Heart attack signs or symptoms: Know what is actually a healthcare unexpected emergency

No matter if your signs or symptoms look evident or are extra refined, choose them seriously and get healthcare treatment.

By Mayo Clinic Staff members

Typical coronary heart attack signs or symptoms

  • Chest pain or ache. This pain or ache can really feel like a restricted ache, strain, fullness or squeezing in your upper body lasting extra than a number of minutes. This pain may well occur and go.
  • Upper overall body ache. Discomfort or pain may well spread past your upper body to your shoulders, arms, back, neck, teeth or jaw. You may well have upper overall body ache with no upper body pain.
  • Abdomen ache. Discomfort may well lengthen downward into your stomach region and may well really feel like heartburn.
  • Shortness of breath. You may well pant for breath or try out to choose in deep breaths. This generally takes place prior to you acquire upper body pain, or you may well not expertise any upper body pain.
  • Anxiety. You may well really feel a perception of doom or really feel as if you happen to be acquiring a panic attack for no obvious reason.
  • Lightheadedness. In addition to emotion upper body strain, you may well really feel dizzy or really feel like you might go out.
  • Sweating. You may well all of a sudden split into a sweat with cold, clammy pores and skin.
  • Nausea and vomiting. You may well really feel sick to your tummy or vomit.
  • Heart palpitations. You may well really feel as if your coronary heart is skipping beats, or you may well just be incredibly mindful that your coronary heart is beating.

Get assist quickly

Heart attack signs or symptoms can vary commonly. For instance, you may well have only minimal upper body pain when anyone else has excruciating ache.

1 point applies to everyone, even though: If you suspect that you happen to be acquiring a coronary heart attack, phone 911 or your community unexpected emergency healthcare expert services quantity.

If you you should not have accessibility to unexpected emergency healthcare expert services, have anyone push you to the nearest clinic. Drive your self only as a very last vacation resort, if there are absolutely no other alternatives.

Indicators may well not be spectacular

Movies and Tv generally portray coronary heart attacks as spectacular, upper body-clutching occasions. But coronary heart attacks generally begin with refined signs or symptoms — this kind of as pain that may well not even be described as ache.

It can be tempting to try out to downplay your signs or symptoms or brush them off as indigestion or nervousness. But you should not “challenging out” coronary heart attack signs or symptoms for extra than five minutes. Phone 911 or other unexpected emergency healthcare expert services for assist.

Females may well have unique signs or symptoms

Females may well have all, many, a number of or none of the normal coronary heart attack signs or symptoms. Some variety of ache, strain or pain in the upper body is continue to a typical symptom of a coronary heart attack in ladies. Nonetheless, many ladies have coronary heart attack signs or symptoms without having upper body ache. They may well contain:

  • Discomfort in the neck, back, shoulders or jaw
  • Shortness of breath
  • Stomach ache or “heartburn”
  • Discomfort in a single or the two arms
  • Nausea or vomiting
  • Dizziness or fainting
  • Abnormal or unexplained exhaustion, quite possibly for times

Further details for older older people and persons with diabetes

Older older people and persons with diabetes may well have no or incredibly moderate signs or symptoms of a coronary heart attack. In no way dismiss coronary heart attack signs or symptoms, even if they you should not look major.