A woman in her forties, who unexpectedly suffered a heart attack despite having no prior health issues, has shared the warning signs she initially ignored. In a video recorded from her hospital bed, Nikki, known on TikTok as @martyandnikki, recounted that she had begun noticing certain symptoms about a week before the incident.
“These were MY symptoms because people asked. This doesn’t mean they’re the same as everyone else. I did think I was experiencing indigestion until I didn’t,” Nikki stated.
A heart attack is typically caused by a blockage of blood supply to the heart, often due to a clot. For Nikki, who is 46 and had no history of heart problems, the heart attack was completely unexpected.
“Two days ago, I had a heart attack,” she revealed. “I have no previous medical conditions… I had some warnings approximately a week before.”
Nikki mentioned that about a week prior to her heart attack, she awoke with pain in her left shoulder, which she initially attributed to ‘sleeping on it wrong.’ She first suspected it might be a frozen shoulder linked to perimenopause, a phase leading up to menopause characterized by various symptoms.
“The day before I had my heart attack I woke up in the morning, my shoulder was sore and I felt like I was going to throw up,” she explained. “It really only took me about 15 minutes to get over that and then I went about my day as normal.”
On the day of her heart attack, Nikki again experienced shoulder pain and nausea.
“The morning of my heart attack, I woke up and my shoulder was sore, I felt like I was going to throw up, I went and got some coffee, I sat back down for a second and it started to feel like my chest was kinda tight and like someone was squeezing it,” she detailed. Nikki’s shoulder pain began to extend down her arm. She then informed her husband, Marty, to stay home from work and decided to take a shower, which alleviated her symptoms somewhat.
With her symptoms easing, Marty left for work, and Nikki attended a doctor’s appointment around 10 a.m. Her symptoms had disappeared by the time she reached the clinic, but she was advised to head to the emergency room if they returned.
After the appointment, Nikki went to have lunch with her daughter. As she was leaving the restaurant, her symptoms resurfaced.
“By the time I went from the restaurant to maybe a few doors over to a store, I probably was experiencing a full heart attack,” she recounted.
“The arm pain was radiating all the way down, my chest felt like it was being squeezed as tight as you could squeeze it. I started to feel sick again.”
At that point, Nikki was close to the emergency room and debated whether to drive herself or call an ambulance. She chose to drive, believing it would be faster.
Upon her arrival at the ER, Nikki experienced ‘extreme sweating’ and described her arm pain as transitioning to a ‘numbing feeling.’ Thankfully, she received immediate medical attention and is now recovering.
According to the Mayo Clinic, heart attack symptoms may include chest pain; pain in the upper body; shortness of breath; anxiety; dizziness; sweating; nausea and vomiting; and feelings of heartburn or indigestion. In women, the symptoms might be less specific, presenting as nausea or brief, sharp pain in the neck, arm, or back.