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View Full Version : Aching pain in my left arm. heart attack?



superjonboy
01-03-10, 08:09
Woke up this morning with a dull ache in my left upper arm. I have no chest pain but I heard a heart attack can start in your left arm?

I'm 28 and quite overweight at 22 stone im 6foot1, and dont get much exercise at the minute.

My wife went off to work tlling me I will have slept on it funny.

Really worried though. Been feeling really rough for the pat few weeks.

Am I worrying over nothing? I know at 28 a heart attack mut be quite rare but im overweight.

John.

Kraggy
01-03-10, 08:39
I am by no means an experd on this. But dont the first signs of a heart attack show up a few minutes before it happens? So if you've had it for like 30 minutes, Its not a heart attack. because a heart attack would only take a few minutes to kick in. So if you've been having it for a bit of time already, It surely isn't a heart attack. :3

And no, heart attacks start in the chest - The pain radiates to the left arm

Got the following of Wikipedia, To calm you down.

"The onset of symptoms in myocardial infarction (MI) is usually gradual, over several minutes, and rarely instantaneous.Chest painis the most common symptom of acute myocardial infarction and is often described as a sensation of tightness, pressure, or squeezing. Chest pain due to ischemia (a lack of blood and hence oxygen supply) of the heart muscle is termed angine pectoris. Pain radiates most often to the left arm."

gypsywomen
01-03-10, 09:12
i am going to recomend having a word with your docter ,about how you feel ,,

xlouloux
01-03-10, 12:01
hi john its me lol
i have pains in my left arm quite a lot. and to make things worse i also get pains in the left side of my chest. but the fact that you got worried and wrote on the forum tells me that you are not having a heart attack. heart attack patients describe the pain as crushing like a squeezing pain in the chest that often radiates to the jaw and the arm and shortness of breath. i have often worried about this myself (if its not one problem its another). anxiety seems to have the ability to mimic our worst fears. maybe because they are the things we focus on the most. i thought i had a brain tumor and was not going to be convinced otherwise until i had an mri. as soon as i got those results and they were fine low and behold the things i was feeling in my head totally subsided. granted i moved onto the next possible disease but it just goes to show that anxiety can trick you into thinking all sorts of horrible things and catastrophises everything. i hope you feel better soon hun x x

louise

superjonboy
01-03-10, 17:40
Thanks for all your replies.

I'm really not coping well with m health anxiety at the minute.

I'm living the life of someone who is terminally ill.

I'm going to get a bath now and I'm worrying already that I'm going to have a heart attack in there.

I'll post again when/if I get out.

John x

nomorepanic
01-03-10, 18:02
Hi John

I had a heart attack 18 months ago and knew that it wasn't just normal chest pain. I had an aching right arm as well.

We called 999 and I had to have a stent put in my artery.

I am not making light of this but you would know if you were having a heart attack for sure.

If you are at all worried about your heart you should see the doctor and get it checked out.

superjonboy
01-03-10, 18:12
Thanks for the reply Nicola.

I managed the bath anyway.

Whenever i've had concerns over my heart before the doctors have reassured me its nothing. "You're young and healthy!" Despite me being 22 stone that is.

My wife reckons i slept on it funny but I dunno. It does feel like that type of ache but my health anxiety tells me the worst.

I was told it would feel like an elephant sitting on my chest which I haven't got.

I might make a doctors appointment just to make sure.

nomorepanic
01-03-10, 19:16
Yes the heart attack pain is in the middle of the chest and not over the heart like most people think it would be.

You could quite easily have slept funny on your arm.

Glad you managed the bath ok anyway.

gypsywomen
01-03-10, 19:27
hi glad you will docter ,, glad your bath went well take care of you x

lorraine
01-03-10, 20:14
hi
new on site signed on last week. Found site very helpful. Been getting this Itch in my left side of my throat that sort of moves down my arm only last for about 30 secs. anybody else had this?