Has anybody here ever had a legit heart attack? [SERIOUS]
 

Has anybody on GFY ever had a legitimate heart attack? Did it require surgery? What did you feel like prior to the heart attack?

I am just curious as I happen to come from genetics that tend to lean towards eventual heart disease. I try to eat healthy, I run, I exercise.

I am just curious as to maybe what some of the warning signs may have been for those that have survived. :thumbsup

I was 29 (I'm 35 now). First, it felt like I was just very weak. Then, a crushing sensation in my chest, like someone was sitting on it. Difficulty breathing, and my lips turned blue. I had someone take me to the ER, and they did a heart catheterization right away. They determined that it was due to a heart defect, and additional surgery wasn't necessary.

1/4 of my heart was damaged beyond usefulness (so I have 75% of my heart left). The defect is a myocardial bridge, which means my arteries grew INSIDE of my heart instead of outside .. so when it beats, it literally squeezes the life out of itself. Dumb ass heart.

Oh, and jaw pain. I forgot that.

bump :GFYBand

Glad to continue seeing posts from you. Stay well.

Question: Would I be right assuming that your condition is something that surgery could not correct? It's probably very risky even if it could be done.

Keep on keeping on, man. :thumbsup

All the best.

I had a bypass in Sept. I honestly did not even know I had heart attacks went to the doc cause I had some slight chest pain next thing I know bypass surgery. I was short of breath all the time mild chest pain and all in all feeling like hell. I am a new person now with a chance to start over live my life clean and healthy. I quit smoking I do not eat a lot of salt and really watch the hell out of my diet now. I also have a specialist for everything and take a lot of pills.

Awesome to hear that everything worked out. Mind if I ask how old you were/are?

:thumbsup

oh and I would not wish what I went through on my worst enemy. There is nothing about heart surgery that is fun or exciting. I had to learn to walk again. Every time I move a certain way I can feel my chest plate move. It's weird.

I am 43 I was 42 when I had the surgery. A bit of back story on me I am also a type 1 diabetic so I have a lot of fucked up things wrong with me.

Well, it's definitely correctable, it's called "de-roofing" the cardiac muscle (cutting away the portion of my heart that sits on top of my arteries) ... however, since the damage is already done, the operation wouldn't provide much benefit.

Basically, it just hurts constantly when my heart beats, but combined with my multiple sclerosis (MS), constant pain is nothing new ... so I just deal with it. :thumbsup

Irregular heartbeats for weeks or months leading up to it. The first one in 2007 I felt like I was breathing in some chemicals or something, like the air was bad. Called 911 when it became worse and worse and the result was a stent since one artery was badly blocked.

Second one this past May I had also felt many odd heart palpitations leading up to it and one morning I just was not able to get a breath. There was fluid build up and a catheterization this time did not find any new blockages and the stent was fine as well. My diet was actually not considered a problem at all, but my lack of physical activity and the fact that I had gone off my meds was.

If you feel unusual heart rhythms, especially when you lay flat on your back, then I'm going to say that you should go to a doctor immediately and get checked out. Dizziness, fainting, shortness of breath all bad signs.

I had an EP study done as well to make sure my heart would be able to take over the correct rhythm if it should happen again and the doctor is still somewhat on the fence about it. I had a second ultrasound done a week ago and he told me that if the heart doesn't seem stronger next month then we need to consider implanting a defibrillator. My heart is weak. When I was in the hospital they estimated I was down to about 20% strength actually. I feel way better now that I am on good medication and am working out every day fairly hard (for me). I break up my work day a lot so I can do 30 minutes of brisk walking a few times a day and add other activities as well.

I don't WANT to need an implanted defibrillator. Hopefully he was just employing a scare tactic but don't have a great feeling about it.

49 yrs old.

As an atheist, God Bless. Seriously. :thumbsup

Atheist here, too .. so thank you. :thumbsup

What do you think is up? Are you symptomatic? Seen a doctor?

