A family friend with a family history of heart issues thought he had heartburn from Mexican food the night before and was tired from entertaining customers all week - the same customers who had been at the Mexican dinner with him. He was standing on the front lawn waiting for his wife to come out with the children, so they could go out to dinner. He had a massive heart attack on the front lawn and died. He was 42. He had never been tested for the heart condition his father had and that killed his father in his early 60s. He had the condition (don't remember what it is) and it could have been managed if it had been properly diagnosed. Glad to hear your DH is willing to go to the cardiologist.

It sounds like your DH is scared, because of his family history, and its keeping him from doing the right thing. If you can, tell him not to exert himself between now and the appointment. And when things calm down, have a conversation with him about this because he really needs to err on the side of going to the ER. Maybe once he's calm he'll be able to see that. I suspect the cardiologist will tell him the same thing.

Skip urgent care. They will send you to the ER in an ambulance. Urgent Care is not set up for anything Cardiac.

If there is no pain now, plan to go to the Doctor ASAP -- he probably needs a cardiac stress test. Find a cardiologist. Not just an internist (my internist sent me home with Prilosec when I was having severe angina....I had a 95% blockage of the LAD artery (aka the widow maker). Stent is working nicely.

This is OP. Unfortunately, I could not convince DH to go to ER. He started vomiting (actually got sick from both ends) and said it was the headache that made him sick. I gave him a cold washcloth and he went to bed but he pissed me off because then I was up all night worried he'd die in his sleep or something.

He said he feels 100% better today and thinks maybe it was Moe's that we had for dinner the night before. We both ate the same burrito but he did mention that the salsa (he only ate) tasted bad but ate it anyway. So maybe it was spoiled?

Anyway, I am making him get checked out by a cardiologist this week just so we know whats going on given his family history. Thank you all for the answers and thankfully he's ok but really I wish he wasn't so stubborn because that's probably how a lot of people die.

Anonymous wrote:This happened to my DH two weeks ago. Also early 40s. Turned out to be a heart attack. One artery was 90% blocked. FORCE your husband to go. There is a window of time when bloodwork will show elevated Tropinin levels, which indicate a heart incident. EKG can be normal even after a heart attack; my husband's was. Insist on going to the ER. See if they'll do a catheterization to reveal if there are any blockages. GO NOW.

Wait, his artery was 90% blocked, he had actually had a heart attack and his EKG was normal? So why do they do EKGs as part of a physical if they basically can only detect a problem as it's happening? They are basically a useless diagnostic tool. Glad your DH is okay!!

I hope you went to the ER, OP, and that your DH is ok.

This happened to my DH two weeks ago. Also early 40s. Turned out to be a heart attack. One artery was 90% blocked. FORCE your husband to go. There is a window of time when bloodwork will show elevated Tropinin levels, which indicate a heart incident. EKG can be normal even after a heart attack; my husband's was. Insist on going to the ER. See if they'll do a catheterization to reveal if there are any blockages. GO NOW.

Anonymous wrote:Just go. My dad has gone to the ER a couple of times for what ended up being gastrointestinal, but I'm so glad he did. Nobody made him feel weird or bad about it and they take possible heart issues very seriously so you'll be seen quickly.

+1 with his family history you should never feel silly or like you're being dramatic. His sumotoms could be a GI bug but also match heart attack symptoms.
Please go to ER.

My cousin just died from a massive heart attack. He was 43. He ignored these very symptoms.

Go to the ER!

DH almost died in his 40s. Had angioplasty, massively clogged arteries.

Go to the ER.

Nausea should make you more concerned, not less. Please go.

Actually, better yet. Call an ambulance. The EMTs have their own paddles, EKG, etc. If they think there is any cause for alarm, they will take him in. That way you are put directly into the triage unit so your wait will be minimal.

definitely go. similar story with my dh, it did turn out to be reflux/start of an ulcer. they quickly ruled out a cardiac issue and hooked him up to iv pepcid. we still talk about that night and laugh. better than not going and crying.

Anonymous wrote:Well now he's nauseous so I wonder if it's a bug. He is very stubborn and won't listen to me...

Nausea is definitely a sign of heart attack. Please take him!

Found a guy passing out from a massive heart attack on the street and he was clutching a bottle of heartburn medicine. don't mess around.