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TEMOIGNAGES
Secretary in Nancy, France

Stéphanie, 55 years old

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“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.”

 

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Charlotte, 26 years old

Student in Paris

“I was at Roissy airport after a long-haul flight. While waiting in the endless customs line, I had trouble moving my left leg. It felt terribly heavy and painful. It was worse than having my leg fall asleep. I had been drinking water and walking often during the eight-hour flight. I figured this [...]

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Juliette, 35 years old

Community Manager (Lyon)

I went through a really stressful time when I lost my little boy during the sixth month of my pregnancy. It was my second pregnancy in less than two years. I was exhausted and had a really hard time accepting this loss. A few weeks later, I had digestive issues for several days, with gastric problems [...]

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Clémence, 25 years old

Student (Montpellier, France)

My name is Clémence. I’m 25 and I was born prematurely at 7 months with a fairly rare genetic disease, hypertrophic cardiomyopathy, sometimes called hypertrophic obstructive cardiomyopathy. A mutation of the MYH7 (myosin heavy chain) gene I carry caused this disease. In my case, the wall [...]

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