I’m female and had a heart attack at age 51 - AMA

[Bunnyfuller]

It’s well documented that symptoms of heart attacks are often very different for women….very true for me.

What were your symptoms? And did you have any risk factors? Hope you're well now.

Are you OK?

Were there any warning signs beforehand?

Are you generally a healthy person?

Do you have a family history or heart attacks?

Was there an obvious cause?
Have you had to adjust your lifestyle?

@YouAteTheSteak my symptoms were 4 days of what I can only describe as throat ache! Felt like my glands were up and generally a little bit off. The weird throat thing was on and off, but the night of the heart attack it started around 8-9pm and just didn’t go off. I went up to be but couldn’t physically lay down, no idea why. Then 2 episodes of diarrhoea and my arms started feeling weird. Called an ambulance at that point.

My troponin levels were very high, which indicates how much damage was caused, and I now have moderate mitral regurgitation (means some of the blood doesn’t get pumped effectively).

I had slightly high cholesterol and high BP prior to the heart attack.

@PauliString the warning signs were the weird throat feelings. I did get a feeling in my bottom jaw once. Overall it was all way milder than I would have expected.

What medication do you have to take as a result?

were you fit beforehand?

@Ihateboris (I hate him too!) I was carrying extra weight, but not massively so. Varied diet, active running a house, job, kids, pets.

@blebbleb I’m adopted so no clue of family history

@likemotherlikechild the consultant says a combination of my previous smoking (gave up 15 years ago) and stress were the biggest on the list of what led to it. The year after it my lifestyle changed lots - ate better, moved more and lost 2 1/2 stone. A year later there was a huge family stress around my husband and it set off the inflammatory arthritis which had been bubbling around for years but never diagnosed. It severely affected my ability to walk/exercise and I’m back where I started which is very frustrating and frightening, and I’m so annoyed with myself. Trying to tackle the weight now.

@Ravageur i wouldn’t say I was super fit/sporty but I was very active and rarely got colds etc.

gawd - medication! Yes, forever - 2 BP tablets (one of these protects the left ventricle too apparently!) high dose statin, aspirin and a slow-release anti angina medication.

Hi, I'm female and had a heart attack at 40 and then another 3 weeks ago (mid 50s now). Both caused by coronary vasospasm and not heart disease (angiogram completely clear for both). Both linked to stress. This type of heart attack is much more common for women, but cardiologists only caught up in the last few years. Symptoms can be very different to a 'blocked artery' type heart attack. So always best to get it checked out if you have ongoing upper back, jaw, chest pain, or being clammy, nauseous for a prolonged period.

@soddingspiderseason wow that’s awful. I hope you’re on the mend? My symptoms were so mild - the paramedic said I was the least heart attack looking he’d ever seen, all obs fine, I wasn’t clammy or grey. They were about to leave, and grudgingly did a 12-lead ecg and nearly shat themselves 😂😂

Do you have medication for that? Is it linked to Prinzmetal angina?

Hello, OP, I hope you're feeling well at the moment.

Do you have a family history of heart disease? You mentioned some lifestyle factors had contributed, I'm just wondering how much was your lifestyle and how much might have been your genes?

@PlaitBilledDuckyPuss no idea of family history as I’m adopted 😊

I worry about this. We're good at heart attacks in my family.
My mums heart attack wasn't obvious for a while, nothing like the commonly known male symptoms.

That's really scary. Glad you are doing better now.

What made you call the ambulance? I could see myself dismissing all those symptoms you mentioned. Did you have a feeling/hunch it was serious?

@Bunnyfuller - thanks 🙂 yes, very much on the mend. And yes, it's CAS, probably Prinzmetal Angina. My experience is that medics don't really understand that women's heart attacks present differently to men's. Hence the sudden change in their approach when the ECG or troponin tests prove that it is in fact, a serious cardiac event. So there's a real training issue. Better now than 16 years ago, so there's progress.

Ooh, I get something I'd describe as a 'throat ache', maybe every few months. It feels like a really weird, sometimes fluttering sensation. Not really painful just weird. This is the first time I've seen anyone else mention it! No heart problems AFAIK, I had an ECG/heart monitor for a day/blood test for unrelated reasons that showed nothing but a vitamin D deficiency.

I'm glad you're feeling better.

I was the same. Had my first heart attack at 42. I'd been having weird palpitations for weeks but the Dr dismissed them, saying I was too young!!! Then whilst decorating the kitchen on a bank holiday Monday I began to get what I thought was indigestion. Weird mild tingling in left arm and a little shoulder pain. I thought muscle pain.
I discovered later that my cholesterol was way too high and I lived a really stressful life. A further 2 heart attacks and a quad bypass have meant shedload of drugs for life and am awareness of an allergy to aspirin ajd morphine!!!

@beastlyslumber I’m not entirely sure what definitely made me call! The 2 episodes of diarrhoea started me wondering - it’s my adrenaline response as opposed to vomiting (having had to dash to the loo during a 6.8 earthquake once!). But I really don’t know.

DH was saying are you sure you need an ambulance, you know you’ll end up stuck there all night. I said ‘I just want a paramedic to tell me I’m not having a heart attack’ but what made me think it could be - dunno!

@soddingspiderseason the paramedic was quite cocky and dismissive, and was definitely thinking I was some middle-aged woman having the vapours. Funnily enough, I used to do volunteer first responding to augment ambulance response times, so when he went pale and said ‘I’ve got elevation on 3 and 6’ I knew exactly what was going on, and said ‘oh, so I AM having a heart attack. Bugger!’

@NortieTortie not to worry you, but I had previously had episodes of the throat thing. An ecg won’t pick up transient angina, the only way to see if there is narrowing in the arteries is angiogram of some sort.

@Powaqa bloody hell! I resonate with the painting - I did my front door the day of my heart attack 😂😂😂

Thanks for answering. It sounds like your lifestyle changes are going well - best of luck with the weight loss.

do you receive any follow up?

and how far do you go down the google rabbit hole?

(I'm being investigated following an abnormal minute ecg and try not to...)

I'm not particularly worried as I'm in my mid-20s, don't smoke/drink, etc but I am carrying some extra weight so it's definitely something to keep in mind if I have any other concerns. Thank you!

When you do first aid training they say sometimes people having a heart attack, have a terrible feeling of dread just before. Did you have this?