6 Symptoms of Women's
Heart Attacks
When a heart attack strikes, it doesn’t always feel the same
in women as it does in men.
Women don't always get the same classic heart attack
symptoms as men, such as crushing chest pain that radiates down one arm. Those
heart attack symptoms can certainly happen to women, but many experience vague
or even “silent” symptoms that they may miss.
Recommended Related to Heart Disease
These six heart attack symptoms are common in women:
Chest pain or
discomfort. Chest pain is the most common heart attack symptom, but some
women may experience it differently than men. It may feel like a squeezing or
fullness, and the pain can be anywhere in the chest, not just on the left side.
It's usually "truly uncomfortable" during a heart attack, says
cardiologist Rita Redberg, MD, director of Women’s Cardiovascular Services at
the University of California, San Francisco. "It feels like a vise being
tightened."
Pain in your arm(s), back, neck, or jaw. This type of pain is more
common in women than in men. It may confuse women who expect their pain to be
focused on their chest and left arm, not their back or jaw. The pain can be
gradual or sudden, and it may wax and wane before becoming intense. If you're
asleep, it may wake you up. You should report any "not typical or
unexplained" symptoms in any part of your body above your waist to your
doctor or other health care provider, says cardiologist C. Noel Bairey Merz,
MD, director of the Barbra Streisand Women's Heart Center at Cedars-Sinai
Medical Center in Los Angeles.
Stomach pain.
Sometimes people mistake stomach pain that signals a heart attack with
heartburn, the flu, or a stomach ulcer. Other times, women experience severe
abdominal pressure that feels like an elephant sitting on your stomach, says
cardiologist Nieca Goldberg, MD, medical director of the Joan H. Tisch Center
for Women’s Health at NYU Langone Medical Center in New York.
Shortness of breath,
nausea, or lightheadedness. If you're having trouble breathing for no
apparent reason, you could be having a heart attack, especially if you're also
having one or more other symptoms. "It can feel like you have run a
marathon, but you didn't make a move," Goldberg says.
Sweating.
Breaking out in a nervous, cold sweat is common among women who are having a
heart attack. It will feel more like stress-related sweating than perspiration
from exercising or spending time outside in the heat. "Get it checked
out" if you don't typically sweat like that and there is no other reason
for it, such as heat or hot flashes, Bairey Merz says.
Fatigue. Some
women who have heart attacks feel extremely tired, even if they've been sitting
still for a while or haven't moved much. "Patients often complain of a
tiredness in the chest," Goldberg says. "They say that they can't do
simple activities, like walk to the bathroom."
Not everyone gets all of those symptoms. If you have chest
discomfort, especially if you also have one or more of the other signs, call
911 immediately.
http://www.webmd.com/heart-disease/features/womens-heart-attack-symptoms