You are a fucking beast. Your heart apparently isn't designed to die. I find it amazing that you keep flowing in the right direction. You know what needs to be done and you are doing it. I expect to see you here in 20 years and I've bookmarked this thread.

See you then, warrior. :thumbsup

Not really. Just approaching the 40 mark. Couple that with the fact that a guy I know i haven't seen in a few years died of a massive heart attack on the table at 41 - just became aware of it. When I start to hear shit like that it makes me open my eyes a little bit more and re-think me being an asshole so much.

I'm really not an asshole, I just play one on GFY. :winkwink:

I do lay in bed at times and as my eyes are closing for the night I catch myself gasping for breath and reawakening. It scares the fuck out of me.

No, I have not seen a doctor.

That sounds like sleep apnea, which can hurt your heart in a hurry. You should schedule an appointment to have that addressed sooner than later. If you sleep on your back, it may become worse.

yeah really sounds like sleep apnea. Its not only caused from being overweight, i have it pretty bad and still had it when i was lean and running marathons and shit.. Helps with a lot of things, good sleep starts a snowball effect of good health trust me..

harmon a lot of our genetics passed down are habit forming things, including things like stress and eating habits. We tend to eat the same things we ate often as a kid when we are older whether they are good or bad for us so look into that a bit.

specifically adding things to your diet such as nuts and seeds (as well as a good dose of vegetables) can really have a direct impact on staving off these conditions. ie sunflower seeds have lots of vitamin e and magnesium and help keep tissues more elastic. Its not a cure.. but every % helps right? Keep the inflammation down and you are giving yourself a good chance to avoid these family health issues.

Do you smoke? I had the same problem when I smoked. Since I've stopped I don't wake up gasping for breath and a fast beating heart anymore.

:1orglaugh:1orglaugh "Bump" :winkwink:

yup you are 100% correct
ds

I haven't but a friend of mine did while she was at work. She is in her late 30's and was just standing at a counter at work when suddenly she felt very weak then she said she felt like someone punch her in the ribs next to her heart. She collapsed onto the floor, but never lost consciousness. She had trouble catching her breath and said she felt a lot of pressure in her chest. They called the paramedics and they took her to the hospital.

At the hospital they ended up determining that it was a mild heart attack and they put a stent in the main artery leading into her heart. She is overweight so they told her to eat a healthy diet and lose weight or she will likely have another heart attack.

She changed her eating habits for about 3-4 months then went right back to how she was eating before so I have a bad feeling another is on the horizon.

NEVER TAKE IBUPROFEN

I started having issues with my heart in my early to mid 20s and they tested me for heart attacks, anxiety and everything in between and one Dr finally found that I have a Mitral Valve Prolapse, which has now gone into a Mitral Valve Regurgitation - it is where my Mitral Valve doesn't open and close right and it will pump my blood back into my lungs, especially when I lay down - and that causes a very heavy feeling in my chest and makes me feel very congested - it's not fun at all and can be extremely deadly - I have to follow so many precautions to just keep my ass alive - if I bleed and infection sets in my blood stream I could be dead in a matter of seconds, my heart will race and all of those other heart attack little symptom ways - so I DO get a lot of the same feelings, my situation just isn't a weak heart, but weak valves that go to and from my heart... and NO surgery can fix it, all they can do is put a stint in, but not even that will "fix it".

I also have Diabetes Type 2 - Asthma - a few other things - but you know? What doesn't kill you - allows you to live another day!! I don't say stronger - just lets you live. :D

Good luck to you, Harmon, I hope you get this sorted and live a long and happy life - just look after it, be conscious of it and know your body, that is the very best advice I can give you - being someone that battles heart issues with each waking moment, that's all you can really do! Oh and avoid stress (like that's going to happen - but I try). Past that, there isn't much else you can do, just learn your body's warning signs and stay conscious of them!

