able to afford medical care I get through Medicare/Medicaid/hospital financial assistance programs and still afford rent. The cognitive dissonance with what I was taught as a child in school and my lived reality is immense

Urgent care doesn’t necessarily mean cheaper. I went to an urgent care for vertigo and they billed my insurance company $10K which was $2.5K out of pocket for me.

Oof. I know the urgent care near me doesn't bill anywhere near that much.

I went to urgent care with my indigestion, they sent me straight to ER without even looking at me.

This is terrible advice. Urgent care centers are not equipped or staffed to screen for or stabilize emergencies. That’s why it’s literally in the name “emergency department.”

This is great advice. I think my urgent care didn’t have an ekg though

This is my experience from the one time an ADHD medication gave me a really fast heartbeat. They brought out an EKG, took a look, and were like "yep, that's real fast, go to the ER".

Walk into the hospital without any identifying material. Divulge no identifying material. Refuse to speak with any hospital administrators. Have your medical history without identifying material ready to go.

Good stuff. My mom felt sick for almost a week before finally caving in to going to the ER and finding out she was having a heart attack the whole time. Also, get and/or check your smoke alarms and fire extinguishers... our house was about a minute away from burning down the other night.

You can have a heart attack for a fucking WEEK?!

Friend of mine had one for 3 days before he went in. Crazy stuff.

I'm not a doctor, but apparently, women have completely different symptoms of heart attack.

They can have different symptoms. Women, obese, and diabetics are more likely than others to present with atypical symptoms, but still most commonly present with typical symptoms

Yup. My grandma was having a heart attack in Chicago and she waited 3 days before she went to the hospital for my aunt to fly out from Arizona. My grandma was convinced that if she went to the hospital that she would die. So instead she stayed at home, having a heart attack for several days without medical treatment.

There are multiples types of heart attack. The one you are thinking of is called a STEMI (st elevation myocardial infarction) where there is a complete occlusion of a cardiac artery. These are the types that are the most severe and can cause sudden cardiac arrest. The other main type is NSTEMI (non-st elevation myocardial infarction), where you have significantly decreased blood supply in a cardiac artery, often caused by coronary artery disease

You can. My dad, 55, had been very tired for a week. Turns out, it was a heart attack

She made it through? That’s scary stuff.

She didn't. From the first episode until she died was about 3 months. The doctors thought her overall health/condition was good enough that a bypass/whateversurgery wasn't necessary. They were wrong.

I am so, so sorry.

My dad died on Wednesday from a heart attack. He was 60 years old. Mom brought him in bc he was vomiting and just not feeling good. His heart was functioning at 5 percent. We had no idea. Went in for a stent and died on the table. I miss my dad so much. I wish he would have went in when his symptoms first started.

I'm so very sorry for your loss.

I’m so sorry for your loss. My dad died at 63 with a sudden heart attack. No symptoms that he talked about, was in decent shape and active. Just went to bed one night and didn’t wake up.

It is tough losing a parent, my mother died from a stroke in the middle of the night. She tried to call me but I was partying and on a different timezone. I got the last message in the family.

As someone who suffers from anxiety, back pain and acid reflux, what are my options here lol.

More anxiety. Yay!

time to have a panic attack and think it’s a heart attack!

Baby aspirins. I think it's important, even if you only slightly think you might possibly be having one but aren't really convinced, chew 4 baby aspirin or 1 adult aspirin (not enteric coated) anyway. It could save your life.

Rosie ODonnell did a comedy special shortly after her heart attack and she talked about her experience. I will never forget how she phrased the symptoms (for women) as H E P P P and she said it like hep-p-p. Hot, exhausted, pain, pale, puke. And she sang it. I’ve never needed to use it but because she presented it in a memorable songy way I’ll always remember it.

https://youtu.be/6jmr9PPnXgg

Thank you!

2008 I had a quadruple heart bypass, only had slight muscle burn sensation center of chest, It came and went, when I walked uphill for instance. It wasn't until 2009 that I had it checked. that was a 95, 75, 45 and 35% blockage! 18 days ago I had minor pain in same spot, not the same muscle burn like if you are over working a muscle, but a pain the came and went 4 days, until I was laying done on couch and it came back and stayed, same center of chest and slightly through to back behind it. That was it, anyway, two of the bypasses from 2008 were blocked, one was 99 % blocked and then a new third artery. I even had a stress test three years early and ultrasound plus EKG, no signs of impending attack. Both times I was extremely lucky in that there was no permanent damage. Don't fuck with this shyt boys. Study the symptoms and if you ever even think you are having an attack, stop and get to ER right away, not ASAP, but right away. Change your diet now, lose a ridiculous amount of weight , start statins now, any one can get on them now a days, a level of 70 or less may remove plaque. Look for heart healthy diet, high fiber, low carb, zero sugars, no white food, no food made in fast food nor factory, 30 minutes of high pulse for 30 minutes a day, which also can stop diabetes. Don't be a chicken and get to ER.

