So I woke up with a killer migraine this morning- the first one for a while thankfully and after my usual morning water based, chocolate fruit smoothie packed full of the very nutritious and talented Tumeric root mixed in this awesome powered cocktail called Tumerix, https://buyturmerix.com/pages/about and a couple of plain saladas, I pushed, dragged, shoved, poked and prodded myself out the door- both mentally and physically and took myself for a walk in the very fresh and cold 9c air- only for the second time in about 3 weeks.
Since I lost my mojo- about 3 weeks ago, I have not done any of my usual daily QiGong with Marisa https://www.yoqi.com/marisa-cranfill or even my dancing with Misty and the gang https://www.bodygrooveondemand.com/browse and I'm really regretting it, because now that I have been so slack, it's going to be so much harder to start it again- which I vow to tomorrow!
AND I know for a fact, that doing all of these things, is the best thing for someone who has lost their mojo to do.
And we all know that exercise of any kind is great for our heart health as much as our mental health.
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And just as an offside, My good Friend Jenn @PixiePost has made these insightful and intimate videos on #3speak here for anyone suffering from anxiety of any kind...
Introduction| Empowerment Through The Anxiety
Empowerment Through Anxiety | Physical Presence Ep 1
Empowerment Through Anxiety | The Mental Element Ep 2
Empowerment Through Anxiety | Be The Light Within Ep 3
And although all of these videos of Jenn's are discussing anxiety within the realm of mental health, your mental health is so intrinsically connected to your heart health that when one is unwell, the other naturally follows and becomes unwell too. Hence those elderly couples that do die of broken hearts- which has been scientifically proven.
So movement and fresh air is now only a great way to wipe away the cobwebs from your foggy mind, but it is also a great way to move that oxygen around your body and especially up into the brain- which will also help wipe away the cobwebs and the fog too.
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Anyhow, my apologies I digress a bit there, because what I really want to do here tonight is to present a sort of 'public service announcement (as I was once called by my friends...) to create the awareness among all of you about heart health- but more specifically WOMEN'S heart health and how women's hearts issues, illnesses and signs and symptoms of heart attacks can be so different to men's.
And that's where this website comes into it. And everyone of you should read it and watch the video as it could be you, your mum or your sister or even daughter. https://myheartsisters.org/about-women-and-heart-disease/
Anyway, so I dragged myself out for a walk to day at the park and came across this sign which reminded me that I really wanted to write this article for all you gals out there in #LadiesOfHive land.
And since I have had 4 heart attacks and have conducted literally hundreds of hours of research from highly reputable medical institutions around the world, read hundreds of peer reviewed medical journals, papers and research studies, spoken to dozens of cardiologists here in Australia and online overseas, I think I've got a pretty good idea of just how different they are and can give you some great links to go to, because I'm not going to give you any advice, bar 2 pieces, because I Am NOT a doctor of any sort- especially NOT a cardiologist or expert in any medical field, so all of the information that I am writing here is from personal experience gained over the last 10 years.
I had my first heart attack at 38, then my 2nd, 3rd and 4th within a 2 week period in March 2018- when I was 47.
And please don't get me wrong, I am NOT here for a sympathy vote. In fact I don't want you sympathy. No offense to any of you, but it doesn't help anyway. What does help is women empowering women with the right information and support.
The only thing that I am here to do, is to help you realise that there is a huge difference to how women experience heart issues than men, and some of you may already know this, but some not, because it's only a fact that has been recognised here in the past few years and despite this, most of the advertising on mainstream Tv from heart institutions and foundation is still based on men and their heart attacks....
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So anyway, I will give you these 2 pieces of advice now.
#1- trust your own body and you own intuition. You know deep down inside when something is not right with your own body so get it checked out and do not hesitate to get it checked out again and again and again- get 2nd, 3rd, 4th,5 th, 6th and even 7th opinions if you have to- if you can, because you are the only one that looks after you, whereas doctors and cardiologists look after hundreds of people, so they are not wholly invested in you and you only. They miss things, they don't have the time to look any deeper- and this goes for both public and private cardiolgists (oh boy I've got some stories to tell you there...)
If my mum had not have been so worried about getting a second opinion -simply because she lived in a small country town and was scared that her regular GP would find out, then she would have found out a lot sooner than stage 4 (terminal) that she had Bowel Cancer and would not have died just 9 months later.
And #2- do NOT be a bystander in your own healthcare. Drive you own bus and be proactive and gather up as much information as you can along the way. Get your information from as many different type of sources that you can. And I always found that the best sources were both online forums so you can ask questions from people that have been through it, as well as studies that are published by the medical institutions that conducted the studies. Although these can look like very daunting and long winded papers written in their medical specific jargon, once you read a couple- after that they become very easy to read and understand. (and keep a notebook and dictionary beside you at the time too...). This might sound like hard work, but it is literally your life and would you rather have your life in your hands, than blindly and completely lay your trust in some stranger only.
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Now I'm not saying ditch the doctor here- NO not at all. You need BOTH. You need you and your research to present to the doctor when needed.
If I had not of done my research and discussed it with the random cardiologist on duty when I went in and was having my 2nd heart attack, then I wouldn't be here today to write this.
