If it's bad enough that you're having chest pains, it's a bit too late to do preventative care. Get to a cardiologist immediately! It's better to be in debt than dead. Most hospitals have payment plans, and if they don't have help for people without insurance, they can steer you in the direction of folks that can help.

 

If it's bad enough that you're having chest pains, it's a bit too late to do preventative care. Get to a cardiologist immediately! It's better to be in debt than dead. Most hospitals have payment plans, and if they don't have help for people without insurance, they can steer you in the direction of folks that can help.

Also, hospitals will wave the bill, at least mine did, if you show little or no income. My Drs worked with me on a reduced bill and a payment plan with them. I had 3 by-passes and 2 stints in the last 3 yrs.. As Limon said....you need to go to the Emergency room now with those symptons !! Take it from a frequent flyer !!! I am very surprised that your Dr didnt call you a ambulance or refer you on the spot !! Mine did that, called a ambulance for me to his office on 3 different occassions !!

 

TODAY Buffy !!!

 

Don't worry about the cost. Just go. After all is said and done you can think about the bills. Life is more important than money. It really is. And if the EKG has a lot of severe changes then you need help now. A cardiologist can't help you when you are already dead.

 

"Pronto"

 

"He did an EKG and told me to get myself to a cardiologist pronto. I could fall over dead at any time."

You cannot treat this yourself. Get to the doctor and work out a payment plan. Call to see if you can get on COBRA. This is a life or death issue and you cannot fix it by taking vitamins. What would I do? I'd be in the ER waiting for a cardiology consult. How do you know that your chest pain is not a heart attack? People don't always know when they're having them. Did your doctor give you nitro? If nitro works for your chest pain then you're probably right about it just being angina. What is your bp? Is your heart enlarged?

 

If you really want some advice, here goes:
cut wayyy down on carbs
cut out trans fat-- butter is healthy margarine is not
take some magnesium supplements
take an aspirin everyday

But above all else, go to the cardiologist. Nothing natural, not even hawthorne, will help you like beta blockers, diuretics and other things. I'm not a believer in stents because they cause too many people to die, but there are drugs that help. And just having an assessment from a cardiologist would give you peace and could save your life.
In the meantime, if you have chestpains, go to the ER. They should transfer you to a cardiologist for immediate evaluation.

 

I called the cardiologist and have an appt for Thursday. If I went to the ER they would do a ton of tests on me, charge me an arm and two legs and refer me to a cardiologist. No heart attack yet. The pain is my heart complaining that its uncomfortable and no getting enough O2. Its mild and has been on and off for the last month. I guess all those burgers and fries finally caught up with me. :ashamed:

My homework tonight is buying organic fruits and veggies and making up a bucket list. I'll do the will tomorrow. Good thing my dad is a lawyer!

 

We can't hog-tie ya Buffy !! You tellin' us that the Cardo Dr said for you to wait till thur ?? Or did you not tell them that you are having problems and just need a appointment ??

 

You could maybe even skip the organic and just get the non organic fruits and vegs if money is tight. My DH has some heart issues. Takes magnesium, Co Q 10, and aspirin. I am so glad you got an appointment.

 

If you're having chest pain now you need to get to the er! Medical intervention can prevent heart muscle damage but it can't fix it once it's dead. This is nothing to fool around with. Would your family rather be in debt or have you dead?

After your immediate problem is seen to, go to Prevent and Reverse Heart Disease

Dr. Esselstyn has done ground-breaking research on the effects of a no oil, vegan diet on heart disease, especially on very advanced heart disease. Order his book "Prevent and Reverse Heart Disease." If you have Netflix, go watch "Forks over Knives." It's free under streaming videos. This is the diet Bill Clinton went on to finally halt the progression of his heart disease when nothing else was working. As you know, he can afford the best medicine has to offer - it wasn't working, he was getting sicker.

Dr. Esselstyn's original study subjects were so sick they had basically been sent home to die (they were expected to be dead within the year,) there was nothing more the medical establishment could do for them. I don't remember the exact numbers but there were around 20 of them to start out with. Twenty years later all but 2 are still alive, one was a suicide, one a massive stroke. The ones still living are very much healthier and active than they were 20 years ago. Esselstyn has shown actual reversal of advanced coronary plaques in people on this diet via angiography.

The diet isn't easy but it sure beats dying or being disabled. Other chronic health conditions like high bp, type 2 diabetes, pad and obviously obesity resolve on this diet. Total cholesterol drops to below 150 within 3 weeks in over 90 percent of people who go on this diet. I say that as an example as chronic inflammation probably has more to do with heart disease than cholesterol... but even meds can't achieve those numbers for the great majority of people. And this diet is extremely anti-inflammatory also. People who can stick with it for a couple of months tend to stick with it forever because they just feel so much better as their chronic disease issues start to resolve.

I'm a cardiac ICU nurse and have seen amazing results from this diet in practice. It works. I know people I would've sworn would be dead a long time ago who are healthier than I've ever seen them and extremely happy to be free of heart disease and feeling so well. Vegetarian just isn't enough when you have advanced disease.

