When it comes to women and heart attacks, it is extremely easy to overlook or miss the signs and symptoms of a heart attack because they show up in different ways in women than they do in men.
To prevent a heart attack from sneaking up on you, watch for these seven little-known signs of heart attack:
Fatigue
More than 70 per cent of women reported extreme fatigue in the months prior to their heart attacks. This was an overwhelming fatigue that sidelined them from their usual schedules for a few days at a time.
Insomnia
Despite their fatigue, women who’ve had heart attacks remember experiencing unexplained inability to fall asleep during the month before their heart attacks.
Anxiety and stress
Stress has long been known to up the risk of heart attack. But what women report is the emotional experience; before their heart attacks they felt anxious and stressed, more than usual.
Indigestion or nausea
Stomach pain, intestinal cramps, nausea, and digestive disruptions are other signs reported by women heart attack patients.
Jaw, ear, neck, or shoulder pain
Many women say they felt pain and a sensation of tightness running along their jaw and down the neck, and sometimes up to the ear, as well. The pain may extend down to the shoulder and arm, particularly on the left side or it may feel like a backache or pulled muscle in the neck and back.