Heart Attack Symptoms in Women

There are several symptoms that are typically reported with a heart attack. These may be experienced by men and women. If you are having a heart attack, you may experience any, all or only a few of these symptoms. One thing to remember, if you suspect you are having a heart attack, do not waste time trying to diagnose yourself. Your best course of action is to get to the nearest emergency room. Once a heart attack starts it can only take a few minutes to permanently damage your heart or even kill you.

Typical Symptoms that you may experience include:

1. Chest pain or discomfort - Often reported is an ache, tightness, heaviness, crushing or burning pain typically in the center of the chest.

2. Radiating pain - Radiating pain means that the pain from your chest may spread to your arms, neck, jaw, or your upper back.

3. Stomach pain - This may feel like severe heartburn.

4. Shortness of breath - This feels like it is difficult to get your breath. You may take short, shallow breaths or try to take deep breaths in an effort to feel like you are getting more air.

5. Sweating - You may break into a cold sweat.

6. Nausea and vomiting - You may experience an upset stomach and even vomit.

7. Sense of impending doom - This is an intense feeling of anxiety that I can only describe as knowing that something is very wrong.

Heart attack symptoms can vary from person to person. One person may experience many of the symptoms while another person only experiences 1 or 2. The intensity of the symptoms can be different from one to another also. The most prominent symptoms that I had was an intense crushing pain in my chest and a horrible feeling that something was very, very wrong. I truly felt, for the first time in my life, a horrible fear that I was about to die.

One thing that is commonly reported in women that differs from men are the symptoms experienced in the month or two prior to having a heart attack. Many women report fatigue or feeling more tired than usual, having trouble sleeping and a shortness of breath prior to having a heart attack. Some women report having little chest pain and some women will report having no chest pain during a heart attack.

Chest pain and discomfort is still one of the best indicators that you are having a heart attack, so don't ignore it. More commonly in women than men, a woman may report other symptoms as the primary symptom instead of chest pain. Heart attack symptoms without chest pain may include any of the following:

Discomfort or pain in the upper back, neck, jaw and abdomen

Unusual increased fatigue

Heartburn

Sweating

Shortness of breath

Nausea and/or Vomiting

Dizziness

Please consider making a donation to the American Heart Association. Your small donation, even a dollar, can save lives and further research into cardiovascular disease. There are many ways to donate. You can make a Memorial Donation to someone that lost their fight with cardiovascular disease. You could make a Tribute Donation in the name of a friend, relative or colleague. Or just make a General Donation to show how much you care about winning the fight against cardiovascular disease.

This link takes you directly to the American Heart Association Donation webpage.
Make a Donation to the American Heart Association

This link shows the many other ways you can contribute to the American Heart Association
Other Ways To Give