Silent Heart Attacks — Ill-Known Threat (Vanity)

Thoughtful Observation | 30 January 2019 | Humble Self

[Sarcasm Factory]

I should have known this was coming sooner or later, given my unhealthy living style and other health risk factors, but it did come, quietly on padded feet in the hushed hours of early morning.

I had a silent heart attack.

I woke up to take a piss but was unable then to fall back asleep. I kept waking up again to gasp for breath, which was weird. After perhaps thirty minutes of this, I gave up and arose to poke at the Internet for clues. Carbon monoxide poisoning was a possible cause, but then why were alarms not ringing all over the apartment building?

The symptoms — gasping for breath, a rubber heart slamming around erratically for far longer than usual with a known heart condition, and a mild but oddly disproportionate nausea — increased to a clammy, cold sweat.

Okay. I try not to be an idiot. The Mayo clinic and other websites described this as indicative of a so-called silent heart attack.

Silent Heart Attack

Silent Heart Attack

I took the easy way out. I gobbled down four baby aspirin for a total of about 320 milligrams of this cheap, off-the-shelf clot-buster drug. Then I waited. Hospitals scare me — too many people go into them for one problem and end up acquiring other serious problems, most notably hospital-borne diseases.

The symptoms worsened, stabilized, and faded away. I was not happy but at least relieved. I need to lose a lot of weight right now and to eat way more healthy, beneficial, and disgusting cruciferous vegetables. Happy, happy, joy, joy. At least I already like steamed broccoli.

I'm alive and not quietly rotting away until the neighbors complain of a terrible smell from my apartment. This is good news. I'm not complaining.

That's my little story for the day. It is to be hoped it didn't bore you. Be of good cheer!

[iontheball]

Some thoughts. Hydrate when getting up at night. I know it may cause more trips to the bathroom, but hydration is important to prevent clotting. Take your blood pressure, baby aspirin, and other heart meds before going to sleep, not in the morning.

[Zhang Fei]

Get thee to a hospital. We have here in these United States the best medical care money can buy. Whether or not you have insurance, whatever hospital admits you is obligated to examine you, tell you what is wrong, and treat you. Worry about the payments later. Every hospital I’ve ever heard of has arranged for affordable payment plans. Know of a guy who had a heart attack and probably racked up $100K in medical bills. He’s been paying $100 a month for over a decade. There are others, but I won’t bore you with the details. Suffice to say that hospitals do consider ability to pay when figuring out payment plans.

[Viking2002]

Have your doc do a blood enzyme workup, stat. I had something similar happen to me on the way to work one morning, years ago. Shortness of breath, numbness in my arm, chest pain. Went straight to the ER. They started an IV and an EKG, and from all appearances, it looked like I'd had an attack. The EKG even showed that one of my heart chambers had reduced flow, like it was recovering from oxygen deprivation. But my blood work came back neg. They sent me to Radiology for imaging, etc, then sent me straight to my doc after sending all the results. He looked at my blood work, the imaging results, then balled up the whole folder, threw it at the garbage can, and yelled, "Bullshit!". He got out one of the scans and said, "See this dark spot here? That's not your heart. That's an esophageal lesion. You had an erosive reflux attack so intense, it mimicked a heart attack. You're one step away from a bleeding ulcer." He got out his pad and scribbled on it, and said, "Go over to the pharmacy and fill this. It'll kick in around 24 hours from now - it's sustained release. And no drinking for the rest of the week." 20-odd years of hard boozing almost ate a hole in my plumbing. I know, it's scary. But cover all your bases.

[fruser1]

Too late for hospital. See doc. Might give you nitro. Aspirin may not cut it for your particular prob, whatever it is. Doc will be able to differentiate.

[Sarcasm Factory]

I was going to try to reply to y'all individually, but your message was universal. Go to the hospital or at least to the doctor. Okay. I'll make an appointment with my general practitioner later today. I actually did call the office in the morning to ask what to do during the actual hours-long heart attack, but I'm a self-admitted wimp already about hospitals. ^^;

Your concern is appreciated, though. Much, much appreciated! I'll keep y'all updated on general principles. If this tiny little personal thread somehow manages to save one of you guys from the kind of sudden death possible with hidden heart disease, then I'll be happy. ^_^

[Bell Bouy II]

when I heard that about the vaping I thought, forget it, they are toast & especially after a frigen stroke.......unbelievable

[libertylover]

Glad you survived, but you really should get this checked out because it won’t go away on its own. A couple of stents might work wonders.

