April 25, 2022
My story seems similar to yours, except I am a stressed out Special Education Teacher.
I have fibromyalgia and back problems. I was on medication for this and I feel
like that medication may have played a role in my SCAD experience. At the hospital they would not give me this medication. But this school year has been a horror. I’ve told my family many times this job is killing me. I think this SCAD attack just confirms it. I was becoming more forgetful and feeling in a fog. I was even seeing a neurologist. Before my SCAD diagnosis, I at least passed out, 6 months earlier. My husband swears I was dead. I only remember needing to close my eyes and lean back, and then hearing and feeling him shake me, but not being able to move. Doctors dimissed
it as some sort of condition that happens when you have a full bladder and faint.
I have been taking black cohash for a long time for hot flashes. I
wonder if that had to do with getting SCAD. The doctor at the hospital advised
me against supplements since they really aren’t regulated. But I’ve stopped
this one since I think it definitely plays with your hormones. Before SCAD I was always
healthy enough. I mean my usual blood work was all normal. I had
just started spinning class, because I was getting out of breath or
having a racing heart just going up a flight of stairs. At 50, I was
having more trouble getting pounds off. At cardiac rehab, they advised
me not to be eating or having caffine close to my work out time.
Most recently I have been having more coffee and always eating
afterschool, so pre-workout. Could that habit have caused my SCAD?
My SCAD was definitely brewing for awhile. I’ve had a jumpy heart
and chest pains for many months. Ultimately it was explained away
as anxiety, and with a normal EKG every time, nobody thought
anymore about it. That’s what scares me, everything about me
presents as normal. The night of my heart attack symptoms, I
was about to be released from the hospital because everything
was normal. It was the final blood test that showed my heart was
being damaged. At the hospital, the doctor said this could happen
again. My current cardiologist said I shouldn’t worry because I am
on so much medicine now to protect my heart. I am scared to go
back to work. I know how stressful it is there. My students I can handle,
but the negative and demanding administration only makes a
challenging situation worse. But my sick days will run out, my bills can’t
pay themselves, and I am told my heart is healing just fine. All I
can do is pray for God’s protection. I want many more years with my
precious grandaughter.