Just somewhat curious. I know what you hear on TV and what you can read, but I’m wondering if anyone here on the boards has had one, and what it felt like to them. Like what lead up to it, all that kind of stuff. Just being curious.
I’d be interested in this too. Especially how to tell the difference between a heart attack, indigestion, and gall stones. I’ve heard that all three can have similar symptoms.
The symptoms can vary tremendously, so just because you don’t have the classic symptoms, don’t ignore them!!
Classic cardiac muscle pain is often referred to as “an elephant sitting on my chest”, i.e. tremendous pressure, associated with pain and shortness of breath. Often it will radiate to the neck and/or jaw, and down the left arm. Sweats and nausea are common.
Note that these are classic symptoms. Many people with heart attacks don’t get the classic symptoms. The pain may be in the stomach, shoulder, or even on the right side, going to the right arm. With my MI, I had mild chest pressure, and right arm pain, with a vague feeling of unease. No sweats, no nausea, no left-sided pain.
There is also “Silent” MI. This often happens with diabetics, who feel no symptoms at all. It also can happen in people without diabetes. So the next time you don’t have any chest pain, you could be having a heart attack! 
If in doubt, check it out!!! It’s always safest to assume chest pain is coming from the heart until it has been adequately demonstrated otherwise. Talk with your doc. And if you’re having unexplained chest pain at this time, talk to your doc or his nurse NOW!
QtM, MD
My mother, who was a nurse yet. Was bouncing all over the place feeling great.
Then about 9pm she said, Oh I feel awful, I guess tomorrow I will go to the doctor. She went to bed. She woke up about midnight and said she had a sore neck and couldn’t breathe well and also the light was bothering her.
I then prepared to take her to the hospital. Then she said “Call an ambulance.” That was it massive heart attack. Over like that.
My father had JUST COME BACK FROM THE DOCTOR. At 4pm. At 4:30pm he said he wasn’t feeling well and he was going to take a nap. Massive heart attack never woke up.
My father was a heart attack waiting to happen (overweight, smoked, ate wrong) but still no immediate symptoms.
My mother was in good shape, didn’t smoke, ate perfectly. She only had mild hypertension. She also had mild asthma and that is what at least I thought it was.
So sometimes you can’t tell.
My father had complained of a toothache on a Friday. That was his only symptom. That night he had a heart attack in his sleep and never woke up. One of the things that he was carrying (that is in his pants) was an dental appointment card for his toothache.
My aunt, his sister, had just gone to lunch with her daughter. She mentioned something about “feeling a little indigestion.” She told her daughter that she was probably going to take a nap when she got home (she lived alone). My aunt was found the next day on her couch where she had taken her nap, with a puzzle book at her side. No other symptoms. She took a nap, and never woke up.
Pretty much sums it up. It can vary from no unusual symptoms to very serious symptoms.
Just to add to what Qadgop said, if you’re having chest pain you’re worried may be an MI call 911. NOW!
We can do wonderful things in the ambulance nowadays- 12 lead EKGs, cardiac drugs, etc. You’ve got a much better chance of surviving if you get early ALS care as opposed to driving yourself to the hospital. We’ve had patients die driving themselves or being driven to the hospital.
St. Urho
EMT/Firefighter
So, to keep myself from becoming more of a hypochondriac is there a way I can easily determine that the periodic minor aches and pains I feel in my chest every now and then are from non life-threatening causes? Whenever I get these feelings my first instinct is to check my pulse and make sure the heart is still working (I am already a bit of a hypochondriac in this sense). Sure enough, all is well, though in my state of panic the heart rate is usually accelerated. Every time I’ve asked my mom about these pains she tells me it’s probably just gas pressure or it could be sore muscles in the chest. She tells me that if I were having a heart attack I would know it and it would be far more painful.
FTR, I’m 33 and male. I don’t smoke or drink, although I am a little bit overweight and I am easily prone to stress.
Yeah, I’m only 18, but am getting the same pains dwc1970 described (or at least something similar). It’s a dull pain near the heart. I haven’t died yet yet though, so… 
My grandma (Type 2 diabetic) had a heart attack in her mid-60s. She never had classic chest pain. She just felt like crap all day long, and that evening when she didn’t have the energy to even get off the couch, my aunt, who is an RN, measured her blood pressure and it was through the ceiling. So they called 911 and got her to the hospital, where it was discovered she was having an MI. Pretty scary, considering that her symptoms (“feeling vaguely punk, not much energy”) happen to me on a regular basis just as a result of, y’know, not getting enough sleep, or whatever.
I had a heart attack when I was 35 - about 6 years ago. It happened at night; I couldn’t sleep, couldn’t lay down, sit up, or anything. I had been wrestling with my daughter that evening and she had kicked me, so I thougt she had broken a rib.
Finally, I woke up Mrs. KVS at 3 a.m. and told her that I thought I had a broken rib, so I was going to drive myself to the emergency room. Her reply was the now classic, “**Are you sure it’s an emergency? If it’s not an emergency, the insurance won’t cover it.{/b]”
It was a pressure in my chest, and it sort of radiated down into my left arm. I ended up having CABG x4 a few days later.
It’s sad to read about people dying of heart attacks but considering that I gotta die of something I’d rather “take a nap and never wake up” than die of someting like cancer.
When I die I’d like to die of a quick heart attack like my grandfather rather than screaming in terror like the passengers in his car.