Should I be worrying?

[Goatboy]

Sorry to hear your feeling crook Tengu,
Hope all is well soon and that you'll be back to your bombastic, hale and hearty self soon.
As you may know I an partially bionic (not quite six million dollars) these days with the fancy pacemaker and the titanium hip. The GTN spray could end me as I have naturally low blood pressure and if it gets much lower I tend to end up like a concertina with all the air expelled. On the asprin front to make it work you may have to avoid certain foods in the future. I have a bit of a penchant for tomatoes and they tend to muck up my INR bloods if I pig out on them; they seemingly thicken the blood too much.
You did the right thing, I stupidly drove to the village hospital and passed out in the carpark. Thankfully some nurses still smoke as one out for a fag break found me in the dark and dragged me in. (Seemingly I didn't have much longer to go at that point). So if you get any warnings and you want to continue to thrive and survive, make the call.
Will keep my fingers crossed for you and hope to hear reports of you bouncing 'round the Moot this coming summer.
Take care lass,
GB.

 

[Nice65]

Glad you're ok, I've had similar twice. Once it was a muscle cramp that disappeared on its own, the other time was more serious. I thought I'd somehow cracked a rib, the pain was typical of that. I was living somewhere quite cold at the time and my nutrition wasn't great. X-ray revealed pneumonia.

I don't think you have pneumonia though, it was excruciating.

 

[Laurentius]

Well, I spent yesterday in the hospitals emergency department.

Not that there was much wrong with me (I felt such a fraud!) but I had been suffering a tender chest, so I went to the doctors...

...Who called an ambulance. (And I had to ring my landlord so he could come collect my car, -they wouldnt let me near it.)

Anyhow, I have been thoroughly checked out, which I can fully understand (given my family history.) Everyone is satisfied and I have been reffered to the chest pain clinic.

So I have been proscribed various medication....

Asprins, (75mg soluble, -a very small dose.) Presumably to thin my blood
Stuff that I am to spray under my tongue if I get chest pains. (This will whack my blood pressure down way low.)

I have not been told much at all, nor given advice beyond the usual `loose weight and excercise more` which everyone gets (even the dead people.)

They did not even tell me to cut down on fat...though they certainly made sure I knew the difference between good fats and bad fats, and were pleased to learn I love duck.


So, shall I worry?

Been there and done that, I was admitted to hospital overnight once so they could do the tests to be absolutely sure if it was a heart attack or not. It wasn't. A second time though the paramedics were called out when I was in a University seminar. I had no choice in the matter of whether they were called out or not as it was University procedure. I did decline to go to the hospital though. My Dr has told me that it is possible to have pains that exactly mimic those of a heart attack because of problems with the same nerves that are activated when you do. He said it is impossible to tell the difference and it is better to be safe than sorry, and that if he was experiencing those pains he would call an ambulance for himself.

When my dad was experiencing chest pains, he left it rather late before he called an ambulance by which time the real damage had been done, a week later he was dead from a massive second heart attack.

 

[jaffcat]

I'm a Paramedic, with 26 years under my belt...... Don't ignore chest pain..... Ever!!!!

Sent from my MotoG3 using Tapatalk

 

[dasy2k1]

GTN spray (the stuff that goes under your tounge) is apparently great for angina, but if you get chest pain that doesn't go away within 30s of taking the spray to hospital you should be going

Sent from my SM-G900F using Tapatalk

 

[Tengu]

What if its heartburn?

 

[Bishop]

Just as an FYI for all you healthy people this is what a common GTN spray looks like. There are a few variations but they are all about the same size and look like a small breath freshener or pocket deodorant spray.


In the event that the owner of the spray cannot administer it themselves...
Two good squirts under the tongue is recommended, but the first attempt nearly always fails and goes phutt so don't worry about pumping it three times.
In the event of gritted teeth just get it into the cheek pouch. Tip# watch the breathing as inhaling the mist can cause coughing.
If pain persists after a couple of minutes make the call for emergency services. Further two-shot doses can be given every 10-15 minutes.

When out and about you'll find mine on a neck lanyard and another in my FAK

 

[sausage100uk]

Be mindfull that gtn can drop their blood pressure so always best to do it sitting down.

Sent from my LG-D802 using Tapatalk

 

[mrcharly]

What if its heartburn?

I get chronic heartburn and my family has a serious history of heart disease (4 close relatives had heart attacks before 60, half died).
So I can really sympathise with this question! Every bought of serious heartburn and I wonder how I'm supposed to tell the difference.

Can any of the wise folks here offer sensible guidance?

 

[Tengu]

I mercifully have never suffered much heartburn, but the first time I went to the doctors and asked that very question.

I didnt get much of an answer.

You could of course take antiacids, but by the time they kick in if its `not` heartburn, it may be too late

 

[mrcharly]

Antacids don't even touch the edge of my heartburn. I take drugs to suppress it.

Take it easy and don't mislay that nitro!

 

[dasy2k1]

I get chronic heartburn and my family has a serious history of heart disease (4 close relatives had heart attacks before 60, half died).
So I can really sympathise with this question! Every bought of serious heartburn and I wonder how I'm supposed to tell the difference.

Can any of the wise folks here offer sensible guidance?

I also suffer from chronic heartburn but thankfully no heart disease, used to take renatadine but that was loosing effectiveness, now got a prescription for lansoprazole (sp?) and that has all but stopped it

Sent from my SM-G900F using Tapatalk

 

[andybysea]

I suffer heartburn, feels like constant discomfort/pressure just below sterum,im allergic to omeprazole, the drug docs perscribe, cant take gaviscon as my epileptic meds i take for a compressed nerve in my brain reacts with it. And zantac dont work,so im kinda stuck.

 

[boatman]

It is an old but wicked trick of medics to spray the GTN into the air covertly. What fun giving people headaches but on the bright side their blood vessels will be open. I have never really needed to use mine and wonder if it would work to help start a fire.

 

[Tengu]

Hah.

Tuesday I have an appointment with the Nuclear Medicine Dept. I know this is Cornwall but I can take only so much irradiating.

The good news is my blood sugar is down and my treatless diet isnt as painful as I first suspected.

 

[Drain Bamaged]

I never suffered with Heartburn bad enough to really cause problems, just a nuisance more then anything. It was suggested to me to try tea made from various Mints, which fortunately I quite enjoy especially the Lemon Balm and Peppermint....I genuinely do not know how well or even if they actually work at all but Heartburn is something that I have not suffered from now for several years. I do know that Coffee, Tea, and other drinks and foods can aggravate heartburn so it certainly didn't hurt to replace at least a couple of cups a day with the mint tea. You can buy the various dried herbs but in truth it's hard to stop them taking over if you grow them for yourself. They also have a multitude of other uses from food additives to insect (including midge/mosquito) repellants.

D.B.

 

[mrcharly]

Fennel helps greatly with heartburn. It's not a myth, I can tell you that, the effect is almost instant.

Tengu, I'm no doctor, but I wonder if your CO issue might have triggered a latent heart problem? Do you have a CO meter now? Some of them can give you a CO reading, rather than just act as an alarm (I bought one for my daughter's room as we were concerned about the boiler in her room and wanted to monitor things).

 

[Tengu]

The incident with the stove happened after my Heart problem.

 

[CLEM]

It's easier said than done but don't worry and stress I know. Stressing and worrying don't help anything, as a rule it only makes things worse. Don't spoil the now ��

 

[mrcharly]

The incident with the stove happened after my Heart problem.

I knew that. Thing is, CO is cumulative and builds up in muscle (which is why I was monitoring levels in my daughter's room). The level could have been unhealthy in your living space before it reached crisis levels.