Her Guide to a Heart Attack: Recognizing Female Heart Attack Symptoms

Female Heart Attack Symptoms: Warning Signs That a Heart Attack May Be Coming

In the weeks preceding an actual heart attack, some of these symptoms may even appear as early warning signs, according to the Circulation study.

Goldberg, who is familiar with the study, says, "About six weeks before the actual heart attack, women were more likely to experience shortness of breath, unexplained fatigue or stomach pain as an early warning sign that they might have a blocked artery."

Rose was a prime candidate for a heart attack: a family history of heart disease, high blood pressure, high cholesterol and type 2 diabetes. Long before her heart attack, she had struggled with extreme fatigue.

"I felt like I was being rolled over by a steam engine-couldn't make plans," she says. Doctors put her on antidepressants. She also developed shortness of breath. "I was constantly gasping for breath." But because of the depression diagnosis, "I thought this was an anxiety issue."

"I did have symptoms of heart disease," Rose says. "They just didn't connect it and I didn't connect it."

If you get early warning signs, call your doctor and talk about the possibility of heart disease.

"That's the time to come in for an evaluation," says Goldberg.

On the day of a heart attack, these symptoms can strike without any provocation; for example, shortness of breath may come without physical activity. Symptoms can appear during rest or even awaken a woman from sleep, and they're much worse, Goldberg says.

"They just come on and they're severe. I had one patient describing that she was so short of breath that she could barely talk to the 911 operator."

Female Heart Attack Symptoms: Calling 911

If you believe you're having heart attack symptoms, dial 911 right away for an ambulance to take you to the emergency room. Wait no more than 5 minutes.

"As a doctor, I know from experience that when chest pains or other symptoms occur, most women are reluctant to call 911," Goldberg says. "That's precious time that we could be saving your heart muscle."

Women often worry about being embarrassed if they're not having a heart attack after all, she says. But embarrassment will pass without causing long-term damage; a heart attack may not.

Others don't appreciate the seriousness of the situation. One of Goldberg's patients had heart attack symptoms at age 57 and insisted on straightening up her house before she let her husband call 911. "This delay could have been fatal," Goldberg says.

Calling for an ambulance is better than taking a taxi or having someone else drive you, Goldberg says. And unless you have absolutely no other option, you shouldn't drive yourself. "You don't want to pass out driving your car," she says.

A big advantage to calling 911: emergency medical personnel can start treatment, such as oxygen, heart medication, and pain relievers, as soon as they arrive, says Mohamud Daya, MD, MS, an associate professor of emergency services at Oregon Health and Science University.

One more compelling reason to go by ambulance: "When you come into the emergency room with the [cardiac] monitor hooked up, you're really taken seriously," Goldberg says. "You look the part."