Is this anixety or am I having a heart attack?

[Plushiesmakemehappy]

All my life I have had really really bad anxiety but lately its gotten worse. A little bit ago I was doing the dishes and I breathed deep and I felt my chest go thump, it scared the life out of me. I feel like I am having a heart attack, but I don't know if it is a heart attack. I have shortness of breath, I am scared, I'm shaky, I feel like my breath is catching on everything so I can't tell if I have palpitations. Ive had palpitations before but then I calm down and I am ok again but what if this time it is for real that I am having a heart attack. I am only 17 years old and female. I don't want to go to the doctor and I am terrified I will pass out and die right there on the floor so my mom comes home and finds me dead. There is no pain at all in my chest. My heart rate is 85 which is normal for me, I am a little over weight and every time I get my heart rate up I feel ok like it doesn't hurt and I am not dizzy. But I just don't know why I've been feeling like this lately. Will I die? Will I be ok? Am I having a heart attack?

[dark1018]

This is a panic attack, I have the same thing, sometimes it happens to me when I jump, my heart starts beating super fast and my left arm feels tired and it hurts a little bit. Had a visit, kept this device on my body for 24 hours but nothing, they said I'm all right and super healthy. Last time I had one was 1 week ago. You should go at your doctor, he/she will help you.

[brebre2426]

i have the same thing when i have high anxiety or a panic attack ill stand up and cant breath or even walking a foot or two. best thing i find is to close my eyes and take a slow deep breath, and do whatever i can to get my mind on something else, drink sips of water. there might be a hidden reason why its going on, our body remembers things, places, events that  we dont even think about or dont realize it impact it had. try stress balls, playing with a pen or something to for the mind and body to focus on.

[Sara_MHModerator]

There is a good possibility you are having a panic attack but because you have not been evaluated, you should see a doctor right away.  An urgent care or emergency room would be a good idea to make sure that this is an anxiety issue and not a coronary event.  We wish you the best.  

[AnxiousNoMore]

A heart attack feels like a large weight being pushed against your chest, not just a thump. If you can relax and not focus on those symptoms, then if they are just in your head they will go away. the problem if it is just in your head, is that the more you worry about them, the more you sweat and tense up in fear because they seem to real and if you haven't had an EKG recently then you don't have any information.

So see if you can just forget them for a few hours and if they go away then it is just panic driven.

[Plushiesmakemehappy]

I had an EKG done and it was all normal

[Paxiled]

Don't want to confuse anyone here, this person has been evaluated and hasn't had a heart attack.  I have no idea what happened, but the doctors say no heart attack.  I only wanted to say, and this is really more for any older folks on here, that the statement a heart attack feels like a large weight on your chest is only one way a heart attack can feel, a severe one.  You can have a heart attack and never know it at all until a doctor sees the damage inside the body.  That's why doing what we best know, such as eating your veggies and not consuming the wrong kind of fats too often, is so important -- prevention is the best medicine.  But if you're feeling fatigued all of a sudden or your arm hurts and you didn't do anything or anything that feels like you're not right and you're a lot older than 17 and you have risk factors, you might very well have had a heart attack.  This shouldn't frighten anyone -- we're all gonna die from our hearts stopping eventually, but most people who post on here are quite young to be worrying about heart attacks.  But it is important to know that those of us who are older know people who have discovered they've had a heart attack and were pretty surprised to discover it because they didn't feel anything noticeable.  That's why it's a good idea not to attribute everything to anxiety -- anxious people get the same problems as everyone else.  But people who aren't anxious don't obsess over it, they just take care of it.  

[AnxiousNoMore]

A few doctors told me that is how to tell if it is a heart attack. however this is what mayoclinic.org says and it agrees with what paxiled said.

http://www.mayoclinic.org/diseases-conditions/heart-attack/in-depth/heart-attack-symptoms/art-20047744

"It can be tempting to try to downplay your symptoms or brush them off as indigestion or anxiety. But don't "tough out" heart attack symptoms for more than five minutes. Call 911 or other emergency medical services for help."