Heart Attack? I'm only 45!

What are the odds of lightning striking the same spot twice? After the summer we've had around here, we had just begun to settle into some normalcy again. Our real estate business has been strong and I've enjoyed getting back into the swing of my consultancies. Fall travel softball has taken us on the road a bit too, and the crisp weather has been just what I needed.

As comfortable as I may have been though, a problem was brewing. During our drive home from last weekend's softball tournament in NJ, I didn't feel quite right. I felt so off when we got home that I laid down for a bit. Heart palpitations, headache, ugh--nothing major, it seemed-- and after an hour of resting it went away.

Monday was a normal day, I rode about 14 miles on my Peloton, worked, had dinner with the family. I started getting a headache around 10:30 and decided to go to bed. At 1:30 I woke up with the same heart palpitations and severe headache as Sunday evening, except this time it was 10 times worse. I looked at my husband and said "honey, we might need to go to the hospital."

I was still second guessing myself: while my chest felt a little tight, I didn't have severe pain there. Headache, chills, elevated heart rate, jaw pain, neck pain...was I making a big deal out of nothing? We called the nurse's line for our insurance and they were nonchalant, I 'answered no to all of the 911 questions.' But I still felt like I needed to be seen. As we were headed for the door to leave, I actually asked him "is this a stupid idea?"

As it turns out, it wasn't. I'm 45 years old, I exercise every day, I don't drink soda, I eat fairly healthy, I'm not overweight. The paramedics that transported me from the urgent care center to the hospital said it was a really good thing that I listened to my gut and came in. To be honest, the rash of unexplained migraines in the two weeks prior was the canary in the mineshaft for me. Also, I have a family history of high blood pressure--my grandfather had his first heart attack at 42. (Although I thought I was doing all the right things to ensure I didn't follow in his footsteps.)

After a short stint in the hospital, the doctors were able to get both my high blood pressure and my migraine under control. The heart catheterization procedure showed my heart is not damaged, only inflamed. I'm on two different blood pressure medicines now, and I've got a monitor at home to keep track of it a few times a day.

Several years back, a close friend survived a widowmaker heart attack--the type that you know from the movies, and the type that is extremely deadly. He made sure that our community of friends were well aware of the warning signs of a heart attack (thank you, Jay!) . As a woman, though, the potential heart attack symptoms are very different than for men. You may not even have chest pain! For me, my body was telling me in a bunch of smaller ways that something wasn't right. Thankfully, I listened.

Here are a few resources for heart attack symptoms for women. Make sure you know the warning signs, and trust your instincts.

• From the American Heart Association
• From the Mayo Clinic
• From Go Red for Women
• From the Cleveland Clinic
• From WebMD

(edited on 10/24 to include most recent information:) I had an extensive consult with my cardiologist in office this week. After tons of testing that included catheterization, chest x-ray, blood tests, and echocardiogram, they don't know what happened and they don't know what is causing the inflammation. I'll have more tests as they try to sort this out, but in the meantime I'm working on getting more rest and lowering my stress levels.

And just to be clear, I'm not a doctor. Please reach out to your own doctor with questions and to check on your own risk factors for heart disease. Be healthy, my friends.

#heartdisease #health #heartattack #womenshealth