A MUST have for me on any hunt, and is always with me.

[Old Rooster]

I'm sure not a doctor but I was told after my brother in law had his heart attack that it is worse at high altitudes.
He was over 6000 ft when his struck.He was prospecting for gold in a mountain stream with his minelab and his doctor said it was a widow maker.
Hunting season is coming up and many will climb climb climb to get to where the elk live.All be careful.

 

[crashlanding]

I read your post and it scared the crap out of me. I'm mid 60's with a family history of high blood pressure and heart attacks but I myself have dodged those bullets so far. A wake up call for sure. Thanks

 

[david g ranes]

I read your post and it scared the crap out of me. I'm mid 60's with a family history of high blood pressure and heart attacks but I myself have dodged those bullets so far. A wake up call for sure. Thanks

Another thing worth mentioning is they recommend to people who are on an aspirin regimen you should take them at night before bed because that is when a lot of heart attacks occur is sleeping. David

 

[Tesla#]

I have been a pharmacist for 39 years. Nito is not going to do much good if you are in the middle of a heart attack, aspirin will. Baby aspirin is great, but they don't stand up to travel very well. Aspirin in general should be kept cool and dry. If you open the bottle and it smells funny, replace it. Even if it turns out to be a false alarm, there is very little risk to chewing up an aspirin.

 

[neilbfree]

This is weird - I am laying in the ICU at this moment after experiencing a LAD blockage yesterday morning. I'm 60 active and eat reasonably healthy but somehow I ended up with a stent in my heart. I was eating a leisurely breakfast on my porch yesterday and suddenly had tightness and pain in the middle of my chest. I arrived at the ER about 30 minutes later feeling fine but 20 minutes after that, things went downhill in a big way very quickly. Had I waited another 30 minutes, there would be on less member of this group.

 

[nicholasjohn]

Yeah, it can happen fast. I felt really good and was working out on a treadmill when I first felt something. When I eventually felt my right arm have pain like I threw a baseball from center field without warning up I knew it was a heart attack. I subsided and I was in the ER 2 minutes later after driving a couple blocks. It took them longer to realize I was serious and get me back than it did to drive there. As soon as the nurse saw my EKG STEMI she gasped, hit the button saying "I don't like the way this looks at all, just breath things are going to start happening very fast!!!" I just smiled and gave her a thumbs up relieved they were finally taking action. They did a great job other than the initial delay when I walked in which was probably 4-5 minutes but felt like 20 lol

ER staff see a lot of people come in complaining of this or that, who are really just trying to get medicated with painkillers. They get a little jaded sometimes, but when they recognize that it's the real deal ( which is usually pretty quick ) things start to happen. An EKG that shows ST-segment elevation is a big bell-ringer. Your comment about right arm pain is noteworthy, since everybody thinks that left arm pain is the symptom to look for. While that is a certainly true, the pain is often on the right side. Jaw and/or neck pain is pretty common, too, as is nausea. One of the most common symptoms, though, is DENIAL ..... "It's NOT a heart attack - I'm as healthy as a horse." The fact that the thought entered the guy's head at all should tell him something, but it typically doesn't - because he's not thinking right at the time. You are really fortunate that you didn't try to talk yourself out of going to the ER that day. There's no trophy for being stoic. You probably saved your own life by not trying to be a hero.

 

[Trooper1]

By the number of comments on this post, you can see this is a common trend as we begin to "weather" Things like heredity, diet, lack of exercise, stress, etc. are all things we normally associate with heart conditions. But even if you appear to have low risk factors, you shouldn't take anything for granted. I get regular checkups, bloodwork. My total cholesterol is 137. Last February, I just didn't feel well. Normally very healthy. Checked BP, and it was high. No other symptoms - chest pain, tightness in the jaw, radiating arm pain, nausea - nothing to indicate I was having a cardiac event. But something just didn't feel right. Short version, I had a 90% blockage in the right coronary artery and a 95% blockage in the right descending pulmonary artery. Two stents corrected the problem. Had I not insisted on finding the problem, or ignoring it, I wouldn't be writing this today.

Listen to your body, and if something just isn't right, find out. Nobody enjoys going to the doctor for tests, but that decision for me to request the angiogram saved my life. Get things fixed while you still can, before you have a crippling or life ending event. Thanks to all who shared their stories. Knowledge is power, and the things shared here are valuable information. May we all enjoy many more days afield.

 

[Hugnot]

I have been taking Crestor then its generic for 14 years, one 10 mg 3X per week. I also do 325mg aspirin daily. I also, when conditions are suitable - not over 85*, do a 15 minute mile daily, and avoid certain people their works. Past issues consisted of chest & arm pains after a swinging a framing hammer and toting 2X's the previous day. The result was a visit to the ER, then an EKG; I was given one big aspirin to suck on while waiting (actually I appreciated the attention from the nice ladies and the aspirin had a pleasant taste reminding me of the AsprGum they gave me when I was little), no heart attack. I later had a stress test, then an IV with some isotope, then a MRI and came out clean.

Another episode occurred when I went to the ER with real bad left side back pains. I was given some capsule, put on an isotope IV, then an MRI. The results diagnosed what turned out to be a 7mm kidney stone & ruled out a cardiac event. I later had an EKG to verify and came out clean. While absorbing the IV the med tech & I discussed the merits of fly fishing for striped bass vs. northern pike. Wifey waited for me in the lobby and saw some woman who came in stoned on some street drug and provided a consumption litany to the ER staff. The ER staff seemed to be accustomed to stuff like this and the dopy woman disappeared into some ER back room.

