Affairs of the Heart

No I am not going to talk about relationships – I am the last person that needs to be doing that.
What I am talking about is the actual heart.

On November 12, 2015 I was admitted to Estes Park Medical ER with every one of these symptoms:

1) Uncomfortable pressure, squeezing, fullness or pain in the center of chest. It lasts more than a few minutes, or goes away and comes back.

Mine woke me from a sound sleep.

2) Pain or discomfort in one or both arms, the back, neck, jaw or stomach.

Mine was neck, back and stomach

3) Shortness of breath with or without chest discomfort.

Mine was without chest discomfort.

4) Other signs such as breaking out in a cold sweat, nausea or lightheadedness.

Mine was cold sweat and stomach though not completely nauseous.

I also had a horribly high blood pressure (and I had taken my blood pressure medicine 2 hours prior) and a pulse rate that was very high.

I am not one to go to the doctor unless I absolutely have too. This scared me.

The two nurses and the doctor on call were excellent and after EKG and everything else (I had a lot of things stuck to me!) I was told the old ticker was a work horse and fine.

So what was all of this?

It was a massive panic attack. :(

Now, I have had attacks in the past (none in the last 3 years), but mine always had substantial triggers and had never EVER awakened me from a sound sleep. This one was different. And a whole new, and not so exciting, experience for me.

I felt I needed to share this with other people, especially other women, because it’s no joke. While I am glad it wasn’t a heart attack, panic attacks are not something to joke about or trifle with. It’s your body letting you know something is amiss and it's best to let the professionals help you out!

Please ladies, and gents, go get checked out, even if you think it’s nothing. It’s better to be broke and safe, than sorry.