Panic attack camouflaged as chest pain.

[zanne]

On Sunday, I was rushed to the hospital with a suspected heart attack. I had severe chest pain, a feeling of "squeezing" in my chest and difficulty breathing. I thought for sure I was having the heart attack I was told was coming. After being poked, prodded and prayed for by family members, I was told the tests were all negative and I probably had a panic attack. I was very relieved to find out that my heart was OK, but now I feel like an idiot. The next time I have chest pain, I'll have to wonder if it's real or in my head. Has anybody else out there ever had a situation like this? It sucks.

[DemExpat]

1. How awful for you and your family, zanne...

No need to feel like an idiot - far better to be safe than sorry if you don't know symptoms of anxiety attacks.

If this is your first, I would really recommend getting a good book on the subject to get tips for learning relaxation, calming, and maybe breathing techniques to be able to nip any possible future stresses in the bud.

When I had them when I was younger I ended up on medication which I had to get unhooked off of later - they masked any attack, but also masked a lot of other good things (feelings and sensations) in my life too.

When my daughter showed signs of beginning to suffer from this as well I helped her find a breathing therapist specializing in anxiety and he taught her breathing techniques which she learned, put into practice, and now she has no problems with this anymore for over 2 years.

What a relief, for her, but also for me as I feared she would have to have meds to be able to continue functioning at her studies and work.

Good luck with this - the worst feelings in the world IMHO.

Hopefully you won't have to deal much with this in future.

My younger brother had panic attacks too - sometimes runs in families, as we know....and he just learned on his own to breathe them away and to continue doing what he was doing. He didn't give in to the fight or flight hormones rushing through his body and mind, rode them out and learned thus to not be afraid of them. He flies all of the time now for his work without problems.

A heart attack probably feels much different from what you felt on Sunday....:-(

:hi:

DemEx

[hedgehog]

2. Don't feel like an idiot.

That's why they call them panic attacks. I once was convinced that I had toxic shock syndrome, fever, spots and all!