Symptoms of Panic; not Heart Disease

Many people will experience symptoms of panic, worry or anxiety in our lives and sometimes these feelings can trigger medical symptoms. Your body reacts and responds to allow us to cope. Have you ever felt anxious where your heart starts beating quickly and you get cold and clammy? In some people, symptoms of anxiety can mimic heart disease.

Here are some basic facts and stats about Anxiety and Panic Attacks:

• Anxiety attacks rarely cause you to pass out. Everyone has felt dizzy or lightheaded at times, especially when we stand up. 
• If you are anxious or panic you often breathe very quickly or hyperventilate. This can cause a feeling of numbness and tingling in the tips of your fingers on both hands and often a similar sensation around your mouth. Most of the time these symptoms are from anxiety causing hyperventilation.
• We all experience little extra beats and they typically feel like a skipped or hard beat. People with abnormal heart rhythms often feel these extra beats and then suddenly the heart rhythm goes very fast, like a light switch turning on a light. Typically with anxiety the heart rate increases in a uniform manner without the extra or skipped beats.
• The best way to truly understand if it is anxiety causing a fast heart rate or a fast heart rate causing anxiety is to wear a heart monitor and be seen by a Cardiologist. This is a simple device that records your heart rhythm day and night for a certain number of days.