Mended Hearts Open Forum

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  • 1.  Pain in left arm or signs of pending heart attacks.

    Posted 01-22-2021 18:48
    Hi everyone. 

    I'm 34 years old male I was recently diagnosed with Sinus Tachycardia and Palpitation on New Years 2021. I was told it has nothing to do with Heart attacks but I'm just curious to what signs are there to look out for a pending Heart Attack? On New Years Eve, I was rushed to the ER because my heart rate jumped to 180BPM. After running some test, they sent me home with no explanation on why my heart just randomly jump up like that. They just said there's no sign of heart attack which leaves me in suspense wondering what's going on which is worrying me. Went to go see a cardiologist and she said everything is normal. Still have a ECHO test coming up so we will see what that say. 

    I've been doing research online and they say pressure in chest, pain in left arm back shoulder and jaw but they aren't specific enough. What does the pain feel like and how long does it stay or how frequent does it radiate to other part of the body? I know everyone have different experiences but I will like to get some signs to look out for. Please be specific.

    I have been having this nerve pinching like pain in my left arm that last less than 2 second. Sometime it's painful that makes me twitch. I don't get it all the time but once in a while I'll do. I'm not sure if that's early signs of Heart attack or not. Like I said, those online research aren't specific enough so I'm just trying tk get some answers on how the left arm pain feels like prior to heart attack.

    Hope you all the best of luck and stay healthy. 😊

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    SAY THAO
    OSHKOSH WI
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  • 2.  RE: Pain in left arm or signs of pending heart attacks.

    Posted 01-23-2021 17:37
    Say,

    There's a reason that the heart attack warning signs are a bit vague when they're described online.  It's because everyone experiences them a but differently.  Based on my experience, though, you know when it happens to you.

    I need to preface my experience having a heart attack with the fact that I have been an athlete my entire life, from my early teenage years to the present.  During my time first as a gymnast and wrestler, then through many years as a weightlifter, powerlifter, long distance runner and bodyweight strength trainer, I experienced every kind of shoulder pain, chest pressure several times from a ligament strain near the sternum and other assorted pains, including scary jaw pain that turned out to be a cavity.  Although I wondered a couple of times whether the chest pressure was heart related, my doctor at the time quickly disabused me of that notion and the jaw pain disappeared like magic when the dentist filled my cavity.

    When I had the heart attack, there was no mistaking it.  I woke up with deep pain in my right shoulder and I immediately knew that this was not workout related pain.  I can't describe how or why I knew it, but I just knew it was something else.  Then I felt the somewhat mild pressure in the middle of my chest that sort of radiated outward.  It didn't go away if I moved a certain way and, again, I just knew it would not go away with deep massage like the ligament strain near my sternum had gone away. And I went into a cold sweat.  I knew I was having a heart attack.  It was around 5:30 am, I woke my wife to tell her I was having a heart attack and I called 911.  

    There was absolutely no doubt in my mind.  It was qualitatively different than any chest or shoulder pain or injury that I had ever suffered, although it's hard for me to articulate how I actually knew this.  My best conjecture is that we all have some sort of innate organism based understanding that something is terribly wrong with us and that it is life threatening.  It may be possible to ignore this feeling, to talk your way out of it, but if you remain in touch with your body, as I always was as an athlete, then it becomes undeniable.  Actually, the hard part for me was waking my wife to tell her I was having a heart attack.  The hard part for her was everything that came after my heart surgery and complications that kept me in a medically induced coma for the next two weeks and then in inpatient rehab for an additional three weeks learning to walk and feed myself again.

    I'm 70 now, well recovered, an athlete once again, but an older and wiser one, having faced death and facing it every day still as it sits over my left shoulder and I appreciate every moment on this my borrowed time.

    Good luck and good health.

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    Ira Reid
    Hoboken NJ
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  • 3.  RE: Pain in left arm or signs of pending heart attacks.

    Posted 01-23-2021 18:21
    What Ira is talking about is the classic heart attack, but he overlooks the fact that you don't have to experience any signs snd still ne having a heart attack. For example doctors estimate I've had in excess of 5 major heart attacks based on the damage to my heart, and was totally unaware. They're called silent heart attacks where there are absolutely no symptoms or the signs are so mild as to be ignored. They estimate 45%, of all heart attacks fall into this category.

    So in between Ira's description and mine are the symptoms you are describing. When you are having those issues and are incrrtsin, get medical help immediately. Easier to say sorry to the doctors while you're alive.

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    Warren
    TucsonAZ
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  • 4.  RE: Pain in left arm or signs of pending heart attacks.

    Posted 01-23-2021 18:22
    Apologies for all the typos...stupid smart phones

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    Warren
    TucsonAZ
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  • 5.  RE: Pain in left arm or signs of pending heart attacks.

    Posted 01-24-2021 06:06
    Silent heart attacks....I guess the lesson from Ralph is that heart attacks, like other dangerous, life threatening events often happen without any warning at all.  I imagine that strokes also often happen this way, as do diagnoses of terminal, stage 4 cancer in cases where the person first began to notice symptoms after the cancer had already spread throughout the body.  

    These things happen all too often and maybe the best thing we can do is just live in the present moment rather than dwelling on past mistakes or focusing on fears about the future.  We will appreciate the only time that we really have for certain, right now, and as an additional benefit, it is far more likely that we will notice even a subtle symptom if our attention is focused on the present.

    Appreciate this moment that is gifted to you, Say, stay in touch with your body, contact your cardiologist at the first question of there being any health issue, and live your life without overthinking that what ifs.  It's not easy to break old habits of worry, but it can be done and it will benefit your health as well.

    All the best,

    Ira

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    Ira Reid
    Hoboken NJ
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  • 6.  RE: Pain in left arm or signs of pending heart attacks.

    Posted 01-24-2021 14:48
    I think you are right about living in the moment.  and just fyi, my dissecting aorta gave me no signs at all.  I just didn't feel well that day, had some unusual loss of strength in general, and then on the way or at the hospital had unrelenting back pain that I normally didn't have.