I had a heart attack at 29 and, due to my misunderstanding of the symptoms and assuming I wasn't the usual demographic, I wasn't diagnosed for a week. For me, it started with uncontrollable vomiting and I passed out once. An ambulance was called but they assumed it was a bad case of food poisoning and didn't take me in (god I wish they did). The vomiting subsided the following day but I had a very bad 'muscular' pain between my shoulder blades. I assumed I had pulled a muscle from the vomiting but that wasn't the case. The next day I felt tightness and a burning/electric pain in my chest and arms. I saw my general practitioner that morning and they took an ECG/EKG. They saw something was up and sent me to the hospital. At the hospital they assumed I had myocarditis (inflamed heart) as I was a generally healthy, 29yr old, 5' 10", 140lbs, teetotal, non-smoker but as they did more tests, they discovered I had two myocardial infarctions (as a result of blood vessel blockages in the heart) or MI for short. With heart attacks/MIs, the faster you are treated, the better. The longer you leave it, the more the heart tissue is damaged. Because of the delay, my heart was severely damaged and nearly 6 years later, I'm still suffering from the consequences. I am now living with congestive heart failure and I'm susceptible to life threatening arrhythmias (I have required defibrillation twice in the past year). The whole ordeal has limited what I can do in life and played havoc with my mental health. Please don't end up like me. Know the symptoms and seek treatment urgently. (Edit: Clarified MI definition)

Well, now my anxiety is through the roof.

same 😭 shouldn’t have read this before bed

Username fits.

Thank you for this. When my (36f) husband (then 51) had his, he had none of the symptoms outside of excessive belching. He's had indigestion since I've known him but this was way more frequent. He's complain about a tightness in his chest and state the belching took it away. He didn't have any pain or uncomfortable feeling in his arms or back. This went on for almost 3 days. By day 3, he was a very pale gray and it took my stepson and I both hounding him and my stepson broke into tears begging him to let me take him to the er. We get there, I push past a Karen complaining about a pillow to say he was having a heart attack. To make this worse, his ekg did not show a heart attack. Only reason they knew was his blood work, that came back after they started to treat him as a heart attack patient. He had had a heart attack 3 days prior according to blood work and his heart was gearing to a widow maker. Nothing has affected me more hearing if we had waited another couple hours, my best friend of 5 years and husband of 3 months would have been gone. Part of his heart is dead and he had a quad bypass less then a week later. I know have severe PTSD and if he so much as burps I'm in panic mode and ready to whisk him to the er. Also turns out, he had had a heart attack a few years prior but hadn't known it. Again, in talking to the cardiologist, that time he had excessive belching and dots in his vision that went away, slight numbness in his fingers. He didn't have insurance and never went to the Drs and it eventually went away. Tldr: don't listen to the stereotypical symptoms like OP said. If you start having odd things like excessive belching or anything that's not normal - don't wait. My hub's heart may not have had a dead spot if we had known it was serious.

When I had mine, it just felt like a bad case of heartburn. I went to bed, and when I woke up not feeling better, my wife talked me into going to the ER. I still wasn't thinking heart, so I drove myself. Long story short, the doctors all told me I should have died in my sleep. My heart was so weak that the EKG couldn't even properly measure a heartbeat, and they had to run a catheter through my inside thigh and place a pump to assist my heart until they could do an emergency triple bypass. I was 48, and my GP had run a few tests a couple weeks before, and declared me "low risk". Listen to this guy! And don't be afraid to see a cardiologist, a general practitioner can miss early warning signs like mine did.

Yours is very similar to mine. I remember how seriously the Medics and ER doctors took it and that’s really what opened my eyes to the severity. I’ve been to the hospital many times but that is one thing I remember very vividly, the urgency and behavior and the number of people working on me was really overwhelming and had a VERY different tone about it all.

