Apologies for the long post.In 2018 I asked my GP to conduct an annual check up. The nurse done an ECG and an Inferior myocardial infarction was diagnosed and I was subsequently referred to the cardiology department.
I was given an angiogram in 2019 that showed one of my arteries was blocked but fortunately for me the blood diverted to another artery. I was not given any stents and I have not had any heart surgery but I now take several medicines/tablets. The consultant verbally said I have stable Angina and l was signed off by the consultant 2023. They could not say when I had the heart attack ans I cannot recall having a heart attack albeit I felt my chest was getting tight when I bent over ets pre 2018 but I put this down to getting older. I have always suffered with indigestion and my cholesterol level has always been high but never had an ECG prior to requesting a full medical check.
Just wondering if anyone else has been through the same ordeal. Thanks.
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not personally but I’ve heard this from other people. You can have a “silent” heart attack. I’d say, the point is that you’ve had a heart attack and now are in a position to see whether you need to make changes to your diet and lifestyle - lots of info on the BHF website.
I had similar symptoms to you but I had not had a heart attack (yet). I raised these with my GP and he was concerned enough to order an angiogram. This found my heart artery LAD was 90% blocked so medication would not have been sufficient and I had to have a couple of stents. Like you my cardiologist also thought sufficient blood had diverted through other vessels so that I had avoided a heart attack which is unusual.
Like you my symptoms were mild, a slight tightness warming up for sprints which I put down to not leaving enough time after eating.
3 years on my cholesterol levels are down; I probably should have followed my GP advice earlier and not shied away from statins. I am also still running but added in strength training in my retirement.
I suppose my takeaway is that minor symptoms should not be ignored and my GP said they would prefer to have these raised early than wait till I was blue lighted to hospital.
Thanks for reply, it's a shame that my GP did not conduct an ECG and or an Angiogram when I had high cholesterol levels but hindsight is a wonderful thing as they say.My cholesterol level is really low now and I do not get pains in my chest anymore due to the medication I am now on but I do feel that my GP has let me down slightly. Take care
Not happened to me but instead October 2024 when I was in hospital the woman in the bed next to me was told she had had a silent heart attack and the Heart Failure Nurse told her it happens to women a lot and I was also told to never ignore chest pains and to either call 999 or take myself in
yes, similar happened to me. Only recently I had to call an emergency ambulance and they did an ECG and it was telling them that I had an Acute Myocardial Infraction. Yes, I was needing an ambulance for Atrial Fibrillation but I wasn’t having a heart attack and couldn’t recall ever having one. Just by chance I noticed, on a referral letter for my AF, that apparently I had had an Acute Myocardial Infraction back in 2008 which I was never made aware of. I do remember being in hospital at that time but I was completely unaware of this. No one had ever mentioned it to my husband either. Presumably it was only a mild one as I never had any stents.
Yes, I have had 2 MIs. I found out by accident following investigations for another issue which I was paying for privately. I suspect that they may have happened several years ago. Consultant has told me that I do not need treatment. I think that lots of people have asymptomatic cardiovascular disease. The problems manifest themselves in later years. All part of the process of getting old I guess.
I didn't have a silent heart attack but a kardia reading one day showed inverted t waves I had no symptoms but I sent it to my cardiologist who had me in for a full ECG .
That showed likely blockages.
I was booked into the hospital for an angiogram which showed 2 blockages and they were stented there and then and that was 3 years ago so .
yes! After suffering with breathlessness in 2019 I went to my gp. An ECG showed I’d had an Nstemi heart attack didn’t feel a thing! Apparently this is very common in women. One stent and a few tablets a day later im here taking better care of myself, and very grateful for my second chance in life.
I certainly had a silent heart attack, just felt a ‘bit off’. Diagnosed, by chance, the same day. Had stents 4 days later but then had a murmur diagnosed 4 days after that.
