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 “prodromal,” or 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 cardiovascular 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 prodromal 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.”