When To Contact A Doctor
It can be hard to know whether one is having a panic attack or a heart attack. Therefore, a person should seek immediate medical care if they or someone else is experiencing sudden and severe chest pain, particularly in the center or left parts of their chest.
Other warning signs of a heart attack include pressure in the chest lasting more than 23 minutes or pain that radiates to the arm or the jaw. A person may also feel short of breath.
Both panic disorders and cardiovascular problems are treatable conditions, so receiving a diagnosis from a doctor will help ensure that individuals receive the appropriate treatment.
Treating A Tight Chest
Your doctor will conduct tests to determine the cause of your chest tightness. If the tests for a heart attack come back negative, your symptoms may be caused by anxiety.
You should discuss your symptoms with your doctor to determine when to seek immediate medical attention if you experience chest tightness again. It may be possible to link your chest tightness to other symptoms thatll help you identify anxiety versus a cardiac event.
What Are The Symptoms Of A Panic Attack
A panic attack is a sudden attack of overwhelming fear or anxiety. Panic attacks are not life-threatening, but they interfere with your quality of life and mental well-being.
People who have regular or frequent panic attacks may have a panic disorder, a type of anxiety disorder. But an isolated panic attack can happen to anyone, even without a panic disorder diagnosis.
- Feeling of squeezing or, says Dr. Miller, like an elephant sitting on your chest.
- Achy or burning sensation, like heartburn.
Panic attacks often cause:
- Heart racing or chest discomfort thats hard to describe.
The triggers
Heart attacks tend to happen after physical strain or exertion a sign not found in panic attacks. A heart attack might happen after shoveling snow or walking up a long flight of stairs, Dr. Miller says. But you wouldnt have a panic attack after exercise unless there was an emotional stress trigger with it.
But what if the symptoms hit you at night? Both panic attacks and heart attacks can wake you from sleep. But theres a key difference: People who have nighttime, or nocturnal, panic attacks usually have daytime panic attacks, too.
So if you wake up with chest pain or other symptoms, and you dont have a history of panic attacks, that might be a sign of a heart attack.
How long it lasts
Panic attack symptoms last a few minutes or up to an hour. Then, the symptoms disappear, and you feel better. But a heart attack wont let up.
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How Is Chest Wall Pain Diagnosed
Your doctor will ask about your symptoms and family and personal medical history. Be sure to tell your doctor about any underlying conditions you have, medications you are taking, and if you have recently suffered any injuries.
If your doctor suspects you have a musculoskeletal problem like a rib fracture or costochondritis, they may check along your ribs, chest, and sternum for areas of swelling. They may try to reproduce or trigger your pain to help them learn more about where your pain is coming from.
Other tests to help your doctor evaluate musculoskeletal sources of chest wall pain include:
Things Can Feel Great One Day And Terrible The Next
All anxiety disorders exist on a spectrum, and people fall anywhere from experiencing very mild symptoms to utterly debilitating ones. That means symptoms ebb and flow. Typically, specific triggers cause some symptoms to escalate.
For example, if someone struggles with social anxiety disorder, the anticipation of an upcoming presentation may cause their anxiety to skyrocket. Someone with post-traumatic stress disorder may feel unsafe for an entire day after experiencing a spontaneous flashback.
Unfortunately, you cannot predict how anxiety manifests. That is because triggers evolve. Subsequently, many other factors can all impact your anxiety.
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Are Heart Palpitations From Anxiety Dangerous
Although heart palpitations can be alarming, most arent dangerous. They usually go away after the anxiety-causing situation passes.
Less commonly, heart palpitations can be a sign of a serious health problem, such as arrhythmia . These heart palpitations may feel like they cause anxiety rather than follow it. If you have palpitations along with chest pain, trouble breathing, dizziness or confusion, seek medical help right away.
What Is The 54321 Technique
The most common grounding technique for anxiety attacks is the 54321 method. In this, you identify Taste is sometimes hard to identify, so you could substitute that by thinking of your favorite thing to taste. Some versions of the 54321 grounding method say to name one thing you like about yourself.
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Is It A Heart Attack Or Panic Attack
Its always better to be safe than sorry when it comes to your health. So if you cant tell if youre having a heart attack or panic attack, seek medical attention right away.
If youre in the Gonzales, LA area, stop by Coastal Urgent Care of Gonzales to get checked out. Were open 7 days a week from 9 am to 8 pm to address your medical needs, so contact us any time.
Could My Chest Pain Be Because Of The Coronavirus
Chest pain is a rare symptom of COVID-19 and usually does not occur as the sole symptom. For instance, if your chest pain was due to COVID-19, you would most likely have accompanying signs of upper respiratory infection such as coughing and phlegm. And, the pain would not be due to a panic attack, says Dr. McCann. But again, because of the wide range of symptoms that people experience with COVID-19, theres no way to know without getting checked by a healthcare provider.