In 1998 aged 34 I had a heart attack . No dramatic events just what I thought was bad indigestion all day. At the end of the day my wife contacted 111 and they said it was probably stress related but that they would arrange for an ambulance to get me checked out at hospital. The ambulance medic said he sees it all the time and it was more than likely stress. Got to hospital and they did their tests and asked me to stay in overnight as they wanted to do more tests. Next morning I had a scan on my heart and they let me know I had had a heart attack. I had a stent inserted. I have had various heart issues since then which you can see on my first post on this forum. 26 years later I am still here and have been taken well care of by the NHS. Over time I have come to accept that my heart is far from perfect but it does a great job for me and it is pretty resilient! You can’t look backwards and worry about the past and any mistakes as it could eat you up. Instead try and enjoy every day you wake up to and be grateful for that day. Please keep listening to you body and live a healthy lifestyle ant take good care of yourself and your loved ones
i was told i had markers that i had suffered at least four HA leading up to my massive one in 2022 that led to my triple bypass at the age of 68.I like you cannot remember anything in my history that resembled the common HA symptoms.
The consultant said it was difficult to give accurate time scales, but he did say the markers ( not sure what he ment) implied these may have been decades ago. plus more recent ones.
All i can say is i have suffered from lots of trapped wind during my life, were these the HA and i didn’t realise.
Yes, also had a “silent” heart attack, as did my mum. Mine has left scaring in the left ventricle (I think some further damage as my consultant says one thing and when in hospital last year, another consultant indicated the damage was worse). Mine was found on a CT angiogram following a “virus” (tested negative for Covid but this could be a false negative) together with severe stenosis of the mid LAD artery.
Felt a bit of discomfort around my jaw and feeling a bit ropey. Convinced myself it was due to grinding my teeth. Daughter thought I should go to A&E just to get checked. Treponin levels in high hundreds and was having a “serious heart attack”!No pain and not least bit scared! Emergency ambulance to another hospital where 3 totally blocked arteries were opened with stents. Apparently this can be typical for women.
Silent HA are more common that most people think and they are not like the HAs you generally see on TV or told about. I had no pain and actually walked in from the hospital car park. It was after ECGs and a blood test I was told I was having a HA. Further checks found 2 blocked arteries and evidence of an earlier HA. I had no idea about the issues and the previous HA and was active playing various sports. Thankfully like others the blood found a new way around my heart and so limited the issue and damage.
Since then I have had stents, CABG and an ICD plus the usual mix of medication.
The cause for my issues was cholesterol, which had slowly got higher and blocked the arteries.
In 2018 I had open heart surgery to repair my mitral valve and spent 8 days in ICU after the operation (although it was successful) because when they tried to take me off the external pacemaker my heart rate dropped through the floor and I lost consciousness. The problem resolved itself and I was discharged, had regular checkups with a cardiologist (I'm in Spain and was being treated in the private health system at the time). The monitoring showed no problems and I felt fine once I'd recovered from the operation, was back to regular gym work and pretty strenuous cardio classes. Then towards the end of 2020 at one of the regular checkups I was told my heart function had deteriorated (ejection fraction had dropped from 63% to 41%). In the New Year I changed my health cover over to the public sector and saw a cardiologist at my local hospital. As well as the usual ECG and ultrasound scan he referred me for an MRI and a nuclear medicine scan which confirmed that at some time (nobody could say when but it must have been between my checkup in late 2019 and the one in 2020) I'd had a myocardial infarction which had damaged some heart muscle. I honestly had not had any symptoms, no chest pain, dizziness or shortness of breath at all (but nor did I have before my mitral valve surgery, even just before surgery when the mitral regurgitation had progressed to severe after being monitored for 3 years following the initial discovery of the problem). The cardiologist put me on ramipril in addition to the bisoprolol and pitavastatin I'd been taking since the mitral valve problem was discovered. He also ordered an angiogram (I'd had a previous one immediately before my heart surgery which showed my coronary arteries were in good shape). The new angiogram in 2021 likewise showed no stents were needed. So it is a mystery to everyone why I had the silent heart attack but the cardiologist advised me to give up the more