Terrible evening

Should have typed not a heart attack....just a type

YES I have been in the same situation quite a few times. I have PBC, a liver and bile problem, and take medication same as you. I have been in the cinema when I experienced the that awful pain in the chest that then moves into the jaw. We left the film and went to the cottage hospital for check up and tests. The good news was it wasn't a heart attack. But its easy to be told its to a heart attack but it is so worrying when it happens. Now after many years of suffering bouts of it and 999 calls by a worried husband or gd I am learning to live with it. I avoid any fatty or spicy food and tend to eat very small meals and not later than 6 pm, this all seems to keep it under control. However I presently going through a period of getting these pains and believe me its hard not to panic. I would suggest going back to your doctor and telling him you have having break thoughts of indigestion as you may well need to have your medication dosage increased. Keep calm

Please go to the doctor as soon as possible. I did exactly the same as you, ignored chest pain and went to bed, fine the next morning. At a routine appointment a few weeks later I mentioned it to my GP who made a fast track appointment to cardiology department at local hospital and discovered that I had suffered a heart attack and had two blocked arteries. I had two stents fitted and I now feel fine, but I did irreparable damage to my heart by not getting treatment in time. Please go and get checked out

Interesting article today about the treatment of women who have heart attacks. Doesn’t inspire Definitely don’t ignore it and seek help if it happens again.
www.daily mail.co.uk/wires/pa/article-6419999/8-000-UK-women-die-unequal-heart-attack-care.html

Never ignore chest pains particularly if you are not so young. Call for an ambulance as I have done twice over three years, better to be sure than sorry.

Forgot to write that PM showed atherosclerosis.

So glad you’re feeling better Mande . On a lighter note re your forethought on removing the keys some while ago I was eating a cracker and started to choke. I thought “ if someone comes in and finds me unconscious that won’t know the cause “ so I grabbed the chalkboard and scribbled I WAS CHOKING ! Thankfully I got my breath and wiped it off but how my family laughed when I told them!??

* symptoms, dead. Sorry, fast typing.

A person can often get symptom similar to yours, which subside. A week later they could drop dead.
That happened to my father. Advised to go home from work by his secretary as he was experiencing the same symptoms you have described and gobbling Rennies as if they were sweets.
He went straight to bed (mum was out shopping) and, as I was on my day off from work I made him comfortable, put a bowl and towel by the side of the bed in case he was sick and a glass of water.
He felt fine later on and the next evening went out to dinner with mum and some work colleagues.
All went well for the next week but, on the Sunday, 9 days after feeling unwell, he dropped dead on the pavement outside a car showroom where he had been signing papers to buy a new car. He was 45 years old and walked everywhere. No medical problems at all until that day when he felt unwell.
Never ignore chest pains that travel up to your jaw and make your chest feel as if it has a band around it.
Go to your doctor or A&E immediately.
If it turns out to be a false alarm, that's ok. They will never berate you for being cautious but bypass your GP if you get those symptoms.
The post mortem showed that my dad was died before he even hit the ground. A beat policeman (you remember what they are...don't you?) saw it all happen from across the road.

As a stoic widow I try to be independent but this can be taken to unwise extremes.
A few years ago I had a bad cough which wouldn't go away. As a child I'd get told off for coughing, "Stop making that racket" or "don't fuss, it's only a cough" so I tried to suppress it until a neighbour pointed out that I should see a doctor. I was dismayed that it was pneumonia and I spent all that summer on antibiotics. Lesson learned - coughing may not be 'just a tickle.'

TeacherAnne, even although it was long ago may I start by uttering my sympathies for your described plight from start to unfortunate finish but I have to then add a huge thank you for making me smile hugely. I think I relate absolutely to your actions right, wrong or otherwise. I certainly wouldn't have given a fig for my neighbours seeing me in my dg so might have avoided the painful bt. Thanks for sharing this. This thread has given me food for thought as to how anyone would get in here overnight if I lost the faculties to tell them where the keys are. Not Fort Knox but somewhat secure. Mmmmmm......

Last year I was getting very short of breath even walking a few yards. As I have asthma I thought I maybe needed a stronger inhaler. I called for an appt which I got for the next Thursday (8 days later). On the Tuesday night I felt "fair wabbit" but by Wednesday morning felt fine. Went for my appt and doctor insisted he did an ecg. Turned out I had had a heart attack, they thought on the Tuesday night. I had to have 2 stents inserted. So please don't ignore these type of symptoms. My father did and died of a massive heart attack at 53. I was lucky.