Oh and be prepared for the sarcastic, patronising comments from your doctors if you do take in your own research. They don't like that, but who cares what they don't like- it's your life not theirs. And it really is as simple as that.
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And it's only because of this website that I bumped into once in the internet where I finally found an article on the experiences that I had been having- because I was having a-typical symptoms- Women's heart attacks.*
https://myheartsisters.org/ *Please, please please, check this website out! It is chock full of stats, facts, stories and insights from both professional and women like me.
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Anyway, I'm not going to bang on much any further but I will say that not all heart attacks can be detected on all of the monitors. NONE of mine were. I was literally in the midst of having the biggest heart attack of all (myocardial Infarction) and the doctor was saying well you look alright, you can go home now...and after a debate that lasted for 2 hours- the whole time with me telling him that I could NOT breathe properly and feeling like someone was squeezing my whole chest, he finally relented, gave me a blood test and then had to eat his hat when the blood test result came back and the Triponen level had risen to over 5500- when it should be under 16.
So Troponins are proteins found in the cardiac and skeletal muscles. When the heart is damaged, it releases troponin into the bloodstream. Which is another very good reason for your own health not to eat animals...More on that later if you want...
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Anyway, NOT all heart issues and heart attacks are due to heart disease like your'e told. Yes heart disease from serious plaque buildup in your arteries is real and does apparently kill thousands of people around the world every day (mostly in western countries) because of our addiction to food laden with LDL- the BAD Cholersterol- https://www.cdc.gov/cholesterol/ldl_hdl.htm BUT there are many other causes for heart disease like mine.
Prinzmetal's Variant Angina AKA Variant angina AKA Angina inversa AKA Vasospastic angina AKA Coronary artery vasospasm AKA UNSTABLE Angina https://rarediseases.info.nih.gov/diseases/7465/prinzmetals-variant-angina and this is just one of the many.
So very quickly, it doesn't feel like text book heart attack at all. It's not even on my left hand side anywhere near my heart. The pain I feel is on my right hand side and follows the major arteries up the centre of my sternum- on the right hand side- across my collar bone, down my arm, down on the outer right side of my boob and down into my abdomen. And that's bad. But when it gets up into my throat- my Carotid Artery and into my jaw, that when I know it's really bad. BUT I am so lucky that I have this warning so I can chug down my angina spray- which I never, ever go anywhere with out.
I get this pain because for a few different reasons, that no-one can really pinpoint for sure, the muscle walls of the arteries in my heart have spasms and when they do, the arteries constrict and block the blood flow to my heart and if left long enough- no oxygen to the heart, means Myocardial Infarction (I love that word inFAARRCCtion), which means damage/death to the part of the heart muscle that got no oxygen. AND that why I have the GTN spay with me at all times- especially when I go to bed, cause this is the worst time that it happens and can happen.... https://www.nhs.uk/medicines/glyceryl-trinitrate-gtn/ because the GTN spray opens those arteries up again...
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So, over the years and especially spending so much time laying around in hospital beds in cardiology wards talking to other women, I have many stories about my own experiences and how my 4 heart attacks all felt so different- well actually 2 felt the same and the other 2 were entirely different but felt the same as each other, so I guess 2 pairs of a different kind would make is sound a bit more rational and realistic.... and I am more than happy to talk about these experices and also tell you about the other women that I met and how unique their own symptoms were too, but maynbe not in this post as cause this is already a bit long winded....Sorry!
So like I said, I am more than happy to share my stories with you all because after all, sharing is caring is learning is supporting and keeping us girls alive to conquer more of the hive. Correct?
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So I look forward to meeting your hero and hearing your stories and until then, please be safe and well, and look after your family and friends as good as you look after #MotherEarth and all of her furry, scaley, hairy, feathery, wiry, soggy, slimy, tiny, enormous, hooved, clawed, webbed and padded footed children too! 🐠🐃🐌🕷🐍🐓🦆🐸🐁🐿🦋🐢🐞🦍🐈🦆🐥🐜🦑🐛🐄🦇🐪🦏🐳🐊🦀🦌🐖🐢🐏🐋🐝🐒🐙🐠🐃🐌🕷🐍🐓🦆🐸🐁🐿🦋🐢🐞🦍🐈🦆🐥🐜🦑🐛🐄🦇🐪🦏🐳🐊🦀🦌🐖🐢🐏🐋🐝🐒🐙 So #WhoIsYourHero!
Wondering who this awesome girl gang is below? Then just click on the banner made by the gorgeous @theKittyGirl to join the Ladies Of Hive and #HiveOn my peeps
And unless otherwise stated- ALL photographs are my originals taken by me sometime in the past decade or so somewhere in my travels and as such, ofcourse they are subject to all international IP and copyright laws and I may have already used them for my own commercial purposes here https://www.redbubble.com/people/CHOCOLATESCORPI/shop And here https://fineartamerica.com/art/chocolatescorpi, So please ask first if you want to use any of them as we wouldn't want you getting into trouble. Thank you 😀
If you have made it this far, then you are absolute champions and I thank you so much for reading my blog tonight and I hope that you enjoyed reading it as much as I enjoyed writing it.
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This gorgeous giphy is by 