I love to be able to share this information. Now it's up to you what you do with it.

For all the people who will want to pipe up and squabble about the vegan diet thing, please don't. This is intended to help someone who sounds like they are on death's door. This diet has been proven to save the lives of people in exactly this situation.

eta - Be sure and watch the videos that are on the website of Dr Esselstyn speaking!

 

The pain is my heart complaining that its uncomfortable and no getting enough O2. Its mild and has been on and off for the last month.

They can give you beta blockers or calcium channel blockers to help decrease the need the heart has for oxygen. I've taken beta blocker since I was like 14 or so. Plus they put me on calcium channel blockers when I was around 20. And I am a grandma now. They do have good medications available to help people now.
Doctors like to push statins now too. Don't be too afraid of what the cardiologist will say. There are lots of options other than invasive surgeries. He will probably just send you for a stress test first.

 

I know we're all frugal self sufficiency types, so I'm going rogue heretic for a minute here. Don't ban me, k?

It's. Only. Money. Seriously. Get thee to an ER. If you have an EKG going wild, your heart is suffering and you need immediate help.

Money comes and goes, and can be replaced. You only get one life.

It is too late for self help. Not that I would advise against it, but priority one is getting that ticker stable and figuring out where to go from there. Eating a salad tonight is not going to magically fix fifty years of neglect.

Huge hugs. And a prod in the direction of your car.

 

Oh, and if you or anyone around you smokes, stop now! The carbon monoxide in cigarette smoke displaces oxygen on your red blood cells, depriving your heart of what little oxygen is getting through your blocked arteries as it is. Do not allow anyone to smoke in your house.

 

Yep, what every one else said. Take if from a cardiac nurse. Go straight to the ER. This is not something to wait around on. You don't have to have a full blown MI to need stents or bypass surgery. Labs can all be negative, yes you hurt because the muscle isn't getting the O2 it needs, that is called a blockage.

Go Now, a doctors office isn't the place to be, you need an ER and a cath lab.

You need to worry about funding later. Many hospitals have financial assistance for the uninsured but they won't tell you, you have to ask.

 

The natural way to treat it at this point is to die. Dr it is

 

The pain is my heart complaining that its uncomfortable and no getting enough O2.

Um Buffy, thats called a heart attack. Your heart muscle is dying from ischemia, which means your blood flow is being blocked and denying O2 to the muscle

 

If you go to a hospital that takes public funds, ask for the "free care" , they dont advertise it

 

I think Parkland is the main charity hospital in Dallas. If you don't want to go there--and I hope you've gone somewhere, go to a Catholic hospital if there is one near you. They give free care equal to a % of their gross income and are easier to work with. But go to the hospital, it will be much more expensive if you are a cardiac cripple the rest of your life. Funerals are not cheap either. As everyone else has said get help now! If you get any worse, don't drive, call 911.

 

Go to a doctor. Soon. There's no natural taking care of it at this point. And having just lost several people I'm close to due to congestive heart failure or other problems, I'm not in the mood any longer to hear about low carb or any other yadda yadda.

There comes a point at which medical intervention is the only thing that will help. Given you're talking chest pain AND swelling, you've reached that point.

Take care of yourself.

 

Since you haven't been on in a few hours, I'm hoping you went to the ER!!!! Prayers to you.

 

Buffy,,, if you're not on the way to the hospital,, you better get now.
I've had those pains, I woke up with them at 4am and called my boys mom to come get them. After she left, I went back to sleep,,, my daughter shows up and wakes me up at noon, knowing I don't sleep till noon.
She tried to take me in her little car and I couldn't handle the bumps in the road.
Anywho,, I made it to the hospital after hours of procrastinating and yes, I was having a heart attack.
I guess each attack is different, the first one was quicker,,, the wife called the ambulance and before they could even get me in the ambulance,, I was gone. they had to use jumper cables on me to bring me back.
don't mess around ok?
GH

 

As an EMT I would suggest biting the bullet and seeing a cardiologist immediately. The signs can easily be pointing to Congestive Heart Failure. Your health is worth a hell of a lot more than your money.

 

I called the cardiologist and have an appt for Thursday. If I went to the ER they would do a ton of tests on me, charge me an arm and two legs and refer me to a cardiologist. No heart attack yet. The pain is my heart complaining that its uncomfortable and no getting enough O2. Its mild and has been on and off for the last month. I guess all those burgers and fries finally caught up with me. :ashamed:

My homework tonight is buying organic fruits and veggies and making up a bucket list. I'll do the will tomorrow. Good thing my dad is a lawyer!

Forgive me for being so blunt but get to the ---- ER immediately. If you can already feel you arent getting enough O2 then what you could be experiencing is a blockage in one of your main coronary arteries. The longer you let that go the more damage it will cause. You could be early enough to where you just have an injury to the heart if they can use thrombolitic therapy. Or you may end up being too late if you dont get your ass moving and be having an infarction, death, to a portion of your heart. You cannot heal from an infarction.

 

Hoping you heeded us, Buffy. Praying for you, you must be so scared.