Almost had a heart attack yesterday

[JMarz]

EDIT/Update: So I just got a fucking bill from North Memorial Hospital totaling out to $3,310.75. I'm really, really starting to fucking see why everybody is bitching about healthcare in this flaming piece of fucking SHIT of a country. FUCK!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!





Was on my way to the casino with my drummer when my chest (heart area) got a real sinky feeling, and started to feel pressurized/hurt like HELL. Through the course of about 45 minutes, my whole left side went numb, and I was feeling some very painful/scary symptoms in my heart.. Shortness of breath ontop of them, every time I'd breathe in, it would feel like the more I inhaled, the more it felt like my heart was going to explode.

But either way, I got to a gas station, drunk some Gatorade, took some Bayer and ate one of those Little Debbie apple pie things, and in about 10-15 minutes, all the symptoms started to slowly dissipate..

This scared the living shit out of me, I've had quite a history of chronic heart problems going back to about age 7, when I was put on a heart monitor for constant shortness of breath symptoms like I just described.. I'm taking things pretty easy now, not doing anything too stressful/trying to eat a bit better/keeping calm.. And, to be completely honest, I thought I was going to eventually die.. I'm viewing life in a little bit more of a different light. I understand I'm only 20 years old, so this may sound retarded, but life really is too short.. You never know when some complicated shit like this is going to happen, and simply end it. I feel like I have more of a value on life, now. You only get one of them.

But, does anybody else have any heart problems on the board? I'm curious as to if I should go to a doctor or not, and NOT wait until it's an emergency? Don't castrate me for that sounding stupid, I just have absolutely zero healthcare at the moment, and with my income I just can't afford it. Also, since I started BK, I haven't eaten a single burger/anything from there

 

[muckypup1]

Man that really is shit, I hope your ok dude!

 

[Emdprodukt]

I don't have real problems with my heart but I'm some kind of hypochondriac when it comes to heart attacks. I was 11 when I had to call the ambulance because my father was nearly dying. And this was the first of three times. Whenever I have a pain in my chest I think it's an heart attack. Even my left arm starts to hurt and I'm really getting all those symptoms. I smoke a lot of weed and cigarettes and I started at a very young age. I think I smoke since I'm 11. Weed since I'm 14 with a 2 years break when I got 18. So what I wanted to say is that I can truly understand how it feels when you think you could eventually die.

On the other hand I recommend you to get checked through by a doctor for any artery blockage! My father had an heartattack that he didn't realize. He had a pain in his chest and it was over after some time. When his doctor checked it he said it was some kind of "small" heart attack that could have been fatal.

 

[Keregioz]

Was on my way to the casino with my drummer when my chest (heart area) got a real sinky feeling, and started to feel pressurized/hurt like HELL. Through the course of about 45 minutes, my whole left side went numb, and I was feeling some very painful/scary symptoms in my heart.. Shortness of breath ontop of them, every time I'd breathe in, it would feel like the more I inhaled, the more it felt like my heart was going to explode.

Doesn't sound like an "almost" heart attack to me...

 

[Let it burn...]

I have stomach problems. Sometimes my stomach sucks all the blood out of the rest of my body because it is too "dry" without me knowing it. My heart can't keep up with the blood pumping so my body starts shutting down all low level things like eyesight, hearing, etc. I need to drink water ASAP and get fresh air when i feel this coming or stuff could get damaged.

But I'm taking pills so no prob. Only happened two times in the past 4 years.

When it first happened, I freaked out like you did. It was at a local gig (I wasn't playing) and my friends had to drag me out because I couldn't see or hear shit and my legs were numb. Thank God I have fucking awesome friends

 

[Emdprodukt]

Doesn't sound like an "almost" heart attack to me...

That's what I thought. If you're asking us if you should go to the doctor, you're allready thinking about it. So do it.

 

[coldthrn]

If you dont have insurance you can go to the ER and describe what happened. They can do a EKG on you to see if it was an attack. Us tax payers will pay for your trip. I have palpitations from time to time. Some times ill have like 30 a day for months then it will stop for a year or two usually follow stress patterns. Ive had EKG and Tredmills and a month long monitor that I had to ware and they couldn't find anything wrong with me. I have high blood pressure that I keep in check with running but that's all. Its scary but keep it in check. Don't hide your head in the sand.

 

[arv_foh]

If you dont have insurance you can go to the ER and describe what happened. They can do a EKG on you to see if it was an attack. Us tax payers will pay for your trip. I have palpitations from time to time. Some times ill have like 30 a day for months then it will stop for a year or two usually follow stress patterns. Ive had EKG and Tredmills and a month long monitor that I had to ware and they couldn't find anything wrong with me. I have high blood pressure that I keep in check with running but that's all. Its scary but keep it in check. Don't hide your head in the sand.

how do you assume the taxpayers would pay for it? ekg's cost around $1200-$2000 depending on the hospital, without insurance

 

[GeertSamuel]

seek free care at your local County Health faclities.. apply for care. your income is undoubtedly low enough. do it now.

i came within 3 months of dying because of having no insurance, only to find out i could have gotten seen for free ages earlier, because my income was basically zero.

I just don't understand why the US isn't putting through a very normal health care plan, I've read what they're doing now, but that still doesn't cover a huge part of the population. Here in Holland you MUST have one, we pay around 100 euro each month, but insures you for when shit hits the fan.

Shreddy, like James said, seek free care!!

