Heart attack or panic attack?

The best way to tell the difference is to simply visit the doctor and have your heart tested. If your heart is in good health, it's very unlikely you are suffering from a heart attack, especially if you have signs of anxiety. The good news is that there are plenty of easy tests to rule out any serious heart problems.

Beyond that, there are very minute differences in the symptoms. Examples include:

Chest pain from anxiety tends to be more localized and sharp, while heart attacks radiate and are often duller.

Panic attacks rarely cause vomiting - a somewhat common symptom of heart attacks, although not in all of those that experience one.

Panic attacks tend to be more systematic. They generally peak about 10 minutes in and then there is a slow and steady decline. Heart attacks can follow this same pattern, but it's less common.

Otherwise, the best thing to do is get your heart checked and learn whether or not you're suffering from any heart problems. If not, then you're experiencing anxiety attacks.

OK, as someone who is fresh off medication for anxiety and panic disorders, let me take a crack at this: A fair few of the symptoms could be either, but all of them could be panic attacks. However, here are a few things which could help you determine which: Do these start after you've been thinking about your health, and wondering if you are OK. Panic attacks normally start with a thought, and build up based on it. Are you mentally confused at all during them? When I had panic attacks, I was never able to sit still. I would try to calm down and breath normally, but the slightest thing would set me off and I'd have to move. Does the shaking happen usually after things start to calm down. Your body produces a huge amount of adrenaline during a panic attack, and coming down off that causes shaking for people who have had panic attacks. If you really try had, and breath slowly and normally, and try to clear your mind, does this help it go away? Does the headache come after as well? I often got them from the physical exertion, which is usually quite extreme during a panic attack. I hope this helps...

This honestly sounds like a panic attack- Digestion and Stress (anxiety) are directly linked. Also- sudden gasps and pain are definitely more noticeable to me when I'm anxious.

During some of my panic attacks, I'm totally aware and freaking out, running around, clutching my throat, thinking i can't breathe, ect. But other times- you retreat within yourself and feel out of touch, just as you describe you felt in your car.

Your insomnia is another reason that leads me to believe your anxious- anxiety and sleep are very closely related, as well.

Finally- I don't believe it can be a heart attack. You would feel SEVERE pain in your chest, and most likely pass out or enter cardiac arrest within minutes. The fact, however, that you're frantically thinking or partially believing you're having a heart attack leads me to think panic attack.

When I have a panic attack, it's almost definitely health related- thinking my physical symptoms (such as the pains you've been feeling) are a result of a medical condition (heart attack, stroke, ect.), and that I'm going to die.

You definitely sound very anxious and unhappy, and I'd suggest going to speak with your doctor about possibly getting on or adjusting your anxiety medication, or working harder on cognitive behavior therapy to help you cope with these attacks.

Hope this helps and best wishes, fellow anxiety sufferer. You're in my prayers!

That was a Panic attack. A panic attack is a period of intense, often temporarily debilitating, sense of extreme fear or psychological distress, typically of abrupt onset. Though it is often a purely terrifying feeling to the sufferer, panic attacks are actually an evolutionary body response often known as the fight-or-flight response occurring out of context. Symptoms may include trembling, shortness of breath, heart palpitations, chest pain (or chest tightness), sweating, nausea, dizziness (or slight vertigo), light-headedness, hyperventilation, paresthesias (tingling sensations), and sensations of choking, smothering and dreamlike and disconnected sensations. During a panic attack, the body typically releases large amounts of adrenaline into the bloodstream. Many first time sufferers of a panic attack believe they are dying, going insane or having a heart attack. Many say panic attacks are the most frightening experiences of their lives. Repeated and seemingly unprovoked panic attacks may be a sign of panic disorder, but panic attacks are associated with other anxiety disorders as well.

This could be a ruptured gallbladder. If that's the case, get help fast. The gallbladder is a relatively useless organ behind the liver, right where you indicate the pain in your back is coning from. Almost anything to do with your digestive system will cause an upset stomach. The gallbladder is a small part of the digestive system. As for the first pain you felt, that may have been the rupture itself. Adrenaline always kicks in when your body or mind is extremely distressed. Adrenaline from a rupture and your anxiety disorder combined could put you "out of touch with reality", as the hormone rush could have overwhelmed your brain until it sorted itself out.

Are you hyperventilating? Get your heart checked out first and then if everything is okay there, you could try breathing into a paper sack when you are having an anxiety attack. Do you have a flee and flight feeling when you have these attacks? Sign of anxiety.

Given your clinical background and your age, it should be a panic attack. However, to rule out MI (heart attack) you should get a blood test (Troponin and CK level will be elevated if you had a heart attack). How is your cholesterol level? Do you have history of hypertension (high blood pressure)? If yes to any of these, you should consult with your PCP. If not, you should consult with your psychiatrist for medication adjustment and counseling as well.

Both are different thing, Read the following symptoms, these symptoms are the panic attack symptoms:

*) Shortness of breath or hyperventilation.

*) Heart palpitations or a racing heart.

*) Chest pain or discomfort.

*) Trembling or shaking.

*) Choking feeling.

*) Feeling unreal or detached from your surroundings.

Signs of a heart attack

Chest pain or discomfort

Pain in your arm(s), back, neck, or jaw

Stomach pain

hortness of breath, nausea, or light headedness

Sweating

Fatigue

Good luck

Heart disease affects your heart's muscle, blood vessels, and electrical system and is the leading cause of death among women. The most common form of heart disease is coronary artery disease in which plaque (a fat-like substance) deposits on artery walls. Plaque build-up is called atherosclerosis. This is a chronic condition that occurs in people with risk factors such as diabetes, obesity, smoking, abnormal levels of blood fats, high blood pressure, a family history of heart disease and older age.