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I got a stent 2 years ago and I had warnings but didn't know how dangerous it was. I read in the retires sitting on money and other people I have known who died suddenly did they just have a fatal heart attack out of the blue.
My warnings were I take a walk everyday with my dogs for exercise and began to have chest pains. Then a couple of times this led to severe dizziness, thats when thankfully I went to the doctor.
Both my Dad and my late husband had similar warning signs- got "winded" after a little exertion. Dad sought medical advice and ended up with a bypass; DH was going to have general anaesthetic for dental work and the dentist wanted him to get an EKG first because he was 65. He failed the EKG and ended up with stents.
And then there's my Uncle the marathon runner. I found out later that he'd been getting some signs of cardiac problems. It was 1979 and the medical technology wasn't as good- in fact, his doctor told him that he wished he were in as good shape as my Uncle. I can picture my Uncle pushing through the pain and following my two cardinal health rules ("Ignore it and it will go away" and "Exercise cures everything"). He dropped dead of a heart attack in his boss' office on a Monday morning. He was only 42.
I'm 66 and female and I know that women's symptoms can be more subtle. I do monitor cholesterol levels, for what that's worth. I participate in a local corporate athletic competition and every year I ask myself, "Can I do this?" This year I did my first Duathlon- a 5K, 13 miles on the bike and another 5K. Even when you've done something strenuous the year before you know you're a year older so maybe your body will protect this time.
But, I keep on keeping on. It's all I know how to do.
Ignored the first one for weeks - chest pains and severely winded walking up a moderate slope. One night pains were too severe, called an ambulance. One stent.
Four years later symptoms came on me suddenly, recognized them, called ambulance. Three stents. That was a decade ago.
Both my Dad and my late husband had similar warning signs- got "winded" after a little exertion. Dad sought medical advice and ended up with a bypass; DH was going to have general anaesthetic for dental work and the dentist wanted him to get an EKG first because he was 65. He failed the EKG and ended up with stents.
And then there's my Uncle the marathon runner. I found out later that he'd been getting some signs of cardiac problems. It was 1979 and the medical technology wasn't as good- in fact, his doctor told him that he wished he were in as good shape as my Uncle. I can picture my Uncle pushing through the pain and following my two cardinal health rules ("Ignore it and it will go away" and "Exercise cures everything"). He dropped dead of a heart attack in his boss' office on a Monday morning. He was only 42.
I'm 66 and female and I know that women's symptoms can be more subtle. I do monitor cholesterol levels, for what that's worth. I participate in a local corporate athletic competition and every year I ask myself, "Can I do this?" This year I did my first Duathlon- a 5K, 13 miles on the bike and another 5K. Even when you've done something strenuous the year before you know you're a year older so maybe your body will protect this time.
But, I keep on keeping on. It's all I know how to do.
You are awesome but I'm so sorry about your uncle though. I'm glad your dad and DH got the needed attention. Required EKG's are a pain but it's a familiar outcome.
In 2012 & 2013, I got into long distance cycling and always wondered if I was actually damaging my heart but subjecting it to continuous, high rates. I did have a couple of bouts of dizziness prior to that and I already have a slightly irregular heartbeat so I subjected myself to a full battery of tests to confirm that all is well. They decided that I have an inner ear issue but even today, doing something such as lying flat on my back with something in close proximity to my face (picture working on a car), will induce nausea. Weird but I live with it.
One thing I learned is that for long-distance cyclists, the heart does protect itself. I noticed this on a 600-km event in which you have 40 hours to complete the event. We had ridden just over 240 miles on the first day, got a few hours sleep and started out the second day with just over a 100 miles to go.
At about 11 am, I noticed something strange: no matter how hard I pedaled, my heart rate would not go over 125 beat per minute. I later found out that it's not unusual at all. I went on to keep an eye on my HR at subsequent events and noted the same outcome.
Now, I've cut out the long distance stuff (drivers are too distracted or impaired to feel safe at 0230 in the morning in the middle of nowhere) for two rides on weekdays and one hard Saturday ride. Again, I'm pushing my heart into the 160 range but haven't noted any issues whatsoever. Average HR for me for these rides is in the mid to high 130's. No ill effects thank goodness.
My wife did request that I do a Cardiac Calcium Scoring test and I was pleased to score 1. I read horror stories of people in the 500-700 - 900 range so my 1 put my ....wait for it....heart at ease.
Friend and Mensa member, PhD, glass expert had something like 3 to 5 "minor" heart attacks, he just sort of rode through them, finally his wife insisted he go to the doctor, he's on a much more strict diet than he was. Not a Rambo type who I would expect to have a very high pain tolerance, overweight, maybe even obese, but not over the top so.
I don't recall if he had stents put in or not.
