‘I’ll know when I’m having a heart attack because I’ll have chest pain’

Although most people having heart attacks complain of chest pain or a feeling of tightness and pressure of the chest, not all do. Heart attacks can be silent. Some people experience shortness of breath, arm, neck, jaw or back pain, without accompanying chest pain. Others complain of feelings of indigestion that they falsely attribute to a stomach problem rather than a heart attack. Some patients like the elderly or diabetics may have no symptoms whatsoever.