Thought I was having a heart attack

Posted by riflemanz64 @riflemanz64, Mar 21 7:22pm

One week ago i changed the oil on my suv. I'm 68yrs old and that night rolled over on my left side and noticed I had severe pain from the heart. I just ignored it until a week later it felt like crushing pain on my heart. I called 911 and went to the hospital. I also have a high CAC score. They did a blood test, ekg and chest x rays. The Dr. said he thought it was a strained muscle around the heart. They gave a shot with anti-inflamatories and Ibuprofen in it and sent me home. He said my heart is fine which I was relieved to hear. I can't believe I injured myself changing the oil. I guess I'm old! I still can't sleep on my sides only on my back. They said go to your Dr. in 2 weeks if it's not better.

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That's good to hear. Chest pain does not always equal heart problem. Keep up with the CAC score though. Hopefully, in a couple of weeks you will feel better. If not, they should continue to monitor or run more tests.

By the way, it is awesome you called 911. A lot of people (like me) just power through the chest pain like an idiot.

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Was this pain central, and inside, or was it around the ribs. The ribs have 'intercostal' muscles between them, and they can sustain very painful tears or detachments in some rare instances.

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My pain was left side right over breast. No pain down left arm. No nausea or sweating. I guess I must of really strained the muscles or torn one.

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Please be careful, 14 years ago I had aches and pains in the shoulders and went to a Doctor who told me I had a stomach virus and to drink plenty of water and rest. A few days later I went to another Doctor who sent me to hospital and I had 99% blockage in my left coronary artery and 2 x 80% in the right. I got 3 stents and that fixed it for the time.
Until you are 100% sure, please take a low dose aspirin every day, this will stop blood clots forming if you do have a blockage, Get an appointment with a Cardiologist and get a stress Echocardiogram (treadmill), Have a look at your blood test results and see if they tested for heart attack markers - Troponin and Creatine kinase (CK), if they didn't find another Doctor

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Good point. If you were given any data collected from your body, you can verify yourself that these are within 'normal range' for your age and sex. Just google 'normal range for L Troponin', and so on. If they didn't check, I would ask why....not?!~?

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They did the blood tests for those you mentioned and I had a chest x ray and 3 ekgs. I’m going back in 2 weeks if the pain doesn’t subside.

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I have stomach ulcers so no aspirin or ibuprofen for me. Are catheterizations done thru the arm or groin?

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@riflemanz64

I have stomach ulcers so no aspirin or ibuprofen for me. Are catheterizations done thru the arm or groin?

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I had my 2 angiograms 14 years ago and both through the groin. Last week I did a stress test with my Cardiologist and my result wasn't up to my usual high standard - I started to get short of breath at 6 min 40 sec. He wants me to have another angiogram as something has changed - he said they are mostly done through the arm these days (less bleeding, less bleeding and faster recovery). I am really scared and anxious that something is wrong and I haven't given him an answer if I will do the test or not as I am very phobic of medical procedures and needles. He is going to call me next week and I have to give him an answer - I guess I will say yes.

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If he finds something, it was there several weeks ago. If you decline to have him look for it, you'll never know it's there, but still have the dread that it probably is. But he won't be able to say that it's there, and won't be able to offer you much in the way of a remedy.

This is just me...I can steel myself against the various intrusions and pain and discomfort with weird body reposes that sometimes comes with procedures. I don't like it any more than the next person, but I just go to my Nothing Box and endure it. I know I'll be home later that day, the next if not.

You can inure yourself to the pokes and jabs by pinching yourself at times, thinking at the same time that it's a needle. Eventually it just doesn't matter because your brain will overwrite it as an innocuous thing that passes. When the time comes to get needles, it just won't seem so bad. Mind over matteer. But I gotta know. Even if it's the dreaded C word, I wanna know. I can stew all I want later, but I want to know, and I want my caregiver to know...and to offer me a path forward. It might be a shorter path than I had wanted, but it's a roadmap for me.

My angiogram two years ago was through the wrist. The worst part of the procedure, for me personally, was the chill from the operatory space. By the time I had to get up and onto a wheelchair to be taken out, I was vibrating and quite tense. The orderly thoughtfully had a heated blanket to put around me, which was as welcome as the first sunlit dawn after several weeks of rain.

You grit your teeth and you git 'er dun. Try to stay in the driver's seat if you can. Make things happen, including your participation in your own health.

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@gloaming

If he finds something, it was there several weeks ago. If you decline to have him look for it, you'll never know it's there, but still have the dread that it probably is. But he won't be able to say that it's there, and won't be able to offer you much in the way of a remedy.

This is just me...I can steel myself against the various intrusions and pain and discomfort with weird body reposes that sometimes comes with procedures. I don't like it any more than the next person, but I just go to my Nothing Box and endure it. I know I'll be home later that day, the next if not.

You can inure yourself to the pokes and jabs by pinching yourself at times, thinking at the same time that it's a needle. Eventually it just doesn't matter because your brain will overwrite it as an innocuous thing that passes. When the time comes to get needles, it just won't seem so bad. Mind over matteer. But I gotta know. Even if it's the dreaded C word, I wanna know. I can stew all I want later, but I want to know, and I want my caregiver to know...and to offer me a path forward. It might be a shorter path than I had wanted, but it's a roadmap for me.

My angiogram two years ago was through the wrist. The worst part of the procedure, for me personally, was the chill from the operatory space. By the time I had to get up and onto a wheelchair to be taken out, I was vibrating and quite tense. The orderly thoughtfully had a heated blanket to put around me, which was as welcome as the first sunlit dawn after several weeks of rain.

You grit your teeth and you git 'er dun. Try to stay in the driver's seat if you can. Make things happen, including your participation in your own health.

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You are absolutely correct with everything you said. I am booked in for tomorrow morning - getting really nervous, but I am committed now and there is no going back!

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