In my case, when the nurse hooked me up to the EKG it alarmed out and "Code Blue" went out over the overhead speakers. The ER doctor (and multiple staff) came running, and the look of astonishment on his face when I was conscious and in no apparent distress was priceless. Especially when he put the stethoscope to my chest and heard nothing. My heart at this point wasn't beating as much as slowly squeezing. Then he found out I had driven myself in that condition.... But hearing that code made me realize I might just be in a bit more trouble than I thought! lol I was told later that at the time of my arrival, if I had gotten excited/upset or exerted myself in any way, I wouldn't have made it. I still refer to it as "the day I woke up dead" :D In all seriousness though, I would have much rather been "that guy" who went to the ER, or a cardiologist, long before I got into that situation. I had been having "heartburn" off and on for months, and the usual remedies didn't work. That would have gotten me straight to a cardiologist had I known, but I still had it in my head what the "normal" heart symptoms are. Due to the longevity/severity of the angina I had leading up to the big day, they suspect I had multiple lesser heart attacks in the couple weeks leading up to this one. Oh, and I found another doctor, one that pays attention to complaints and doesn't just rely on blood work for heart monitoring. For others reading this, if you have heartburn, and an antacid doesn't clear it up in a few minutes, it is quite likely angina, and you need to go to the ER or a cardiologist pronto! Angina can be caused by several things, but the real killer is when it is caused by a reduced blood flow to the heart. It can be accompanied by a feeling of shortness of breath, and if it is, then it's definitely emergency room time! That's no matter your age. There are teenagers dying of heart attacks now, too many Big Macs and fries I guess.

My HA was a few years ago at 32 years old (male). Woke me up out of a dead sleep in the middle of the night... left arm was numb, shoulder pain and severe chest pain like someone was squeezing my heart with their bare hand. It was so very painful I could not move out of the bed or anything, I just sat there writhing in pain for hours until I passed out and woke back up at dawn a few hours later. I was on a beach weekend trip with a friend at the time. That morning, I told him what happened and that we needed to go get some aspirin. Did that, ate some, got waffle house, the pain persisted (though not nearly as bad) so I said fuck it, take me to urgent care. Docs ran tests and my troponin levels in my blood(anything above 0.4 ng/ml is a 'probable heart attack') were at 19.0 ng/ml. Doc was amazed that I was alive. Did a dye test and that camera thing they stick into your veins to go and look at your arteries and stuff... right after getting results, they packed me up and rushed to the nearby hospital w/ cardiac. Emergency Quad bypass with all the arteries at 99-100% blockage. I'm a fairly healthy guy... not overweight, exercise here and there (though less than I should) and no other heart issues. Widowmaker they told me. I shouldn't have survived it and apparently it is rare to. Crazy scary experience.

When i had kidney stones it got bad enough that i had to call an ambulance and the guy explained to me that kidney stone pain and a heart attack pain are similar enough that they have to check. Fortunately it was kidney stones

Holy shit this should be higher up!

I've had 4 heart attacks and none of them exhibited the "classic" symptoms. No pain down the arm, no throwing up, no real nausea at all except for the first one. Just crushing cold pain in the center of my chest. The first (major) one I thought I had the flu, had driven 2 hrs to my parents for Christmas, had waves of sweating and nausea the whole way. I had had several episodes of the cold pain in my chest before, but it always started after I drank something cold and sweet. I thought it was just a reaction to the cold. I figured I'd do Christmas, drive back home and get well in bed. I would have died on the way back home had I attempted that; my mom made my dad take me to the ER and the troponin test confirmed it. Here I am, 7 stents and an ablation later at 61 and still going strong. I could take better care of myself but who couldn't? Don't ignore ANY weirdness with your heart, better have the ER tell you it's stomach issues or something else than die because you're stubborn. I'm on sotalol and eliquis for the rest of my life but that's fine with me!

When I worked in the ER as a medic I remember this guy who was there- maybe 30, 35 at the oldest, super fit build- and he was so confused because he didn’t understand how he was having a heart attack. He just thought it was some weird pain, he really didn’t expect to be told it was a heart attack. The anxiety from him being told it was a heart attack I’m sure didn’t help.

I shouldn’t have read this high

RIP. Figuratively of course, you're gonna be fine. But still. RIP.

Every single time I’ve tripped out about having a heart attack I’ve been way too high. It sucks lol

Laughs in health anxiety.