 

[amarshism]

i died from three heart attacks at the age of 21, sucked to be me

 

[vaiman]

I used to get the exact symptoms when I was your age.
Went to the doctors and he said not to worry. This worried me more lol

So I gave up smoking and excessive lager drinking and I have never had this for over 10 years.

Get checked out dude. Hope all works out ok

 

[SocialNumb]

Dam dude, sorry to hear. You're to young for this shit, sucks. Get your ass to the doctors ASAP.

 

[Skinny Viking]

Jesse ... do you want to be around to hear the finished vocals to your cd? If yes, go get checked out cause I'm not gonna be done with them for a couple months. Like James said, you will NOT be refused and you probably won't have to pay anything if you apply for help

 

[JayB]

This is weird , yesterday I was having some really bad pains in my chest , like so bad I fell to the floor , but after my gf got me some water and some tums it started to go away , it's happened a few times before... I think it may be my esophagus or something , like really bad heartburn? The weird thing is it happened after I finished my P90X workout , I hadn't eaten anything in like an hour and a half. I'm always chugging stuff though like water and protein shakes etc so maybe I should drink more slowly haha

 

[FIXXXER]

Was on my way to the casino with my drummer when my chest (heart area) got a real sinky feeling, and started to feel pressurized/hurt like HELL. Through the course of about 45 minutes, my whole left side went numb, and I was feeling some very painful/scary symptoms in my heart.. Shortness of breath ontop of them, every time I'd breathe in, it would feel like the more I inhaled, the more it felt like my heart was going to explode.

But either way, I got to a gas station, drunk some Gatorade, took some Bayer and ate one of those Little Debbie apple pie things, and in about 10-15 minutes, all the symptoms started to slowly dissipate..

This scared the living shit out of me, I've had quite a history of chronic heart problems going back to about age 7, when I was put on a heart monitor for constant shortness of breath symptoms like I just described.. I'm taking things pretty easy now, not doing anything too stressful/trying to eat a bit better/keeping calm.. And, to be completely honest, I thought I was going to eventually die.. I'm viewing life in a little bit more of a different light. I understand I'm only 20 years old, so this may sound retarded, but life really is too short.. You never know when some complicated shit like this is going to happen, and simply end it. I feel like I have more of a value on life, now. You only get one of them.

But, does anybody else have any heart problems on the board? I'm curious as to if I should go to a doctor or not, and NOT wait until it's an emergency? Don't castrate me for that sounding stupid, I just have absolutely zero healthcare at the moment, and with my income I just can't afford it. Also, since I started BK, I haven't eaten a single burger/anything from there

stop smoking/drinking and try to avoid stress

 

[LosingReality]

Im an EMT, and i doubt it had anything to do with your heart. Usually heart attacks or pain associated with a heart attack will not go away with any intervention like eating or drinking. To relieve the pain Nitro is used and it dialtes the blood vessels and allows for more blood to flow through, and increasing the O2 flow to the heart. Which is what a heart attack is (loss of O2 to a part of the heart).....The fact that you say you ate and drank somthing and it caused the pain to slowly go away.....could very well mean the pain may have been caused by a bad case of heartburn....You probably had alittle bit of a panic attack as well due to the pain (scared you). People call us all the time for chest pain and it ends up being heart burn or indegestion.....

I would still go get checked out. Were you having any heart palpatations or skips or anything.....I would say if you dont get checked out....next time this happens. Immediately drink some milk. If the symptoms go away very quick.....Its heart burn.

BTW, they call it heartburn for a reason....Cause you feel it right where you think your heart is.

 

[JayB]

If the symptoms go away very quick.....Its heart burn.

BTW, they call it heartburn for a reason....Cause you feel it right where you think your heart is.

Haha yep this is what happens to me. Didn't think milk would help though , I used OJ

 

[JMarz]

Im an EMT, and i doubt it had anything to do with your heart. Usually heart attacks or pain associated with a heart attack will not go away with any intervention like eating or drinking. To relieve the pain Nitro is used and it dialtes the blood vessels and allows for more blood to flow through, and increasing the O2 flow to the heart. Which is what a heart attack is (loss of O2 to a part of the heart).....The fact that you say you ate and drank somthing and it caused the pain to slowly go away.....could very well mean the pain may have been caused by a bad case of heartburn....You probably had alittle bit of a panic attack as well due to the pain (scared you). People call us all the time for chest pain and it ends up being heart burn or indegestion.....

I would still go get checked out. Were you having any heart palpatations or skips or anything.....I would say if you dont get checked out....next time this happens. Immediately drink some milk. If the symptoms go away very quick.....Its heart burn.

BTW, they call it heartburn for a reason....Cause you feel it right where you think your heart is.

Thanks for all the advice, guys! Yeah I know exactly what you're talking about, I used to get cases where past a certain point it'd hurt more and more to breathe in, but if I slammed some water (or liquid in general) it'd always go away. This was/is something different, the pain is different and happens almost to the beat of my heart, happens in spurs usually within 15-45 minutes of each other, and breathing plays no factor to this. BUT, I am going to go get checked out at a hospital today.. The pain's continuing, (lessening mind you) but is worrying the fuck out of me.

 

[Dalinkwent48@aim.com]

Haha yep this is what happens to me. Didn't think milk would help though , I used OJ

If it was heartburn you had, OJ could possibly make it worse with how acidic it is.

 

[drew_drummer]

You most likely had a severe panic attack, caused by excessive worrying over your heart. Sort of nice to know I'm not the only one who gets these kind of symptoms!!