Two days ago I lay in an ER hospital bed with tubes in my nose, a heart monitor attached and needles sucking blood from my arm.
Was it a heart attack? I certainly had all the symptoms: chest pains, extreme dizziness and nausea, couldn’t take a deep breath, heavy fatigue.
It had come on so fast that morning. First it was the dizziness. The room was spinning as if I were on a Merry go Round. I stumbled over and had such tightness in my chest. The fatigue set in and I felt like I couldn’t breathe.
I have read many times to beware of “The Silent Killer” as heart disease is the number one killer of women. I will be 56 this month and having heart disease in my family caused even more concern.
I wanted to tough it out, ignore it. “It’s nothing”, I thought, “Maybe too much caffeine”. But the symptoms wouldn’t let up and I made the call.
A couple hours later, I walked out of the hospital feeling pretty much the same. It was not a heart attack or stroke. I was embarrassed and vowed never to do that again. And then I remembered hearing, that’s what many women do and they die.
Here are the warning signs of a heart attack in women and then I’ll share what the doctor told me.
Neck, shoulder, upper back or abdominal discomfort
Shortness of breath
Nausea or vomiting
Sweating
Lightheadedness or dizziness
Unusual fatigue
www.americanheart.org
I also read:
“Worldwide, 8.6 million women die from heart disease each year, accounting for a third of all deaths in women. Three million women die from stroke each year. Stroke accounts for more deaths among women than men (11% vs 8.4%) with additional risk for CHD unique to women related to oral contraceptive use in combination with smoking.
8 million women in the US are currently living with heart disease; 35,000 are under age of 65. Four million suffer from angina.
435,000 American women have heart attacks annually; 83,000 are under age 65; 35,000 are under 55. The average: 70.4.
267,000 women die each year from heart attacks, which kill six times as many women as breast cancer. Another 31, 837 women die each year of congestive heart failure, representing 62.6% of all heart failure deaths.” www.womensheart.org
Ladies, the doctor shared that if we experience any of these symptoms in a manner that is new or different for us, go get checked. Do not wait.
So what happened to me? What was it that caused these symptoms? I had the flu. A very strange type of flu that I have not experienced before. I am a bit embarrassed over the fuss, but I can only imagine what would have happened had I not gone in and it was the real thing.
The doctor said I was right to come in. So with that, I hope my ER story had given you some useful information for yourself and women you know.
