Hey friends

Can you tell me what happens during a heart attack (In French attaque cardiaque) or heart failure? Does chest pain often lead to heart attack (In French attaque cardiaque) ?

I'm not sure if you are asking about symptoms or what happens during an attack. Here are some links:

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmedhealth/PMH0001246/

and

http://health.nytimes.com/health/gui.../overview.html

Be aware that symptoms for women are not always the same as those for men.

My husband just had a triple bypass this week, so this is serious. Don't know if you are checking for yourself or someone else, but do seek help immediately if you have any questions!

I've heard everyone's different. I can say that when my mom had a heart attack her back was what hurt her (not her chest or arm) and she would try to pretend it wasn't happening until we forced her to go to the E.R. (just knew she was in pain not exactly what it was) She ended up having a Quad bi-pass and is doing good.

Congestive Heart Failure:
Fast heart rate
Irregular heart rate
Trouble breathing-can't catch your breath
Trouble sleeping & you don't know why
Swelling of your feet/legs
You KNOW something is wrong
Worse breathing laying down
At the age of 25, my DD went into heart failure & almost died. In the 2 weeks before that we had noticed that she was getting up at like 4:00 AM & she had no real explanation. But looking back, when she was laying down, her lungs would be filling with fluid so she'd have a hard time breathing & that would be waking her up.This happens because your heart is too weak & too enlarged to push the blood thru your body. She had gone to a doc 2 months before the final night for a check up. The doc said her heart rate was fast & that's all she said. Nothing about further checking up about it.She thought she was nervous about going to the doc. She was working out at a gym (kick boxing) every week. Some people said to her "Man, you must of been working out like H---. Your arteries are pumping like crazy. She thought that was just what was going on. A week before the final night, she was house sitting for a friend in another city & called home & said that her heart was beating like crazy. She thought she was having a panic atack because she was out in the country all alone. On Friday before the final night, she was having fast heart rate & some trouble breathing in the day time but that night said it had gone away & decided to go out of state with her friend. She came home on Sunday. That night she woke us up & she could not breate & heart rate was over 200. I could not get any breath sounds in her lungs with a stethoscope. We live close to a hospital-like 10 min away. I woke up DH & told him to get her to the hospital thinking it would be faster than waiting for an ambulance. When they got there, they made her sit & wait not believing a 25 yo could be having THAT much of a problem. When they finally took her in for an exam, she was so bad they thought that their machine was broken. They got another machine, same thing. SO they finally called cardiologist. They did & started everything on her then. By then her heart was beating so fast but was so enlarged that it was not pumping much blood around her body. Lungs were filled with fluid,legs swollen way up.

They had to stop her heart with meds & then shock her back to life trying to bring her heart rate down. They did this 2X. It didn't work. They kept her alive til the next AM & then docs & nurses took her into Chicago to big hospital there, & did a procedure called ablasion on her heart. They essentially burned off the outer layer of her heart to stop the fluttering electrical impluses that were replacing a regular heartbeat& bring her back to a normalish heart rate. She got a blood clot from that on the surface of her heart. She was on all kinds of blood thinners, heart meds, Many IV's, Blood gas tests every few hours, etc. She was close to death a few nights later & they called us & said get back here. (the prob was while that happened to her, the same day I had to have emergency back surgery so i wouldn't be paralyzed from waist down)So I laid down in the back of our SUV for the hour trip back to Chicago hospital. She made it thru all that & finally got to come home. She had to do injections of blood thinners & a bunch of pills. It took about 11 months to recuperate. She is now 34 & only takes 2 pills & is able to work.

If in doubt call dr or go to ER!! Better safe than sorry!

Gosh! What a terrible time for all of you. I'm glad to hear that your daughter made it through. as well as you and DH.

Some great info here! Thanks Linda for bringing it up. What an ordeal Sandee, glad everything worked out!

Heart attack occurs if the flow of oxygen-rich blood to a section of heart muscle suddenly becomes blocked. If blood flow isn't restored quickly, the section of heart muscle begins to die.
Heart Failure: is when the heart is weak and it can not pump( The blood) the effect amount of pressure to the rest of the body causing weight gain,starting with lower swelling of the feet and legs , shortness of breath when lying down, and some times shortness of breath just sitting (mostly late stage).
Chest pain is an indication that is is going on you should see you M.D as soon as possible. In some cases it not the heart that is giving you chest pain but could be acid reflux in either cases you should is the dr..

Word of advise If you think something is not right DON"T wait get checked Immediately!
My husband was and ER nurse and I was a Cardiac nurse. We had been married 3 1/2 weeks, I had been really tired one week-end and my back was hurting on Fri. nite. We made an appt. with Md on Monday to see him on Thurs. We both went to work on Mon. nite as usual.
Anyway, we had a new nurse who wanted to practice a 12 lead EKG, I voluntered as usual, and low and behold I was in an active MI. Heart attack! I showed no signs or symptoms other than I was really tired. Lucky for me new nurse on floor. I had no shortness of breathe, sweating, jaw / arm or shoulder pain. NO chest pain or any normal symptoms!

God had to be watching over me! I also found out I was a brittle diabetic, which often do NOT show s/s of a heart attack. So PLEASE if you think something may be wrong SEE and MD immediately!!!!!!!!!!!!
They had to wait 3 days to stabilize me enough for open heart surgery. Triple bypass, I had 3 widow makers.
God had to be with me!

Don't wait it could mean life or death