r/HeartAttack

TW - death, grief, heart attacks

Hi everyone,
First of all, I am not a heart attack survivor myself - I apologise for infiltrating your reddit community, but I’m hoping you can help me.

My Grandpa died a month ago from ischaemic heart failure. He was out for dinner with my Grandma and then had a heart attack. Nothing big or dramatic…he just died.

The paramedics who arrived at the scene told my Grandma he would’ve died before hitting the floor. One of the servers performed CPR and broke his ribs once he fell out of chair, but apparently he wouldn’t have felt it.

I’m stuck on what his last moments would have felt like, given that it sounded instantaneous. Would have been in pain? Would he have known what was happening? Would he have been frightened?

I’m so overwhelmed with the worry that his last moments might have caused him pain, hurt, or panic.

Looking for insight: unexplained heart scarring after sudden cardiac arrest
I’m hoping someone in this community may have experienced something similar or can point us in the right direction.
My husband is in his early 40s and recently suffered a sudden cardiac arrest while exercising at the gym. He was active, energetic, not overweight, and had no idea that he had a serious heart problem before this happened.
Thankfully, he survived and now has an ICD/pacemaker for protection.
One finding from the day of his cardiac arrest that has always stood out to me is that when he arrived at the ER, his potassium was extremely low at 2.6 mmol/L. It was later corrected. We still don’t fully understand what role, if any, that severe hypokalemia may have played in triggering the cardiac arrest, especially in combination with the heart scar that was later discovered.
His cardiac workup showed no significant coronary blockage, so his doctors do not believe this was a typical heart attack.
His heart function was initially reduced after the arrest, with an ejection fraction around 35–40%, and it subsequently improved to approximately 45%.
The finding that concerns me most is his cardiac MRI, which showed scarring/fibrosis involving the lower portion of his heart with what was described to us as a ring-like pattern. We were told that this scar could have created the electrical instability that led to his cardiac arrest.
The big question we still have is: Why does a relatively young, active person have this type of heart scar in the first place?
Genetic cardiomyopathy was considered, but his genetic testing came back negative. At this point, we still do not have a clear explanation for how the scar developed.
We have essentially been told to continue his heart medications, allow the ICD to monitor/protect him, repeat imaging over time, and see whether the scarring progresses.
I completely understand the importance of monitoring, but after surviving a sudden cardiac arrest, I’m not comfortable simply waiting without trying harder to understand the underlying cause.
I would love to hear from anyone who has dealt with a similar combination:
Sudden cardiac arrest during exercise
Potassium of 2.6 mmol/L at presentation
No significant coronary blockage
Cardiac MRI showing a ring-like/circumferential pattern of myocardial scarring
Reduced EF that subsequently improved
Negative genetic cardiomyopathy testing
No definite explanation for the myocardial fibrosis/scarring
Were you eventually given a diagnosis?
Did your doctors investigate previous myocarditis, cardiac sarcoidosis or another inflammatory condition, arrhythmogenic cardiomyopathy, autoimmune disease, previous viral infection, or other causes of nonischemic myocardial scarring? At first they thought it may have been covid vaccine, an internal virus.

I’m particularly interested in whether anyone was evaluated with additional testing such as a cardiac FDG-PET scan, repeat cardiac MRI, inflammatory/autoimmune testing, more extensive genetic testing, or evaluation by a cardiomyopathy specialist/electrophysiologist.
And for anyone knowledgeable about this area: Could potassium as low as 2.6 have been an important trigger for the cardiac arrest in someone who already had myocardial scarring, even if the low potassium itself didn’t cause the scar?
We are pursuing another medical opinion. I’m not looking for an internet diagnosis—I’m trying to educate myself so we can advocate for a thorough evaluation and make sure we’re not overlooking something important.
If you’ve experienced anything similar, or you’re a medical professional familiar with this type of cardiac MRI/scar pattern, I would be extremely grateful for any insight about what questions we should be asking and what type of specialist we should consider seeing next.

