Early Symptoms Can Warn of Sudden Cardiac Death

Food Consumer ^ | Sept. 8, 2006 | Ed Edelson

[Proud2BeRight]

Good info. Hope many read it. I had chest pains for three days last year. Figured that I had injured my sternum when antacids didn't relieve it. I drove to the hospital when they would not go away and got worse. I didn't even find it serious enough to even have my wife drive.

An emergency angioplasty and five stents later I now walk 5-7 miles a day and run a mile or two of it when my knees cooperate. On days we don't walk 30-50 miles on the bikes take it's place. 75 pounds less weight and four prescriptions and I feel twenty years younger.

[steamroller]

i recently had 2 stents put in my right coronary artery at ava hospital-the doctors emphasized that taking the follow up meds-aspirin,beta blocker,and especially plavix for the recommended time and never skipping a dose was essential to avoiding a heart attack-a lot of people stop taking plavix because of sometimes unpleasant side effects

[Cacique]

btt

[NotJustAnotherPrettyFace]

It used to happen every month.

My money is on "Adrenal fatigue". DHEA once or twice a day goes a LONG way towards regulating that cyclical problem. It is no laughing matter.

[NotJustAnotherPrettyFace]

Sounds like a possible malpractice issue on the part of that doctor and nurse. Have you considered that?

[NotJustAnotherPrettyFace]

Hi there - I live just up the road from you two suburbs to the north ;-).

[radiohead]

please keep an aspirin with you at all times

Boy, it just shows how we don't think sometimes. I keep aspirin at home, tho I usually take tylenol and ibuprophen for pain. It never occured to me to add aspirin to my stock of 'just in case' meds I carry around with me.

Thanks for the heads up. I'm giong to add some aspirin to my stash right now.

[SuziQ]

Doesn't always help, even if one is IN the hospital. My brother developed what he thought was a kidney stone problem, and was admitted to a hospital in a town in which he was doing a house inspection, four hours from his home. He got up to go to the bathroom in the middle of the night, and started experiencing breathlessness and tightening of his chest. They moved him to ICU immediately, but he had a heart attack and actually died around 9:30 am that morning. They revived him, and he held on long enough so that his wife could reach the hospital, after the long drive. They had called her the night before, when they thought he only had kidney stones, and she was on her way up, with their oldest son's fiance so that she'd be able to drive my brother's car back home.

He died 10 minutes after her arrival, and unfortunately was almost unconscious and was not able to communicate with her.

He was only 66, and our Dad had dropped dead at the age of 64, but Mama didn't want to have an autopsy done at the time of Daddy's death. We encouraged my s-i-l to have one done, not only for the benefit of our three surviving brothers, but also for their four sons! It would be helpful to know if there had been any congenital problems that the others could work around. She had it done, but I've never learned if they found anything in particular which would explain his death.

[SuziQ]

I've had several of those symptons over the last five years. Went through a full gamut of tests; Holter Monitor, cardiac ultrasound, etc. Cardiologist said there was no underlying heart disease. Even though I am VEY overweight, I have always had normal cholesterol and blood pressure, even during my four pregnancies.

Before all the testing, when I was having heart palpitations, my regular doctor put me on some medicine that was supposed to prevent palpitations; I had them anyway, so he took me off that. He also put me on Warfarin; I hated the way it made me feel. After the Cardio guy told me there was no disease, I told my regular doc I wanted OFF the Warfarin. I told him I'd take an 81mg aspirin everyday instead, which I had been doing, before the Warfarin. He agreed, and I haven't had any real problems since.

I still have the swelling in the ankles, but the palpitations almost never happen anymore. I'm pre-menopausal, though, and they only usually happened when I was ovulating, so I always though they were hormonal, anyway.

[basil]

Thanks to help from Jim Robinson, here is that old thread that I posted as I was recovering from my heart attack:

Aspirin for Heart Attack

[xJones]

Great! I'm bookmarking it and bumping this thread.:)

[flaglady47]

"Boy, it just shows how we don't think sometimes. I keep aspirin at home, tho I usually take tylenol and ibuprophen for pain. It never occured to me to add aspirin to my stock of 'just in case' meds I carry around with me."

Careful w/the Tylenol and Ibuprofen for pain. Don't mix them on the same day. They shouldn't be intermixed. Same w/aspirin. Pick one and stay with it. Mixing the different drugs isn't good. Usually on the bottle or box, it says don't take aspirin if taking Tylenol, or vice versa. Or Ibuprofen. Check w/your doc about this or look up on Web MD on interactions.

[radiohead]

Thanks. I know about the not-mixing. I use them for different issues. I find the ibuprophen works well for my sinus headaches but does nothing for the arthritis in my hip. Two tylenol, however, do the trick. I was taking prescription strength aleve and getting very little relief. After a chat w/the pharmacist, I tried tylenol and have not had to take anymore prescribed meds for pain. On the other hand, 2 tylenol do not put a dent in my sinus pain.