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Avatar universal

choking at night, face flush, shortness of breath, shaking, chest feels heavy, Heart racing

I am 35, a smoker for the past  10years 6'6" 260 pounds. This past month i have woke from sleep twice, once for choking, the other time for no reason. In both experences. My chest felt heavy, so i cough so i can breath better. When i do that my face will flush, my heart rate beats very rapidly in my ears. It feels like my throat and neck tighten, I have to sit up a force myself to take slow long breaths It feel like a ran a mile and am trying to catch my breath thru a straw.. Symptoms last 5 to 10 minutes.when symptoms ease a bit my body starts to shake and i feel cold.

I went to the ER,The EMT thought i was having a heart attack. The doctors they told me it was a panic attack. Gave me meds for anxity then released me.

I have never had an anxity attack, or have a family history of the. I do however have alot of heart related issues in my family. My gut feeling is this needs to be looked into deeper. Can you help with some advice?
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Avatar universal
Franberry's question was the first thing that came to my mind. Some of what you describe sounds like my episodes of sleep apnea. Of course there are other things that can cause similar like vocal cords spasms, reflux, etc. But if your episodes are as scary as mine were before treatment, you'll be insisting on immediate thorough evaluation. It is not enough to be be told it's not a heart attack, they need to tell you what it is.
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Avatar universal
Have you ever had a sleep study done?  
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