Stéphanie, 55 years old

“A colleague verbally attacked me for an incident that seemed to me like it wasn’t a big deal. I felt a physical shock, but I didn’t pay any attention to it. I felt pain in my chest and my left arm for two or three days, but I wasn’t alarmed by it. Then, one night while I was reading, I started having trouble seeing. I thought it might be a stroke and my husband called an ambulance. I felt strange and couldn’t talk anymore. At the hospital, I had an electrocardiogram and I was first told it was a heart attack. But I’ve never smoked. I had a cardiac ultrasound and then a coronary angiography and the doctors told me that I’d actually had takotsubo cardiomyopathy. My heart had been paralyzed after a sudden increase in stress. My heart had swelled up like a balloon and basically wasn’t contracting anymore. It was in a stunned state. I stayed in the cardiology intensive care unit, then went home with a bunch of medications. I was really tired and traumatized. I didn’t leave the house for two weeks. While I was on medical leave for six weeks, I felt completely drained of energy. It was a good warning. Since then, I’ve been trying to take better care of myself and getting help to manage my stress better.”