I have just had a pain in my chest. At first I thought it was indigestion. The pain lasted about 4 minutes. My chest felt like it had a ton weight on it. I had suffered heartburn earlier in the day and I thought the two may be connected.
It also felt like I had food in my throat and couldn’t swallow.
I became hot and although the pain is subsiding now, I have a terrible headache.
I am new here.
I think you should call a dr and be seen. Go to the ER. Get a medical opinion
Get over to A&E now (don't drive yourself) to get checked out. It sounds like it might be an angina attack but it needs checking. A friend delayed and had a CA (cardiac arrest). By luck more than judgement he survived. Let us know how it goes.
The problem is time as could be 10 minutes for neighbour vs 45 for ambulance to arrive! One has to make a judgement.
The advice from the NHS and the National Cardiac Clinical Audit is to call an ambulance.
The call to balloon time should be 150 minutes. That's from the patient making the 999 call to being in the cath lab having an angiogram and stent inserted if necessary.
The Paramedics will take you directly to a heart attack centre rather than the nearest A&E dept where they may not have a 24 hour cath lab and angioplasty facilities.
Hi Milkfairy
We have a different process here, the NW Ambulance Service takes patients to the nearest A&E where they're checked and sent to the Heart Hospital.
I rang 999, 2 paramedics and an ambulance turned up in 6 mins - taken to A&E in main hospital on The Wirral (2 miles away) given ecg, confirmed MI, given Aspirin 300mg, Ticagrelor 180mg and Forosemide 80mg - A&E had telephone conversation with Liverpool Heart and Chest, then blue lighted there where they had a team waiting.
I did wonder why I went to Arrow Park first, assumed because it was very near. However a few weeks later there was an inquest about a firefighter who had a heart attack and was taken to a hospital in Warrington, where the on duty registrar came out to the ambulance, had a look at the patient, and told then to go to LHCH - sadly the man had a cardiac arrest and died. The coroner criticised the hospital for not admitting the man and checking him over before sending him to LHCH, mentioning that going to the nearest A&E was a well established procedure within the North West Ambulance Service.
I went into cardiac arrest as I arrived in LHCH, so who knows, but maybe without the meds I'd been given in A&E I may not have made it to Liverpool Heart and Chest!
It is worrying.
I have been in twice to hospital so far this year with unstable angina.
You can't knock our NW Ambulance crews 👍 hay fellow Mersey person. In which a river runs between called the Mersey. which side is your side of the river? Well done on your results from good ol' st' Caths 💪
Please can I ask if it is an unbearable pain? I get a pain sometimes but because it passes and I just need to grit my teeth for a few mins I don’t do anything about it 🤔
Pretty bad, yes. I just geld the palm of my hand over the pain and tried not to breathe as it was too painful. I really thought that I was going to die. I couldn’t shout out for my hubby and I was breaking out into a cold sweat. When the pain eased, I took an aspirin and laid down until my headache had gone. I still have a tight chest this morning,although no pain.
Please - call your GP now, right now - there should at least be an answer phone message with instructions for speaking to the duty GP. He/she will be able to advise if you should go to A&E despite it being hours after the event, or if he/she can book you in for a 'first thing Monday morning' check.
Like Michael writes above (one of our fabulous Heart Stars), your event does sound like angina BUT it could also be a silent heart attack you managed to get through without collapsing to the floor and ONLY your GP can give you the best advice.
At the very least you do need to be seen as soon as possible. If you are uncomfortable about ringing the surgery today (I know it's Sunday), please-please-please ring tomorrow morning first thing and tell the receptionist what happened to you Saturday night. Please.
And please update us - I know I'm not the only member here who is going to be thinking about you until we hear you've been seen.
Thank you all - everyone of you for your advice. I’m at the hospital now waiting to see a Doctor xx
Well done you for taking control of whatever is happening!
Please update us either here or on your other post - best wishes for a good outcome!
Good luck, I will be thinking of you.
What does tight chest mean?
