Symptoms of a broken heart can mimic a heart attack, but the differences between the two are quite notable. There are no blockages in the heart, an EKG won’t show the syndrome, and most doctors don’t know much about broken heart syndrome.  It’s best to get a second opinion if your doctor tells you the chest pain you felt along with the shortness of breath, congestive heart failure and low blood pressure wasn’t caused by a heart attack.

The causes of broken heart syndrome are at this time unknown. A sudden surge in adrenaline and other stress hormones can temporarily stun the heart and affect it’s pumping ability. The heart muscle cells are stunned by these hormones, but not killed like it would be with a heart attack. Broken heart syndrome patients can recover in days to weeks. They need to follow standard treatment for a heart attack and heart failure.

There are differences in heart attack symptoms for men and women. Most women won’t have chest pains. This results in a delay in seeking help. Standard tests may not reveal what’s wrong. Your problem could very well be the small blood vessels with cells that aren’t properly functioning. Heart disease can be reversible if caught early.

The most common heart attack symptoms for both men and women are chest pain or discomfort;pain in the arms, back, neck, jaw or stomach; shortness of breath; cold sweats, nausea or light-headedness. Chest pain is the main reason most people seek emergency care. If you experience any chest pain go to the emergency room immediately.

Women’s arteries behave differently than men’s.  In women when cholesterol or plaque builds up the arteries tend to expand to accommodate it.  In men the plaque blocks the arteries. Standard tests search for blocked arteries, so women’s plaque can be hidden. Current testing methods can’t diagnose women having heart attacks as well as they can diagnose men. This results in more women dying of heart attacks than men. Do ask for that second opinion if you doctor tells you it’s not a heart attack you are experiencing. Don’t take chances. It’s your life.

HDL is the “good” cholesterol. This is a high density lipoprotein because it brings leftover cholesterol in the bloodstream back to the liver to be broken down.

LDL is the “bad” cholesterol. A low density lipoprotein it causes a buildup called plaque along the linings of the arteries. This gradual buildup is called atherosclerosis. This plaque narrows the artery openings and causes a reduced amount of blood to flow.

TRIGS or triglycerides travel in various lipoprotiens. Excess calories, alcohol, and sugar in the body are converted into trigs and stored in fat cells. Excess belly fat is associated with trigs. ‘

Total cholesterol levels under 200 are good unless you have a high LDL and a low HDL. Blood tests your doctor orders will determine what your levels are. Medications can be given to help regulate your system. It’s very important for diabetics to have their cholesterol levels under control. Dangers are heart attack and stroke. Quitting smoking can lower your LDL and raise your HDL, which is good.

Difficulty breathing or other respiratory problems, possible heart attack (chest pain; shortness of breath; discomfort in the arm, back, neck or jaw in men, for women this includes fatigue, indigestion and anxiety), symptoms of stroke (numbness in the face, arm or leg; difficulty speaking or understanding what someone else is saying, confusion and dizziness), trauma resulting in broken bones, deep wounds, or concussions, and high fevers in babies under two months old.

Do not use the emergency room for such things as sore throats, colds, diarrhea, or slight fevers. These symptoms need a doctor’s office visit. Save the emergency room for the people who really need it.

Subject: FW: Female Heart Attack – One of the best descriptions I have seen!
Women and heart attacks (Myocardial Infarction).

I was aware that female heart attacks are different, but this is the best description I’ve ever read.

Did you know that women rarely have the same dramatic symptoms that men have when experiencing heart attack…you know, the sudden stabbing pain in the chest, the cold sweat, grabbing the chest and dropping to the floor that we see in the movies. Here is the story of one woman’s experience with a heart attack.

I had a completely unexpected heart attack at about 10:30 PM with NO prior exertion. NO prior emotional trauma that one would suspect might have brought it on. I was sitting all snugly and warm on a cold evening, with my purring cat in my lap, reading an interesting story my friend had sent me, and actually thinking, A-A-h, this is the life, all cozy and warm in my soft, cushy Lazy Boy with my feet propped up. A moment later, I felt that awful sensation of indigestion, when you’ve been in a hurry and grabbed a bite of sandwich and washed it down with a dash of water, and that hurried bite seems to feel like you’ve swallowed a golf ball going down the esophagus in slow motion and it is most uncomfortable. You realize you shouldn’t have gulped it down so fast and needed to chew it more thoroughly and this time drink a glass of water to hasten its progress down to the stomach. This was my initial sensation—the only trouble was that I hadn’t taken a bite of anything since about 5:00 p.m.

