The chest pain that comes from a panic attack can last surprisingly long, tricking you into thinking you’re having a heart attack in progress.
On the other hand, a panic attack may cause chest pain that lasts only a very short period of time.
A panic attack is a sudden episode of intense fear or discomfort, often accompanied by physical symptoms like rapid heartbeat, pain in the chest, sweating, trembling and shortness of breath.
It can be overwhelming and may feel like you’re losing control or having a heart attack.
How long can chest pain from a panic attack actually last?
“Minutes to hours,” says Dr. Steven Lamm, MD, of internal medicine, who appears regularly as the house doctor on ABC’s “The View,” and author of “No Guts, No Glory,” a book about digestive issues.
“It can certainly be confused with heart attack,” adds Dr. Lamm.
Chest pain from coronary artery disease (in the absence of an imminent heart attack), as well as from severely blocked coronary arteries in which a heart attack is imminent, can last a few minutes to a few hours.
“From coronary disease, it’s generally initiated by exercise and relieved by rest,” says Dr. Lamm.
In the case of my mother, prior to her quintuple bypass surgery, chest discomfort would be triggered by a few minutes of housework, then relieved upon sitting down.
However, two days before her surgery, the chest pain occurred while she was sleeping. It had awakened her and persisted for two hours.
Something to consider: What if you’re having chest pain or some kind of discomfort in that region, but you do not feel panicky or are not behaving or thinking in a way that’s classic for a panic attack?
For instance, a sudden, intense feeling of being out of control and that death is moments away are a few classic features.
So if you’re minus these hallmark symptoms of a panic attack, you just might be having a problem with your heart.
Dr. Lamm continues, “Panic disorders often occur at rest and can theoretically diminish w/exercise.”
If you feel a panic event coming on, do some pushups or jumping jacks and see what happens. I can speak from experience.
I’ve had more than one panic attack (no trigger), and for one of the events, I did pushups and the episode quickly disappeared.
Dr. Lamm says that the chest pain with coronary artery disease has a crescendo pattern.
This means that the pain steadily gets worse and worse when it occurs. “With panic, it’s generally a steady pain that can come and go.”
On the clinical faculty in internal medicine at New York University Medical Center, Dr. Lamm has maintained a private practice in NYC for 30+ years.
Lorra Garrick has been covering medical, fitness and cybersecurity topics for many years, having written thousands of articles for print magazines and websites, including as a ghostwriter. She’s also a former ACE-certified personal trainer.
.
