Takotsubo (broken heart syndrome)
TFLTR
As usually happens, the tragic ripples from the awful shooting in the Texas elementary school continue.
The husband of one of the murdered teachers has died from what doctors are calling "broken heart syndrome."
I experienced the same type of heart attack after my husband, my mother and my older brother died. I was 62.
I wanted to explain how hard it can be to TELL you're having a heart attack.
My most obvious symptom was violent protracted nausea. I vomited for nearly 12 hours, long past the time there was anything left in my stomach to eject. No chest pain or pressure. Most of my body was numb by then and I was not aware of any numbness in my arms.
I thought I had some flu bug.
When at long last the nausea eased, I got in the car and drove to Walmart for Pepto-Bismol, in case the sickness wasn't over.
By the time I was in Walmart I felt a weakness and exhaustion far more intense than any I'd known before. I knew something other than the obvious was very wrong.
At Walmart I encountered two employees - one as cold and disinterested as an Arctic wind and the other with a warm and caring heart.
The first (who was wearing a Customer Service Mgr badge) responded to my weak (and possibly drunk-sounding) plea for help with "Ask at the customer service counter" and walked away.
The second was a very young blonde cashier who, when I asked if she could find someone to get a bottle of Pepto-Bismol from the shelf for me since I didn't want to risk throwing up on their floors, locked her register, ran to the shelves, returned with the pink bottle, opened it for me and poured a dose into the plastic cup.
I paid and found I was physically out of gas. "I think I'm dying'" I thought.
I put the Pepto bottle in a nearby cart and rode it back out to my car. If I couldn't have leaned on the cart, I would've collapsed.
Once at the car, I managed to unlock the door and sit sideways on the driver's seat - but I was unable to lift my legs. Finally I lifted each leg with my hands and was seated.
I drove to the hospital, less than a mile away.
Heart attack never crossed my mind and I was astonished and disbelieving when they informed me I was having a heart attack and was going to be life-flighted to Hamot Hospital in Erie, PA.
I was lucky and survived. Most (about 85%) do - but many of those have lasting scarring and heart dysfunction. Again, I was lucky.
Just a warning that this syndrome affects mostly women (but men can experience it as well).
It can result as a response to terrible news (a death, a drastic financial reversal) or even to extreme good news (like a lottery win). Sometimes no trigger is ever found. Sometimes the heart attack happens immediately. Sometimes it takes longer.
It certainly is no fun and even when it's not fatal. can have far-reaching effects.
As usually happens, the tragic ripples from the awful shooting in the Texas elementary school continue.
The husband of one of the murdered teachers has died from what doctors are calling "broken heart syndrome."
I experienced the same type of heart attack after my husband, my mother and my older brother died. I was 62.
I wanted to explain how hard it can be to TELL you're having a heart attack.
My most obvious symptom was violent protracted nausea. I vomited for nearly 12 hours, long past the time there was anything left in my stomach to eject. No chest pain or pressure. Most of my body was numb by then and I was not aware of any numbness in my arms.
I thought I had some flu bug.
When at long last the nausea eased, I got in the car and drove to Walmart for Pepto-Bismol, in case the sickness wasn't over.
By the time I was in Walmart I felt a weakness and exhaustion far more intense than any I'd known before. I knew something other than the obvious was very wrong.
At Walmart I encountered two employees - one as cold and disinterested as an Arctic wind and the other with a warm and caring heart.
The first (who was wearing a Customer Service Mgr badge) responded to my weak (and possibly drunk-sounding) plea for help with "Ask at the customer service counter" and walked away.
The second was a very young blonde cashier who, when I asked if she could find someone to get a bottle of Pepto-Bismol from the shelf for me since I didn't want to risk throwing up on their floors, locked her register, ran to the shelves, returned with the pink bottle, opened it for me and poured a dose into the plastic cup.
I paid and found I was physically out of gas. "I think I'm dying'" I thought.
I put the Pepto bottle in a nearby cart and rode it back out to my car. If I couldn't have leaned on the cart, I would've collapsed.
Once at the car, I managed to unlock the door and sit sideways on the driver's seat - but I was unable to lift my legs. Finally I lifted each leg with my hands and was seated.
I drove to the hospital, less than a mile away.
Heart attack never crossed my mind and I was astonished and disbelieving when they informed me I was having a heart attack and was going to be life-flighted to Hamot Hospital in Erie, PA.
I was lucky and survived. Most (about 85%) do - but many of those have lasting scarring and heart dysfunction. Again, I was lucky.
Just a warning that this syndrome affects mostly women (but men can experience it as well).
It can result as a response to terrible news (a death, a drastic financial reversal) or even to extreme good news (like a lottery win). Sometimes no trigger is ever found. Sometimes the heart attack happens immediately. Sometimes it takes longer.
It certainly is no fun and even when it's not fatal. can have far-reaching effects.