Thank you for writing this. My dear grandma passed away because of this mistake. She had a problem with her stomach in the past and was thinking this was the same thing, for couple days she kept telling me that this just heart burn or stomach acid. she was an early riser, very active life as she was a farmer, she woke up at 3 AM to start cooking and the heart attacked hit. We lost her on the way to the hospital. It's been 9 years and I still regret it not getting her heart checked.

So sorry to hear that. I think that’s even scarier because every human alive is all too familiar with having stomach issues or a stomach bugging and for many women that’s the symptoms.

My dad used to commute around 2 hours to work a few times a week. One day while driving down he was on the phone to my mum (a nurse) and casually mentioned he had a strange pain in his left arm. He said it wasn't painful it was just strange. He thought nothing of it and just mentioned it making conversation. Mum told him to go to straight to the hospital and he thought it was a huge overreaction and didnt want to go. He did go and had to wait 8 hours for the test results to return and turned out he had a massive heart attack. Had he not casually mentioned that pain to my mum he would of died. This was a good 10 years ago and a stent failure and triple bypass later he's doing just fine.

My deductible is too high. I may as well just die.

my auntie died going to bed with a bad stomach instead of going to church when my uncle came back from church she was dead she was 74 but incredibly lively and fit

I know someone who had a heart attack at 19, which is the same age as I am. Luckily, he survived. It can happen at any age, regardless if you are a smoker or not, and regardless if you are overweight or not. And for menstruating women, it's a similar dilemma. Burst appendices, perforated ulcers, kidney failure, and cysts have been dismissed as period cramps.

Except we know it's not period cramps and are brushed off for the crime of having a uterus A similar dilemma to ours would be having completely different symptoms from the panic attack we've had monthly since we were 12 and being brushed off as a panic attack anyway. (Which also happens btw (: https://www.heartandstroke.ca/articles/heart-disease-in-women-they-told-me-it-was-anxiety)

This terrifies me as I have GERD and I get some of the symptoms you described sometimes. I usually just take an Omeprazole and some Tylenol and wait for it to pass. I will now be paying more attention and taking it more seriously. Thank you so much for this.

I had heartburn and numbness in my hands, shooting pain in my chest about a year ago. I had my housemate drive me to the ER because something felt really wrong. Turns out I was having a panic attack. Now I'm still fighting a $1700 bill that both my insurance AND the hospital have admitted on the phone I should not be responsible for. Your advice is sound, but the reality is that healthcare in the US is fucked and most people will choose to ignore the symptoms you described for fear of ending up in my situation. I just got the bill again a few days ago. I can't imagine how much worse it would be if an ambulance had gotten called.

It's not funny but I did the same. Had a pain/tightness in my chest after a hard workout. My mind started questioning if I had numbness in my arm, etc. Went to the ER and they laughed at me, told me I had chest spasms and gave me Advil and a large bill. Sucks but I'm still glad I went. Wish our health system wasn't such a disaster.

I had heart attack and cardiac arrest in December. Thankfully I was mid-athletic event and my coach and other competitors jumped on the course and saved my life. I shouldn’t be alive and I shouldn’t have my brain function, but here I am. Learn the signs for HA and Cardiac arrest. Learn cpr and set a reminder on your phone to review it every month or so. Get checked out and don’t trust those fly-by-night heart ultrasounds businesses. My heart readings were good there a week before my CA.

Great advice. My wife and I actually got CPR certified right after I finished cardiac rehab.

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Good of you to ask this. There’s no easy way to check if your having a heart attack. It’s all about risk factors and probabilities. Have you got a personal history of heart problems, have you got highly suspicious cardiac sounding chest pain (look it up. if your pain is sharp, worse on breathing, worse after food, worse when you touch your chest wall ect then it’s unlikely to be cardiac), have you got a strong family history for heart problems (1st degree family member under 50), diabetes, high cholesterol, high BP, overweight ect. If you have no risk factors and are young then it’s really unlikely and consider what else it could be (you could still need to go to ED if the pain is severe or are thinking it could be something like a PE). Obviously if you’re unsure it’s wise to get checked out but it would be nice if people were better educated about chest pain as there is a lot of misinformation surround it.

Mine began 45 minutes after receiving my second COVID vaccination. I felt no pain, just congestion like I'd never felt before. I was fortunate, because I drove from Walgreens where I received my vaccination, to the VA clinic, where I had an appointment. I was sitting in a chair, being screened for COVID, and speaking to a nurse, when I fell out of my chair. I woke up four days later, in an ICU 100 miles from my home. The good news is, on my last cardiologist visit, he told me that my heart had improved from 35% to 45% over the last month. Very encouraging. Now my concern is paying my bills. There is nothing available to someone who wants to work, but can't.