For me it means feeling as though there are bands around my chest squeezing me, it also sometimes feels as though there is a load of bricks sitting on my chest. It varies from person to person, usually the load of bricks is described as 'crushing pain' but also sometimes as tightness.
It will be interesting to read Carpek50's description. I'm just glad she's at hospital right now being checked over!
Correct, that's why I questioned the word.
Not everyone has the bricks on the chest
Remember or be aware A Woman has different reactions within different symptoms.. To how a Mans body reacts and a Woman's body are very different to the assessment of CA. As other have said seek medical assistance ASAP.
I had the same as you in the airport waiting to go on holiday it happened twice. It was scary but I still went to lanzarote. I felt unwell all week. Got home couldn’t get a doctors appt. next day had the pains again it got so bad my husband drove me to A an E where they blue lighted me to the nearest heart centre. Please don’t ignore your feelings get it looked into. My first two were warnings. So yours could be.
I went to Spain not feeling well but I didn't want to upset the holiday for everyone. I had to go to A&E in Tortosa I was diagnosed with gall stones and pancreatitis, I was kept in and given excellent treatment but had an heart attack 5 days later, luckily I was in hospital because I didn't realize what it was at the time, I ended up in the intensive care unit and my son and his wife flew out to see I was okay. The team in Tortosa where excellent, I was well looked after. I have got great family and friends who I rely on.
Glad you had such good care in Spain. Hope you are getting better now. It’s good to know the hospital you went to were so good. As my cardiologist told me not to go back to lanzarote because the hospitals are not good enough
A and E NOW.
If it is angina that means the heart is being starved of oxygenated blood. If possible keep breathing as deeply as you can and filling the lungs before exhaling. I had very painful angina that was very frightening as it happened 'out of the blue', a totally new experience. But I found relief in deep slow breathing.
See your GP as soon as possible and ask for a GTN spray to be prescribed for you. Keep it handy.
Best wishes, Bluerose 76.
Please don’t go to an online forum to ask about something as potentially serious as chest pains. No A+E will mind if your symptoms turn out to be non life threatening.
I upticked your comment but I think why so many people like Carpek50 do ask an online forum is down to the thinking 'Well, it was scary when it was happening but I didn't collapse and become unconscious and I feel better now so surely it couldn't have been 'real'...'.
Here's where I raise my somewhat educated hand and confess I've done it. I've had heart issues almost all my life, and was married to a surgeon until he passed away - double educating, that, and I still tend to tell myself 'It's not as though I've collapsed...', sad to admit!
Any news? X
Carpek50 how are you doing
Thank you SO much for caring. I was given the all clear at the hospital today. Xx
Oh dear, I am SO sorry to hear that. Have you no family or friends ?
Hello, yes, I did post earlier. Got the all clear from the hospital. Thank you so very much for your concern x
You sound very low, I think you need your family and friends around you to spur you on. God bless you.
So glad all turned out okay, please don't delay if it happens again, use the hospital that is what it is there for. Good luck.
Thank you xx
That happened to me and I ignored it. A week later I had a heart attack. Seek help immediately.
Thank you for your message. I did go to the hospital in the end and thankfully I got the all clear. So grateful that you took the time to answer xx
Contax your story has me in tears. You are entitled as everyone else is to treatment and never consider yourself a burden. I fully understand you want no fuss but a little TLC is what is needed here and some pampering too. Can I ask if you have any close neighbours to rely on or a close friend to call on even just for a chat. You have so much going on in your life with your illnesses but remember you are just as important as everyone else is. God bless and take care and if want to have a chat I am here xx
Hi hope you are feeling much better now, the anxiety of worrying about wether it seems right or not can make thinks worse. Better to go to hospital and be mistaken than stay at home and not be mistaken. Take care.
Thank you so much. Yes it was best to go to hospital and get checked out. Xxx
Just came your post again. How have you been keeping lately?
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Post heart attack - symptoms. Should I be worried?
