Heart Problems vs. Anxiety

[whippetiggy]

Does anyone know how to tell the difference between heart attack and anxiety? As I posted before, I keep getting palpitations. I'm also jittery, my TMD is flaring so I have left jaw pain, I feel stressed but my pulse has been consistently fine so I'm not sure I want to go to the ER and lay there for 6 hours to find out it's anxiety - again.

 

[matisworried]

i would add that if you were having a heart attack, you probably wouldn't be posting on here.

 

[whippetiggy]

This is interesting. There is a lot of overlap but I get the stabbing chest pains which is anxiety. So there's a difference in types of chest pains. I didn't know that.

 

[matisworried]

This is interesting. There is a lot of overlap but I get the stabbing chest pains which is anxiety. So there's a difference in types of chest pains. I didn't know that.

from what i recall, many people describe heart attack pain as an elephant sitting on their chest. sharp and stabbing is almost always anxiety.

 

[bin_tenn]

Cardiac chest pain is most often diffuse, rather than localized, based on what I've read and what my cardiologist has told me. If you can point to a specific area which is hurting, it's probably not cardiac in nature. Localized pain is typically due to musculoskeletal issues (e.g. tense / sore muscle, other trauma). It's true that heart attacks can sometimes be subtle, with no classic symptoms, but I don't think that's very common.