The aim of this study was to understand the meanings of the experience of pain suffered by women during acute myocardial infarction (AMI) and to identify their immediate actions in face of pain. This qualitative research used the Symbolic Interactionism theory and the Grounded Theory methodology. Forty-three wo-men were interviewed at the University Hospital. The central category expressing the pain experience was that it was "a break with day-to-day life". The categories that expressed such break revealed that in face of increasing pain those women felt dominated and afraid of dying because they had lost control over their bodies and their lives. They did not recognize the occurrence of AMI and at first resisted to look for assistance by attempting to alleviate the pain. In face of the unbearable pain and their impotence to control it, they asked for God's salvation and help from surrounding people and finally resorted to medical assistance.
Myocardial infarction; Chest pain; Women