To think about calling an ambulance?

[Rhynswynd]

For the past 3 nights I have woken up with chest pain that won't go away with antacids. I have tried Rennie tablets and gaviscon liquid. The pain just won't stop.
It has woken me again tonight and I have been awake for over an hour and had 1/3 bottle of gaviscon. Today the pain lasted most of the day with varying levels of pain from mild to stabbing.
My dh and 3 children are asleep (in australia) and I don't know what to do.

I have never had heartburn before except when pregnant and Rennie always worked perfectly. I am not pregnant now.

Wake DH and seek medical attention.

Could it be gallstones? My mum had them and thought she was having a heart attack the pain was that bad. If you feel you need an ambulance then call one but I’d probably look at a taxi or driving myself if I could.

If it’s been happening for 3 nights it wouldn’t be an emergency, so could you go to the out of hours service?
If you feel that it’s an emergency ring an ambulance

If you can write a post you probably don't need an ambulance. If you're not urgent you won't get seen faster at A&E. Do you have out of hours GP?

Have you tried sleeping slightly propped up? I do that when I suffer from reflux.

Sounds like gallstones.

Do you have a health advice phone number (similar to 111 in the UK), op? I have no medical knowledge, but if it were me, I'd want to get this investigated. Hope you get appropriate help soon.

Wake your dh tell him you’re going to hospital then get a cab.

To add - chest pain that you’ve never experienced before or not responding to usual remedies should be checked out.

It’s highly likely to be something gastro related and mild, but the consequences of it being a cardiac issue or something else that needs to be treated ASAP are too high to ignore.

I wouldn’t call an ambulance no.

Make a doctors appointment in the morning.

No out of hours gp. We have just moved to a new state.
I feel like a twat. The pain is fairly bad but I never feel like my pain is bad enough to seek help.
What is throwing me is the stabbing pain and it won't go away with gaviscon.

I have also had some dizziness the past few days.

I will give it a few hours. See if it calms down. I am sitting up in the lounge trying to help any acid go back down.

I'm such a knob

Can your dh take you to hospital?
Or can you get a taxi?

With the dizziness I think you would be better to get to the hospital for a check over just in case. Don't want to frighten you as it's more likely to be nothing, and I am not a medical professional, but heart attack symptoms in women can be less specific so better safe than sorry I reckon!
Hope you feel better soon!

If it’s been happening for 3 nights it wouldn’t be an emergency

Not true.

What time is it now? If your DH can’t take you in then please call. The ambos will do a heart reading (whatever it’s called!) and probably a spray of nitroglycerin to see whether it helps. Heart attacks present in all different ways in women. With any luck that’s not what it is but let the professionals decide.

If you phoned with those symptoms in the UK, they'd blue light an emergency response paramedic as top priority and nobody would be miffed at the hospital to find out it was nothing serious - they'd say you did the right thing.

Call a fucking ambulance. You need one. Now.

I thought Aus had a lot of telemedicine. Is there not a telephone service you could ring to talk thru your discomfort?

Bottom line is no-one can possibly tell from a list of symptoms on the internet.

There are all kinds of things it could be from gall stones to a heart attack - the only way to find out it is to get medical attention.

It could still be an emergency if it's been going on for 3 days. My uncle had horrendous chest pain for 2 days, got so bad he finally had to seek help. He needed a quadruple bypass. Please get medical attention OP. Could be nothing or just muscular but you never know.

My serious gallbladder issues started like that. Get seen ASAP, In the meantime if you can get hold of any buscopan try that and painkillers!

Women's heart attacks present differently from men's and are often missed. The 'what if' here is too dangerous to take risks. I think you should call an ambulance or get your DH to drive you, if the hospital is close. Don't drive yourself.

(Not a doctor but have done advanced first aid.)

BHF information:

The most important thing is recognising these symptoms; something that we know women are less likely to do. Women are less likely to seek medical attention and treatment, despite the warning signs.

So it is important that you are aware of the symptoms that could be due to a heart attack.

Signs and Symptoms of a heart attack in women
Chest pain or discomfort - the most recognised symptom of a heart attack though not always present.
Pain radiating to the arms, neck, jaw, stomach and back can all be symptoms of a heart attack.
You may experience pain in just one or all of these places; for some people the pain is severe but for others just uncomfortable.
A feeling of indigestion or reflux type pain - this is often ignored in the hope that it will pass.

Feeling sick, sweaty, breathless or lightheaded with associated chest pain or discomfort
A general feeling of being unwell or lethargic can also be an indicator of a heart attack when accompanied by chest pain or discomfort.

[back to me speaking]

Some heart attacks can lead to the heart gradually filling with blood and expanding - until it splits open and the person is dead.

Call that ambulance.

Is the pain dead centre or more to one side? Just asking because when I had gallstones the only thing that stopped me wondering if it was a heart attack was that it was more towards the right. I did call an ambulance once but by the time they arrived and got me to hospital, the pain had gone.

Eventually I described my pain to my GP who diagnosed gall bladder problems. I had it removed and the pain hasn't returned (although I do still suffer from heartburn).

Can you call an out of hours service? If it goes away I would still see a doctor tomorrow, and if it is really bad again today or tonight, yes, I would go to A&E.

I once worked with some cardiac nurses who told me a lot of people miss heart attacks over Christmas because they put their symptoms down to indigestion/heartburn.

Only way to tell is getting a proper assessment. Go to the hospital.

In the UK if you ring 101 with chest pain they always tell you to go to A&E.