Heart Attack Support Group
Heart attack is a serious, sudden heart condition usually characterized by varying degrees of chest pain or discomfort, weakness, sweating, nausea, vomiting, and arrhythmias, sometimes causing loss of consciousness. It occurs when the blood supply to a part of the heart is interrupted, causing death and scarring of the local heart tissue.
Just wanted to chime in my brother had a widow maker at 44 two years ago, and RIP.. i don't think it should be called a widow maker unless it actually produced a window, as it did in his wife.Now it's two years later, and it's my turn to be 44. Yaay! :)! Who knew i'd go into it feeling like it might be my last.
One question: I see many of you say you are now tired, get exhausted, were you guys/gals feeling tired or anything at all before your heart attacks? Were you physically active, etc...? Any symptoms you may have ignored that you now recall? I'm trying to figure out what i should be watching out for... I take -some- preventative measures but not sure how much is enough, how much too much, etc....did your heart attacks come at times of emotional stress (my brother, yes). Did you feel anything in the previous weeks or days in your arms, shoulders left side, ribs, etc? Esp. were you tired? My bro was telling me he was always exhausted and even passed out.. Neither us us knew it was a HA symptom, but I was concerned, sadly not enough.
So would i bet better off taking getting a stent BEFORE i had any event if they saw blockages, or if we're going to assume I'll live since i'm ready for it and very aware... might i just as well wait for the damned event and take care of it then. Will i suffer much more if i don't check and repair before? I'm not sure it will happen.. it's not very common in our family.. but Stew was my only sibling, and our lifestyles although not mirror-images, do share a lot in common.
One question: I see many of you say you are now tired, get exhausted, were you guys/gals feeling tired or anything at all before your heart attacks? Were you physically active, etc...? Any symptoms you may have ignored that you now recall? I'm trying to figure out what i should be watching out for... I take -some- preventative measures but not sure how much is enough, how much too much, etc....did your heart attacks come at times of emotional stress (my brother, yes). Did you feel anything in the previous weeks or days in your arms, shoulders left side, ribs, etc? Esp. were you tired? My bro was telling me he was always exhausted and even passed out.. Neither us us knew it was a HA symptom, but I was concerned, sadly not enough.
So would i bet better off taking getting a stent BEFORE i had any event if they saw blockages, or if we're going to assume I'll live since i'm ready for it and very aware... might i just as well wait for the damned event and take care of it then. Will i suffer much more if i don't check and repair before? I'm not sure it will happen.. it's not very common in our family.. but Stew was my only sibling, and our lifestyles although not mirror-images, do share a lot in common.
He was constantly exhausted and his face was red all the time. He was not under stress at the time of the heart attack, but was just moving around in our backyard. For him, the exhaustion was the major pre-event symptom he remembers.
Prayers for your health to stay well. I would ask to have an echocardiagram or cath due to your family history if you have any exhaustion at all.
Blessings, Sallie
Cardiac catheterization is not without risk, and it isn't cheap, and there probably isn't any way to put a stent in a blockage that hasn't yet occurred. Unless you are having symptoms of an imminent heart attack such as chest pains or irregular heartbeat, a medical intervention would be premature. What you can do now is get a head start on the lifestyle changes you would have to make after a heart attack. I don't need to list them all here, do I?
My younger brother is now several years older than I was when I had my heart attack, and he's had no problems. So you can relax at least a little bit.
I had no warnings before, during, or after my first few heart attacks, or at least the symptoms weren't far enough out of the ordinary to catch my attention. So we can't count on advanced notice when an event is about to occur.
There are a set of heart screening tests that can be conducted, and some insurance companies will cover them under the right conditions, but none those are conclusive. It takes so many different tests to have a reliable picture of the entire heart, and many are as Minor said costly as well as risky. I got a clean bill of health just a couple weeks before my adventure.
That leaves taking the bull by the horns and doing everything in your power to reduce your risk. Diet, exercise and eliminating any risky behavior such as smoking will help. I would recommend you give that consideration.
Praying is helping me alot. Along with changing my eating habits slowly, I did quit smoking and went to using a vapor.
I would suggest seeing your doctor and describing how you feel; also check the warning signs; listed on this forum; maybe seeing a cardiologist would help put your mind at ease!
I continue with diet, exercise and proper meds, but the thing that I do now for my peace of mind is carry a bottle of spray nitroglycerin with me everywhere I go. My doc says I don't need it, but they've been wrong before and it gives me comfort.
So to answer your question, you don't always know or can tend to brush off the warning signs. Take the advice of the above post and start doing preventive measures now and not after the damage is done. Just my humble opinion.