What type of pain does the patient feel with SCA?

Hi Sandi,  We are terribly sorry for your loss.  We ran your question past one of our medical experts who says unfortunately there is not enough medical information to be able to answer your question.  Can you provide more details?  If you would like to keep this private, please write to info [at] sca-aware [dot] org.
Best wishes,Mary Newman

Hi, Sandi.  I'm sorry to hear about the loss of your close friend due to a Sudden Cardiac Arrest.  I am a Sudden Cardiac Arrest survivor, and my own SCA was actually a year and 1/2 ago while I was home with my husband and two little girls.  As terrifying as it all must have appeared, I have no memory of the event or very much prior to it.  The only sensation I can recall is a sense of peace prior to regaining consciousness much later in the hospital.  I hope this helps, Sandi, as you attempt to heal from this experience.  Feel free to contact me at sgriggs [at] otelco [dot] net.

Shannon

I do remember much of my own experience, if it helps. I started to feel unwell, but not in a way I could easily describe as I'd never had the symptoms before. I was aware of having less feeling in my legs first, then my vision got strange- I had blurry vision, then tunnel vision, then no vision. I also had trouble feeling my arms. I was asked if I was feeling alright, and thought I said "no", but apparently it came out more as a strangled moan. I had absolutely no pain at all. I lost awareness at that point, and was clinically dead when help arrived less than a minute later. I too have no fear of death now, and remember a pleasant sensation free of worry or concern. I hope this is helpful to you.

I suffered a cardiac arrest in May 2012.

I was sat at my desk feeling no ill effects whatsoever - I felt fine and normal. I had a little "flutter" as my heart went into an arrythmic beat, but this has happened to me thousands of times before so I didn't think anything of it initially. Unfortunately, the flutter didn't stop after a couple of seconds and I felt dizzy and light-headed. I stood up to go to the loo (I was already bursting to go before this started) and felt very dizzy. The colour apparently drained from my face, and a collegue asked me if I was ok. My dizzyness got stronger and I started to lose peripheral vision. I said, "I think I'm in trouble", and then hit the floor.

Two of my work mates performed cardiac resuscitation on me until the ambulances and paramedics arrived, and after 45 minutes of CPR and 7 blasts with a difribrillator, I eventually came back to life

I recall everything that happened to me from the moment I hit the floor to the moment I woke up on a stretcher moaning like a banshee. I felt uncomfortable, but there was no pain. From my experience your friend just slipped away, probably without really knowing what was happening.

If when I go for good next time it happens like this, I will have no complaints

My husband had picked me up from work for lunch. As we were heading down the main road through town, I felt very tired and put my head back, intending to snooze until we reached home. The next thing I remember was someone yelling at me to wake up from very far away. When I finally came to, I didn't know where I was or who it was that was yelling at me. I finally figured out the voice belonged to my husband, and I told him I was really tired and wanted to go home. He told me that we were on our way to the hospital because my heart had stopped. He had hit my chest really hard, which apparently started my heart again. I was not in pain, and never did suffer any pain during any of my "episodes." I did end up being life flighted to Spokane, WA and was implanted with a pacemaker/defibrillator.
The initial pacemaker was placed in February 2011. I had 2 years without any "episodes," but again, in February of this year, I had 13 "episodes" in one evening. My doctor had already decided (due to damage to the left half of my heart) that I needed to have my original 2-lead pacemaker, replaced with a 3-lead and we scheduled the procedure. One week prior to the procedure, I was once again life-flighted to get my new pacemaker/defibrillator. Again, no pain except for the incision.
My father passed away in 2003 with the same symptoms (or lack of) as I did. My brother passed away in 2008 from the same thing I did. Neither were fortunate enough to have someone there to give them CPR. My doctor suggested having genetic testing to see if it's hereditary. I have 2 grown sons that she is concerned may be in danger of this happening to them.