I Just Had A Heart Attack And I Don't Have Health Insurance (Long)

I'm out of shape. I smoke, I drink, I eat bad food. I play poker, make money, but don't have insurance (it's -EV you know). I was smoking some weed (which I can afford, but [censored] health insurance) when I had a heart attack, at age 26. I didn't call 911 because I didn't want to pay. Now I need advice from OOT because I don't want to spend money at the doctor. Help me.

Oh yeah, and if you think I'm exaggerating here, read this actual line from the OP.

"I seriously thought I was going to die and I was very close to calling 911 except the only thing I could think off was the money it would have cost me to get on an ambulance, get some tests, find out I have heart disease and get sent to a cardiologist for some emergency surgery and end up effectively killing my poker bankroll"

[Jgents]

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Sounds like you had a panic/anxiety attack. It's not unheard of to have a heart attack at 26, but it's highly unlikely. The pot triggered something in your nervous system and your body freaked out.

Go get yourself some health insurance and then go to a doctor and get a full physical.

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Thanks for helping to educate me. You're very likely right about these things--the nervousness, the pot, the panic attack. before to day, I had no idea what a panic attack was or did.

[Jgents]

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You may have had a panic attack. A good friend of mine is often convinced he is dying and finally saw a doctor who proscribed paxil and cleared the s**t right up. I have had a similar problem called: "smoking laced joints and getting weirdly high".

Go to a free clinic now. They do exist, look in the phone book.

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Well said. I will definitely take care of this as you've written.

[Jgents]

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It's not completely true that pre-existing conditions are exempt from coverage. Many state laws have changed recently and now require Health Insurance companies to cover you for any pre-existing conditions. Check your state options and what insurance companies in your state offer.

But, this ISN'T a pre-existing condition because you HAVE NOT been treated for it yet. Go get insurance. At your age it will only probably cost about $90 a month for decent coverage.

And it's probably not a heart attack...not at your age. Go get insurance and then get it checked out.

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I had no idea that certain laws barred insurers from not covering people because of a pre-existing condition. researching this as we speak.

[Jgents]

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Time to get insurance bro. Don't tell them a damn thing before getting it.

And take this as a cue to keep in shape and eat right. Heart attacks do happen, so if you don't want to be worried about this coming back on you, take preventive measures now by being in better health.

The tension in poker and the self-medication it's easy to indulge in after can be a real strain on the system and a deadly lifestyle. You really should stay in shape if you want to make it sustainable and not become a health basket case.

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Yeah. I had no idea about this. Thanks for bringing this up. I know of a young lady (in her 20's) who had an actual heart attack and you can tell she's just starting to mentally recover from it. I know it's possible to have one at 26, and I will definitely get health insurance and get myself checked out as soon as possible.

[Jgents]

Hi. First let me thank you for taking the time to care about this and look forward to reading your opinion.

1) Where you just sitting and smoking when this pain happened (no physical activity)?

Yes. I was watching a movie after smoking heavily of crippy (strong variant of pot available in FL) when "it" happened.
2) Did doing anything (i.e. deeply inhaling or moving your body) change the pain or feeling?

Moving the body (walking around) did negate most of the pain. I say "most" because I still felt some discomfort in my chest and heart area because of the pressure I was feeling in those areas. Every time I stood still or sat back down it got worse
3) What did the pain feel like exactly (pressure, stabbing, crushing) and exactly where did you feel it

I was feeling pressure on my chest/breast plate, abdomen and in particular in the heart area. My legs, shoulders, arms and under pits were tingling with needling sensations. My mind was racing with thoughts of dyeing.

4) On a scale form 1-10 how severe was the pain (1-nothing 10-worst pain in my life)

For reference, I rate a muscle cramp as the worst pain I have ever experienced, therefore 10. Dislocating my shoulder was pretty bad while it lasted before I popped it back into place, so that's a 9. Removal of decaying tooth without being sedated was 8 and so was a toe sprain. The attack in question I would describe as throbbing pressure--not actually pain, agony--that was very uncomfortable, so a 7.

5) Time- how long did the pain last--was it on and off or constant?

It was on/off in relation to my activity--moving around or sitting and laying down in one place. When I moved, the pain subsided a bit, but not completely. When I stood still or slayed down the effects came in full-force.

6) Where exactly did the pain radiate to--

I'm still feeling discomfort and pressure in my left abdomen (feels like something is pulling or squashing my rib), left shoulder under pit, and in the heart area beneath the left breast (I can feel my heart pumping like it's working or struggling to pump? I don't know the difference in this regard. I'm still breathing.)

