Felt Like a Heart Attack
Question:
This evening Richard felt intense pain in his left shoulder and left ribcage, thought he was having a heart attack (then when we were almost at the hospital wanted to turn around and go home to his children). He decided he was not having a heart attack, that it was somehow MS related, but wonders whether anyone else has experienced anything like that. RSVP Thanks, Margo
Response:
Margo Wecksler wrote: > This evening Richard felt intense pain in his left shoulder and left > ribcage, thought he was having a heart attack (then when we were almost at > the hospital wanted to turn around and go home to his children). He > decided he was not having a heart attack, that it was somehow MS related, > but wonders whether anyone else has experienced anything like that. RSVP > Thanks, Margo
Hi Margo, Four times in the last two months, I have awakened to feeling that I had a two inch band tightening around my esophagus at sternum level. All I could think of was that this felt like the discriptions I had heard from a friend with angina. Lying down, standing up, running around the room like a fool, sitting, fetal position , arms above head, singing Mary had a little lamb, drinking water (led to choking) made no difference. No reflux was associated with it. 45 to 60 minutes later it subsided, leaving me shaky (er) and sweaty (er). It hurt like hell. EKG after second episode indicated nothing wrong. I did not have the radiating pain as Richard did, but wonder if this might be a similar thing. (((((hugs)))) Jeaniemac — MZ
Response:
On Fri, 15 Aug 1997 23:26:00 -0800, ma…@nbn.com (Margo Wecksler) wrote: >This evening Richard felt intense pain in his left shoulder and left >ribcage, thought he was having a heart attack (then when we were almost at >the hospital wanted to turn around and go home to his children). He >decided he was not having a heart attack, that it was somehow MS related, >but wonders whether anyone else has experienced anything like that. RSVP >Thanks, Margo
It could be the well known "MS Hug" but he really should get his heart checked out. Initially I tend to blame all my problems on MS but sometimes they are nothing to do it. Steve ——————————————————– Stephen Wolstenholme: Author of Neural Network Shareware web page: http://www.tropheus.demon.co.uk
Response:
Hi Margo! I have heard this a million times–DO NOT blame every problem you have on MS. It could be something else. I do the same thing, but it’s trivial stuff, nothing that would kill me if it isn’t MS. I hope Richard gets checked out for this. And I hope that he was right, it was just MS, it’s nothing serious. . . Cyber Hugs, Sylvia
Response:
Margo Wecksler wrote: > This evening Richard felt intense pain in his left shoulder and left > ribcage, thought he was having a heart attack (then when we were > almost at > the hospital wanted to turn around and go home to his children). He > decided he was not having a heart attack, that it was somehow MS > related, > but wonders whether anyone else has experienced anything like that. > RSVP > Thanks, Margo
I have had the same symptoms. I went to a cardiologist and had been admitted to a hospital on several occasions to rule out a Myocardial Infarction. It wasn’t until they finally diagnosed me with MS that I found out the symptoms were caused by the MS. It is a little scary though, how can I tell the difference between a heart attack and the MS? I am 47 and in that grey area where I could have heart attack and not know the difference. It is probably a good idea to let your family physician know what is happening and let him decide what course of action to take. Thinking of all of you: Alan
Response:
On Fri, 15 Aug 1997 23:26:00 -0800, ma…@nbn.com (Margo Wecksler) wrote: :This evening Richard felt intense pain in his left shoulder and left :ribcage, thought he was having a heart attack (then when we were almost at :the hospital wanted to turn around and go home to his children). He :decided he was not having a heart attack, that it was somehow MS related, :but wonders whether anyone else has experienced anything like that. RSVP :Thanks, Margo When I took a CPR class many years ago, it was stressed that a frequent "symptom" exhibited by many people having heart attacks is denial that anything is wrong. Not to say it couldn’t be MS, but you’ll never know if you don’t have it checked out. Kevin — Kevin or Nella Clinefelter kclnfltr @ frontiernet.net It is impossible to make anything foolproof, because fools are so ingenious. — Eleventh Corollary to Murphy’s Law
Response:
Hey Margo I suspose you took that ornery dude back home! Shouldn’ta done it. Shoulda kept right on drivin. Coulda been the real thing and then you woulda been in a pickle with a whole new family and no dad. I’ve had this kind of pain for years. Now have a ECG every year at least and a stress test (not the kind where you gotta run the treadmill but the IV kind) every two years. And it still turns out to be the MS. Mine starts at the Thoracic or upper lumbar level of the spine but feels as though the major part of the pain is at the bottom of the sturnum. Also sometimes goes into the right arm (note this is the wrong one for a heart attack, supposedly *but not all have pain in the left with a heart problem either). Sometimes goes up into my jaw and ears. You think you are going crazy with the intensity of the pain at times. I can tell if it’s muscle stuff because I have learned how. If I move the muscles near the spine, it increases the pain a lot. Nice way to judge but it works for me. It increases the pain near the spine and in the muscles I know to cause me that pain. These muscles attach near the sternum and at the bottom of the ribs. It also cuts off air sometimes and may require ER treatment anyhow to keep the brain oxygenated. Mine has also done that a few times. It’s a matter of keeping up the tests. Getting them done the first several times to make sure what is what. And learning your own body and what it does. Takes time and close observation and doesn’t hurt to keep a journal to not recurring patterns. Know this seems to be over studying the MS but serves a purpose none-the-less. Honey, you just got a brand new family and it sounds to be a lovely one. You even had a honeymoon of sorts. Though I don’t think I would have chosen river rafting with the family as a romantic interlude. 
