Heart attacks are not always a remarkable scene where the individual collapses with severe, crushing chest pain. Rather, you may have vague stomach pain, indigestion, or heartburn. Although stomach discomfort can be due to numerous other conditions, grappling with whether your stomach discomfort is heartburn or cardiovascular disease takes up valuable time. Play it safe and look for help if you have any doubt.
How Are Stomach Pain and Heart Attack Connected?
A cardiac arrest is usually brought on by a blood clot that forms in a coronary artery. This obstructs blood flow to your heart and frequently causes a cramping or squeezing type of discomfort in the center of your chest. Often this pain can spread to the upper stomach area (upper abdomen).
Although the pain is truly coming from your heart, you may just feel it in your stomach area and not in your chest at all. The pain, which might get worse with even minor activity, may likewise spread out up to your left shoulder and arm. This is more common in women than in males. You might also feel queasy or ill to your stomach and vomit.
Women Might Have Different Symptoms
Women might have all, none, lots of or a few of the common cardiac arrest symptoms. While some type of pain, pressure or discomfort in the chest is still a typical symptom of a cardiovascular disease in women, lots of women have cardiac arrest symptoms without chest pain, such as:
- Pain in the neck, back, shoulders or jaw
- Shortness of breath
- Abdominal pain or “heartburn”.
- Pain in one or both arms.
- Queasiness or throwing up.
- Dizziness or fainting.
- Unusual or inexplicable tiredness, potentially for days.
Information for Older Adults and People With Diabetes
Older grownups and people with diabetes may have no or extremely moderate symptoms of a cardiovascular disease, so it’s especially important not to dismiss cardiovascular disease symptoms in individuals with diabetes and older adults even if they do not seem severe.
What Else Could Cause Stomach Pain?
It’s easy to mistake the stomach discomfort of a cardiovascular disease for other issues, especially when it happens without chest pain. The following illness and conditions are understood to trigger stomach discomfort that feels like that of a cardiovascular disease:
- Heartburn or gastroesophageal reflux disease (GERD), a backup of stomach contents and acids into the esophagus
- Heartburn, a burning feeling in your stomach or chest behind the breastbone due to an issue with food digestion
- Indigestion in your stomach area brought on by a digestion problem. You might feel bloated and have noticeable swelling.
- Peptic ulcer, a breakdown in the lining of the stomach or upper part of the small intestinal tract
- Gastritis, an inflammation of your stomach lining
- Pancreatitis, a swelling of your pancreas
- Gallbladder disease, including cholecystitis (inflammation of the gallbladder) or choledocholithiasis (passing gallstones)
- Hepatitis, an infection or inflammation of your liver.
When Should I Call My Doctor or 911?
Contact your doctor if you have continuous moderate to moderate stomach pain.
Just before or during a cardiovascular disease, some individuals are known to feel vague uneasyness or anxiousness, or a deep sense of dread or doom. Call 911 if you have unexpected or extreme stomach pain with these sensations, or any of the following symptoms:.
- Breaking out in a cold sweat.
- Feeling dizzy, lightheaded, or losing consciousness.
- Tiredness or weak point.
- Nausea and throwing up.
- Discomfort in your shoulder, neck, arms, back, teeth or jaw.
- Discomfort, pressure, squeezing or any type of uneasy sensation in your chest.
- Issues breathing, such as panting or sensation like you can’t capture your breath.
- Sweaty, pale, cold or clammy skin.
Individuals with stomach discomfort triggered by a cardiovascular disease frequently do not call 911 since they think their discomfort is brought on by a minor problem. You may likewise wait to see if it goes away by itself. However, without rapid treatment, a heart attack can rapidly cause irreversible heart damage and death. Do not think twice. Every 2nd counts in a cardiac arrest, and medical personnel would rather you call 911 for a stomach issue than disregard a possible heart attack.
Do not drive to the healthcare facility or let another person drive you. Calling 911 is the fastest way to treat a heart attack since emergency medics will start treatment as soon as they get here. Your medics will inform the hospital right away so the ER personnel is ready to continue treatment when you get here. They will treat you as if you are having a heart attack until your test results indicate otherwise.
Don’t assume your unexplained stomach pain is a harmless problem. Get the treatment you need rapidly to live a long and healthy life.