Yes it could possibly be sleep apnea - but I get the exact same feeling when I lay down and my Mitral Valve starts acting out and pumping blood back into my lungs - and that can put you in a state of feeling like you can't breath quite fast as well - do you cough a lot or anything when you try and lay down? If you do, don't lay flat, keep your head elevated and it'll keep you from being so flat and having it pour backwards SO fast!

It could of course be apnea - my husband has that - don't look over anything at this point though - not as it pertains to your heart!

I never knew about this one until it happened to me. 1 stent, quit smoking, more exercise and life is good.

Just took my 5 morning pills. Yum. At least they're cheap these days. Used to be 500+ bucks a month, now for 28 bucks I get 3 months worth of meds. Free delivery too. I've discovered that old retired men deliver part time for drug stores and are heavy on the small talk. Something to bear in mind.

I had a minor one the doctor said and it was 15 minutes after super severe stress that pissed me off more then anything ever. The whole right side of my body went numb, even my face.
It took about 5 minutes to come back to normal.

I had a heat attack scare two years ago when I was in family court. Being a man in front of a judge who is a Marxist indoctrinated biased child abusing hatemonger is very stressful. I felt a tingling in my hand at the same time my chest started feeling really tight and my arm went numb. Someone called 911 and I was rushed to the hospital in an ambulance. They gave me like a dozen shots of morphine over the next several hours. I was in heaven.

Heart Attack
 

Diet & exercise are very important. Eliminate any serious stresses in your life.

But they are not the Holy Grail. Nothing is. James Fix wrote a book about how jogging/running would give you maximum life expectancy, only to soon die while jogging on the beach in Hawaii.

See a heart specialist to determine if you're at risk. Big clue is how your family members died.

You might have just had a stress issue which can seem like a heart attack.

I got it prescribed once for my arm pain but when i read all those side effect plus how it fuck up your stomach i said it fuck it i rather suffer lol.It is like throwing a bomb into room to get the pest out.

Yes i'v heard many cases where people were like 100% healthy and they didn't smoke,drink or do anything bad,yet they died of heart attack anyway.It also depend on genes and pre-conditions.

I'm 58, in February I was having trouble breathing, figured I had the flu but it kept getting worse. After a few weeks of this and trying different cures for chest congestion and breathing troubles I passed out and was rushed to the hospital. Turns out I had cardiac pulmonary edema, my lungs had filled with fluid do to a heart malfunction. I spend 7 weeks in a coma and 6 weeks learning how to walk again, your body doesn't take sleeping for 2 months very well lol

This was 100% caused by sitting on my ass, smoking, eating shitty food and not exercising. I lost 100 pounds while in a coma, I can barely talk due to damage the life support hoses caused to my vocal cords and they still might need to operate. I just went in for an echo and go back to the heart specialist in a week to discuss the echo.

I quit smoking, am very careful what I eat and go to the gym 3-4 times a week, I feel better than I have in years. Its real easy to sit in front of a computer 10-12 hours a day, but it will kill you if you don't take care of yourself.

Jim fix didn't mention the part where you should keep track of your blood pressure. Running doesn't cause heart attacks, being fat and neglectful of your health causes them.

being in pain all the time is stressful, stress has absolutely been proven to raise your risks, ibuprofen has not. Should you take it every day? No.

You've said that so many times without ever researching it Glen, it's not even a big secret, it's been all over the front pages of the newspapers, you clearly overestimate your capacity on this topic, sorry to be the one to break that to you, but it's about time someone did before a person gets killed from following you duff advice :2 cents:

http://www.ucsfhealth.org/education/heart_disease/

"Ibuprofen, such as Advil, Motrin or Ibuprofen, can cause marked worsening of existing hypertension (high blood pressure) or development of new high blood pressure. It can also cause damage to the kidneys (nephrotoxicity), worsening of heart failure, and even heart attack or stroke. Outside of the cardiovascular system, its major risk is to the stomach, where it can cause ulceration and gastrointestinal bleeding."

