The short explanation
Please do not wait. Jaw pain with sweating and nausea, even if it has now passed, can be a sign of a heart attack or of reduced blood flow to the heart, and women and people with diabetes often get these quieter symptoms instead of classic crushing chest pain. Symptoms that come and settle can still mean the heart muscle was under strain. A hospital can do an ECG and a blood test called troponin, which together help show whether the heart was affected. Going today, rather than waiting for a routine appointment, is the safer choice.
What depends on your situation
The parts of this that change from woman to woman. Uncertainty is stated, not hidden.
- Diabetes can dull the nerves that carry pain, so a heart attack may show up as breathlessness, sweating, vomiting, tiredness or discomfort in the jaw, neck, back or arm rather than chest pain.
- Age, high blood pressure, high cholesterol, smoking and a family history all add to the chance that these symptoms are heart-related. Even without these, the combination your mother had deserves a proper check.
- If cost or distance is a worry, government hospitals and medical college emergency departments can do an ECG and initial tests.
What this answer cannot determine
The boundary of online education. These need a clinician who can see you.
- Nobody can tell from a description whether this was a heart problem, acidity or something else. Only an examination, an ECG and blood tests can sort that out, which is why going in matters.
Questions for your clinician
Take these with you. You can add any of them to an appointment card.
- Could last night's symptoms have come from the heart, even though they settled?
- Does she need an ECG and troponin test today, and repeated later?
- How does her diabetes change the way heart symptoms show up?
- What symptoms should make us call an ambulance straight away next time?
When to seek help
Clinician-approved guidance for this topic. When in doubt, being seen is never the wrong choice.
Emergency — call 112 now
- Call 112 immediately if the jaw, chest, arm or back discomfort comes back, or if she becomes breathless, sweaty, faint, confused or very weak.
Get help the same day
- Take her to a hospital emergency department today for an ECG and blood tests, even though she feels fine now.
Book an appointment soon
- Arrange a follow-up with a physician or cardiologist within days to review her heart risk, sugar control and blood pressure.
Sources
The evidence this explanation is built on.
- Heart attack — symptoms NHS
- Heart disease in women MedlinePlus (US National Library of Medicine)
- Heart attack National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute (NIH)
Who wrote and reviewed this
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- Author
- AskHer Editorial (AI-assisted draft) AskHer's editorial team — not an individual clinician Works in English, தமிழ், हिन्दी
- Clinical reviewer
- Nobody yet No clinician has signed this answer off, and no person on the editorial team has read it yet. That is what the “Written with AI assistance” label means. It is queued for an editor to read, and then for a clinician who works in this area. The sources it was drafted against are listed above.
- Review status
- Written with AI assistance — not yet reviewed by a person
- Last reviewed
- Not yet reviewed by a person
- Version
- 1
Correction history
Substantive changes are listed, not quietly edited away.
No corrections have been made since this answer was first published.
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