I think I had a heart attack but I feel fine now.

[jackshapiro01]

Hi, I'm a 16-year-old male and today I had a very scary incident. I was driving on the freeway and happened to merge and not see someone, and this person decided to take it personally and followed me for a couple miles. Eventually, the person pulled up next to me and flashed a gun. I was very scared and could feel my heart start racing and I began to feel a tingling sensation in my arms and most of my upper body. It became very hard to drive and I eventually came across a state trooper to ask for help. I got out of the car and started feeling dizzy and I could not catch my breath. The trooper told me to breathe and I felt my heart rate starting to drop. I am not sure if this was a panic attack or a Heart attack or what it was, but any help I could get on this would be greatly appreciated.

[grendslori]

The chances of you having a heart attack at 16 are basically nil.  First of all it takes approximately 20 YEARS of eating junk food for there to be enough of a buildup of plague in the arteries of the heart for a true heart attack to take place. You haven't lived long enough for that to be an issue. The only other way for you to have a heart attack at your age is if there is some form of SERIOUS form of congenital heart disease such as a thickened heart wall (hypertrophic or dilated cardiomyopathy) where the blood flow has been outstripped....if you had that problem you would already pretty much be aware of that as well because you would be having a lot more heart related symptoms. What you are describing is classic panic attack or anxiety attack. Go and live your life and enjoy it :)  

[mehakpreetkaur]

Heart disease is the leading cause of death for both men and women but recognizing early signs and symptoms of a heart attack is key to preventing death and significant physical disability. Approximately 47% of sudden death from a heart attack will happen outside the hospital, indicating that many people may be ignoring the first warning signals their body is sending