Thank you!!!

Early 40s male, full 100% CT0 of the Right Distal RCA in December

No stents due to the danger associated with the full cto and position of the blockage along with having good collaterals. On meds only and recent blood test looks great

I am a bit of a "solo" person in the world - all of my friends are now spread around the world.

I'm still quite active, go to the gym 3-4 times a week, usually out and about doing things - but sometimes wonder if something were to happen, that it might be quite a delay before anyone knew.

Does anyone here where some sort of emergency bracelet or monitor? Is that silly to even think?

I can't do anyone like an Apple Watch, it would drive me crazy - would need something more low profile

Thoughts?

I keep getting sharp quick chest pains dead center of my chest. Not multiples at once but like once a day or every other day or sometimes once a week. It changes.. sometimes not at all for a while But It's scaring the crap out of me. I had a lot of work done about a year and a half ago and he said everything was good. Is this a warning sign??

Looking for insight: unexplained heart scarring after sudden cardiac arrest
I’m hoping someone in this community may have experienced something similar or can point us in the right direction.
My husband is in his early 40s and recently suffered a sudden cardiac arrest while exercising at the gym. He was active, energetic, not overweight, and had no idea that he had a serious heart problem before this happened.
Thankfully, he survived and now has an ICD/pacemaker for protection.
One finding from the day of his cardiac arrest that has always stood out to me is that when he arrived at the ER, his potassium was extremely low at 2.6 mmol/L. It was later corrected. We still don’t fully understand what role, if any, that severe hypokalemia may have played in triggering the cardiac arrest, especially in combination with the heart scar that was later discovered.
His cardiac workup showed no significant coronary blockage, so his doctors do not believe this was a typical heart attack.
His heart function was initially reduced after the arrest, with an ejection fraction around 35–40%, and it subsequently improved.
Cardiac MRI findings
His cardiac MRI is what concerns me the most. It showed an extensive non-ischemic pattern of myocardial fibrosis/scarring.
The scar was described as subepicardial/mid-wall late gadolinium enhancement (LGE), with a near-complete ring-like pattern, particularly involving the basal lateral and inferior walls and extending toward the septum.
His MRI estimated the scar burden at approximately 20%.
His LV and RV were normal in size, with an MRI LVEF around 47% and RVEF around 51%.
We were told that this scar could provide the electrical substrate that caused his dangerous arrhythmia/cardiac arrest.
The question we cannot seem to answer is:
Why does a relatively young, active person have this much heart scarring in the first place?
Genetic testing
Because the MRI pattern raised concern for a possible genetic cardiomyopathy, he underwent extensive genetic testing.
His testing included a large Invitae genetic panel with sequencing and deletion/duplication analysis of 163 genes, including many genes associated with cardiomyopathy and arrhythmias, such as DSP, FLNC, DSC2, DSG2, PKP2, LMNA, TTN, MYH7, SCN5A, RYR2, PLN, RBM20, DES and many others.
The overall result was NEGATIVE — no pathogenic or likely pathogenic genetic variants were identified that currently explain his condition.
So at this point, despite the extensive scar seen on MRI, we still do not have a confirmed genetic explanation.
Initially, different possibilities were discussed with us, including whether this could have resulted from a previous viral infection/myocarditis or an inflammatory process. The possibility of a relationship to a previous COVID infection or COVID vaccination was also raised, but nothing has been established as the cause.
We have essentially been told to continue his heart medications, allow the ICD to monitor/protect him, repeat imaging over time, and see whether the scarring progresses.
I completely understand the importance of monitoring, but after surviving a sudden cardiac arrest and finding this amount of unexplained heart scar, I’m not comfortable simply waiting without trying harder to understand the underlying cause.
I would love to hear from anyone who has dealt with a similar combination:
Sudden cardiac arrest during exercise
Potassium of 2.6 mmol/L at presentation
No significant coronary blockage
Subepicardial/mid-wall myocardial fibrosis
Near-complete ring-like/circumferential LGE pattern
Approximately 20% scar burden
Reduced EF that subsequently improved
Extensive genetic testing that was negative
No definite explanation for the myocardial scarring
Were you eventually given a diagnosis?
Did your doctors investigate previous myocarditis, cardiac sarcoidosis or another inflammatory condition, arrhythmogenic cardiomyopathy, autoimmune disease, previous viral infection, or another cause of non-ischemic myocardial fibrosis?
I’m particularly interested in whether anyone with a similar MRI pattern was evaluated with additional testing such as a cardiac FDG-PET scan, repeat cardiac MRI, inflammatory/autoimmune testing, additional genetic evaluation, or evaluation at a specialized inherited cardiomyopathy/arrhythmia center.
I’m also very interested in understanding the potassium finding. Could potassium as low as 2.6 have been an important trigger for the cardiac arrest in someone who already had this myocardial scar, even if the low potassium itself did not cause the scarring? And what could cause potassium to fall that low in an otherwise active person?
We are pursuing another medical opinion. I’m not looking for an internet diagnosis—I’m trying to educate myself so we can advocate for a thorough evaluation and make sure we’re not overlooking something important.
If you’ve experienced anything similar, or you’re a medical professional familiar with this type of cardiac MRI/scar pattern, I would be extremely grateful for any insight about what this pattern ultimately turned out to be, what additional testing helped, and what type of specialist we should consider seeing next.
Thank you so much. ❤️

