Have you had a heart attack and survived?

Question

If so, what were the signs months and days before it happened?

Answer 1

I have had 4 heart attacks, 2 were very minor 1 was in the hospital after getting a stent. The stent collapsed. Most of the pain was in the center of my chest. It felt like chest freeze.
But the one major heart attack I had was June of 2006. For a few months before the heart attack,
I started getting rapid heartbeats (arrhythmia). I went to the doctor and he increased my beta blocker medication. It still kept happening and the doctor said it was ok. ( I don’t go to him anymore) I was getting heartburn and some slight pain in the center of my back on and off. The one day I was doing some work around the house and I got severe pain from the center of my back and my left arm was getting numb. I went to the emergency room and they immediately diagnosed a heart attack. They started heparin and nitro but the pain still was strong. They gave me morphine but that didn’t help either. The hospital wasn’t a heart hospital so they landed a medivac helicopter and airlifted me to another hospital where they did an angioplasty and opened the 100% blocked artery.

Answer 2

I had a heart attack about six months ago while sitting in my office at the university. I paged the receptionist and asked her to call an ambulance because I thought I was having a heart attack.

I'm 47 years old, not overweight, I exercise often, but I didn't watch what I ate. However, after years of eating unhealthy, extremely fatty foods, my arteries were blocked pretty significantly. My job is very stressful, I work sometimes 14 hours a day on the weekdays, and am for the most part very irritable. I'm addicted to prescription amphetamines. Also, I've been smoking for 26 years, and my father, grandfather, and great grandfather all died of heart disease.

A few days before it happened, I was having lunch on campus with some of my colleagues and almost instantly I began feeling tightness in my chest. I paid no attention to it for the next few days, but it kept getting worse, and I had made an appointment with a cardiologist.

I was grading papers when it happened, and it was pretty much just like everyone said it was. The pain in my chest suddenly became so overwhelming I could barely move, and I had an extreme pain in my right arm and upper back.

Two days later I had coronary artery bypass after they removed them from my lower leg. I was released from the hospital a week later, laid out of work for half of the recommended time, and things got back to normal fairly quickly. I had some trouble walking for awhile, but other than that, no further complications, and I have check up's every three weeks or so.

Answer 3

I had a heat attack six months ago today.

I had been retired over four years and the last couple of those years I had been getting very little exercise.

In spring I realized I no longer was able to walk significant distances (1/2 mile or more) without stopping to rest and catch my breath. I thought that was mostly due to being out of shape. I decided it was time to start doing someing so I started walking about three times a week and improved my diet. (As I found out after my heart attack the improvement in my diet was minimal compared to what was required.)

That was really the only symptom I had until about two weeks before the attack. Then one night after I had gone to bed I had some chest pain (nothing severe) but it went away in about 10 minutes. I had no other symptoms until the night I had the heart attack. I went to bed about 2:00 a.m. and started having mild to moderate chest pain that did not go away and did not let me get to sleep. I also started sweating.

Around 4:00 a.m. I decided I needed to have it checked out and went to the emergency room. I was surprised to learn I had had a heart attack (meaning there had been actual damage to the heart muscle) instead of simply narrowed cardiac arteries, and I was even more surprised to learn it was bad enough that I needed triple bypass surgery instead of stents.

Remember that different people have different symptoms, so what I experienced is not likely to be the same as what any other particular individual will experience.

Answer 4

I was a happy, healthy, 19 year old with no history of heart of any serious diseases when in a matter of days i ended up in the hospital due severe heart muscle failure and enlargement of my heart. Apparently its a very rare virus which only 5% of the earth population get. The signs often misdisgnosed was severe pain in upper adimonin, vomiting, cold fevers and dairee. My gp told me it was a stomach virus, but that night i was so weak and my lips where blue. When I got to the hospital i had 10% heart function and my heart beat was at 135 constant pace. They had to put a heart pump in for 7 days and did dialasis because my kidneys and lungs gave in ( i was on a ventalor). Lucky for me science has made a major breakthrough in treating all kinds of heart disease, and they had the medicne, technology and staff to help me gain 30% heart function. Now 9 months later, my life is almost back to normal, i still drink medicne and get tired easily but its a big step from where i was. Im 20 now, with a postive attitude towards life and a better perspective on things. I believe it was a miracle that i survied this disease, medically and faithfully.

Answer 5

Heart attack can kill just like my friend Sam.He had his first and last on 03/11/2007.He pass away on his way to hospital in the ambulance.Actually heart attack has early sign like Chest discomfort. . It can feel like uncomfortable pressure,squeezing, fullness or pain. Discomfort in other areas of the upper body. Symptoms can include pain or discomfort in one or both arms, the back, neck, jaw or stomach.Shortness of breath. May occur with or without chest discomfort. Other signs: These may include breaking out in a cold sweat, nausea or lightheadedness .
Please see doctor and you must be alert to your own own ; like heart beat,hand ,leg ,chest etc.....because you are the best person.As for me i should considered lucky .Twice in 2004.Please see a home doctor and ask him to refer you to hospital.5 years ago ,i nearly killed by my home doctor.He advice me to do exercise when i complains to him a had chest pains.That night i had heart attack.I went hospital and had balloning and stent.

Answer 6

Here are a dozen symptoms that may signal heart trouble.

1. Anxiety. Heart attack can cause intense anxiety or a fear of death.
2. Chest discomfort.
3. Cough. Persistent coughing or wheezing can be a symptom of heart failure.
4. Dizziness. Heart attacks can cause lightheadedness and loss of consciousness.
5. Fatigue. Especially among women, unusual fatigue can occur during a heart attack as well as in the days and weeks leading up to one.
6. Nausea or lack of appetite. It's not uncommon for people to feel sick to their stomach or throw up during a heart attack.
7. Pain in other parts of the body. In many heart attacks, pain begins in the chest and spreads to the shoulders, arms, elbows, back, neck, jaw, or abdomen.
8. Rapid or irregular pulse. Doctors say that there's usually nothing worrisome about an occasional skipped heartbeat.
9. Shortness of breath. People who feel winded at rest or with minimal exertion might have a pulmonary condition like asthma or chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD).
10. Sweating. Breaking out in a cold sweat is a common symptom of heart attack.
11. Swelling. Heart failure can cause fluid to accumulate in the body.
12. Weakness. In the days leading up to a heart attack, as well as during one, some people experience severe, unexplained weakness.

Answer 7

No, my grandpa has had two and has four stints (sp?) in his heart. He was always over working himself and was under a lot of stress.

Answer 8

Yes I've had five. No signs.