The CDC lists common COVID-19 symptoms as: fever, cough, shortness of breath or difficulty breathing, chills, repeated shaking with chills, muscle pain, headache, sore throat, new loss of taste or smell.³
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Watch For Subtle Signs Of A Heart Attack
A heart attack might seem like it came out of nowhere. But in many cases, chest pain due to heart disease, known as angina, appears in the days or weeks before a cardiac event.
You may feel a twinge or some pain in the shoulder or chest but think its something else, says Dr. Miller. The symptoms go away. Then later, the pain gets worse, or you feel a little off. Then the heart attack hits. These early signs can be hard to identify.
Ask Them To Seek Professional Help
If the anxiety is severe, interfering with life activities, or causing problems, ask them to seek professional help.
You can encourage them to make an appointment with a mental health professional.
If they resist, remind them it is only an appointment and not a commitment to a long-term treatment plan.
You can also offer to help them explore their options and help them find a provider.
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Heartburn Or Bloating Or Gas
Stress and anxiety have diverse impacts on the human body, particularly digestion, by causing pressure on the gut and changing digestion patterns. Such impacts may cause bloating and, to some individuals, can cause chest pressure. This pressure normally causes victims to complain about chest tightness or pain. If the typical digestive pattern is altered, you may experience heartburn or gas, putting much stress on the lower esophagus. These irritating moments increase due to much-formed stomach acid, an impact that damps around the lower chest. In other words, its just a misinterpretation, not chest tightness or pain, all because of the abnormal digestive pattern.
The Effect Of Anxiety On The Heart
When someone is anxious, their body reacts in ways that can put an extra strain on their heart. The physical symptoms of anxiety can be especially damaging among individuals with existing cardiac disease.
Anxiety may have an association with the following heart disorders and cardiac risk factors:
- Rapid heart rate In serious cases, can interfere with normal heart function and increase the risk of sudden cardiac arrest.
- Increased blood pressure If chronic, can lead to coronary disease, weakening of the heart muscle, and heart failure.
- May result in higher incidence of death after an acute heart attack.
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Why Does My Heart Hurt After A Scare
If you have ever felt dizzy and apprehensive after a scary episode, you may have been suffering from a heart attack. If this happens, you should get help immediately. A heart attack can happen unexpectedly and without warning. While it is best to seek medical attention immediately, there are some things you can do to help your heart recover.
The Feeling Of Chest Pressure
Few people are taught that chest pressure can be caused by anxiety, but in reality it is one of the main symptoms of extreme anxiety and panic attacks. Not everyone experiences chest pressure or pain in the same way. Some describe the experience as a sharp, shooting pain, some report a dull pain, while others feel as though their heart is being squeezed.
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Heart Attack Chest Pain
So what are heart attack symptoms?
A heart attack is when the blood flow or blood supply that feeds the heart itself is blocked. Heart attack symptoms include :
- Chest pain that continues to get worse with exertion
- Chest pain that radiates to your arms or jaw
- Heavy pressure in the chest area and a squeezing sensation
- Fast heart rate and shortness of breath
Some people feel exhausted or say they have back pain, and close to 30% of people having a heart attack dont even report chest pain .
Can Anxiety Cause A Weird Feeling In Your Chest
Anxiety can cause a number of physical symptoms, including a heavy feeling in the chest. Anxiety disorder is a mental health condition that causes a person to feel worried, apprehensive, and tense. It can also cause many physical symptoms. Experiencing anxiety can lead to a heavy or tight feeling in the chest.
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What Helps Chest Pain From Anxiety
Whenyou experience chest pain and anxiety, you want it to end as soon as possible.
There are a variety of solutions such as medication and cognitive behaviouraltherapy which have proven to be effective at treating anxiety attacks inmany cases. Many people have also benefited from anxiety coping techniques suchas deep breathing and physical exercises.
Rather than solely relying on coping techniques, however, you want to be able to stopanxiety and panic attacks as well as the fear of them occuring in the future.
Moreover,we dont want to forget the flip side of this issue. While anxiety can causechest pains, having to deal with constant chest pains can also cause extremeanxiety. Its a vicious cycle.
If youve been experiencing chest pains andanxiety please remember that youre not alone and you can overcome your anxiety asmany others have done.
You can download our free guide on 3 Ways to StopAnxiety and Panic Attacks which will show you how to end your anxiety and fear ofanxiety attacks, so you can enjoy a better quality of life.
Is My Chest Pain Being Caused By Anxiety Or A Heart Attack
Symptoms like chest tightness and pain, shortness of breath, and rapid heartbeat can be common symptoms of anxiety, but these symptoms also overlap with indicators of something more serious: a heart attack.
So, how can you tell the difference, and how will you know if you actually need to call your doctor?
A heart attack occurs when part of your heart is not receiving enough blood, typically because an artery has become blocked.