Hi all. Hope you all are well. I had a heart attack a year ago in May along with 2 stents. I’m just very curious if anyone here has had a MRI since having stents placed? I’m pretty anxious and reading about how there’s a protocol (for stents) they have to adhere to makes me even more nervous! I thought I’d come here and ask actual people instead of stoking my anxiety more from Google searches. Thank you.

Hi there,

I work in cardiac rehabilitation as an exercise physiologist. There are many benefits that come with cardiac rehab, though it can be hard to see at first. Coming off a heart procedure or cardiac event, your cardiovascular system is in a fragile state. Rushing back into high intensity exercise can actually be more detrimental to you than beneficial. Everybody has what’s called an ejection fraction. Which essentially is how efficient your heart is pumping out blood throughout the body (ask your cardiologist about this and they can talk to you more about yours personally). Generally, the healthy population is that roughly about 55 to 70%. Most cardiac patients typically fall below that line. The goal of cardiac rehabilitation is to increase that ejection fraction. This will lead to the capability of exercising at higher intensities. You can do this by exerting yourself during exercise and building a consistent exercise routine. I get it. It can be frustrating coming into a program and starting off very light. The staff is trying to see where your heart rate can get to before dyspnea or over exertion. Building a consistent exercise routine and dietary plan, your heart health will continue to improve. I’ve had the pleasure of working with many individuals. The biggest piece of advice I can give to anybody starting cardiac rehabilitation is it’s all about what you put into it. If you come into the program and do just enough to get by, you’re not going to get nearly the benefits you would as if you come in and take it seriously. I wish everyone the best that is coming into the program or is planning on doing so. It will all be worth it in the end you will be in good hands.🙌❤️‍🩹

If you have any questions for me, I’d be happy to answer below!

According to Italian outlet Corriere della Sera, the parents were in the front seats, while the 31-year-old son, who was sitting in the back seat, turned out to have suffered a fatal cardiac arrest while they were driving.

Hello,

I am a 28-year-old man

I post quite often on reddit when I have to externalize things .

For the past year, I have had very strange sensations.

Starting with startle awakenings at night because my body stops breathing... Negative freediving test...

Then my ordeal began.

To be brief...

I had a pain in my heart a few months ago. Yes, in my heart (for me)... It’s as if they held it tight for a second and then let go. angina pectoris type.

And that’s not all... I also sometimes have pain in my left arm but very rarely has chest pain at the same time... dizziness... numbness..