 

[Ol' Red]

Seems like you'd only need to worry about the other chemicals in the makeup of the gunpowder. It's pretty much a question "is the juice worth the squeeze" maybe if you're miles from help, and know you're having the big one, it might just be worth it!

I added gun powder to coffee on time- DON"T. It gave me the worst headache I ever remember. This thread has got me thinking that I should get a physical. I passed my last one with flying colors, but that was in 1980 when I got out of the army.

 

[LanceS4803]

This has been some great information.

 

[littlebighorn]

Six years ago I was hiking a local mountain preparing for my first Stone sheep hunt. Fortunately I had my son hiking with me. We were 2000 feet up the mountain when I suddenly had all the symptoms of a heart attack. Luckily we were within cell coverage and my son call 911.
The paramedics were only minutes away from our vehicle but too far down the mountain to help, given my symptoms so they called the Life Flight Helicopter. Within 15 minutes a paramedic was below me and hiked to me carrying a defibrillator. After only seconds of asking me questions I went unconscious and into full cardiac arrest. I was literally gone. My son performed CPR while the paramedic readied the machine. After shocking me multiple times he finally started my heart beat again. When I came to I had IV's and a respirator attached. I was also surrounded by paramedics who had hiked up the mountain. A hoist helicopter was in the area and lifted me to another, which transported me to a hospital 20 miles away. They took me straight in and put two stents in my two fully blocked arteries. Miraculously I survived with no heart damage and was eventually able to still go on the Stone sheep hunt.
Every day since has been a gift from God because I should not have survived, had it not been for the angels on that mountain, including my son and rescue workers helped me continue to enjoy many additional years.
Life is not guaranteed for any of us, regardless of our "fitness". I didn't have baby aspirin (wish I would have) but I did have my son and a cell phone and the sense to use it. At 72 I'm training to accompany my son on his Wyoming Bighorn sheep hunt, but you can be assured I will take all the precautions I can to keep on truckin.
Be safe out there.

 

[nicholasjohn]

I added gun powder to coffee on time- DON"T. It gave me the worst headache I ever remember. This thread has got me thinking that I should get a physical. I passed my last one with flying colors, but that was in 1980 when I got out of the army.

Don't know what possessed you to do that, but there's probably a lot of stuff in gunpowder that I wouldn't want to ingest. In any case, the nitroglycerine is what causes that severe "ice-cream" headache. I remember years ago when I worked in the cardiac unit and a young nurse gave the patient his nitro paste and made the mistake of rubbing it all over his chest with her hand. I told her that you're just supposed to measure it out on the calibrated piece of paper and hand it to him to rub on himself. She only made that mistake once.

Routine physicals are a good idea, and with more non-invasive screening tools being developed, our opportunity to "head it off at the pass" is getting better & better all the time. Treating health problems early in their development is always a good way to go.

 

[basinman]

I take a fish oil gel capsule every morning and an 81 mg aspirin every evening and have done so most of my adult life. My family has a history of heart disease so in my late 40's I started seeing a cardiologist for a yearly check up. He has always reinforced my taking the fish oil and aspirin. I also get an annual wellness checkup from my general practitioner.

Thanks to everyone that has given input on this topic. It may help save someone's life.

 

[jls in az]

My experience was the same as Trooper1's. No other symptoms, but something didn't feel right. I was 64 at the time. Drove to the VA ER. They immediately took me in and hooked me up to the EKG and did a blood gases study. Spent the next 5 days in cardiac Intensive Care while they tried to place a stent but my arteries were so clogged they couldn't get the stent in. Had to wait 4 weeks while they "got enough blood together" to do the triple bypass. (That was an interesting comment to hear from the Dr.!) Had the triple bypass surgery and cardiac rehab so now back to normal, except both taking a baby aspirin at night and carrying aspirin with me all the time. Dr. said I was lucky and came in BEFORE things got serious so was able to avoid any heart muscle damage.
Bottom line is that cardiac events don't always present with classic symptoms. If you have any risk at all, let your Dr. know if something doesn't feel right and don't be afraid to go to the ER to get checked out. Better to pay a hospital bill than the funeral home.

By the number of comments on this post, you can see this is a common trend as we begin to "weather" Things like heredity, diet, lack of exercise, stress, etc. are all things we normally associate with heart conditions. But even if you appear to have low risk factors, you shouldn't take anything for granted. I get regular checkups, bloodwork. My total cholesterol is 137. Last February, I just didn't feel well. Normally very healthy. Checked BP, and it was high. No other symptoms - chest pain, tightness in the jaw, radiating arm pain, nausea - nothing to indicate I was having a cardiac event. But something just didn't feel right. Short version, I had a 90% blockage in the right coronary artery and a 95% blockage in the right descending pulmonary artery. Two stents corrected the problem. Had I not insisted on finding the problem, or ignoring it, I wouldn't be writing this today.

Listen to your body, and if something just isn't right, find out. Nobody enjoys going to the doctor for tests, but that decision for me to request the angiogram saved my life. Get things fixed while you still can, before you have a crippling or life ending event. Thanks to all who shared their stories. Knowledge is power, and the things shared here are valuable information. May we all enjoy many more days afield.