When the topic is heart health, being extra careful is crucial. The reason why heart attack and panic attack have been mentioned in the title is their overlapping symptoms, making it quite difficult for an individual to distinguish between the two. Although both conditions are quite different from each other, their symptoms can create minor confusion in your head, preventing you from making life-saving decisions in the moment. The overlapping symptoms of both conditions include shortness of breath, a racing heart and chest pain, making it harder for you to differentiate between the two. Understanding the panic attack vs. heart attack symptoms can help you make the right and smart decision, preserving your life. 

A panic attack is associated with distress and the fight-or-flight response, often due to a traumatic incident. However, a heart attack is completely different from it, including the cutting off of oxygen and blood flow to the heart muscle, causing squeezing and tightness over the chest area. Sometimes, acidity is misinterpreted as a heart attack, which includes different symptoms as well. 

Welcome to this blog post where you’ll be introduced to a specific panic attack vs. heart attack symptoms guide, including the difference between the two and when you can seek medical guidance to make life-saving decisions. 

First, understand what a panic attack means. 

• This includes frequent episodes of intense fear that result in trembling and shaking hands. 
• Even if there’s no apparent cause, you start feeling anxious and sometimes experience a sense of dying or losing control. 
• Major stress, along with family history or any traumatic incidents, are potential triggers, resulting in panic mode. 
• Also, heavy use of caffeine and worries can contribute to its triggers. 

Here are its symptoms! 

• Your heart rate increases rapidly, resulting in racing heartbeats and chest pain.
• You start experiencing shortness of breath along with the feeling of choking. 
• Your hands and legs start shivering, along with dizziness and faintness. 
• You feel a sense that a tragic incident might happen, along with fear of dying. 

Now, understand what a heart attack means. 

• The process when the oxygen and blood supply gets cut off or reduced to a specific area of your heart. 
• When your heart tissue has been deprived of oxygen and blood, its survival becomes difficult, causing it to die within a few minutes. 
• The buildup of fatty deposits and cholesterol in the arteries is one of the major causes of heart attack. 
• When the coronary artery gets a sudden spasm, resulting in reduced blood supply to the heart tissue, it is also associated with heart attacks. 
• Blood clots and tears inside the walls of the heart arteries are also related to one of the major causes of heart attack. 

Here are its symptoms! 

• You might start feeling chest pain, accompanied by squeezing and tightness in the specific area. 
• Your pain starts radiating to your back, arm, jaw or upper belly, which can eventually lead to physical discomfort. 
• Your skin starts looking pale; along with this, experiencing cold sweats and dizziness are also symptoms. 
• Struggling with indigestion, nausea and vomiting are also included in its symptoms. 

What differentiates a panic attack from a heart attack?

Since the apparent meaning of both conditions has been explained, it is now better to understand the key difference between the two. 

Specific chest pain 

Panic attack: The pain quality is stabbing, localised and sharp. 

Heart attack: This includes squeezing and tightness, along with pressure over the centre of the chest or mainly the left side. 

Radiating pain

Panic attack: This does not involve any radiating pain; it simply means the pain stays in the chest only. 

Heart attack: The pain starts radiating to the arm, jaw, neck and upper belly. 

Duration and peak time 

Panic attack: This starts suddenly within 5-10 minutes and can stay for almost half an hour. 

Heart attack: This does not start suddenly and can even get worse if not treated at the right time. 

Triggering factors 

Panic attack: Genetic factors, highly stressful episodes such as losing someone close, along with excessive caffeine intake, can trigger a panic attack. 

Heart attack: High cholesterol levels, diabetes, along with chronic stress and high blood pressure, are associated with its triggers. 

Management options 

Panic attack: This usually gets better if you handle it emotionally well, relax, and get some rest. 

Heart attack: This needs medical evaluation to get proper analysis of the heart condition and does not improve with rest. 

The Bottom Line!

Summing up the above-mentioned points, you might have apparently understood the distinct symptoms of both panic and heart attack. Due to their overlapping symptoms such as shortness of breath along with a pounding heartbeat and dizziness, it’s normal to get confused between the two; however, when you thoroughly understand the symptoms of both conditions deeply, you can easily differentiate between the two. 

If you ever feel suspicious about getting heart attack symptoms, or get recurrent panic attacks, be sure to get in touch with your healthcare provider as soon as possible. If you still can’t differentiate between the conditions, then asking professionals specific questions about panic attack vs. heart attack symptoms questions can make your mind doubt-free. Get yourself tested and evaluated for panic attack vs. heart attack symptoms in Ludhiana to get the right treatment plan at an early stage. 

The experts at Manas Hospital have been actively committed to seeking effective care for patients with the aim of improving their emotional well-being. Dr. Anshul Mahajan is a highly qualified psychiatrist, with extensive expertise in managing different psychotic disorders with calm and patience. 

FAQs

• Do panic attacks occur again and again? 

Yes, panic attacks occur again and again. Some people might experience them one or two times in their entire lifetime; however, some might experience them frequently, which might be associated with panic disorder. 

• How to calm panic attacks? 

You can try breathing slowly for a few seconds, then relax your muscles and unclench your jaw to calm down your rapid heartbeat during a panic attack. 

• What to do when someone is having a heart attack? 

The very first thing you can do is to call an ambulance as soon as possible and avoid taking them on your own in order to treat them appropriately during the journey. Secondly, you can loosen their tight clothing to let them relax and wait for the medical team to come. 

• Is a second heart attack a serious medical condition?

Yes, a second heart attack can be associated with a life-threatening event, as in your first heart attack your heart muscles are already damaged; getting a second one means contributing to further damage. 

• Is regular chest pain related to a heart attack? 

Regular chest pain can sometimes be related to a heart attack, often occurring from the condition of angina. However, sometimes chest pain can also be associated with anxiety, muscle strain or GERD.