Don't delay!

[swannies1983 (Dan)]

A word of advice to all the men out there. Don't try and be tough when it comes to chest pain, even if you think it's indigestion. I work in a cardiac unit and a patient died on the table yesterday following a massive heart attack. It turns out he had been having chest pain for several weeks and assumed it to be reflux. He was 61. I know that witnessing death is part of my job, but watching someone die in front of your eyes is always a shock.

Obviously the same goes for women but I hear far more stories from men ignoring the signs of a heart attack.

[Occulta (Chris)]

Was under the house shifting some timber around and when finished I felt pain in my chest. Decided it was either muscle soreness from moving things in a crouched position or a heart attack. I took an asprin and within half an hour the pain had gone so it must have been the under-house work.

5 days later when visiting my Dad for lunch, the same pain returned so had another asprin. This pain did not go away.

A stent after the angiogram followed by a week in hospital has left me with a renewed confidence in how stupid I was for failing to get assistance earlier.

I was lucky

As Dan said, trying to be tough can lead to dead ... and there is no coming back from that.

Chris

[graham.hobart (Graham stevens)]

I third that.
Simple blood work and an ECG can differentiate most benign causes from the deadly ones so pick up the phone guys.

[Larryp (Laurie)]

I had what I thought was indigestion for over a month-I was gulping down Mylanta and Gaviscon frequently. Then one night the pain would not go away and I called an ambulance-sure enough, it was a heart attack.
They put a stent in the obstructed coronary artery, and I was lucky not to have damaged cardiac muscle.

[el_draco (Rom)]

Yeah... Faced that cross road, literally, while I was at work about a year ago..... Turn left and visit a client or turn right and go to hospital. Just didn't feel right. Hardly ever sick in my life but I lit up the board when they plugged me in. Doc said I would have had about 10 hours if I didn't turn right at that intersection.

B.P. is now less than half what it was and I am getting back to a "normal" life again. Don't even blink if you have chest pain. 99 times out of a 100 its nothing, but the one you don't do anything about is a bi*ch!

NB, If you want to get to the front of the cue in a hospital, just walk up to reception and say you feel a bit strange in the chest.... Woa!!!! Yeah, Yeah... I know I shouldn't laugh but it was like hitting the nurse with a cattle prod charged to a million volts

[omegacrux (David)]

Good advice Dan
I had chest pains in that area I was worried!
went to the hospital told them 'chest pains' didn't even get to finish filling forms
all good pulled muscle , but geez I was worried

David

[Hans Tucker (Hans)]

A work colleague went to his doctor on a Friday on an unrelated issue but mentioned to the doctor he was having certain symptoms. Upon examination the doctor told him he wasn't leaving the clinic and was promptly transported to hospital. On the Monday he was having a triple bypass. To look at him you wouldn't think he was a candidate for heart problems.

Men need to take their health seriously. Thankyou Dan for taking the time to post your recent experience and starting this thread.

[csb (Craig)]

At 48yo I had chest pain episode but with different outcome.

I had a slight pin-prick type pain in the middle of the chest for approx 2hrs so I phoned the local hospital and spoke to an RN who advised I should come into the hospital straight away.

When I got there they immediately put me in a cubicle and hooked up ECG leads. They did not note anything unusual but because the pain was still present they wanted to monitor me overnight and would do 2 hourly blood tests - byproducts from cardiac damage can take many hours to show up.

In the morning nothing was found. They did not know what caused my pain which disappeared 1hr after going into hospital.

A few moths later I saw my GP about unrelated matter and he advised me to see a cardiac specialist for further tests but this also showed nothing unusual. I have always been in good health and diet is not bad.

It was great to be able to receive top health care just as a precaution.

[PeterEde (Peter)]

Work colleague had a heart attack a few months back now.
Went home not feeling well. His wife said we're going to hospital. Had a heart attack in the waiting room. Lucky to be a live today.

[graham.hobart (Graham stevens)]

keep taking those aspirin ladies 7gents gehttps://www.bowelcanceraustralia.org...583&Itemid=708

[swannies1983 (Dan)]

Originally Posted by Hans Tucker

A work colleague went to his doctor on a Friday on an unrelated issue but mentioned to the doctor he was having certain symptoms. Upon examination the doctor told him he wasn't leaving the clinic and was promptly transported to hospital. On the Monday he was having a triple bypass. To look at him you wouldn't think he was a candidate for heart problems.