After that had seemed to subside, the next sensation was like little squeezing motions that seemed to be racing up my SPINE (hind-sight: it was probably my aorta spasming), gaining speed as they continued racing up and under my sternum (breast bone, where one presses rhythmically when administering CPR). This fascinating process continued on into my throat and branched out into both jaws.

AHA!! NOW I stopped puzzling about what was happening. We all have read and/or heard about pain in the jaws being one of the signals of an MI happening, haven’t we? I said aloud to myself and the cat, ‘Dear God, I think I’m having a heart attack!’ I lowered the foot rest, dumping the cat from my lap, started to take a step and fell on the floor instead. I thought to myself, ‘If this is a heart attack, I shouldn’t be walking into the next room where the phone is or anywhere else…….but, on the other hand, if I don’t, nobody will know that I need help, and if I wait any longer I may not be able to get up in moment.’

I pulled myself up with the arms of the chair, walked slowly into the next room and dialed the Paramedics. I told her I thought I was having a heart attack due to the pressure building under the sternum and radiating into my jaws. I didn’t feel hysterical or afraid, just stating the facts. She said she was sending the Paramedics over immediately, asked if the front door was near to me, and if so, to unbolt the door and then lie down on the floor where they could see me when they came in.

I then laid down on the floor as instructed and lost consciousness, as I don’t remember the medics coming in, their examination, lifting me onto a gurney, or getting me into their ambulance, or hearing the call they made to St. Jude ER on the way, but I did briefly awaken when we arrived and saw that the Cardiologist was already there in his surgical blues and cap, helping the medics pull my stretcher out of the ambulance. He was bending over me asking questions (probably something like ‘Have you taken any medications?’) but I couldn’t make my mind interpret what he was saying, or form an answer, and nodded off again, not waking up until the Cardiologist and partner had already threaded the teeny angiogram balloon up my femoral artery into the aorta and into my heart where they installed 2 side by side stents to hold open my right coronary artery.

I know it sounds like all my thinking and actions at home must have taken at least 20-30 minutes before calling the Paramedics, but actually it took perhaps 4-5 minutes before the call, and both the fire station and St. Jude are only minutes away from my home, and my Cardiologist was already to go to the OR in his scrubs and get going on restarting my heart (which had stopped somewhere between my arrival and the procedure) and installing the stents.

Why have I written all of this to you with so much detail? Because I want all of you who are so important in my life to know what I learned first hand.

1. Be aware that something very different is happening in your body not the usual men’s symptoms, but explicable things happening (until my sternum and jaws got into the act). It is said that many more women than men die of their first (and last) MI because they didn’t know they were having one, and commonly mistake it as indigestion, take some Maalox or other anti-heartburn preparation, and go to bed, hoping they’ll feel better in the morning when they wake up….which doesn’t happen. My female friends, your symptoms might not be exactly like mine, so I advise you to call the Paramedics if ANYTHING is unpleasantly happening that you’ve not felt before. It is better to have a ‘false alarm’ visitation than to risk your life guessing what it might be!

2. Note that I said ‘Call the Paramedics.’ Ladies, TIME IS OF THE ESSENCE! Do NOT try to drive yourself to the ER–you’re a hazard to others on the road, and so is your panicked husband who will be speeding and looking anxiously at what’s happening with you instead of the road. Do NOT call your doctor, he doesn’t know where you live and if it’s at night you won’t reach him anyway, and if it’s daytime, his assistants (or answering service) will tell you to call the Paramedics. He doesn’t carry the equipment in his car that you need to be saved! The Paramedics do. Principally OXYGEN that you need ASAP. Your Dr. will be notified later.

3. Don’t assume it couldn’t be a heart attack because you have a normal cholesterol count. Research has discovered that cholesterol elevated reading is rarely the cause of an MI (unless it’s unbelievably high, and/or accompanied by high blood pressure). MI’s are usually caused by long-term stress and inflammation in the body, which dumps all sorts of deadly hormones into your system to sludge things up in there.
Pain in the jaw can wake you from a sound sleep. Let’s be careful and be aware. The more we know, the better chance we could survive.