‘Slow Down’ – NBC 5 Dallas-Fort Worth

A Rockwall woman gives others a warning after having a sudden heart attack.

It is a good reminder for everyone to slow down.

Doctors at Texas Health said they had seen an increase in heart-related visits to the emergency room.

For many, it’s due to stress, sedentary lifestyle, and stressful snacks, all of which are linked to the pandemic.

But Erika Livingston is proof that it can really happen to anyone. Five months ago she nearly died of a heart attack at an age she never expected.

Erika Livingston

Erika before her heart attack

“It’s very revealing. It opened my eyes because I’m 41 and I never thought I’d have a heart attack, “she said.

The scary thing is – she’s extremely healthy, works out three times a week, and eats well. Despite having an autoimmune disease, she says she always made it.

Looking back, she said there were some warning signs that let her know something was wrong.

“In the last few months [before the heart attack], I was out of breath for the first five minutes of my workout. I wasn’t brave, couldn’t catch my breath and found it really strange, ”she said. “I remember going on a girls trip to Broken Bow in late April and going hiking. And it wasn’t a bad hike, anyone could do it. Suddenly I was out of breath. “


Erika Livingston

Erika Livingston said she was out of breath during a simple hike with friends a few weeks before the heart attack

She said she later learned from doctors that her main artery was about 75% blocked, preventing blood or oxygen from being properly supplied to her heart.

“Of course we don’t listen to our bodies. I think 41 is still young, you don’t think that maybe something is going on or that it has to do with your heart, ”she said.

Livingston admits she was also a workaholic and says the pandemic has taken its toll on her stress. She also battled COVID-19 in the months leading up to her heart attack.

“I’ve changed my life drastically. I could have died in a day and didn’t even know it. I’m the type that goes 200 mph, ”she said. “I own a hair salon, have a full-time job, and my husband runs an air conditioning company. So we are busy. I have changed it. I’ve changed it so that I’m less stressed. I am still meditating and training. “

She believes all of the stress of the past 18 months was just too much for her body, which led to that life changing moment in June.

“It’s really scary, I slept dead. Slept dead and at 5:00 am I literally rose from the dead and just woke up. I had a sharp pain in my chest and it radiated into my back,” said Livingston, describing how women will become I didn’t have numbness in my arms, so be aware of that. “

She said that she felt the urge to take a warm bath because she was shivering.

“But I was sweating a lot, that was another big sign. I’ve never sweated like this before. I screamed for my husband and told him I wasn’t feeling right, ”Livingston said. “We’ll go to the emergency room quickly. They did an EKG and immediately told me I was having a heart attack. I went into shock mode. “

Check in with yourself

A study by the Louisiana State University Health Science Center shows that the pandemic puts more women, especially young women, at higher risk for heart disease due to increased anxiety and depression.

Another recent NIH study also found that women are disproportionately affected by the pandemic, as they will bear the brunt of the private life and the psychosocial effects will inevitably have physical effects.

This complements the already known statistics that heart disease and stroke are the leading causes of death for all women.

“Panic attacks can mimic heart attacks. So if you think it’s stress, it could be something more. It’s worth getting checked out, ”said Livingston. “Just listen to your body. I’ve had so many people and doctors in the hospital saying I did the right thing by going to the emergency room and in my head I think, don’t people leave right away when they feel so bad? And they say no, people just wipe it off and carry on. “

And it’s not just pandemic stress.

According to John Hopkins Medicine, COVID-19 and its symptoms can damage the heart muscle and affect heart function.

Of course, pre-existing and autoimmune diseases like Livingston’s can affect heart function.

“There are people who already have cardiovascular disease and then get COVID, which makes these conditions worse. You come in and have heart failure, heart attacks, blood pressure problems, and irregular heartbeats. But the good news is we didn’t see a lot of people, ”said Dr. Kenneth Saland, an interventional cardiologist at Texas Health Presbyterian Hospital Dallas. “COVID-19, which causes a heart problem in an otherwise healthy person, is much less common. It happens – we’ve seen some direct effects of COVID on the heart, but the overwhelming patient we see has heart disease and then they get COVID, and that’s where most of the heart-related problems appear from our practice and hospital experience. “

Anyway, doctors at Texas Health say the added problems of the pandemic regardless of your age are reminding people to check in with their bodies.

“A lot of the health care that people would have attended are reluctant to see their GP or specialist, they kind of postpone it. We see that after two years people come here and can’t handle their medical problems like blood pressure, cholesterol and common things, ”said Dr. Saland. “When you are young you feel invincible and have the feeling that nothing can influence you.”

Livingston said she made lifestyle changes to manage the stress and slow down. She is now meditating and has also relied on Texas Health’s cardiac rehab program to slowly return to the lifestyle she loves without exhausting her heart.


Erika Livingston

After the heart attack

“Now that my heart is open, I have so much more blood flow,” she said. “I have more energy. I’ve been cold all along and now I’m hot. I have all this blood flow, I’m better than before! “

While diet is important to good heart health at any age, Dr. Saland gave another simple tip to his patients.

One of the most important things I preach in the clinic every day is to get exercise and be active. That’s the most important thing I’ve seen in my clinic for years, ”he said.

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