Are these panic attacks?

[Richthe4th]

Hi, my name's Rich and im 18. Average weight, average smoker, only drink/get drunk once a week or so. Only normally get about 5 hours a night sleep. Do only small amount of exercise but other than that i'm healthy.
Thought I would post on here to see what other people think......

For the last two weeks I have had a fast heart rate.
Occasionally throughout the day i will have pains on the left side of my chest.
My left pec feels "bigger" than my right, and feels uncomfertable when my arm is just hanging next to it.
Trying to get to sleep I will start breathing deeper then have to sit upright due to a stabbing pain in my left side and sometimes a dull ache in the right side (sometimes to the middle)
I automatically then start panicking thinking that this time i am going to have a heart attack and wake up my parents and they try and calm me down. But i react by telling them i am dying and that they should take me to hospital.
After roughly 15-30 mins I can get to sleep by playing slow music.
I constantly worry that this isn't a panic attack but people are just telling me it is as they don't want me to worry that it's more serious.
Thoughts about dying so young, etc.Are these normal panic/anxiety attack symptoms? Should I be worried about it being more seroius?

I've been to the doctors twice, first one giving me some LaX to slow down my heart-rate (which worked for the first few days but not after that.) And the second booked me in for a ECG to check everythings ok.

Have exams on at the moment but do not generally ever get stressed about them (am the kind of person to think "what happens, happens!" but these pains and thoughts have taken over my life for the past few weeks.

Sorry for the long post but am pretty worried to say the least :weep:

Thanks, Richard

[looking4answers]

Richard, I feel for you ..I know exactly how you feel.its a struggle to get through your mind that all the things you are experiencing is nothing more than stress and anxiety .I have fought it off and on over my life ..

Some better times some worse.Even now when I think that things are on the downward swing and things are semi back to normal..for no reason i wake and feeling down and bad and worried..

Actually yesterday was no different from today ,so why do I feel this way? Anxiety I suppose.Somewhere i have let an anxious thought slip in and its depressed me.

I would just try to keep the negative thoughts out and turn your thoughts outward instead of in on yourself.As for the doctors and people helping you through your attacks..Richard..We all are going to die..There is no doctor no nurse,no person that can in realitity say hey you are ok.

They arent God so they don't know.Just try to accept the fact that we are mortal.Take your mind off of it and continue doing the things you want to do ..There is no way out of what will eventually happen so might as well just keep going..

I tend to do what you do and focus on how bad I feel.I try to ignore it and just blow it off and accept it and go on but some days are harder than others.Just try real hard to accept what has been told you and if you are still that young..to have parents in the same house with you..That means the odds are stacked against a heart attack for you .

Just try to have fun enjoy life and just shrug things off..good luck to you and hope you are feeling better and God Bless you ..Take care..Michael

[spiral]

i have the same worry that there is something seriously wrong with me but the doctors don't want to tell me bcos stress makes it worse... i know that it's silly and obviously not true but i can't get it out of my head sometimes. i'm much worse at night too. is that why you only sleep 5 hours? i know i should go to bed early so that i can still manage 8 hours with all the interptions from pas but i'm always a bit scared of sleeping.
i hate lying there feeling like me duvet is squashing me...
i often have to fall asleep with the tv on...

i'm the sort of person that thinks whatever happens, happens but it's like i'm in the body of someone who gets stressed about everything.