Dr. William Grossman, Director of the Center for Prevention of Heart and Vascular Disease at UCSF

Ouch, all the best for her. Great information

Duly noted :1orglaugh

Certainly glad to see you here.

So your Jaw clenched or something? Or it was just jaw pain?

Sounds like an anxiety attack. I've had those in the past.

Interstesting explanation. Glad you are ok. :thumbsup

I am hoping that's the issue.

Holy shit, dude! Good for you for turning your life around. I am 5'11" and about 190 lbs give or take. Where were you?

You're right, Barry. Appointment set up for Monday.

It doesn't happen every day, but it happens and that's what scares me.

Thanks to all that replied. :thumbsup :2 cents:

I'm lovin this new harmon. Don't die now, bro.

I don't post a lot here any more, but I would like to share something with all of you.

I am not here to preach to anyone, but I'm going to give you some insight into the evolution of man.

I have lived a very disciplined lifestyle as far as food goes. I live by the 80/20 rule. 80% of the time I eat as my body was designed to eat, which is vegetables, protein from animals, and water. I exercise regularly.

I have partied my ass off, for about ten years actually. I quit all that in 2006. While I was partying, I ate very clean, as our caveman predecessors did. I did a cleanse to keep toxins out of my body every six months, religiously, for ten days every six months.

I can tell you without a shadow of a doubt, I am in the top 5% of people who are on (for decades now), what people are referring to "those trendy fad diets". I don't do gluten or processed food 80% of my food intake. I don't do dairy 80% of my food intake. I live a Paleo diet 80% of my food intake.

I believe in having a cheat day every few weeks, or on special occasions, and I will destroy some pizza slices from a good pizza place. Don't deny yourself the gift of delicious food; besides you don't want your body to reject things when you are in a situation where you can't eat 100% clean all the time.

I am 44 years old, and I am checked regularly by a few different types of doctors. I've had one issue in my entire life, besides the common cold. I recently figured out through a battery of tests that I had Adrenal Fatigue, and my Cortisol levels were through the roof, causing me a very high level or anxiety, and the whole "doom and gloom" about life, when everything has been, and is awesome for me in my life. Making lots of money, everyone's healthy, no financial burdens to speak of, etc.

I had a series of tests done to test for food sensitivities. They are not the same as allergies.

As it would be, I am sensitive to several food items, and those items, gluten being one of them, were for lack of more medical terminology, "fucking my brain up in a big way". When I eat the items that I am sensitive too, I am not myself to say the least.

So, where the fuck am I going with all of this?

When man first started walking the earth, he ate things very clean and proper for the human life form created from and in whatever fashion you believe man happened on the earth.

Over time, man became exposed to many other food additives and genetic modifications, driven by profits of household name companies that have spent billions of dollars on marketing and advertising to establish trust in the American consumer. Nearly 95% of all food consumed by the "normal" American culture in 2014 is processed or genetically modified. This processing of food began some 40 years ago, and now nearly everything you put in your mouth is full of synthesized chemicals and genetically modified, all in the name of profits.

If you "are what you eat", and that statement is true; (you wouldn't put water from a lake in your car and expect it to combust would you), then what you put in your mouth directly affects your organs, and chemical composition of your body.

The medical community right now is in aghast about all the new conditions that humans are coming down with. Our food source in this country is to blame, and profits of big corporations are driving that. There is no conspiracy there, it is a fact. The don't even try to hide it.

I would encourage people to pay more attention to what you put in your pie holes, because the food is going to get much worse, and with that will come sicker people, and more money for big medical and food providers at the expense of the citizens of the USA. Many countries will not even allow importation of food from the United States due to it's modification and contents.We are not designed to consume the level of modifications and processing that our food supply has reached over the last 5 years. It's getting really bad. The FDA is not your friend.

You have been trained to trust what you eat.