I’ve had heart problems since 1990 and here’s my 2 things of advice:

STRONG ADVICE: Don’t lift anything heavy until you’ve been checked out. My limit is supposed to be 10lb. (a gallon of milk weighs 8). It’s unrealistic but it shows you how important it is. If your battery fails in this cold weather, get somebody else to change it out, don’t lift it yourself.

Don’t overeat. One thing I’ve found out is that digestion puts a heavy load on the heart, so don’t overeat.

[Sarcasm Factory]

Walking is always a good idea. Up the stairs, down the stairs. To the supermarket and back from the supermarket a mile down the road. I used to do that much more than now. Time to return to old, good habits. ^_^

[aMorePerfectUnion]

If it was really a heart attack, your EKG/echo will tell the doctor.

Go.

[Zhang Fei]

If you’ve got a fear of doctors, need a shoulder to lean on and don’t have any local friends or relatives, maybe a local Freeper could accompany you. But you’d have to disclose your rough location, e.g. what state you’re in.

[fireman15]

I do not like to go to doctors or the hospital either. There is a good chance that whatever heart problem you have is getting worse... and yes it could end up killing you. But it probably was not a “silent heart attack”... more likely you are developing a problem with angina. Typically none of us are very good at diagnosing our own problems.

I ignored severe abdominal pain for weeks. My wife said that my complexion was changing color and if I didn’t go to get it checked out that she would shoot me in the head herself and put me out of my misery. My appendix had been ruptured for a week and I was starting to develop a bad infection. If I had not gone in that day I most likely would have died.

Don’t be an idiot like me... get it checked out. Just call and make an appointment with a doctors office if you don’t want to go to the hospital. Stay away from coughing little kids and old people, don’t touch anything and use some hand disinfectant before you eat anything or pick your nose and you will be alright.

[tflabo]

When you hydrate too also cut down on salt as it raises BP levels. It’s possible to have your symptoms with uncontrolled elevated BP. It happened to me and a trip to my GP probably saved my life as I was in a medical condition called ‘hypertensive crisis’ clammy sweats, hot to cold spells, dizziness, headache, chest tension and such. If not treated with BP meds I was on the way to heart attack or stroke. Now with low dose, affordable BP meds and healthy habits I’m still in the vertical position.

[Sarcasm Factory]

You're quite right. I plan on seeing my general practitioner as soon as possible in addition to the obvious moves of eating well and exercising. He's a good man. I'm scared of dying and hopefully not an idiot who ignores crystal-clear warning signs. I already know the powerful benefits of a ketogenic diet. It's just a matter of sadly waving bye-bye to beautiful, lovely, delicious bread. ^^;

[Sarcasm Factory]

Ugh. Your doctor sounds like a sensible fellow. I'm glad you survived even if it had to be with a metal whatsis rammed into your heart.! Life is precious. -_-

[a fool in paradise]

Careful of another one or a stroke. I’d recommend seeing someone ASAP.

[Sasparilla]

Calling a cardiologist will get only one answer.
“Don’t come here. Go directly to the emergency room.”
There,you will be put on a saline drip, have an EKG, a chest X-ray, blood tests & tests for enczymes that are present after even a silent heart attack.

Don’t be in denial. You are ignoring the seriousness of this episode.
You are playing with your life and with the lives of the ones who love you when you continue to do nothing. It WILL NOT get any better on it’s own.

[Yo-Yo]

Go see a Cardiologist, take a stress test, and join the FR stent club. (I’m a member.)

[Eagles Field]

I hope you’re listening to the Freepers saying to get it checked out. If not you’re about to change a mole hill to the ultimate mountain. If so, you will find it’s not as bad as you thought, be relieved beyond imagination. Live a long life while giving the same advice I did to any that had the same symptoms. Don’t die stupid.

[Sarcasm Factory]

You're scaring me. That's probably good! I'll ask my doctor about these blood enzyme thingies. And no more booze. It was always an occasional binge thing anyway. Dying early is dumb. Hard work is good and carries its own rewards. I'll refrain from buying you a drink to celebrate the acquisition of hard-won wisdom. ^_^

[steve86]

Been through similar but my cause was more obvious without all the tests. Now all we have to worry about is calcium and magnesium depletion from the PPI. NSAIDs (ibuprofen taken as prescribed by a MD), rather than drinking, is what led to my problems.