So I am sitting in my cube farm, scratching out some meeting minutes when all of a sudden my chest just starts killing me. Like an elephant was sitting on it.

I start panicking, I try to lean over and stretch out. My cell-block friend to the left pops her head over like a chipmunk and asks what's up. So I tell her. She hands me a rolaid.

It comes and it goes..and it hits me that PRIOR to my heart attack, I was stretching. Like big-time stretching. So I pulled a muscle in my chest. I injured myself to the point where I thought I was rolling out of work on a stretcher and was panicking over dying..but I am just stoopid.

I hate being dumb.

First ingredient in making lemonade: The worst is over.

I've done that before. Mine was pretty bad, it took several months to get better. It IS very scary. All I did was sleep on the couch with my arm over my head.

Feel better, soon.

kk~

I've had a heart attack. It is a crushing pain on the chest unlike any muscle pull I ever had. When I had it, I thought I was having a hiatal hernia attack which I had before, but it was much more severe. I did not have the radiation of pain to the neck or down the left arm which some report. It was also, I'm told a comparatively minor heart attack, made more minor because I was at the emergency room for what I thought was an unrelated matter.

When I later had an angioplasty with a stent insertion the cardiologist told me that when they inflated the balloon I would feel a pain not unlike the pain of the start of a heart attack. Fortunately, I've not had that feeling since.

But the rule here is go to the ER and ask questions later. After I had the heart attack (technically a Myodaridal infarction) this is a heart attack cause by the blockage of arteries leading to the heart, I've had two false alarms. The pain was probably digestive. But an ER can tell rapidly by an emzyme test whether it is a heart attack or not. I never felt guilty or dumb by going to the ER.

Jon

Don't feel foolish-the only dumb people are ones who assume they have gas, go to bed and never wake up again.
Always have chest pain checked out. Some heart attacks in women don't present like "normal" symptoms and there are several causes of chest pain that mimic a heart attack. If you know someone who is having chest pain and is reluctant to have it checked out INSIST they go to the ER. Better safe than dead.
Glad to hear you are ok.

You're not dumb! I thought I was having a heart attack and it turned out I had an ulcerated esophagus from too much Advil and spicy Chinese food. But I didn't finally learn what it was until I spent two days in the hospital and a ton of $ on expensive tests. The doctors told me over and over that it was important that I went in to be checked because in women the symptoms of heart attack and what I had are very similar.

I've also pulled a muscle in my chest before - owie, ow, ow. I feel for you! Try warm baths and a pain reliever. Hope you feel better soon.

Thanks for not making fun of me. It's actually feeling a little bit better today, though I will forgo trying my Shakira moves.

Believe me, there is nothing funny about heart attacks and if things would not have improved, I would have taken action.

So I've now injured myself stretching, and one of my friends threw his back out while sneezing.

Last year in August my husband forced me to go to the ER when I was having a severe pain in my chest. I didn't think it was a heart attack but he knows I have a congenital defect and he was scared to death.

So I go. They check, do tests, this and that. They realized I'd strained the cartilage in my chest. They questioned me. Turns out I was lifting my son too much and I was ordered from that day forward to no longer lift him. I admit I've broken doctor's orders a total of four times since then, but compared to how often I was lifting him before (3x a week!), that's nothing.

And yes, Shortgirl, I also felt absolutely stupid. But everyone kept telling me I shouldn't feel that way.

I did an article on new trends in cardiac treatment last year and just so everyone knows:
Women don't usually experience the crushing chest pain that is commonly associated with heart attacks. Women's heart attacks are foretold by flu-like symptoms and tingling in the extremities. Most cardiologists admit little has been done to really pinpoint symptoms for women having heart attacks.

Just FYI. I'll look up the article and see if there was anything I forgot.

I don't you were being stupid at all. I'm glad to hear you were all right. It's always better to err on the side of caution if you decide to go to the ER the next time you feel this sort of pain and pressure in your chest. None of the doctors would think you were being stupid.

I actually thought I was having a heart attack this morning. I woke up with TERRIBLE pain in my chest. I literally thought I was going to die. And then I woke up AGAIN! The whole frickin thing was a dream. How weird is that? I'm still not sure if I was actually having chest pain or if it was all part of the dream.

So many people go to the ER with chest pain and never have anything serious going on, so don't feel dumb. You're in good company. If only you knew how many people came in with tooth aches and stubbed toes, you'd be amazed!