Thought I was having a heart attack 💔

[Dunx1977]

Morning everyone,

We'll last night turned out to be quite stressful I'm afraid 😨 for the 2nd time in 3 days I was floored with chest pains, nausea and actually feared for my life, so much so that I begged my husband to phone 999....

There was such a wait for an ambulance to come in our area that my husband put me in the car and drove me to our local hospital, now by the time we got to hospital the pains had went from a definite 8/9 to about a 4/3 and were decreasing but my chest felt weak (like I'd been doing weights the day before)

I got 3 sets of bloods at a couple of hours apart, 2 ECG traces and a lot of lying around as the NHS did their absolute best to look after me in this current climate....

So at 1.30am this morning a nurse comes in says it wasn't a heart attack and that she'd remove my cannula and I was to phone my husband and get collected.... Now I'm terrified with what it actually was... As I said last night was the 2nd time in 3 days (I'm generally for, well and not overweight anymore... Run 5k every other day!!) with no explanation of what it could have been or what to do if it happens again, I'm lost.

Has anyone else ever had anything like this happen to them?

Sorry for being such a downer but I'm so scared.... As the 2nd attack was so much worse than the first and I'm terrified there'll be a 3rd!!!

[Frenc]

So sorry to hear about your experience. It could possibly have been an anxiety attack. These are highly unpleasant and can mimic how a heart attack feels. Nausea can also be related to an anxiety attack. I’ve suffered with them since a nasty event about 7 years ago and they suck! In any event I’d try and get a phone appointment with your gp - they can hopefully shed some light on it. 😊

[Dunx1977 in reply to Frenc]

Thank you for taking the time to read and reply, was back at work yesterday feeling completely fine and feeling like a complete fraud for wasting NHS time and resources 😥

Just spoke to my Dr at my local health centre, she's put me on the list for an ultrasound to see if I have gallstones, she said it sounded like a gallstone attack!?

[Frenc in reply to Dunx1977]

So glad you spoke to your doctor! And that they have been proactive. It’s awful when our health really worries us especially at the moment. I hope your ultrasound proves useful and they get to the bottom of it. All the best! 😊

[Dunx1977 in reply to Frenc]

Thank you so much, I must admit I'm very grateful for the care I've received... They are going through the most horrendous and difficult time at the moment and I'm very appreciative that the care and responses I've received have been absolutely fantastic 👌

All the best to you and your family for the coming year 🙏

[KayCan]

May be totally off course here but this sounds exactly what I went through before I discovered I had gallstones. The first time it happened it felt that my chest was caving in and I couldn't breathe!! As a result I had an anxiety attack just because I didn't know what was happening to me. Id given birth by emergency section 3 weeks prior and the doctors thought it was a PE but tests came back to suggest not. If you get pain under your ribs and around your shoulders then I'd definitely ask for an ultrasound, if only to rule this out. Take care of yourself ❤

[Dunx1977 in reply to KayCan]

Thank you for taking the time to read and reply, was back at work yesterday feeling completely fine and feeling like a complete fraud for wasting NHS time and resources 😥

Just spoke to my Dr at my local health centre, she's put me on the list for an ultrasound to see if I have gallstones, she said it sounded like a gallstone attack!?

Didn't even know that was a thing but she said that women of 'my age' can be prone to this 🙈🙈

[KayCan in reply to Dunx1977]

I know only too well how quickly the pain can subside. 1 minute you're feeling like you're on deaths door and the next you're absolutely fine. I ended up in A and E a number of times but its imperative you get checked out incase the little blighters move and can cause infection. By your user name I'm guessing you're a couple of years older than me? I'm 40 and was told I fit the criteria perfectly for gallstones (40, fair, and female) Thats great you can have a scan and then you'll know for sure 👍

[Dunx1977 in reply to KayCan]

Oh my word KayCan you are 100% exactly correct with everything!! 44 in 10 days and fair.... Seemingly exactly the right stomping ground for gallstones!!! 🙈😳😥

That's exactly what I experienced... Begging husband to call an ambulance as I was dying then by the time he drove me to A&E I felt like a complete fraud and idiot.... Even went to work the next day (even though I only got home from hospital at 2am!!) because I felt so well and there was nothing wrong with me 😳🙈

How are you keeping now if you don't mind me asking? X

[KayCan in reply to Dunx1977]

I'm keeping very well at the moment, it has been really difficult though, having a baby and adapting to lack of sleep/time to do anything my diet was pretty crap. But it was due to all the fat and sugar I was having that was setting off my attacks so I've stripped my diet right back, only have lean meats, lots of veg and skimmed milk, low fat cheese spread etc and I seem to be ok. I've lost 3 & 1/2 stone since April (some of which was baby weight) if you want any advice on anything please just send me a message and I'd be happy to help where I can. I have learned one thing though, if you do have gallstones what works for me in terms of diet might not work for you, there's so much information out there its really hard to make the right decisions to limit attacks x

[Dunx1977 in reply to KayCan]

Bless your heart KayCan what a journey you are having 😳 hats off to you though, baby, losing weight AND coping with these attacks.... You are amazing ❤️ hope you continue with your journey and can hopefully put all the pain issues behind you and continue to enjoy your baby and weight loss 😘

I've lost 4.5 stone in the past year and have taken up running since lockdown 1 and have been running 5k, 2 to 3 times a week with no issues apart from the weather (we stay in Glasgow!!) 😂 so this has really hit me like a bolt of lightning as I was feeling the fittest and strongest I've felt in a looooong time... Really knocked my confidence too.... I'm due a run today but my anxiety is through the roof in case something happens when I'm out, don't want to be found in the street on all 4's panting like I'm in labour!!! 😳😂

Thanks for the offer, if it happens again I'll definitely be in touch with you xx

[KayCan in reply to Dunx1977]

Thank you. Take care of yourself.... Take it easy when running, I went back to spinning (which I love to do) about 2 months after having my daughter and was finding that it was upsetting my stones, so its just walking for me at the moment 😩 just warning you incase you over do things x

[Ritornello]

Acid from stomach? I find sometimes if I bend over acid can spill into my throat and set off vice-like pain running down jaw and into chest. Can happen at other times, too. Pain is intense and immobilising, and I too have called ambulance.. I find that a dose of liquid Gaviscon eases the pain quite quickly, and hopefully means it is stomach not heart. Worth a try a try if happensit again. (sorry for typos)

[Dunx1977 in reply to Ritornello]

Thank you for taking the time to read and reply, was back at work yesterday feeling completely fine and feeling like a complete fraud for wasting NHS time and resources 😥

Just spoke to my Dr at my local health centre, she's put me on the list for an ultrasound to see if I have gallstones, she said it sounded like a gallstone attack!?

Spoke to my mum and she admitted she has had symptoms like this (but she's old school and wouldn't want to bother anyone) so has just ignored the symptoms and prayed they don't come back!!! 😂 I don't think I could've prayed any harder for the symptoms to disappear the other night!! 🙈😥

[Ritornello in reply to Dunx1977]

😀 Don't feel like a fraud! Pain from gastric problems can be so intense; better to get it checked. Hope it subsides and that you get treatment soon.

[Dunx1977 in reply to Ritornello]

Thanks so much 👌🤞 keeping positive that they'll get to the bottom of this and I can just forget about this eventually 🙈😜