At one particularly stressed out point in my life, I was getting minor attacks (not full blown, just the tachycardia and sweats and so on). Half the problem was that I was thinking I had heart issues. My doctor gave me the following advice:
- If your chest hurts and you haven't been exercising, and it gets better by moving around and being active, it's a panic attack. Keep moving! It helps!
- If your chest hurts, radiates to your chin and arm, feels 'heavy' and gets WORSE by moving around, it's a heart attack. Move as far as a phone to call 9-1-1, then lie down. You can also try coughing very deeply... apparently, deep, chesty coughs have a massaging effect on the heart (go figure!)
They suck, but in the end you'll be fine. Hang in there.
