Thread: Would you know if you were having a heart attack?

Originally Posted by Hall

Same mother, so if it is a inherited condition it`s from her side. Would be dam hard to get a proper confirmation as to what I may have. As is all good between when it happens. Most likely not a lot that could be done any way. Next time I have a reason to see a doctor I will bring this up.
Cheers hall

Ah right, in my mind I thought you were adopted Don't know where I got that idea. Sorry.


You have enough symptoms to sink the Queen Mary, so a darn good specialist should be able to nut his/her way through them.

Now, if you were a Fridge I would think, as a starter, you have a "Floating, blocked Liquid line/ Strainer". ie. Intermittent.

Some Intravenous dye Radioactive or other & an appropriate scan should be able to locate that or give a good indication. It is marvelous what they can do these days. Better you know earlier rather than later.

That'll be $160 thank you, kerrrrrching, see my receptionist on the way out. Good day. Next.

Ah right, in my mind I thought you were adopted Don't know where I got that idea. Sorry.

Yes it does get confusing. I am adopted. It is my natural or birth mother and after my birth father died when I was two mum later found an other partner and had two more children with him. My step brother and step sister. So as I noted mum may be the weak link that affects the males in the family.
Cheers Hall

[QUOTE=4bee;3063887]

Originally Posted by Hall

I have been having what seems like angina since I was in my twenty's. Then I was told I was to young to be having issues, must be muscle strain. Once or twice some years, then miss a few years. Was not till my natural family caught up with me that I learned that my natural family had a history of heart issues. Older natural brother has had a heart attack. Step brother has angina. Joys of being adopted and not knowing what your future health could be. My step brother in the course of us meeting for the first time said so you would be having chest pains, welcome to the family. He also suffered chest pains. So much so he had been to hospital with them. This was quite awhile ago now. A the time I had myself checked out and all was well. If what I get is only mild I would hate to get a decent one. I can be woken at night with a sore tight chest, pins and needles in the left hand,ticker not feeling right, strangely a few times when it`s been particularly bad weird smells like I can smell coffee? Chest is sore to touch after and I feel crap for a while.
Problem that I can see is I won`t take notice of the onset of a proper one as I have got used to what I get now and just live with it. Been pretty good for awhile now though, no bad ones.
Hmm just did a google. I seem to have they symptoms of a type of angina. Certainly fits the description. I get these pains resting and at night and as I have already noted I get them every once in a while then they go away. I also have in the past suffered from pretty bad migraines. The ones that have you laid out in a dark room.
Prinzmetal's angina. This type of angina is caused by a sudden spasm in a coronary artery, which temporarily narrows the artery. This narrowing reduces blood flow to your heart, causing severe chest pain.( Yeah I have noticed that ) Prinzmetal's angina most often occurs at rest, typically overnight. Attacks tend to occur in clusters. Emotional stress, smoking, medications that tighten blood vessels (such as some migraine drugs) and use of the illegal drug cocaine may trigger Prinzmetal's angina.
Cheers hall


It has got me buggered how your Step Brother assumed you would have chest pains even though you appear to have no direct Link to him.

If it was me I'd be knocking on the doors of Heart Specialists & with the Scans available today it is more than reasonable to get a positive result.


What you are going through cannot be pleasant at all & quite worrying for you.

FWIW, I had a small ID stent fitted to my RH side Artery (??????? Name) a couple of years ago & have never felt better. Symptons...... Broke out in cold sweats & couldn't move when standing.

Wakefield St Hospital, IN, examined, Scan, stent fitted & home next morning. Job done. It was that simple.

Older models are always easier to fix, just like a Series compared to an Evoke.
Also slower but more reliable.

Originally Posted by Grumbles

Perhaps don't rely on your health fund for coverage - it can be limited cover only. Vic Ambulance charges $96.70 for one year family coverage. Cheap as considering the potential outlays.

Most Health Funds that offer Ambulance Transport Cover tell you that you are covered for an "Emergency" and yes you are, but not all ambulance transports are deemed as "urgent" so beware.

Example:
Travelling up the bush somewhere, fall over at camp and bust your leg, ambulance called and transports you to the local hospital for treatment.
Doc or nursing staff treat you in outpatients at the local bush hospital, stabilise you, give you some adequate pain relief, maybe x-ray your leg if they have the facilities. They may even keep you in ED/Outpatients overnight, but your not admitted as an inpatient.
Then it's off to a larger or major hospital 2-300 kays away for further treatment, and get the limb set, plastered, etc,
This is the bit that hurts, Non Emergency transport, the "Meter" is running....$$$$$$
At the next hospital the same situation could occur, a better Scan or X-Ray reveals its a tricky fracture, local Doc's not confident in playing with it, refers you on to a larger hospital where there is an Orthopedic Surgeon, so its off you go in the ambulance or maybe even the air ambulance this time if its hundreds of kays.
The meters rolling again $$$$$$.

Finally you get to your destination, the whole time you have not been an inpatient of a hospital, so they are not responsible for the account as its not regarded as an inter-hospital transfer. Only the primary transport was an emergency, for the rest you have been stable, just getting transferred for better care on a non urgent basis.

Don't get caught, cover your butt and "pay" your own ambulance subscription, otherwise it can end in tears, and very expensive tears at that.

Pensioners are covered in the state that they live in, and sometimes Australia wide, but over the years this has varied, so it pays to check if you are going travelling interstate.
Ambulance subscription/cover is one of the cheapest insurances you will ever get.
To be certain, check that your ambulance subscription covers you for ambulance transport Australia wide.

Last thing you need while your getting over some sort of misfortune, is for the Postie to drop a $10,000 "Blister" in your mail box.

Cheers, Mick.

As far as I know, in Queensland, all inter-hospital transfers are free.

Originally Posted by V8Ian

As far as I know, in Queensland, all inter-hospital transfers are free.

That is a very good thing if that is the case.
But you also need to know what determines it to be an "inter-hospital" transfer....for an inpatient, or for an outpatient from ED etc. or both.
Clarification in these situations is important, because the alternative can mean a lot of expense to the patient if they are not adequately covered.

Cheers, Mick.

I remember a story some years ago, unsure of validity but it went along the lines of .... A person not related to the medical emergency called an ambulance and their details were taken (over the phone or at scene) and the injured/unwell person was transported to hospital. Later when the ambulance could not find the transported patient the bill was sent to the person who initially called the ambulance.

Originally Posted by V8Ian

As far as I know, in Queensland, all inter-hospital transfers are free.

yes they are if requested by the attending doctor

my doctor had an ambulance attend me for a diabetes problem and QAS always have an ambulance available for diabetes hypers or hypos.