Yesterday I saw a guy having a heart attack in the office that I worked at. He was sweating, and squeezing his chest, and gasping for air…. it looked horrible. I went home and freaked myself out, wondering what it would feel like if I were in his shoes.
Can anyone who has had a heart attack chime in? No judgements, I just wanna hear some experience stories if anyone is willing to share.
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I had one. No chest pain at all. Just a mild pain in my left elbow and neck hollow. Had it all day. Called 911 hours later when I broke out into a sweat.
BTW, most cardiologists I’ve had said most people don’t have that crushing chest pain.
I had one a year ago.
It felt like an elephant was sitting on my chest.
My doctor told me men & women can present differently. I didn’t have chest pain it was heaviness in arms & legs, also sweating profusely & throwing up.
Depends, what size shoe does he wear ?
I’m sure it wasn’t like this, but the way you described it I’m picturing a two-man office where you watched it happen and just packed up and went home, wishing him well on your way out.
Seriously though, I hope the guy got the help he needed and is doing better.
You dont hear people screaming when they’re having a heart attack because it’s not those kind of pain. It’s literally like somebody pressing their hands on your left chest, except their hands got progressively heavy as an elephant.
It’s tragic when a family member died of a heart attack and nobody noticed it.
Had one during a snow storm. We had over 2 feet of snow when the power went out. I tried to drag a small generator (poor planning on my part). It was in a shed on the back of the property and was all up hill to the house (slight incline but, you know, 2 feet of snow, etc.). It was extremely difficult, and I was taking breaks every 50′ or so to catch my breath, and let my heart rate settle down, I got about 2/3’s of the way when the world began to spin. I had never experienced anything like it. I decided to forget the generator and get back to the house. At this point I am completely winded, world is swirling around me and I still have to stop every 50′ of so. I get to the door and I am exhausted. I laid down on the floor and asked my wife to take my boots off as I am spent. I also felt like I could not catch my breath, almost like something was cinched around my chest. I was able to get up and get on the couch but all the symptoms continued. Then my wife said I looked gray. Having taken CPR/1st Aid back in the day, I said call 911. Took them 40 minutes to get to the house due to the roads. Once they loaded me in the back of the ambulance, they gave me nitroglycerin, and I got instant relief. They then confirmed I was having a heart attack. Took another 50 minutes to the hospital. Immediately upon arrival I was wheeled into surgery. Images showed the main artery was completely blocked – got 3 stents installed. It has been 15 years.
Doctors have said that period cramps can be just as painful, or even more painful, than heart attacks. So if it makes you feel better we have to go thru that every month while still carrying on with work and everyday life.
Alongside the pain, the horror of imminent death is unbearable.
I’ve had 3 of them, each one was a little different. The first one I had a real hard time breathing, pain in the shoulders radiating down the left arm, then it felt like someone had my heart in a vise and was squeezing it with all their might. Second one about the same but not quite as bad , but still the same symptoms. Third one about as bad as the first. All resulting in 6 stents in my heart and about 8 meds a day. Definitely not a fun experience.
I heard they’re as painful as period cramps and those can really hurt, like a sharp kick to the guts.
I was lying in bed when my incident happened ..
Profuse sweating and shortness of breath with a dull chest pain .
Luckily I don’t live alone and my girl called an ambulance so I went straight to hospital .
My heart pills control my blood pressure now so it’s ok 👍
(My BP was near 200 when the ambulance crew arrived to get me)
In 2023, I(70F) had an NSTEMI heart attack (blocked artery). I couldn’t catch my breath and had pain down the left side of my neck and left arm. It never really got that bad. It felt like achy muscles from working. The breathlessness did get worse, but the pain stayed constant. A blood test and ekg confirmed.
I had a near fatal heart attack in 2015, I was only 44 with no cardiac history. The night before I felt tired and thought I pulled a muscle in my neck so I went to bed. I got up at 7 am feeling terrible but I don’t miss work or reschedule appointments. So even know my husband insisted that I stay home, I didn’t. I got to work at 8am. By 8:20 the first ambulance was on scene, then the ALS ambulance, then rescue. I was able to call my husband early in the pain, while vomiting.
Everyone kept asking if it was the worse pain I’ve ever had in my life. I was serious when I said absolutely not, I didn’t even register that it was a heart attack killing me. I’ve dealt with 8+mm kidney stones, years of bad migraines (before the meds were on the market) and 3 pregnancies with C-section recovery. I honestly thought the initial pain was some ridiculous crazy panic attack and I just took meds for it, before I threw up and passed out.
I was in terrible shape, my husband was told I didn’t have too good of a chance and he was told to call everyone to meet at the hospital. I have a memory of being wheeled past my husband on my way into the OR. A green/blue arm touched his face….I asked who it was. It was MY arm. I was green/blue! So weird.
Ultimately, they say that as a woman I had a text book heart attack. The neck pain, the back pain, the stomach issues. It was just ALOT of chest pressure. And my GOD was I cold!!!!! But that’s because I had no blood pressure or heart rate at the time. I could hear everything, but no one could understand me talking and I kept passing out. But in my mind I was telling ppl to lock up my car, secure my hand gun, even trying to tell them what work needed finished within the hour. (I had a very time sensitive financial job).
People please don’t assume that a heart attack will be obvious. It may not look like the pain you see on TV. Its jaw pain, its neck pain, its indigestion pain, arm or shoulder pain. Just pressure is a sign. And if you find you have these things and vomit or have the urge to have a bowel movement, call an ambulance!!!!
Now don’t even get me started on sepsis 😉. That almost took me out last year, caused by a kidney stone.
To me it was a massive back pain. Lying down didn’t help, showering didn’t help. I could raise my arms…. By the time I decided to call the ambulance I felt like my soul was leaving. (I was 30) and fit so thought it was not it. Almost didn’t make it
My grandad died of a massive heart attack.
My step dad died of bowel cancer.
I know which one id choose