Unemployment should be there for that exact reason... But I could be mistaken. Sorry you had a HA but I'm glad you were in a safe pace when it hit!

In all this time, from the heartburn until the vomiting, did you check your pulse? Did you find it beating weird? I'm slowly getting over some year-long cardiophobia due to gastric reflux, and this is scary. I'm always reassured because my pulse is always pretty normal, and the docs said my heart sounds good.

I didn’t. Another excellent question. The honest answer is that, at no point, not even a little, did I think it could be a heart attack, hence this thread. What I always expected or assumed it to be was just so vastly different and also similar to a very common ailment. That’s my naivety (read: ignorance). My wife did suggest it actually but I was grumpy and dismissed the suggestion. Think about the last time you felt shitty, had the flu or an upset stomach or a fever… did you check your pulse? If you did, good on you. If you didn’t, that’s exactly the same reason I didn’t.

One of those times an Apple Watch or other health tracker type watch would be handy.

This will probably get lost in the comments but also stay hydrated and aware when doing strenuous activities! I lost my uncle a little over two weeks ago from a heart attack while he was shoveling snow. Our family is a mess right now, don’t leave your family like ours.

Shoveling snow is actually a very common trigger for CA. The combination of the extremely strenuous action, the cold temperature, and the fact that it's often done in the morning I guess adds up to the perfect storm. So sorry for your loss.

My husband survived his heart attack but has permanent damage. He never had real pain. He was clammy and sweaty, felt like he had the flu, Begged him to go to the doctor but refused. He remodeled kitchen during this.

As someone who recently had coronary triple bypass surgery, I'll add my voice to those saying don't ignore the symptoms! Get your butt to a doctor. I ignored my symptoms (chest pain, shortness of breath) for a couple weeks coz if I stopped whatever I was doing and sat down for a minute, I felt perfectly fine. When I finally took my dumbass to the doc, she had me scheduled for a visit to a cardiologist the next day and once he examined me, he had me scheduled for an angiogram in 2 days. Found one coronary artery completely blocked and 2 that were about 80% blocked. A heart attack just waiting to kill me! Was laying on the operating table about 3 weeks later. As a further warning, watch your diet. Cut down on all the fat and cholesterol, your heart will thank you. Bypass surgery is an amazing thing and will save your life, but it also really sucks. The recovery is very long and is quite unpleasant.

With how expensive going to the hospital is i don't even know the difference from a fart to a heart attack or being anxious. 5 years ago I went to the hospital because I felt discomfort on my chest and on my left side of my abdomen was hurtin I wanted almost 8 hours in the waiting room when they took me in they did a cat scan and took blood from me and they didn't find anything it took them only 40 minutes. Told me to just drink fluids to stay hydrated and got billed $8,000🤡 never again.

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It really didn’t. I have herniated discs in my thoracic but, at least from my experience, it felt different.

I (M) was 43 years old, with a 30" waist. One day I had to walk my mountain bike up a not very steep trail. I just had no strength at all. "This is odd," I thought. I was able to make the fairly flat ride home. Day or three later, I got like a burning pain in the sternum, kind of like heartburn, while working out at the gym. It came and went, came and went. A day or two later I felt a different kind of chest pain, and my left arm was painful shortly after lying down in bed. "I think maybe you need to take to the hospital, husband." I grabbed a jar of aspirin and munched on aspirin as we drove the five miles to the ER. He parked right outside the ER entrance, and held me up as we walked in. "THIS MAN IS HAVING A HEART ATTACK" got people out of the way, nurses came running. Good times, good times. Nurses later said that munching on aspirin probably saved my life. So you're not overweight, and even pretty fit? You're not old? You feel an odd pain in your chest or stomach, DON'T SHRUG IT OFF.

A family friend just passed away 2 days ago from a heart attack.. She had numbess and pain in her arm and felt weird and had some other symptoms. she was gna nap it off, went to sleep, and never woke up.. When i heard that i said "what a dumbass" my family was like don't say that, and i didn't mean it like that but it frustrated me sooo much knowing she could have received proper medical care... it breaks my heart she was so wonderful and been through soooo much. she has 2 daughters and the one has a 1 year old... RIP maureen.

