Has anyone here had a heart attack? What does it feel like?

Question

I have had a vague pain in my left arm, and I feel nauseas. There's a stomach bug in my house, though, so that may explain the nausea. I've had a history of anxiety, though, and I worry about EVERYTHING. Right now, though, it's interferring with my life. My heart beats real fast, and I am terrified that I am going to drop dead at any minute. A little history. I'm 29, a mom of two, within a normal BMI, a smoker, and using hormonal birth control (Mirena IUD).

At any rate, I want to know if you're really having a heart attack, is it different than the vague pains you get with anxiety?

Answer 1

I had a heart attack earlier this year. My symptoms did not include pain in my left arm or nausea; I had moderate chest pain and moderate sweating.

However, you need to understand that different people have different symptoms, so the symptoms I had do not indicate the symptoms any other particular person is likely to have.

I was reluctant to go to the hospital because I had gone to the emergency room once before with almost identical symptoms about 15 years ago. (That time it was acid indigestion.) When the symptoms were not reduced by taking an antacid I decided it was better to be safe than sorry and went to the hospital and did not get out until after I had coronary artery bypass surgery.

From my experience I can say the symptoms may appear similar to those caused by something else, so if you think it might be a heart problem you should have it checked out as soon as possible.

Answer 2

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RE:
Has anyone here had a heart attack? What does it feel like?
I have had a vague pain in my left arm, and I feel nauseas. There's a stomach bug in my house, though, so that may explain the nausea. I've had a history of anxiety, though, and I worry about EVERYTHING. Right now, though, it's interferring with my life. My heart beats real fast,...

Answer 3

your not gonna have a heart attack, dont worry.
signs of a heart attack include chest pain to the point where you can barely move. a heart attack cannot kill you unless you have multiple other problems (none of which you have). basically when you have an attack, one of your chambers in your heart will stop working as the doctors fix it. its really confusing if you dont understand to begin with, but to answer your question, no, your not gonna have a heart attack, and yes, a heart attack is much different than pains you get with anxiety. a however heart attack can be caused from many reasons, ranging from stress, to eating too much.

Answer 4

No, I haven't had a heart attack, but as a nurse I can tell you that as a woman the signs are much different than as a man. Sometimes you will feel pressure instead of pain the chest area. Sometimes you will be short of breath, have jaw/tooth pain. Left arm pain/numbess. Feel nauseated. Sometimes you just don't feel right. At any rate, I always tell my patients if they don't feel right, go to the ER. It's always better to be safe than sorry.

Answer 5

I have had several. Last one was the worst, 2 1/2 weeks ago at 3:00 AM. Woke me up. I was lucky. Pressure on the chest, radiating to my arm and back. I had an angioplasty a few hours later.

Answer 6

do you suffer with anxiety