In Pain so much last night...
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| Mon, 02-06-2006 - 6:39am |
that when I went to bed my heart and ribcage started hurting really bad. I had to lay down on my side for it to stop hurting, this is getting worse. I feel like everything is on fire when this happens, and it happens early at night, around 5 pm, before that I am fine but watch what I eat now because I don't want it to flare up, but it does. After 5pm I cannot eat anything because if I do it gets worse. I told my husband I don't think I can take much of this, and he felt really bad, he just hugged me last night, I feel like screaming when this happens because it hurts so much!
So, is it normal for chest/ribcage and heart to hurt afterwards, like after the heartburn has settled down. When I went to go to bed I tried to lay a certain way,and I couldn't because my arm, my ribcage and heart was in a lot of pain. My ribcage my left arm are still in pain, and it feels like I have been through the mill, anyone go through this??? Much help is appreciated.
Jess

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Jess,
You need to let your doctor know about this immediately.
"i feel my doctors don't take me seriously, because I am young and dealing with this, anyone else around 28 and feel the doctors are kind of blowing off your symptoms with, are you stressed out, lately? Take this and it will go away on it's own. you're okay really."
I can identify with this, though not with my current ailments (something that happened in the past.) Just make sure to keep up with your food diary, document your appointments and really impress upon those docs (get new ones again that listen, if you must) how ill you feel on bad days.
~K
~K
I have to appologize to you for ignorance, i read this article and I'm freaking out!! It happened three days ago, what should I do? Plus, okay I have had symptoms when I was 23 years old with a question of a heart attack, I had some mild chest pain, I fainted while working out, I called my doctors, before I fainted I had some shortness of breath, then fainted while i was sitting on an exercise bike, i was told I could never have a heart attack at age 23, and i had a panic attack, now i am not so sure. Here is what the article says:
Yes. . . Young Women Can Have Heart Attacks!
by Linda Carroll
Not too long ago I was told a terrifying tale about a young woman and a heart attack. The 40-year-old woman arrived at the emergency room of her local hospital displaying a multitude of symptoms that made it clear that a heart attack was in progress - at least it was obvious to a nurse in the ER.
After hooking the woman up to medications to help deal with the attack, the nurse alerted other doctors to the case and then went home at the end of her shift figuring all was well. When the nurse returned to work the next day, she was shocked to discover that doctors in the ER had stopped the medications, told the woman she was simply having a panic attack and sent her home. The woman suffered major damage to her heart.
Unfortunately, many doctors don't suspect a heart attack when they see a young woman with chest pain. And, while it's true that heart attacks are more common among young men than young women, women are not exempt . Figures from the National Center for Health Statistics show that in 1998, approximately 11,000 women under the age of 45 were hospitalized for heart attacks.
When a heart attack strikes a young woman, she is likely to suffer debilitating damage or die. In a study that looked at gender differences among heart attack victims, researchers found that heart attacks were far more likely to be deadly if the victim was female. In fact, when Dr. Viola Vaccarino and her colleagues looked only at patients under age 50, they found that twice as many women as men died in the days following a heart attack.
Part of the explanation for this frightening statistic is that young women with heart attacks often get either no treatment or they receive delayed care. Sometimes women, and sometimes their doctors, miss the attack because they don't realize that the symptoms of a heart attack may vary with the patient's gender, says Vaccarino, an assistant professor of epidemiology at the Yale School of Medicine. Compared to men, during a heart attack women are much more likely to experience back pain, indigestion and nausea and/or vomiting, rather than chest pain, as their symptoms, according to an earlier study by Vaccarino.
And while the bigger teaching hospitals are beginning to catch on, it's still not uncommon for doctors at smaller institutions to miss heart attacks in younger women, says Dr. Marianne Legato, founder and director of The Partnership for Women's Health and a professor of clinical medicine at Columbia Presbyterian Medical Center in New York City. Legato recently reviewed the records for a young woman in her 20s who showed up at a hospital complaining of nausea and vomiting, as well as chest pain. The possibility that the woman might be having a heart attack never occurred to the doctors examining her. She was dead within 48 hours.