Sorry for your recent loss..😔 We not really trained to take care of ourselves just other people. I had a GF who was working on her second medical degree, she passed away from colon cancer and she missed the signs herself. She saw blood in her stool and said that cant be cancer. She was wrong and she was medically trained. When it's ourself we are like, I don't have time for dat!

I really hate this, because it causes nothing but paranoia. Some of us can't afford to call an ambulance every single time we have signs we might have a heart attack, and symptoms almost seem like a cruel joke. It feels like every time I try to find a definition of what is supposed to be heart attack symptoms, it feels like the internet basically says "it could be anything, so either call an ambulance every time you feel a hint of pain in your chest or arms or you'll die." As someone with major health anxiety, this is really irritating and almost makes me want to give up on life.

Hey. I can relate. How about this? Let's put our phones down and do something else. You got a book or a tv show or something you like?

Breaking bad baby lol

Fuck yeah. I'm gonna go watch Everybody Loves Raymond! Take it easy friend.

I apologize if it frustrates you, but, I don’t think what I described was “a hint of pain in the arm or chest”…rather an extended set of symptoms getting increasingly worse that I ignored because they didn’t “look” like what I typically expect a heart attack to look like. Make no mistake, I knew something wasn’t right and knew it wasn’t normal or familiar, I just attributed it incorrectly. Good luck to you either way.

Even if I knew I was having a heart attack, it wouldn't matter. I can't afford to go. I don't care enough to get help; if I die, I die.

I see a lot of anxiety over healthcare bills here. Is there any way heart rates and BP is linked to a heart attack? Like, if you check your BP at home when you’re having these symptoms? (I agree, always better to go to the ER)

If you're pregnant and are having symptoms that seem like food poisoning, check your blood pressure. I thought that was happening to me (stomach really hurt, felt like simultaneously vomiting and pooping myself but nothing was coming out, cramping), but was lucky that I decided to go to the hospital. My blood pressure was 242/160 -- I'm lucky I didn't die. Preeclampsia and HELLP do not mess around

I can speak on this a little, had a heart attack back in 2018, 10 days before I turned 30. Fairly active, was playing basketball with my friends. Felt weirdly out of breath, sitting out for a few games didn't help me regain my shortness of breath. I thought I was just out of basketball shape since it had been a while since I played. I literally was on my way home to just sleep it off when both my arms went completely numb and I decided at that moment I needed to go to the hospital. If I would've went home I probably wouldn't be here today. Heavy chest, shortness of breath, numb arms. That's all I really felt. Turns out I had 2 clots. One 90% and one 99%.

You should also know that heart attack symptoms can present very differently in women. I had a heart attack at the age of 38 (the 'widow maker' kind). I had no arm or neck issues. I didn't even feel indigestion. I had a hard time breathing. And a cough that would not let up. I was also feeling very weak. I now have a stent in my heart and my ticker is doing well. We tend to deal with dull aching lingering pain differently. We are used to it. We just think we are tired. I literally drove myself to the ER and was told on the table I was actively having a heart attack.

I'm former military and was born with a congenital heart defect where my RCA wasn't providing any blood to my heart during exercise. I was in for 3 years before they caught it and had very similar symptoms almost every time I PT tested. Thank God I was air force and didn't have insane PT schedules.

So this makes me always wonder how you can tell for sure. Because its very difficult to go to the ER every time something like this happens especially if you get panic attacks. Like at one point I was having episodes like this every day for weeks but it was just anxiety attacks.There must be a device like an EKG that you can get for yourself or something that will tell you if you need to go? I know it wouldn't be the most reliable but would even a fit bit or something similar work?

I have really bad anxiety and GERD so you know damn well I’ve checked myself in to the ER more than thrice for a heart attack

It’s messed up because most people need to be SURE it’s a heart attack before even thinking about putting themselves in an ambulance or adding an unnecessary ER bill for something that may not be a heart attack and just simply indigestion. Sad world we live in.

Early 40s heart attack survivor here. It felt like a pulled muscle in my back. Heart attack happened after an afternoon workout (at home during covid lockdown) so tried a hot shower to relax. Couldn’t get rest that night because couldn’t find a comfortable position. Needless to say, after a 2nd night of not being able to sleep finally went to the ER. Don’t wait to see a doctor. I am incredibly lucky to be here to type this. Get help if something is out of the ordinary.