[Jgents]

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I'm out of shape. I smoke, I drink, I eat bad food. I play poker, make money, but don't have insurance (it's -EV you know). I was smoking some weed (which I can afford, but [censored] health insurance) when I had a heart attack, at age 26. I didn't call 911 because I didn't want to pay. Now I need advice from OOT because I don't want to spend money at the doctor. Help me.


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That's a fair summary. I'm, however, currently working to rearrange my priorities in life to taken into account my safety and wellbeing first before anything else. I know this ordeal has totally woken me up in that regard.

This was most likely a panic attack. Do some research on Severe Anxiety Disorder and some of the symptoms. It is best to see a psychiatrist for one or two visits and he will prescribe you some medicene to make it go away. When reading your first paragraph it was right out of a medical book for symptoms of a panic attack. "Thoughts of impending doom." I see this quote all of the time.

[LittleOldLady]

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Hi. First let me thank you for taking the time to care about this and look forward to reading your opinion.

1) Where you just sitting and smoking when this pain happened (no physical activity)?

Yes. I was watching a movie after smoking heavily of crippy (strong variant of pot available in FL) when "it" happened.
2) Did doing anything (i.e. deeply inhaling or moving your body) change the pain or feeling?

Moving the body (walking around) did negate most of the pain. I say "most" because I still felt some discomfort in my chest and heart area because of the pressure I was feeling in those areas. Every time I stood still or sat back down it got worse
3) What did the pain feel like exactly (pressure, stabbing, crushing) and exactly where did you feel it

I was feeling pressure on my chest/breast plate, abdomen and in particular in the heart area. My legs, shoulders, arms and under pits were tingling with needling sensations. My mind was racing with thoughts of dyeing.

4) On a scale form 1-10 how severe was the pain (1-nothing 10-worst pain in my life)

For reference, I rate a muscle cramp as the worst pain I have ever experienced, therefore 10. Dislocating my shoulder was pretty bad while it lasted before I popped it back into place, so that's a 9. Removal of decaying tooth without being sedated was 8 and so was a toe sprain. The attack in question I would describe as throbbing pressure--not actually pain, agony--that was very uncomfortable, so a 7.

5) Time- how long did the pain last--was it on and off or constant?

It was on/off in relation to my activity--moving around or sitting and laying down in one place. When I moved, the pain subsided a bit, but not completely. When I stood still or slayed down the effects came in full-force.

6) Where exactly did the pain radiate to--

I'm still feeling discomfort and pressure in my left abdomen (feels like something is pulling or squashing my rib), left shoulder under pit, and in the heart area beneath the left breast (I can feel my heart pumping like it's working or struggling to pump? I don't know the difference in this regard. I'm still breathing.)

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The pains you are having--is there any place in the general area that are sore to the touch? Cardiac pain is not sore to the touch, but musculoskeletal pain is. Other symptoms of heart attack include pain or discomfort in the jaw, nausea and cold sweats, dizziness, feeling about to lose consciousness (and obviously actually losing consciousness). Men usually have rather marked symptoms with heart attack. Women and diabetics often do not. The only symptom I had with my heart attack was very mild indigestion--a bit of burping and a bit of heartburn after a very greasy meal. It never occurred to me that something serious was going on until a few hours later when I broke into a cold sweat. I called for an ambulance immediately, and it turned out that I had undiagnosed diabetes and very serious heart damage. Recently my stent failed, and the only symptom I had was mild discomfort in both arms, but I was suspicious and went to the ER. A few hours later I had a new stent and went home the next day. BTW pain that comes and goes with varying activity is not likely to be cardiac in origin.

Something is wrong with you, and my money is on the marijuana. Psychotropic drugs can cause very strange sensations. I have something called atypical migraine (essentially migraine without a headache). This results from spasms in the blood vessels of the brain and causes hallucinations like distortions of time and space, sensitivity to light and sound (inability to understand speech and to read), feelings of dissociation of body parts, and visions of people who aren't there--among other delights. The only things to be done about it are to avoid triggering the attacks and to lie down in a quiet, dark place until the blood supply to the brain goes back to normal. (there are some meds that might help either in reducing the number of attacks or in shortening attacks, but they have their drawbacks.) The point of this is that any change to the brain chemistry (such as is achieved with psychoactive drugs) can play some mighty nasty tricks with your perceptions.

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This was most likely a panic attack. Do some research on Severe Anxiety Disorder and some of the symptoms. It is best to see a psychiatrist for one or two visits and he will prescribe you some medicene to make it go away. When reading your first paragraph it was right out of a medical book for symptoms of a panic attack. "Thoughts of impending doom." I see this quote all of the time.

[/ QUOTE ]An isolated panic attack, and a drug-induced one at that, is no reason to seek anti-anxiety drugs. Furthermore, ethical psychiatrists only prescribe those drugs as a last resort in an attempt to change behavior while trying to fix the underlying cause.