My fun little trip to the hospital

[ChimneyFish]

So I'm sitting around at the computer last Tuesday night with a tightness and general dull pain over my upper chest. I attribute this to indigestion and/or an axiety attack, as I have both very often.
Then it hits me.

I have this intense, stabbing pain in the center of my chest, followed by the back of my left arm going numb and my entire skull becoming all "tingly".
I've never been stabbed, but I would imagine it feels like this, except this was coming from the inside.
It was the most terrifying thing I have ever felt in my life. Not because I was afraid of death, but because I just didn't want this to be the last thing I felt before I left this world.

It only lasted for a second, so like any any douchebag of a man, I decided this couldn't possibly be what it appears to be. I'm only 32. Not happening. So I just decided to take a couple of Tylenol PMs, as it was late, and see how I felt in the morning.:nono:
Well, despite the Pms, my body really didn't let me get any more sleep than a half hour at a time.

So I go to the ER first ting in the morning.
They hook me up with all the monitors, do an EKG and give me some nitro.(noone told me the first thing this does is give you a pounding headache:annoyed:).
After being down there, and following my chest x-ray, they bring me up to a room.

The next morning they do a echocardiogram and put through a stress test.
A few minutes into the stress test, I get 2 sharp pains in the side of my ribs, but they tell me to keep going.(I guess because the echo looked fine).
So I finish that, and they send me back to my room.

A little while later, one of the doctors comes by and tells me the echo was good, and I did great on the stress test.
I didn't have a heart attack.(I guess they can pretty much tell that withe white cell count of the first blood test)

Now, being that I'm recently unemployed and have no insurance, they release me and want me to continue with my family doctor(Thursday).

Now, also being that I'm unemployed and have various mental defects, before that fateful Tuesday, I had been on a 7 day drinking-my-fucking-face-off binge.
Now I know, while this turned out to not be a heart attack, I know this directly has to do with my drinking and smoking.(in fact they said my heart looks perfectly healthy:blink:, and they didn't see anything on my chest x-ray, which is suprising considering how much I smoke)

So........haven't had a drink since last Monday, but I was thinking about having a few beers this weekend, depending on what my Doc says.
I know the smoking has got to stop, and I think since this guy has been my doctor since I stopped seeing a pediatrician and he's been there through my heroin addiction and knows all my various personality traits, it would be best to talk it over with him as to how I should go about doing this.
I know the first thing would be "weel, if you quit dope, than smoking shoudn't even be a problem".
Wrong.
I have a feeling this going to be a big problem, as I've met other junkies that have been getting high a lot longer than I have, and still couldn't put the cigs down.

So that's it. That's my "exciting" story from last week.

So........anybody else have anything similar happen to them????:tongue:(I laugh because Im still here)



And I had no idea what forum to put this in.

[Tall_James]

First off, I'm glad its not a heart attack.

But it should be another wake-up call in your life.

Make the lifestyle changes needed to ensure that this does not happen again.

It may be hard but at least you'll be alive. And that is all that matters.

Good luck to you and I hope everything works out.

[ChimneyFish]

I definitely see it as a wake up call.

On the lighter side, before I knew it wasn't my heart or cholesterol(which is another thing I was suprised to find was good), I was laying there thinking "I can never agian enjoy my two favorite foods.(mashed potatoes and macaroni and cheese)

On the serious side, I realized this was my body talling me that it had had enough of being treated like a garbage dump.

I'm 32 and I'm just coming to the realization that some daily exercise might do me a little good.:wallbash:

[SatCam]

I bet a heart attack wouldve made you make the changes you need to make :huh:


just a thought. glad youre ok

[Friday]

putting the cigs down is going to be a lifelong battle.
both my parents smoked for years and both had heart problems. quitting was an on again off again struggle and one of the reasons i never started smoking myself.

if anything, maybe lower the tar content you are taking in by switching brands.
it probably sucks to change, but at the time of her death, my mom was getting by smoking Carlton 100's. She shouldn't have been smoking at all but it kept her sane... so I was not about to argue with her.

And exercise... even just 20-30 minutes a day of low impact is a good thing. For Anyone.

[Crispy123]

Ive never felt that kind of pain but it sounds like a scary-ass experience. You have overcome addiction to heroin, now thats a hell of an accomplishment. There are resources out there to help you quit smoking. (http://www.lungusa.org/site/pp.asp?c=dvLUK9O0E&b=22931) Let us know how you do.

[Hottub]

First, I moved this to the right forum. Take note where we are now, people.


It seems you have an addictive personality, but you have an even stronger will to overcome these things. I'll bet you can do it. Quitting cigs is a real bitch. But I imagine it is easier than dope. Start doing some easy to moderate cardio exercise. After a whie you will remember how nice it is to actually be able to breathe.
As for the diet, you can't go from Big Macs to salad and tofu overnight, but you definitly have to swear off things like Cheesesteaks, bacon, mozzarella sticks, etc. Then ease into a healthier diet.

[ChimneyFish]

Like I said, I'm talking to my doctor to see what the best approach is about quitting.

And you're right ,SatCam.
When I found out that it wasn't my heart, something in me was so relieved, if only for the fact that I could leave that place and have a cigarette.
And that is so fucking sad to me.


And I say this to you having, as a young child, watched my grandmother be slowly ravaged by lung cancer. And having my mother, from the day of diagnosis until the day she died(1 month), be ripped from me.
And yet I couldn't find it in myself to quit.
I don't know which is worse, nicotine or me.

[ChimneyFish]

First, I moved this to the right forum. Take note where we are now, people.


It seems you have an addictive personality, but you have an even stronger will to overcome these things. I'll bet you can do it. Quitting cigs is a real bitch. But I imagine it is easier than dope. Start doing some easy to moderate cardio exercise. After a whie you will remember how nice it is to actually be able to breathe.
As for the diet, you can't go from Big Macs to salad and tofu overnight, but you definitly have to swear off things like Cheesesteaks, bacon, mozzarella sticks, etc. Then ease into a healthier diet.

Well, the diet is being changed from more beef and pork to more chicken and fish. And the use of butter has got to be brought down to about nothing.(man, I loves me some butter:happy:)
I've started walking a little bit. Plan to do more and more as the weight comes off.

As for the smoking, the thing is I've talked to addicts who have shot dope for years, and even they said it was so much harder to quit smoking.(both people who have succeded and who were still smoking)
And, having it take years to quit the former, that scares the living fuck out of me.

[SinA]

3 things you need to do immediately and simultaneously:

Yeah. Stop smoking.
It's not just cancer, but it hardens your blood vessels and constricts blood flow. It can also exacerbate heartburn, which can't be helping.

Cool it a bit on the caffeine too. A cup or two of coffee is ok in the morning, but cut out any sodas (esp. cola) throughout the rest of the day. That shit really screws up your insides. Most of the time someone has some gall bladder or spleen issue, you can bet that they're a big Coke drinker.

Go to a chiropractor.

[ChimneyFish]

I have to run out for a bit, but I am looking forward to your answer.

I've had really bad heartburn/acid reflux for awhile now, so I know the smoking doesn't help that at all.

The only soda I drink is 7UP.(unless I'm drinking Captain & Coke, which I haven't had in years)

Why the chiropractor????
I have had a really bad lower back since right after high school.
I'm guessing from playing football.