If you had called for help in the night mande it is likely a paramedic would have been dispatched to see you. They'd be able to do an ECG to work out if the pain was heart related or not. They would never feel you had wasted their time because if pain does turn out to be a heart attack a positive outcome is time critical.

It was a really good idea to take out your doors keys so that other people can get in and if anyone needs to call 999 in the night it also helps the emergency services find you if you put all the house lights on and ensure your house has a visible name or number.

Hope your new medication does the trick and that you feel its ok to call for help if needed at any time in future.

I suffer from stomach problems that cause these kind of symptoms.
I know it sounds very simple and I'm not trying to minimise what you went through in any way, but try drinking water as hot as you can bear it.
All I can say is it works for me at times when I would otherwise worry that I had heart problems.

Having an atrial fibrillation " attack " is nearly as bad as having a heart attack in that although the heart is pumping the blood stops circulating and instead it pools in the atrium before it flows out when the risk of throwing a clot out at the same time is always there either to the heart or brain. I've had this for 28 years so it proves that the medication works though I had a TIA last year but not as bad as it would have been without the right medication.

I had similar symptoms 2 years ago although no chest pain. I then started experiencing palpitations so went to the doctors a couple of weeks later who diagnosed atrial fibrillation after an ECG and put me on meds. I think we women are the worlds worst when it comes to our own health - I still don't know if I had a heart attack that day but with hindsight should probably have rung 111 to make sure.

Teacheranne, oh dear, how awful! I think we women are used to being carers so find it harder to be cared for.

On the positive side Woman s heart attacks don’t usually mimic the classic pains that men get women get much more ‘silent’ signs but glad you got checked out My friend didn’t even know she’d had a an heart attack till years after when she was asked by a consultant ‘ when did you gave your heart attack’ and she said ‘I ve never had one’ and he said ‘oh yes you have’
I m the same as you Mande and tend to let most pains go in the expectation that it will ( as my Nan always said) go when it’s ready
Good luck

I had similar symptoms some few years ago : cramp in the chest & back radiating through the neck into the jaw. Really horrible and frightening. I saw a cardiologist who pronounced my heart A1 and was sent down the corridor to another consultant who diagnosed a hiatus hernia. I still occasionally get these feelings and have discovered that swallowing cold water slowly alleviates the symptoms

A few years ago I had similar symptoms in the night and living on my own I went online to the NHS website. I typed in my symptoms and got the message "dial 999 for an ambulance" I then had another go, downplaying some of the symptoms and got the same message. So I went and had a shower as I could not see a doctor if not clean and put on some pyjamas, I then phoned 999. After a paramedic gave me an ecg test, an ambulance was called quickly and at 6 am I was whisked into A&E.

I still cannot believe I had a shower before phoning for an ambulance!

I was kept in all day for lots of tests and I was diagnosed with gastric flu but at no time did any nurse or doctor make me feel I had wasted their time.

At tea time I was discharged and rather than bother my daughter (lived 40 miles away) or my sister at work, I went home, still wearing my dressing gown and pyjamas, in a taxi. After I paid him, I was so embarrassed at being seen by my neighbours that I ran across the front lawn, tripped on the porch step and broke my little toe!

Not a good day really!

Relieved for you Mande and glad to hear that you're being checked out. I was going to suggest having aspirin in your medicine cupboard but with a stomach problem it's a bit dodgy.

The GP rang this afternoon. He agreed with me that it sounded like my stomach problem has been exacerbated. He has changed my tablets and I have to make an appointment with the nurse (which I will do in the morning) to get bloods and blood pressure looked at and take it from there. Thank you all for taking the time to give me advice. It is much appreciated.

I'd be a fine one to give advice because I'm the same though your pain does/did sound hearty and needs attention. An ECG done at the surgery should have been your first port of call and they would then have decided on further tests by ringing for an ambulance should the need arise.

Pain radiating into your jaw from your chest is a sign of a heart attack OP so it’s quite possible that’s what it was.
Not something to be taken lightly.

How frightening for you, the nights can be so long when you are in pain and on your own. Fingers crossed everything went ok with your GP