Panic ,heart attack, or was it another medical condition?

[tarek]

Hello,
I am a 21 year old male. My family has no history of heart problems and I am only a mild smoker. Recently, I have been experiencing these shortness of breath that made me somewhat concern (sometimes waking up at night feeling i cant breathe). But today I had a very disturbing experience. As I was driving back from a restaurant where I had just eaten, i felt a terrible shortness of breath. I tried to breath slowly and think positively and kept telling myself it was nothing. But as I drove along the shortness of breath worsened, my heart started racing, i felt dizzy and both my left and right arms  felt numb (like ants were crawling all over my body. (I felt no chest pains, no nausea, no vomiting)  I immediately managed to pull aside (luckily there was a gaz station nearby) where I bought a bottle of water and started walking and breathing slowly. When i calmed down I drove back home, the breathing went back to normal and so did my heart beat. But I felt afterwards this tiny pain in my left shoulder, like tightness. What happened? was it a panic attack? I know its improbable for it to be a heart attack, but I am still concerned it may be another medical condition. Do you think i should seek medical advise?  Thank you for your help.

[Roger Gould, M.D.]

I think you should seek medical advice, at least an ekg, even though it is probably an anxiety reaction.. YOu need to be sure.

[Try_to_be_social]

It sounds like Panic attack. But you need to see a Dr to exclude organic conditions, such as hyperactive thyroid,….. You are quite right that the chances of having heart problems at sleep/driving for your age with self-limiting features are low. Probably you have a sensitive respiratory center in your brain that detects small rises in carbon dioxide, giving you shortness of breath or hyperventilation as a result. Probably you have increase in arousal and therefore the shortness of breath, racing heart,.. are misinterpreted as symptoms of major physical illness, such as heart attack. For details, please refer to<a href= http://homepage.psy.utexas.edu/homepage/class/Psy394Q/Behavior%20Therapy%20Class/PD%20lecture.ppt> http://homepage.psy.utexas.edu/homepage/class/Psy394Q/Behavior%20Therapy%20Class/PD%20lecture.ppt</a>. Please see post dated 16NOV at <a  href=http://www.medhelp.org/perl6/MentalHealth/messages/C32374-5.html>; http://www.medhelp.org/perl6/MentalHealth/messages/C32374-5.html </a> for diary of CBT and messages dated 20OCT, 25OCT and 26OCT at <a href=http://www.medhelp.org/perl6/MentalHealth/messages/C32351-11.html>; http://www.medhelp.org/perl6/MentalHealth/messages/C32351-11.html </a> for sleep, relaxation and progressive muscle relaxation in CBT.

[ABSTRACT ARTIST]

http://www.ccmgonline.com/Education/Mitral_Valve_Prolapse.htm
THIS MIGHT HELP YOU I JUST FOUND OUT I HAVE THIS AND I EXPERIENCED THE SAME THINGS AS YOU.

[ukbitsps]

Hello Tarek,

Your symptoms sound just like mine, and I've had more tests on my heart than most 23 yr old males are ever likely to have.

Your age (21) and the fact that your a light smoker does not make you likely to have any sort of heart disorder plus there is no family history of such diseases. However, I agree that it's proabably a good idea to have an ECG at the Dr's to make sure there are no abnormal rythms.

Prolapse valve information? If I were you, I'd ignore that until you've seen a Dr! That's a bit scaremongering.

If you ask me, it sounds like you had a panic attack. These attacks can come on suddenly and can leave you with a variety of pains here and there all over your body. Your subconcious probably thought there was a problem with your heart and therefore you were then concentrating on your left shoulder without realising it.

Take my word for it, it's textbook. I've had panic disorder for nearly a year and COUNTLESS tests on my heart. I've had about 6-7 EKG's, a stress test and an echocardiogram which have shown nothing but non-specific changes in the T wave (which is normal, when you eat, change position etc.)

The problem is even though I've had all these tests I still feel there is something wrong with my heart. My advice is this, if you go to your doctors and they do a ECG and a blood test (to check for colesterol and those other nasties that appear after a heart attack) TAKE HIS WORD FOR IT!

If you question it you'll end up a quivering wreck like I am, too scared to leave the house sometimes and often too afraid to STAND UP!

You must listen carefully to your DR, they are the experts and they know what they are looking for.

If it happens again, try to calm yourself by releasing the tension and try to concentrate on regulating your breathing. If your standing, DONT sit down no matter how dizzy you feel it will make things worse. Don't listen to your heart, or what it's doing that will make things worse.

If you feel it's something really serious, then call an ambulance. If they don't find anything then TAKE THEIR WORD FOR IT!!!

I cannot stress that enough. Anyway, good luck, and feel free to email me back if you need someone to talk to about your panic.

Cheers,
Chris

[shygirl22]

you should definately get it checked. Panic attacks are the worst. I also have a thyroid condition, I have not checked in 2 years, so I think its time that I do. Somehow those 2 conditions are associated with each other, but I am not sure how.

[pandora9048]

sounds to me like u were hyperventilating.  just an opinion tho.
hope u feel better:)
Pan

[ladybandit08]

hi,
i too experience the same thing, i have been having chest pains for almost 5 months now, i went to the doctor ( without insurance, do work, but no coverage) and she said being my age, 23, and that im a non smoker, and not overweight that it just cant be my heart. She diagnosed me with GAD and panic attacks. I Do worry constantly , so i fgured OK maybe its not my heart. she put me on Paxil, which i stopped taking after three days, it seemed to make things worse and i wound up at the ER, they did chest xrays and EKG, and some blood work. which all came back normal. sooo i went back home still with chest pains, accompanied with back and neck pain, aslo arm pain..and it feels like im suffocating sometimes. also experience palpitations, which can be very annoying and throw me into a panick attack. been to two other doctors, all did the same things, EKG, blood work and chest xrays, all say normal, they say it just cant be my heart. But i just dont believe them at all. IT HURTS. I just know im gonna die from it. so the poster is right, PLEASE have faith in your doctor!  also if anyone would like to talk to me plz email me at ***@****

thank you for listening and good luck to all

[bec123]

hi my name is rebecca im 15! well i was out on  a school excursion on thursday? and i forgot to take my hat off  and then the teacher snatched the hat of my head!!:( i then panicked and started feeling  freaked out i stated feeling like i was breathing really fast but was running out of air? please help me? what should i do can you help what  do you think it i?