Same thing could be said about my uncle. He's quite active (gym, running, playing volleyball). He went for a jog one day and had mild chest pain. Went to hospital and had an angio. Three narrowings and was told he needed a triple bypass which actually turned into a quadruple bypass. He was only in his early 50s at the time.

The worrying thing for me is that cardiovascular disease runs in the family. My grandma (mum of uncle above) had a bypass and ended up having a cardiac arrest a couple of years later in the backyward. She was standing up at the back shed and I went in another shed to collect chicken eggs. When I came out she was on her back and unresponsive. She ended up passing away.

While I did specify men in my OP, my grandma was one of those that didn't want to bother anyone with her problems. She was probably having chest pain all day but didn't want to tell anyone.

Thanks everyone for sharing their experiences.

[DavidTrap (David)]

As someone who is on call this weekend for a major cardiac unit, I'd always prefer you get it checked out ASAP, rather than waiting until you're half dead before presenting. While it's a professional challenge to keep the critically unwell alive through emergency cardiac surgery, I'd rather do mundane, predictable routine cases!

DT

[swannies1983 (Dan)]

What do you David?

[xelasnave]

Out late playing guitar with friends and did not feel well with a tightness in my chest.
Told all they would have to do without my input on the music and left.
I got to my car to set off on the two hour drive home when my late mate Tui (see below) came to the car saying I should go to hospital. He reasoned I never stop partying so I must be really crook.
He drove me to hospital and sure enough I was having one.
I doubt I would have made it home and figure he saved my life.
So everyone don't fight thru pain etc go straight to hospital.

[DavidTrap (David)]

Originally Posted by swannies1983

What do you David?

I'm an anaesthetist & perfusionist.

DT

[LewisM]

Anaesthetists... last time I was to have twilight sedation, anaesthetist told me that I will be groggy but relaxed throughout. Yeah sure, next thing I remember was sitting in the recovery room looking at a rather ugly nurse!

My father has had 4 heart attacks now. I went to see him in hospital the first one and didn't even recognise him - he was beet-red, swollen, sweating profusely.... I didn't think I would see him alive ever again. Next day after the intensive care, stents etc, he was looking almost normal again.

He needs to be checked monthly now. Improving, but still cannot exert himself whatsoever (plus he suffers polymyalgia rheumatica).

[Poita (Peter)]

Originally Posted by csb

At 48yo I had chest pain episode but with different outcome.

I had a slight pin-prick type pain in the middle of the chest for approx 2hrs so I phoned the local hospital and spoke to an RN who advised I should come into the hospital straight away.

When I got there they immediately put me in a cubicle and hooked up ECG leads. They did not note anything unusual but because the pain was still present they wanted to monitor me overnight and would do 2 hourly blood tests - byproducts from cardiac damage can take many hours to show up.

In the morning nothing was found. They did not know what caused my pain which disappeared 1hr after going into hospital.

A few moths later I saw my GP about unrelated matter and he advised me to see a cardiac specialist for further tests but this also showed nothing unusual. I have always been in good health and diet is not bad.

It was great to be able to receive top health care just as a precaution.

Had the same thing, and much the same experience. This happened on and off for three years, turned out to be my gall bladder!

[Exfso (Peter)]

Similar stuff happened to me a few years back. Had shortness of breath and an ache down the left arm, decided to call an ambulance. They did all sorts of tests, sent me home saying nothing was wrong with me. The symptoms persisted and my GP was not happy got me off to hospital again,did a stress test, this was fine, back home again. Problems would not go away, so my GP rang the Cardiologist, who reluctantly agreed to do an angiogram, you guessed it, an almost completely blocked coronary artery, he was amazed, considering I passed the stress test, stent inserted problem solved. Point, here is if symptoms persist, don't sit on your hands and ignore them, a lot of dead people confirm this is not the way to go.

[GeoffW1 (Geoff)]

Originally Posted by graham.hobart

keep taking those aspirin ladies 7gents gehttps://www.bowelcanceraustralia.org...583&Itemid=708

Hi,

Just ask the doctor first though. Not everyone should take aspirin regularly.

Cheers