I already have a lot of consultations for each of his ailments... emergencies / cardiologist etc.

All the tests are normal.

BUT... a disease is holding my attention... the coronary spasms / microvascular angina (prinzmetal)... This disease is cruel because the tests are completely normal.

Does anyone have a similar testimony? A similarity in the symptoms?

PS: a therapy follow-up is underway.

What's the difference in cardiac-related pain and musculoskeletal pain? I've had the same exact pain for almost a week now. A month ago, I had a clean troponin test; two weeks ago, I had a clean 72-hour heart monitor; a few days ago, I had a clean EKG. I have been referred to cardiology just in case. I'm almost positive this has to be muscular? I can feel the pain on the inside of my left breast, down around my breast and through my ribs, up my back and stopping in between my shoulder blade and my spine. Does this sound like inflammation where my ribs meet my spine more than cardiac pain? I've always had this on/off pain in my shoulder blade area, particularly on days where my posture has been poor, but it's never been for days on end with accompanying chest pain. I'm also 18weeks pregnant and have a higher than normal (for me) heart rate because of the pregnancy, so that certainly isn't helping. My average heart rate, according to the monitor, was 85bpm.

TLDR; What's the difference in cardiac-related pain and musculoskeletal pain?

Hello all,

After 2 years of fighting constant issues after my coronary stent placement, and going to every specialist on the planet, I am most likely having it removed via endarectomy and lima bypass. They believe I have kounis syndrome due to a stent allergy (I am allergic to nickel).

I am not thrilled with this, but I’m happy to be making a big step toward better health as I have felt horrible for 2+ years.

This is an incredibly rare procedure. Lots of risks, but I wanted to throw it out there if anyone has had this procedure done and how they are doing now?

Thanks for the support.

I’m six months post 3 stents no heart attack and the cardiologist said I can get off Brilinta. Besides the fact that I’m terrified of stopping suddenly, I’m hoping the maddening shortness of breath goes away. The sob only happens at rest and when trying to sleep. I can do a 40 mile bike ride with no problems.
Id love to hear other people’s experiences coming off Brilinta and was it cold turkey or gradual. Thanks!

Hi, for a month I have constantly left side chest pain, went to Dr, ecg and ct chest done, both results came normal, but to day I have left side chest pain and feel like vomitting,
Does any one know what happening to me and is someone had same issues like mine
Plz help

I was sick for a few weeks back in April. May I kept telling the doctor I was in the hospital? I went to the ER I went to the hospital. The doctor a total of 7 different times because I kept not feeling well, I told them and they kept saying, oh, you're just grieving your wife, you're fine. Your potassium's a little low. But you're fine. So May 8th I had a heart attack and died for minutes. Because I have an infection. They said it was in my blood.Monday morning, they did a catheterization, heart and they said everything was good. They said we're Going to send you home because everything's fine.They put me on a beta-blocker, a blood pressure pill, and maybe a blood thinner.The day I got home from the hospital I've been feeling pretty good except for the last few weeks today. It's really bad. It feels like sandpaper in my arm and chest. I will not go back to the doctor because I'm tired of what they did kept playing around and kept playing around. I'm breathing, OK, but I'm coughing. I feel lightheaded a lot today. And it's just, I've been very fatigued the past few weeks, I just when I do stuff, it hurts more.is there something wrong with my heart?What's bad?I won't go to the doctor I can't.Is there anything that I can do

I've been dealing with health anxiety, especially around my heart, and I'm curious how other people have learned to handle the gray areas.

There are so many symptoms that could technically be heart-related but are also extremely common with anxiety or other benign things. Things like a mild chest ache that lasts 20–30 minutes and goes away, isolated arm/shoulder pain, extra PVCs, or a higher-than-normal heart rate.

I also understand that heart attacks don't always look like the classic severe chest pain, and that women and people with diabetes in particular can sometimes have milder or less typical symptoms. That's part of what makes this so difficult for me.