When Vaccarino and her colleagues looked at death rates from heart attacks in young people, they found that misdiagnosis and delays in medical care could only explain part of the discrepancy between men and women. This is an area that needs further research, she says.
But, while doctors are at a loss to explain why heart attacks occur in otherwise healthy young women, they have pinpointed a group who are at an elevated risk. Women who smoke, are obese, have diabetes and/or high blood pressure are more likely than others to have a heart attack, Legato says. "And diabetes is a much more important risk factor for women than men," she adds. "Once you have it, your risk for is four to six times higher."
Ultimately, women need to know the signs of a heart attack and demand proper care if they think they may be having one. If you have risk factors for a heart attack, no matter whether you are in your 20s or 30s or 40s, and you feel you are experiencing a heart attack, don't allow the doctor to dismiss your symptoms as indigestion or anxiety. Tell them you want to be tested. If you don't, the consequences could be deadly.
The following symptoms could signal heart ills:
Angina (chest pain). Can also include back pain or deep aching and throbbing in the left or right bicep or forearm.
Breathlessness. Also may include waking up having difficulty catching one's breath.
Clammy perspiration.
Dizziness. Unexplained lightheadedness, even blackouts.
Edema. Swelling, particularly of the ankles or lower legs.
Fluttering. Rapid heartbeats.
Gastric upset (or nausea).
Heavy fullness. Also may include pressure-like chest pain between breasts and radiating to left arm or shoulder.
scary isn't it, one women died because she had one!!! So that's why I am now freaking out. What should I do? Should I call them up and said I had these symptoms three days ago, will they be able to help me out or what???
Jessica
Hey Jessica,
Calm down, you probably didn't have a heart attack, but I just wanted you to realize that the possibility does exsists for young women.
HI Jess - please keep on your doctor till they find a problem.
I had an acute gallbladder attack in Aug/03 that eventually led to a diagnosis of gallstones and nasty looking gallbladder that had to come out.
I had symptoms off and on for several years leading up to this - but they were always brushed off. About 3-4 times a year I'd wake up in the middle of the night with dreadful pain, vomiting, sometimes diahrea. The pain would be so bad I'd be in a fetus position on the bathroom floor barely able to reach the toilet when required. It would last about 1/2 an hour - but I'd be in so much pain I couldn't even speak. A few times dh was going to take me to hospital but by the time I'd get dressed I'd feel better.
I could never link it to any particular food - and because it happened so infrequently there were never any tests done.
i seem to be doing okay, i did however forget to take my meds on saturday, and ended up in pain all day, I did take the medicine that day, but it wasn't until 2pm that remembered to take it, which is odd, because I keep the pill bottle right next to the coffee maker and every morning i always pop my little pill, so i won't forget to take it, that just figures. i did end up with gas pains yesterday morning but found if I walked around and farted in the bathroom, it's emebarrassing to me, it would go away. i cannot wait to see my new doctor next month!!! I am going to start writing down my symptoms, and reading them to the doctor to see what he thinks is going on, I will even tell him about the chest and arm thing, and tell him I have cut out the trigger foods from my diet. I've actually dropped a couple of pounds because I haven't eaten them, yay!!! LOL
Take care,
Jessica
I just wanted to chime in and agree with you ladies as far as drs not taking us seriously because we are young women. I am in my mid-30s and have been having abdominal pain for the last 3 months and had to push and push my dr to get me in for tests (he kept chalking it up to the fact that I just had a baby) and once he did they found my gallbladder is not working properly. But I started also having other abdominal pain also that is not common for gb pain, so asked about diverticulosis (because my mom and grandfather both had diverticulitis) and it was always no you are too young (3 drs said that) until one of the tests showed I did have it (but supposedly not causing the pain, so still doing more tests because I keep pushing my new dr). It is soo frustrating and I agree listen to your inner voice, that is why we have one.
Vicki
Hi Vicki,
I agree with what you said too.
cl-catworks wrote: Funny how they just don't want to listen and how their favorite words are. "you're too young"
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