Husband having chest pains OR indigestion?

[ILoveJoeBrown]

Last few times we have been on strenuous walks (last one was yesterday), DH has to stop with chest pains and dizziness. However he has had what seems to be indigestion almost constantly for the last 4/5 days. We've been on holiday and he has been almost continuously belching, farting, and complaining of his stomach feeling tight.

Is it his digestion or is it something more serious?

He is overweight and tends to chomp his meals which I have told him about- just slow down and chew properly - he guzzles as if he needs to catch a bus!

Is he diabetic? With his weight he needs checking for it, and as a diabetic you are several times more likely to have a stroke or heart attack.
Get him checked out on all counts.

I asked him to book gp appt but he procrastinated and now can't get through until tmw. Apparently he had a meeting at 0830, which is when the gp phone lines open. He isn't registered for online consults.

But he needs to go A and E not the GP surgery. A and E departments have rapid access chest pains clinics for exactly this. Have you spelt out to him that if it's a heart attack or angina he could die without treatment? Not that it's your responsibility of course. Why are men so pig headed about this kind of thing?

I get stressed reading this thread. OP he has a responsibility to you and his family to get checked out.

Doctors, my DF aged 54 had what he thought was indigestion. He was swigging milk of magnesium so he could go to work.
Had a massive heart attack at his desk and died later that day in hospital.
Please get your dh to a doctor

DH asked the cardiac nurse specifically if belching was a symptom of cardiac problems - he said absolutely it was, and they took it seriously. DH already had one stent, and was having again chest pains, dizziness and left arm pain on exertion or even a bit of stress - plus the belching. After the invasive angiogram, they said he had 95% blockage in his right coronary artery, which they counted as a heart attack (his second, as they counted the first blocked artery a heart attack too)

Progress! DH went to see GP yesterday after being triaged by the receptionists to get an urgent call back from the GP, who asked him to come in straight away for a blood test and an ECG.

She said there didn't appear to be any signs of any recent heart attack, but she has referred him for an appt with the cardiac specialists at the local hospital for further tests which should happen in the next 2 weeks. No mention of his weight and she didn't seem convinced by the indigestion symptoms - maybe lactose intolerance [according to DH who does like to refer to Dr Google rather a lot].

Glad there’s been some progress!

Great news, he's getting properly checked out. 👍

My heart attack full blockage of RCA - at no point felt like anything as serious as a heart attack! Nor did my unstable angina.

Glad he’s getting seen.

@tiredanddangerous - it’s survival rates for cardiac arrest outside hospital, not for heart attacks. A heart attack can lead to cardiac arrest but often doesn’t (especially if you get the people in green to you quickly).

I had a heart attack and arrested upon arrival at A&E which was good timing. OP, I had the classic symptoms of heart attack. For me, personally, it was a painful and traumatic experience. My artery tore and the skin flap caused a full blockage of my artery, bringing on a heart attack and an arrest. The tears are considered 'sudden' but often they're not.
My chest was certainly bothering me in the weeks before my HA. I noticed mild chest pain and breathlessness on my dog walks, dizziness, palpitations in bed at night, two months prior. I remember stopping mid-walks to collect myself because I felt that pain in the chest and knew it wasn't right. But I have very low cholesterol and I knew that, according to my bloodwork, I was not a candidate for heart problems, so I thought maybe I had a mild chest infection or something else that was considered passing.
On the day of my heart attack, my ECG came back as normal according to the paramedics who took me to A&E. My cardiac arrest and heart damage tell a different story: Sometimes, the medics are wrong. My ECG was totally abnormal.
Your DH's ECH report was read by his GP though. So I would trust that opinion. Still, I am glad he'll be seen by cardiology. That's exactly where he needs to go.
I hope the wait isn't too long and that your DH gets plugged into cardiology soon and gets some reassuring answers. Best of luck.

TheVanguardSix - yes, he stops to catch his breath mid dog walk too and shows off his low cholesterol muttering "good genes" as he does so. I'm pleased he's being referred. Much as I obviously don't wish it upon him, sometimes I wonder what it takes to get him to take these symptoms seriously. He is adopted so knows zero about any genetic illnesses that might lie in wait for him, so he needs medical opinion and not to google stuff all the time.

Thanks to all the other OPS who got me to finally make him go!!

👍 do let us know how he gets on