I mention Mensa and his PhD just to point out this guy is no dummy. Yet he was very reluctant to get any help.
Yes some people do have warning signs but others do not. You can have a stent put in and still have a heart attack. Realize that the signs mean that your blood flow is being restricted and that can be opened with a stent. A heart attack happens when you have a blockage happen impeding blood flow and that could happen any time even to someone that is in good shape and hasn’t had any signs of restricted blood flow.
Is good to keep an eye out for signs, keep seeing your cardiologist for tests, exercise and eat healthy and thankfully medicine has reach a stage when even a heart attack victim has a good chance at recovery.
I didn't have a heart attack, because they discovered my pulmonary embolisms before that happened (if left untreated, the clots move between your heart chambers creating holes and - voila. Heart attack).
My symptoms were: practically nothing at all. Yep. Virtually no symptoms until rather suddenly the night before I went to the hospital. And that was with bilateral pulmonary embolism, moderate load.
I was getting short of breath, but we were traveling in the trailer and it takes some amount of exertion to make/break camp. Increasingly, it was taking me longer and longer to recover enough to do the next task. And I had an annoying dry cough - very similar to when my exercise-induced asthma is about to kick in.
Eventually we decided that after we drove to the next campground (200 miles or so) we'd take me to urgent care to find out whether this was my asthma gone crazy or some weird pneumonia. But that evening, I couldn't even walk literally across the street for dinner - we drove. I managed to eat about a third of my dinner, and needed to lie down. Around four in the morning I started feeling an ache low in my ribcage which I recognized as pleurisy (I'd had it before). And that set me to thinking - that I was probably not going to survive to reach the urgent care. So I asked DH to call me the ambulance.
At the hospital, after they cleared me of possible heart issues, they were so certain it was pneumonia that the started me on heavy-duty antibiotics. Sort of as an afterthought, they ran a cat scan. After that the ER physician came in and told them they might as well replace the antibiotics with warfarin drip, since she'd finally seen the pulmonary embolisms.
Pretty d*mned scary!
Yes, symptoms can be quite subtle until quite far into the injury/illness.
Went in for a physical in July. Had not been to the doctor in 4 years.
Blood test. Everything good. No medication.
Colonoscopy. 1 polyp. Benign. Come back in 6 months, though, because they think that is the same polyp they removed in 2014.
Heart murmur was new ..... Cardiologist for an echocardiogram. Man, I was amazed at all the information they get! All sorts of readings. Basically said I have a good heart except for that mitral valve regurgitation. And ..... that mysterious mass behind the mitral valve...
Anyone ever had a cardiac MRI? They take TWO HOURS! You hold your breath; you breathe. The thing roars in your ears, and you are lying in a sewer pipe with your nose touching the surface above you. It went on and on. Sometimes The Thing wanted me to hold my breath for 20 seconds; sometimes just 10.
And then I was done. Dizzy and a little disoriented, but that only lasted a few minutes.
Got the results through my medical portal in 2 hours.
I have Mitral Annulus Calcification. No biggee, but I will want to measure it every once in a while, and we'll do that by echocardiagram.
No. No heart attack. But I did worry a little.
I didn't have a heart attack, because they discovered my pulmonary embolisms before that happened (if left untreated, the clots move between your heart chambers creating holes and - voila. Heart attack).
My symptoms were: practically nothing at all. Yep. Virtually no symptoms until rather suddenly the night before I went to the hospital. And that was with bilateral pulmonary embolism, moderate load.
I was getting short of breath, but we were traveling in the trailer and it takes some amount of exertion to make/break camp. Increasingly, it was taking me longer and longer to recover enough to do the next task. And I had an annoying dry cough - very similar to when my exercise-induced asthma is about to kick in.
Eventually we decided that after we drove to the next campground (200 miles or so) we'd take me to urgent care to find out whether this was my asthma gone crazy or some weird pneumonia. But that evening, I couldn't even walk literally across the street for dinner - we drove. I managed to eat about a third of my dinner, and needed to lie down. Around four in the morning I started feeling an ache low in my ribcage which I recognized as pleurisy (I'd had it before). And that set me to thinking - that I was probably not going to survive to reach the urgent care. So I asked DH to call me the ambulance.
At the hospital, after they cleared me of possible heart issues, they were so certain it was pneumonia that the started me on heavy-duty antibiotics. Sort of as an afterthought, they ran a cat scan. After that the ER physician came in and told them they might as well replace the antibiotics with warfarin drip, since she'd finally seen the pulmonary embolisms.
Pretty d*mned scary!
Yes, symptoms can be quite subtle until quite far into the injury/illness.
What staying power, wow. You're one tough cookie. Glad you're here to tell the story, especially since it sounds like the odds were against you there for a while. Your tenacity paid off!
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