
Liz Johnson-then 39-told the American Heart Association how her flu-like symptoms were interfering with her ability to teach. I felt tired, weak, dizzy, and nauseous.” Keep in mind, all of my flu symptoms were EXTREME. “I felt an immediate and extreme (almost like someone shutting a door on you) sense of flu symptoms. Julia Allen shared her story on a heart attack she experienced at 44 to Women’s Health. However, for women, the flu-like symptoms could indicate an upcoming heart attack. Past experience tells you waking up with chills, sweating, and light-headedness means you’re coming down with the flu. “If you’re a woman over the age of 50, with other contributing factors such as diabetes or obesity and having these symptoms, it is advisable to go to the closest emergency room.” Flu-like symptoms

“Heart attacks are more commonly missed in women and usually manifest as nausea and vomiting in women, more so than men,” Jeffrey Ko, MD, an assistant clinical professor of health sciences told UC Davis Health. The dying heart cells releases toxins that stimulate the nerves in charge of vomiting, giving you that sick to your stomach feeling. When the heart is too injured or is unable to receive oxygen-rich blood, heart tissue starts to die. Puking because of heart problems is called cardiogenic vomiting. Other tell-tale signs that are often overlooked are nausea, lack of appetite, and vomiting. Nearly 40 percent of women report indigestion a month before the cardiac event. Heart failure can cause abdominal swelling, which can appear as indigestion. The discomforting pressure can start off gradual or intense and may even come and go before becoming impossible to ignore. She thought it was her purse, but her shoulder throbbed even when she wasn’t holding her purse,” Radha Kachhy, MD, a cardiologist told DukeHealth. One of my patients said her shoulder hurt every time she walked. “If it happens during times of exertion, it should be taken seriously. Women more than men are more likely to experience the painful pressure in other places such as the upper back, neck, and jaw, and shoulder blades. When an artery is clogged and blood flow is blocked, people can feel an immense pressure or squeezing in their chest. A 2023 study in Clinical Cardiology found that insomnia and getting less than 5 hours of sleep is both associated with an increased risk of heart attack years after.Īs you wake up, your heart rate and blood pressure spikes causing cardiac stress as your heart works harder to get you up and moving. Blood pressure normally goes down during sleep but when you have trouble sleeping, it stays elevated. High blood pressure is one of the major risk factors for a heart attack. If you’re suddenly having trouble sleeping at night, this could be your body warning you of high blood pressure. McSweeney, PhD, a professor at the University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences in Little Rock, told NBC News. It interferes with their normal activities,” Jean C. “For some, it’s so severe that they can’t make a bed without resting as they tuck the sheets. The fatigue should be so detrimental that it affects your day-to-day activities.

In the NIH study, 70 percent of women reported a wave of fatigue that creeps up a month or two before the actual attack. That’s because your heart is under massive stress as it tries to pump blood to a blocked area. Recognizing early warning signs can help you put the brakes on an impending heart attack.Įxtreme and unexplained tiredness is one of the most reported heart attack symptoms among women. But as problematic as heart attacks are for women, they are also one of the most preventable.

Heart attack symptoms for women can be distressingly more vague and subtle. A now well-cited 2003 NIH study found that just 30 percent of the 515 women surveyed had any kind of chest discomfort while they experienced a heart attack. The issue is that the hallmark symptoms we associate with heart attacks like chest pain happen more in men than women. “If there are risk factors and a woman is postmenopausal, she should be assessed for evidence of plaque in the arteries.” 21, 2022.“Misdiagnosis and under-treatment are critical pieces to the reason that women die of heart disease more than all cancers combined,” says Suzanne Steinbaum, MD, a cardiologist who specializes in menopausal women’s health. Outpatient evaluation of the adult with chest pain. In: Sleisenger and Fordtran's Gastrointestinal and Liver Disease: Pathophysiology, Diagnosis, Management. Evaluation of the adult with chest pain in the emergency department. National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases.

National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute.
