I was diagnosed with this condition on 9 April 2018. I am a 62y old female and work full time as a practice manager in a health practice. We had a change of manager who instigated workplace changes without consultation and in a rushed manner. I was very affected by the changes and saw my gp who said I had high blood pressure and I was off work for 3 weeks. I have never had high blood pressure till this incident.

Upon return to work I had a workplace meeting with the manager which caused me to be very upset. Meeting was ceased and I was going home, but on passing the drs office (where I work) I thought I would get my blood pressure checked. It was high and I happened to mention I had a little niggling pressure, not chest pain, in the middle of my chest. The dr said well we’ll do an ecg to be on the safe side. I am not aware of the results of the ecg only that the next thing I knew an ambulance had been called and I was taken to the emergency department of our local hospital. I had blood tests done which noted I had a rise in triponun levels indicating heart damage.

I was transferred to the private hospital, at my request and under a very good cardiologist who again did blood tests and Troponin levels were higher again. The cardiologist, after receiving these results, immediately undertook an ultrasound of the heart and immediately diagnosed takotsuba cardiomyopathy. He had no doubt it was caused by the current workplace stresses and I was not to return to work for 4-6 weeks with absolutely no stress.

With a review at 4 weeks my heart has returned to its normal shape and I have since undertaken lessons in meditation to deal with stresses in my life. I am also considering retiring from the workforce in the near future as I will not work with the new manager who is currently on maternity leave.

I did not suffer any of the traditional heart attack symptoms and had the dr been busy on that particular morning I would have just gone home and taken two panadol.