All of us have called in sick to work at some point in our lives. When you had your boss on the phone, did you feel the need to over-emphasize your symptoms? Did you cough just a little bit louder; sound a bit raspier than usual? Yeah; me too.
It’s quite normal to highlight symptoms in an effort to garner the understanding of those around us. After all, they don’t know how it feels to have chest pain. All they have to gauge our condition on is the symptoms we demonstrate. What, though, if the symptoms are vague and intermittent? What if you don’t know exactly what’s wrong; you just know something is wrong. How do you make yourself heard when you don’t know what to say?
It’s All In How You Look At It
“Perception is everything”. So said somebody much smarter than me. And isn’t it true? How we see things isn’t necessarily how others do. So what does this have to do with heart disease?
Well, for starters, heart disease (and/or heart attack) symptoms in women are vastly different then for men. No ‘Hollywood’ heart attacks here! http://www.webmd.com/heart-disease/news/20091012/his-and-hers-heart-disease.
What’s important to realize, though, is that you do not have to clamp your chest and fall to the floor in order for your symptoms to be validated. If you wait for that to happen, you could wake up dead. So instead, take action! Quit ignoring that fact that your chest hurts. Weird stomachache that won’t go away? Have you asked your doctor about heart disease? Strange tingling in your left arm, back or up to your jaw? Ever wonder if it’s heart disease? You get the idea.
Point is ladies; only you can take the necessary initiative to find out what ails you. If you wait for the symptoms to ‘make’ you go to the doctor, you could lose valuable time.
Listen to your body. It has a better perspective than you do.
Rebecca Fortunato
http://rebeccasheart.wordpress.com/