So you gotta stomp your foot now and again and keep right on driving cause you had the control. Please tell that handsome dude that if he wants to see the monkey cure :-}, he’s gotta stay well. Richard, please get checked out for the peace of mind it will bring all of your family and you. L — Loftus’s Law Some people manage by the book, even though they don’t know who wrote the book or even what book.
Response:
I have had this quite a few times, but, like Steve said, he needs to have his heart checked out just in case. I found that getting into a very hot tub, levels off this feeling and replaces it with a less painful sensation! Go figure, but it works! My husband suggested it as I cried in his arms and he was feeling so helpless. I figured I had nothing to lose..the pain was so intense…and it worked!!!! Even my husband was amazed! Hope this helps, but do get it checked out! Karlyn – Hide quoted text — Show quoted text -> On Fri, 15 Aug 1997 23:26:00 -0800, ma…@nbn.com (Margo Wecksler)
> wrote:
> >This evening Richard felt intense pain in his left shoulder and left
> >ribcage, thought he was having a heart attack (then when we were almost at
> >the hospital wanted to turn around and go home to his children). He
> >decided he was not having a heart attack, that it was somehow MS related,
> >but wonders whether anyone else has experienced anything like that. RSVP > >Thanks, Margo
> It could be the well known "MS Hug" but he really should get his heart
> checked out. Initially I tend to blame all my problems on MS but
> sometimes they are nothing to do it.
> Steve
> ——————————————————–
> Stephen Wolstenholme: Author of Neural Network Shareware
> web page: http://www.tropheus.demon.co.uk
Response:
In article <33F5FD62.F8B95…@earthlink.net>, "Alan B. Drell" <al…@earthlink.net> writes: > how can I tell the difference between a heart attack and the MS? >I am 47 and in that grey area where I could have heart attack and not >know the difference. It is probably a good idea to let your family >physician know what is happening and let him decide what course of >action to take.
It’s better to go to the emergency room and make a fool of yourself if it’s indigestion than to drop dead. Same with the heart probs and MS. Except you woul don’tmake a fool of yourself. Kathi
Response:
Hi Margo, I know you have probably heard this already but I htink Richard should get checked out. My neuro told me if I had any unusual symptoms not to jusrt right them off to ms to have them checked out by a doctor. I hope Richard gets checked out and I hope that it is nothing serious. Lori
Response:
Margo, I am no doc but it sounds like a heart attack, my husband has had 2 that we know of and can document. The old saying if it walks like a duck, quacks like a duck, then it must be a duck, goes for heart attacks also. He should have, I know, he doesn’t like hospitals, right?, gone on to the ER and let them check him out. My husband has had a quadruple bypass, a fem/pop bypass and really gets scared when he has to take nitro more than once. 2 trips to the ER this year already, ended up in finding an infection in teh stomache that causes ulcers. Saved by the heart attack like pains he got treatment before he got an ulcer. It is hard on you too. You see this stuff happening and when they won’t get it checked out it is scarey. Margaret
Response:
- Hide quoted text — Show quoted text -Laura K. wrote: > I > began to have what was now called panic attacks over 25 years ago, it > would > waken me from a deep sleep and I began to think that I was having > heart > attack instead of the MS Hug! I also began with radiating pain in my > left > arm with a pounding in my chest accompanied by a rapid heart beat! I > hit > the emergency rooms quite a few times as well ….. the doctors would > give > a valium and send me on my way. Now EVERY time this happened it was > right before my monthly period! > >> This evening Richard felt intense pain in his left shoulder and > left > >> ribcage, thought he was having a heart attack > >Four times in the last two months, I have awakened to feeling that I > had > >a two inch band tightening around my esophagus at sternum level. All > I > >could think of was that this felt like the discriptions I had heard > >from a friend with angina.
Went thru that sort of thing in January 1994. The cardiologist who was convinced I was having a heart attack kept me in the hospital for four days while running all the tests he could think of…..from EKG thru persantine thallium stress tests, echocardiograms and finally an esophageal reflux ’scope thingie. Nothing. In fact, it was his office that I called when I *finally* was officially diagnosed this year…because he told me, on discharge, that if I *EVER* found out what had caused the pain, he wanted to know what it was. I admit that I liked having a doctor who could stand up on his hindlegs and admit "I don’t know what is wrong with you. And, I’ve run out of tests." I’ve had the same experience several times since….and the chest pain is now seemingly constant and spreads up into my throat and tongue (causing me speech problems and swallowing difficulties) UNLESS I take my baclofen (10mg. qid) which handles it. If I’m late taking the meds..even a half hour, the heaviness in my chest returns and I dare not try to eat until after the baclofen is down. Needless to say, I’m grateful for baclofen….<smillllllle> Belle Thomas
Response:
Yep, to the 2" inch (precisely!) band around the esophagus, which feels like angina is discribed. Also had all the tests, and it looks like it is just a manifestation of the MS beast. Oh, joy, oh rapture, another one! (((((non-ms hugs)))))))))))) Jeaniemac
