If you've ever experienced a panic attack before, you know exactly what they feel like. You can't breathe, your chest tightens and starts to hurt, your heart pounds and in those few minutes you are absolutely certain you are dying. But panic attacks are harmless and dissipate within just a few minutes. The real problem is that panic symptoms are almost a perfect match for the symptoms of a heart attack.
Heart attacks occur when a clot stops the flow of blood into and out of the heart. It's symptoms include:
- pain in the arm and neck
- tightness in the chest
- increased heart rate
- shortness of breath
- paleness
- sweating
- nausea
And nearly every one of these symptoms can also occur during a panic attack and often times panic sufferers end up in the emergency room for fear they're having a heart attack.
So how do you tell the difference between a heart attack and a panic attack?
- Panic Presents Less Physical Pain - your panic will bring on less physical pain as emotional pain. Generally you'll feel out of control and as if the world is suddenly moving far too fast, but most of what you feel isn't a physical sensation. Heart attacks, however, are a purely physical phenomena they present with lots of pain and discomfort and normally even sickness and physical weakness.
- Experience - when you've had three or four panic attacks, you learn exactly what they feel like. Experience is the best method for telling the two sets of symptoms apart. Chronic panic sufferers know when what they are feeling is indeed panic and when it feels different. After a while, you get a very good sense of when a hospital visit is necessary and when you can handle the problem on your own.
Bottom Line
Don't take a risk. If you have any doubt about what you are experiencing, go to the hospital and find out for sure. The difference between these symptoms is so small that it isn't worth the risk of trying to diagnose yourself. Play it safe with your life and let a doctor examine you fully.
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