It is true that some people are predisposed to genetic conditions. It is also true that lack of exercise, combined with many hours of sedentary activity and a horrible diet will create health problems. We inflict much our our condition on our selves, but there are things you can control; and that's putting clean fuel into your machine. Food that isn't processed or modified to boost the profits of giant corporations who believe that "there is no money in the cure"; all of the money is in treating people who get sick. Billions of dollars in profits from food that is very cheap to make and sold at profit margins in the 100's of percentages of profit over cost to manufacture. The medical industry is a whole other story. They are tightly grouped with insurance companies and pharmaceutical companies who all rely on people getting sick and being treated for long periods of time.

Think about that for a minute.

Have luck all.

If you want to change the way you feel and reduce the risk of the really scary health crisis' that people are most afraid of, you have to start with eating. Then work on exercise. It all falls into place.

If what I have written here helps one person, it was worth the time to write it.

:)

Eric

It just did. Thanks for the post, Eric.

I like to think I eat very well. I stay away from red meat, all of my chicken is baked. I run but I am still a closet smoker/drinker. I eat a shit ton of veggies and have a wife that is ridiculously and perfectly in shape.
I need to drop the chems (drinking/smoking) and move on. It's just not very easy to do when you have been doing it for SO fucking long.

Again, thanks for the post Eric. Inspirational.

3 heart-attacks so far. 1st one at 22. Second at 32. Last one at 38.

I have a rare condition where my coronary arteries are susceptible to spasm. It's no different than a charlie-horse in your leg. The muscle in my coronary artery spasms and tightens down cutting off blood flow like a blockage.

My cardiologist is none other than PK Shah.

http://www.cedars-sinai.edu/Bios---P...K-Shah-MD.aspx

My recommendation is that every guy over the age of 35 get a nuclear scan if their heart. It will save your life.

http://www.nhlbi.nih.gov/health/heal.../topics/nscan/

It's the gold standard of heart diagnostic tests. Much better than EKGs or stress tests alone.

50% of most people die from their first MI (myocardial infarction) The 50% that survive #1 usually don't survive #2. Number 3 & 4 are even fewer. I think Im in a group of 8 out of 100.

And most people don't know until they have their 1st MI that they have any heart issues. Some guys in perfect health drop dead on the treadmill at the gym after their first one. Don't wait until you have your first symptoms, you have a flip of a coin that it's not too late then.

With my 1st one I didn't even know what was happening. The 2nd was the scariest since I knew what was happening and I had the thought that I had mere moments to live. That's when you take stock of your life. The third one was the funniest since I was in Palm Springs on vacation with my wife.

She's a former pornstar and she's black & busty. So when the paramedics arrived at the hotel I could see the looks on their faces as though she was a hooker and she fucked me to death. LOL Needless to say I lived.

Good luck to everyone else in this thread. I know the Cardiac ICU too well. And please everyone get tested. Too many men try to "tough it out" and refuse to see doctors and die because of it.

Running & Heart Attacks
 

I didn't want to imply Fix died from running. I just meant he lived healthy, yet still had a heart attack.

If anything in your family there's a good chance of dying from that. My step-father and all his brothers died of aneurisms. Hit them so fast they died in seconds.

Ibuprofen and Tylenol are both bad for you. But sometimes you have to take them. I've been on arthritis meds for so long it has eaten a hole in my stomach. I have to take Misoprostol daily. Only thing between me and 24x7 diarrhea. Misoprostol is super expensive as it's an abortion drug. Right to Lifers make sure it costs.

:thumbsup:thumbsup

FYI, for what it's worth I am no angel, I will still booze it up here and there, but nothing like I did in my 30s. Doctors say I have the organs of an 18 year old, and I think I can only attribute that to diet and the cleanses that I used to do when I partied hard.

I agree with Michael too, all guys should go get the heart test. I am going to book one of those myself. I hear it's painless, and the only uncomfortable part is the injection to set the isotope dye.

:thumbsup

Walk, don't run ...