How can you tell a heart attach from a panic attac

[MasterJPK69]

can any one tell me how you can tell a heart attach from a panic attach?


James

Patience is a Virtue!
Remember good things come to those who wait for them!

[soops]

OK - I'll have ago at answering this one although I would stress I am not medically trained but have had a panic attack. Also panic attacks can come in different ways for different people.

For me a panic attack is an immense feeling of fear that totally washes over me. The fight or flight reaction hits and I want to run away but can not move. I get very hot. I feel my breathing getting very shallow. I have a over whelming feeling that I am going to drop down dead. My eyesight is either misty or distorted. I can tingle all over. I can get a tight chest (which is what some would say sparks the thought that you are having a heart attack). These feelings can last for minutes or longer (I had the chest pain for 3 weeks when I was first ill and could not get a really deep breath which freaked me out).

A heart attack is different (heard this on Radio 2 Jeremy Vine - pleased that I could listen to it, although thought about the symptoms for days afterwards!!) it is a general feeling of being unwell. It can feel like a really bad bout of indegestion or heartburn. A feeling of pins and needles down the left arm. A tight/crushing feeling across the chest. My brother in law managed to drive himself to hospital whilst having his!!

For me and this is a personal thought, deep deep down inside me I know that I am fine, and that I trust myself to know if something really is wrong with me I will know. It is almost like your brain is testing you to make the correct decision about your physical being.

I hope this helps in some way.

soops

[pageste]

I guess I am qualified to answer as Ive had both in the last year.
The thing to be careful of is to be too specific in what a heart attack feels like, I met many people who had suffered an MI (heart attack) and the symptoms were prettty varied. For me personally it was an indegestion like pain centrally just below the rib cage, the giveaway that it wasnt indegestion was when I passed out from low BP. I had none of the classic "pain in the arm" stuff Ive often read about. A panic attack can also cause or display a multitude of symptoms. My stress after my illness has made me prone to all sorts of anxiety and Ive had the odd panic attack which has included chest pains ,difficulty in breathing and yes pains in my arm. It would be too easy for me to think everything was another heart issue but in truth I seem to know that these episodes are just me getting things out of proportion again.
If you are in pain go and get it checked, my experience is that you will never be admonished for going to them with genuine problems, and if you have any reason for thinking its your heart time is paramount. On the other hand as soops says you may well know yourself if its a PA and you are the best person to deal with that - reading some of the excellent advice on this website is a good start.
best wishes
Steve

[pageste]

I guess I am qualified to answer as Ive had both in the last year.
The thing to be careful of is to be too specific in what a heart attack feels like, I met many people who had suffered an MI (heart attack) and the symptoms were prettty varied. For me personally it was an indegestion like pain centrally just below the rib cage, the giveaway that it wasnt indegestion was when I passed out from low BP. I had none of the classic "pain in the arm" stuff Ive often read about. A panic attack can also cause or display a multitude of symptoms. My stress after my illness has made me prone to all sorts of anxiety and Ive had the odd panic attack which has included chest pains ,difficulty in breathing and yes pains in my arm. It would be too easy for me to think everything was another heart issue but in truth I seem to know that these episodes are just me getting things out of proportion again.
If you are in pain go and get it checked, my experience is that you will never be admonished for going to them with genuine problems, and if you have any reason for thinking its your heart time is paramount. On the other hand as soops says you may well know yourself if its a PA and you are the best person to deal with that - reading some of the excellent advice on this website is a good start.
best wishes
Steve