strenuous forms of exercise, which I have reluctantly done. My ejection fraction had improved to 49% at my last checkup and the cardiologist said he would only need to see me again after a year instead of six monthly as it had been before. My own theory is that the silent heart attack was caused by stress. Between 2108 and early 2020 I'd had a series of very stressful situations to contend with - the heart surgery in June 2108, my younger sister was killed whilst on holiday in June 2019, in September 2019 I was diagnosed with endometrial cancer and had to have a hysterectomy, in December 2019 the police had to break into my very elderly aunt's house in the UK and she was found collapsed and in a serious condition, I was unable to fly over to see her in hospital immediately as I was recovering from the hysterectomy, did fly over in January 2020 and saw her just before she died, then my brother and I had to arrange the funeral and deal with her estate and the sale of her house after the pandemic had struck, and there was friction with my deceased sister's family who thought they should be entitled to a larger share of our aunt's estate than the Will had bequeated to my sister. I think one thing after another just piled up and the cumulative effect was just too much. But in 2025 I'm still here and feeling in pretty good health although still upset that I can't do the forms of exercise I used to love. Also I have been unable to get travel insurance that doesn't exclude my heart condition (so it's not worth taking the risk of travelling outside Europe where I could at least use my EHIC card if I needed medical treatment and I am really disappointed not to be able to fulfil the dreams I had of seeing more of the world in retirement). I wish you all the best with your situation.
You should be able to get insurance that covers your heart. In the search box on here just type holiday insurance. There are hundreds of suggestions for companies that should cover you.
Thank you, but I am not a UK resident and these companies do not insure non UK residents. I have tried 3 different companies serving foreign residents in Spain, including one which advertises that they cover pre-existing conditions, and all have refused to cover my heart condition.
like you I had a silent heart attack which I thought was indigestion when I was driving home late one night. As luck would have it I had an appointment with my doctor the next morning and I mentioned it, he sent me straight to the hospital where I had another silent heart attack just after being hooked up to the apparatus.
As you can see from other responses this is not uncommon.
The heart related pain is not always the chest-clutching-drop-to-the-floor experience portrayed in the media - it can feel like indigestion, vague arm, shoulder or neck aches & pains, nausea and quite a range of other sensations.
Sadly the chest-clutching experience is what most people expect because that is what the media shows we should expect, so when we get other symptoms we don't associate it with a heart problem.
That is one of the reasons so many of us have tales of "silent heart attacks".
My own uncle, a twin, treated himself for indigestion for years, taking antacids and avoiding foods which gave him heartburn (is there a clue in that term?) - only to be hit by a crippling heart attack and informed that he had already had more than one - his was partly due to a congenital condition which could have been fixed years earlier if only he had thought to consult a doctor about his heartburn - there are several in the family and they were all furious with him! Fortunately his twin brother took note and got checked - he had the same issue and got it fixed, but his brother died.
Moral of the tale: see a doctor about any persistent health issue, self diagnosis is not always reliable🙂
My story centres on being aware.Always a 10k fast runner, I began to wonder (early 50s) why my uphill running was slowing.
While doing Colorado rafting (320k) in my late 50s, we did some running on the sides of the canyon during overnight stops, and I was getting really slow on the hills.
I asked my GP for cardiologist referral and requested cardio to do heart angiogram (he was reluctant but agreed). One artery 90% and another 70% blocked. Two stents. One blocked. But I had developed collateral artery to compensate. Very lucky. No heart attack.
50% or so of all HA are silent. Mine was discovered 3 years ago when I went to hospital on another matter. following tests and waiting time my only option at that time was to have a THB but tests showed that I had an infection and it couldn't proceed. I have never got rid of the infection and investigations continue but that was 14 months ago. We decided with the surgeon a few weeks ago that the THB would not go ahead and that I would just continue with meds. I have never had any real symptoms and the surgery would be a higher risk for me, but everyone is different and we all need to take individual advice. I can do what I did before but a lot slower and less of it🫠.
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