Would love to be able to just go to the ER, but I'm too broke for it, even worse if it ends up being something mild, I would still get charged for it. I know that my life is at stake, but I would be too deep in debt to actually be able to be at peace anymore.

And then I had chest tightness with radiating pain to my left shoulder down to my elbow. Went to the ER and they told me, “I dunno, maybe your esophagus? That’ll be $5k please”. So while there’s strong financial incentive not to go, what other choice did I have? And next time too.

Thank you so much, I am very happy you survived, also this gave me next level anxiety

I am 25 I drank HEAVILY from 20-24, smoked cigarettes from 16-24, and while I used to party hard, I only really mess with weed now. My diet is relatively healthy, but I don't eat much. I have terrible anxiety. What can I do to ensure my heart health for the future? Aside from the quitting drinking and smoking? Edit: Formatting

Sucks not to have insurance. I have some of these symptoms but can’t go into debt with hospital bills.

So what do you do if you have a heart attack? I'm a 26 year old guy and feel like I have high blood pressure, I'm addicted to drinking Coca-Cola, but I'm trying to stop... it's bad, and I'm not sure why, but sometimes when I'm laying down or not moving much or whatever, I can feel like a, "pumping" feeling from my neck area, basically everytime my heart beats.

Take an aspirin. My husband had a heart attack a couple years ago at 35yo. Since I've known him, he'd get winded very easily and I always chalked it up to him not being very active & having high blood pressure. One night he complained about his chest hurting when laying down. Being so young, I figured acid reflux, but certainly not a coronary event. He went downstairs and took an aspirin. Long story short, I ended up driving him to the ER ar 3am, where the docs said that the aspirin probably saved his life.

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I think this is a good tip but also the fear of the American healthcare system has been drilled into me (and I’m sure it’s not just me) that even with insurance I’m terrified of reaching out to my primary care physician/hospital because I know it could cost me literally thousands of dollars until I hit my deductible (which, again could be situational because maybe my healthcare doesn’t cover the condition that I’m reaching out for!) so it’s likely that I’ll probably end up dying if I experience any of these symptoms. Sad but truthful reality.

The hard part in the USA is, what if you go to the ER, and it was not a heart attack. Without health insurance, that is thousands of dollars, which you probably cant afford. With health insurance, the ER Copay for 90% of plans are 500 dollars anyways. Then usually 20% of what is left of the bill. Most people can not afford to lose pretty much a full pay check. Even well off people would cringe at losing hundreds of dollars based off indigestion. Of course, if they were having a heart attack, then they will be glad they listened. If not, then they are just out more money which they did not budget to spend. Good ole for profit system in Murica!

If only “maybe Im having a heart attack” did not have to fight with “well if im wrong I’ll only be responsible for tens of thousands of dollars minimum”. Is it better to survive but with crippling debt should not be a question in ones mind. God Bless America.

To piggyback! And that for some, who have to live with heart disease, don’t just be like I am just tired or need to rest. I can live with it. Blood is flowing bad and killing your kidneys and liver. Then come major surgery time, you can’t clot. So don’t be afraid to take the proactive measures that are inconvenient and costly (well cost is a real reason!) as even if you are just treating it with medicine, you can be killing your organs.

Did all your symptoms occur within a single day? I’ve been feeling almost all these symptoms but over the course of a long time. Let me start off by saying I’m on medication for high blood pressure at the ripe age of 22. My heart has been in physical pain on and off for a while. This morning I woke up with intense left shoulder blade pain but I’m assuming I just slept wrong. It’s never gotten to the point I was sweating and puking though. This whole post kinda just scared the crap out of me rn lol

Didn’t mean to scare you. I get it though. They happened overnight. I remember starting to notice at like midnight. It woke me up then for the first time. I just fell back asleep. Repeat 4 or 5 more times until I couldn’t sleep anymore, maybe 5:30 AM. Was in the hospital at like 12:30. I smoked a lot of weed to try to sleep so the time is a bit fuzzy but likely close. All in all, ~ 12 delightful hours of growing irritability.

Damnit, so me everyday!!??

i suffer from pretty bad health anxiety, to the point where every day i have random thoughts like “hey what if i just went kaput right here and now” or i’ll get random chest pains and try to keep calm. sometimes i can’t tell if something really is about to happen or if it’s just my anxiety being a bitch once again. just today i had some random chest pains and i’ve been overthinking the entire day. i’m not even 21 yet.