I'm a 51 year old woman who had a heart attack this weekend.
I was running errands with my dad, you know, grocery store, Costco, lunch. Very suddenly, I felt dizzy, sweaty, drymouthed, lightheaded with a mild pain in my sternum and across the bottom of my ribcage. Thinking it was an allergic reaction, I popped a few Benadryl and every symptom went away except the very mild chest pain.
I went back home and took 2 aspirin because I knew that can make a difference if you really are having a heart attack. After about an hour i wasn't feeling any better, but not any worse either, and was getting rather concerned. I called my dad, packed up my dog in case there really was something wrong and wouldn't be able to be home for a few days, went to his house and we went to the nearby ER. In hindsight, I realize it was pretty stupid to drive but I still didn't believe I could really be having a heart attack
When they checked me in, my BP was 205/134!! Holy shit. Doing blood tests they found out I did indeed have a heart attack because your body throws off troponin, (h/t to Wee Mama for the following: Troponin is one of the proteins muscle uses to regulate contraction. When heart muscle is damaged, some of it leaks out into the blood.) They checked me in to get my BP stabilized. My tropinon level rose with each blood test.
Several more blood tests indicated I may have done damage to my heart so an emergency cardiac catheterization was ordered Sunday morning. This procedure involves going through your femoral artery to your heart to determine if there are any blockages in the heart and where they are located. I had 2 permanent stents put into 2 arteries along with a temporary balloon to expand another artery.
They kept me until Tuesday in order to get the proper dosage of meds to get my blood pressure stabilized.
I actually feel better than I have in awhile. I've have been feeling totally lethargic and sluggish for months. This can be attributed to my heart really having to work overtime.
The amazing thing is that I was never in much pain, that's why I didn't think it was a heart attack. Women experience heart attacks often very differently than men. Heed that lesson, ladies. Please.
I am so thankful I went to the ER. I don't know what would have happened otherwise.
Woman and Heart Disease Fact Sheet
Women's Heart Attack Symptoms Different From Men's
Heart Disease is the Number One Killer of Woman
Sudden Death After a Heart Attack This one scares the crap out of me.