Common symptoms of a heart attack include:
- Chest pressure and pain
- Nausea and vomiting
- Sense of impending doom
Evidently, many of these symptoms are also common symptoms of anxiety and panic attacks, but there are some main differences:
- Pain location: If you are experiencing anxiety or a panic attack, your chest pain will typically stay in that location. With a heart attack, however, the pain can radiate to other areas of the body, like your arms, shoulders, and back.
- What your chest pain feels like: If you are experiencing anxiety or a panic attack, the chest pain will often feel sharp and stabbing, or the discomfort may be difficult to describe. With a heart attack, the pain tends to be a squeezing feeling, feeling like there is a weight on your chest, an aching or burning sensation, and chest pressure.
Anxiety is a treatable problem, and research shows that a combination of cognitive behavioral therapy and medication management can help reduce anxiety symptoms and help people feel better long-term.
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End The Stress Response
When this symptom is caused by apprehensive behavior and the accompanying stress response changes, calming yourself down will bring an end to the stress response and its changes. As your body recovers from the active stress response, this anxiety symptom should subside. Keep in mind that it can take up to 20 minutes or more for the body to recover from a major stress response. But this is normal and shouldnt be a cause for concern.
What Does Chest Pain From Anxiety Feel Like
When it comes to the symptoms of anxiety, everyone has a different experience, and anxiety chest pain is the same. However, there are some common patterns to how it feels and how long it lasts.
Chest pain from anxiety can include:
- A sharp or stabbing pain that stays in the chest area
- Twitching in the chest
For some people, the anxiety can intensify into a panic attack, causing tight chest pain along with emotional distress.
Anxiety chest pain usually comes on quickly and goes away quickly, Dr Saloojee says. You will typically start to feel better after around 10 minutes. For a while afterwards, some people might feel some soreness or an ache in their chest because of the muscle contractions.
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How Get Rid Of Tightness In Chest From Anxiety
Chest pain is a common symptom of anxiety. Try these tips to alleviate it.
Reviewed by:
Vivian Sun
Dr. Vivian Sun is a child, adolescent, and adult psychiatrist based in the San Francisco Bay Area. She received her medical degree from University of Maryland and psychiatry training at University of Pennsylvania and Stanford. She is board certified in general and child/adolescent psychiatry and specializes in the treatment of conditions such as ADHD, autism, anxiety, depression, bipolar disorder, and PTSD.
Taylor Leamey
Taylor Leamey writes about all things wellness. She holds a bachelor’s degree in both Psychology and Sociology and is a certified sleep coach.
An estimated 40 million adults in the US have anxiety and experience symptoms including nervousness, rapid breathing and a pounding heart, according to Mayo Clinic. Those are the typical anxiety symptoms that many people are familiar with. One lesser known symptom is chest pain.
Tightness in the chest is often a physical manifestation of panic or anxiety attacks. According to a 2018 study, 30 to 40% of visits to the emergency room for chest pain unrelated to a heart attack are due to anxiety. Here’s everything you should know about anxiety chest pain and how to tell it apart from a heart attack.
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Panic Attack Or Heart Attack
The symptoms of a panic attack can overlap the symptoms of a heart attack, clinically termed myocardial infarction , making it difficult for a person to know which one may be occurring.6 People often go to the emergency room with chest pain believing they have a heart issue, but research shows that roughly 60% to 90% of ER patients with chest pain do not have a cardiac cause of the pain.7
How does a panic attack feel different from a heart attack?
Unfortunately, says Una McCann, MD, professor of psychiatry and director of the Anxiety Disorders Program at Johns Hopkins School of Medicine, They can feel identical. People often are short of breath, feel dizzy, and can feel crushing chest pain. Somebody who is perfectly healthy, with great lungs, undergoing a panic attack can feel really, really short of breath. And then, of course, those symptoms feed on the panic so it builds exponentially to this enormous crescendo.
Dr. McCann explains that because of the many different ways that people experience symptoms of heart attacks and panic attacks, theres no way to know the cause of those symptoms on your own.
There are a variety of symptoms that people who are having myocardial infarctions experience or dont experience, so certainly if someone came in with a panic attack to an emergency room, they would undergo a full workup for an MI, no question, she says.
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Know The Correlation Between The Two Conditions
According to the American Heart Association, many mental health issues can affect your heart health. When your body is under stress, it produces higher levels of glucose, adrenaline, and cortisol. Repetitive or prolonged distress overworks your adrenal glands, heart, and arteries.
Unhealthy coping mechanisms, such as smoking cigarettes or eating fatty foods, can contribute to the negative cycle. If left unchecked, an unhealthy mental state can become another risk factor for heart attack.
Additionally, up to a third of all heart attack survivors experience depression. Anxiety and chest pain can trigger more panic, resulting in a potentially destructive cycle. Healthy mental and physical habits reduce the chances of anxiety and heart attacks.
Editor’s Note: This gallery was originally published on February 16, 2018, and was last reviewed on September 2, 2022