Obviously I'm not talking about severe or obvious emergency symptoms. I'm talking more about those situations where your brain says, "What if this is a heart attack?" even though there are plenty of other possible explanations.

I've been trying to take my health seriously and get the best possible results out of it, so I'm not trying to ignore symptoms or blame everything on anxiety. But I also don't want to go to the ER every time I have an ache or a few extra palpitations.

For those of you who've dealt with cardiophobia, how did you learn to find that balance? Did you come up with specific guidelines with your doctor for when to get checked out versus when to monitor things and move on? And if you used to go to the ER frequently, what helped you break that cycle?

I was getting ready for the office one morning when I suddenly experienced severe chest pain. I tried to bear it for a few hours, but the pain kept getting worse, so I went to the hospital.

The doctors immediately moved me to the emergency department and then to the cath lab for an angiography. They found a 100% blockage caused by a blood clot in one of my heart arteries and performed an angioplasty to remove it.

I was told that I was extremely lucky to have survived. I spent two days in the ICU before being moved to a regular room.

Since then

I keep asking myself: what's the point of living?

Why did I go through so much struggle if everything could have disappeared in a matter of minutes? What's the point of life if I'm told I can't push myself anymore?

I've always loved the grind. I loved the pressure. It made me feel alive. Sure, it was stressful, but that stress was part of the fun. Now everyone tells me to live a stress-free life, and honestly, that feels absurd to me. The person I was thrived on challenges.

I can't even think about dating right now. Not because I don't want to, but because I don't want someone to depend on me and then have to suffer if something like this happens again.

I love my parents, and they love me. They've taken better care of me than I could have ever imagined. But most of the time, I feel like a burden to them. I know they don't see me that way, but it's hard not to feel it.

I loved cricket. Now I can't play for months, maybe even longer. I used to tell people, "If you ever see me stop playing cricket, then something has gone seriously wrong in my life." And somehow, that actually happened.

I thought an experience like this would bring clarity. I thought I'd come out of it with some grand realization about life.

Instead, I'm left with self-doubt.

Existential questions.

The constant thought of "Why me?"

It feels like I'm going to miss out on so much of life, so much fun, so much of what made me who I am, far earlier than I ever imagined.

Maybe these thoughts will fade with time. Maybe they won't. But right now, this is honestly how I feel.

My brother had a heart attack last Tuesday morning and went to the hospital. He was doing much better and talked to my mom on the phone and said he should be out that day but they were debating on doing a heart catheter. Wednesday evening they did the heart catheter and something went wrong. When he came out he was complaining to his wife about having chest pains again and then he coded. We went to the hospital and the Dr. came out and said he’s fine he’s doing much better but I’m keeping him asleep just to be sure and I’m keeping him on the strongest blood thinners we have. We came home at 11 last night and he coded again at midnight. We got a call to come back in and when we got there my brother was gone. What happened? Is this normal? He’s 49 years old and he dips snuff. But otherwise he was in good health and in shape. We are devastated. I’m so upset the way the Dr handled the situation. Told me and my 75 year old parents he would be fine and we drove 30 miles back home so sleepy they could barely hold their eyes open and we never got to say goodbye or we love you, never got to see him until he was cold as a brick. Part of me is dead now. Thanks in advance.

So at 34 the cocaine finally got me I had been doing it for a long time typically 8to10 bumps a day no issues until one Monday I started to feel the tightest chest pain I had ever felt an had pain shooting down both arms neck was hurting so bad I could barley turn it I was so dizzy an lightheaded I could barley stand up so I made my girl take me to the er got there an immediately was honest with them an they sprung into action . After the dust settles an I was laying in my hospital bed I realized that something had to change the problem is I don't know how to change it because I've been an addict so long I know if I don't it's going to be fatal eventually I just don't know how to change it. I guess I'm wondering have any body ever suffered a heart attack from doing cocaine an where you able to stop once they told you your life would be in jeopardy. It's like I know I need too due to the damage my heart suffered but it's like I just can't .