Tightness in Chest with Anxiety

Many people experience some degree of tightness in chest with anxiety. While it is rarely a cause for concern, a heart attack or cardiac event may cause nearly identical symptoms to an anxiety attack.

Most people who suffer from anxiety will experience chest tightness or pain at some point. Generally, this pain results from irritation of nearby muscles or organs, such as the esophagus. Non-cardiac chest pain affects both men and women, but women develop this symptom approximately twice as often as men do.

Chest tightness caused by anxiety is very similar to that associated with a heart attack or other cardiovascular. This makes recognition of a heart attack difficult for anxiety sufferers, and may detrimentally delay treatment for some victims of a heart attack. Proper diagnosis and immediate treatment can help prevent death during a heart attack.

Non-Cardiac Chest Symptoms:

• May be located in one area or spread throughout the chest
• May feel like sharp stabbing pain, or may resemble pressure or fullness of the chest
• The pain is usually confined to the chest, but may spread to the head, neck, back, and stomach
• May be worse following meals or when lying on the back
• Are nearly always accompanied by feelings of impending doom, heart palpitations, shortness of breath, insomnia, and sweating
• Are accompanied by numbness of the lips, hands, and feet due to hyperventilation and lack of circulating oxygen

Cardiac Chest Symptoms:

• Cause a pressure, squeezing, or pain the center of the chest
• May radiate to the shoulders, arms, jaw, upper abdomen, or neck
• Usually includes sweating, nausea, shortness of breath, lightheadedness, and fainting
• May cause an irregular or abnormally high heart rate
• May cause paleness, pallor, nervousness, and cold skin
• May be accompanied by feelings of impending doom
  • Since the symptoms of cardiac and non-cardiac chest pain are nearly identical, anyone experiencing one of more of the above cardiovascular warning signs must seek immediate help.

Most people with panic disorder repeatedly visit emergency rooms or their general physician convinced they are suffering a heart attack. By the time an evaluation occurs, the symptoms are gone and a definitive diagnosis is unlikely. Doctors typically prescribe blood work, CT scans, and electrocardiograms, all of which come back negative for cardiac involvement.

Even if a doctor has previously ruled out cardiovascular problems, you must consider all chest symptoms a medical emergency until undergoing a complete medical evaluation and receiving an anxiety-related diagnosis.

Treatment of tightness in chest with anxiety involves a combination of therapy and medication. Doctors may prescribe antidepressants and anxiolytics to alleviate physical symptoms. Medication may also be useful to improve sleep. Therapy works to determine the underlying cause of the anxiety, and then helps the patient develop coping skills and relaxation techniques.

Treatment of any contributing disorders, such as gastroesophageal reflux disease or a musculoskeletal disorder, is essential to prevent a recurrence of symptoms.

Anxiety-related chest pain occurs when anxiety levels rise. Fears of having a heart attack and of dying increase anxiety levels, which in turn increases the frequency and severity of chest pain. The only way to stop this cycle is to seek help for the underlying causes of your anxiety.

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