So we alll get chest pains...some that increase when we breath deep or stretch our chest. Some last a day.
We all get the feeling of a skipped heartbeat that is usually just an extra beat.
What was it that prompted you to take that plunge to calling for help?
Initially, the pain was lower in my chest, and about the center...maybe slightly to left of center. Exactly where you'd usually feel heartburn. So, I took a couple of Gaviscon tablets, and it seemed to help, but only a little. An hour or so later I took another. Same result. An hour later I drank a half cup of water with a half teaspoon of baking soda mixed in. Result was a little reduction in the pain. Repeated that an hour later. Then the pain, while not extreme, started getting to be more of a burning sensation across my left chest, with minor ache in my left shoulder...still a pretty mild pain overall...I thought it might just be a little muscle soreness from lugging the backpack. But, last November I lost my youngest brother because he didn't recognize his heart attack symptoms, and died the next day from heart failure, so, I finally decided, after 9 hours of this pain, that I better head to the ER. Even they didn't think my problem was heart. EKG showed nothing. The blood tests are what showed the heart involvement.
The big deal is heartburn will usually go away fairly quickly if treated at home. So, my advice is if you have PERSISTENT pain in your chest, even if fairly mild, and you're in your 60's, or older...go get checked. I had zero symptoms of heart trouble while out in the mountains....ZERO. If I hadn't eaten that pizza and ice cream, I'd probably have had a major heart attack while prospecting, at some point in the future, and since I usually am alone, it would have resulted in my death. It's likely the heartburn brought on the chest pain from the heart problem.
My advice, also, is to get a stress test now and then. They're cheap, and will probably show any potential problems. But, in my case, probably wouldn't have shown the problem. But, the doc said my case is really unusual. From what the nurse told me in the ICU I was the talk of the staff for a couple of days...LOL They couldn't believe I was walking around like nothing was wrong...no shortness of breath, no undue fatigue, nothing. Just dumb luck. Don't count on it.
Oh yeah...I've had the PVC's all my life. Skipped, or irregular rhythm for a few seconds. Typically, that's not a big deal. The frequency of occurrence of mine has declined as I've gotten older.
Jim
