Please, Please help! I am desperate!

I am an 18 year old female and something really strange happened to me the other day. While I was sharing a private moment with my boyfriend I felt this sharp pain in my chest and for some moments (like 5-10 seconds) I could not breathe. He said that it was a panic attack but I do not know what to believe. This never happened to me before. I only had some palpitations during stressful moments, like my exams, but that was all. Only once when I was standing in my bed, after I went to a party, I had the feeling that my heart stopped for a second and could not breathe. I do not know what to do. I cannot tell my parents about this because they do not know that I already had sexual intercourse with my boyfriend and they are really strict Catholics. Please answer, give me some advice, I am terribly scared. I am not overweight, I have 119 lbs and my height is 5.58 ft. I do not practice sports and I am not usually a sickly person. The only thing is that both my grandmothers (my father’s mother and my mother’s mother) died of a heart attack. My father’s mom died when she was 39, so I did not get to know her, but my mother’s mom died two months ago, when she was 78 , so that is why I am so freaked out. Please answer I am really afraid.

thank you for your advice! but the thing is that before i tell my parents i wanted to see if other people thought that what i felt might be serious... so what do you think? is there any chance that the thing i had is serious or not? I am so confused and what i read from this forum, you guys really know what you are talking about... My friend made an appointment to a doctor for Monday for me and we are going together there...

thank you,
Kate

Yeah... i went with my friend this morning and i had an EKG and i was so nervous (i hate doctors and hospitals... it has been like 5 years since i last been in one) that i actually started to feel the pain a bit... not that hard more like a discomfort. Anyway, the doctor (it's a he... it actually made me a bit uncomfortable...) said that the fact i had the symptoms again was pretty lucky...The EKG showed that my heart rate was kind of huge, but he dismissed that on my being a nervous wreak... so the only thing he found wrong with the EKG is that the ST segment (what is that ? he tried to explain but i did not really understand...) instead of going up went down... he thinks that i might have a thing called "variant angina", although it would be a bit strange for my age, but he is not sure yet so he scheduled me for an Echo on Wednesday. Strange enough, i am much calmer now than before...

thank you for answering, Sue...
Kate

PS: i listened to your advice and told my parents. Surprisingly they were not angry but concerned for my safety, so on wensday i'll go to the echo with my mum... hopefully it will be OK...

basically ,my echo showed that i do indeed have variant angina... my doctor gave me some pills (not exactly know their names but if you want to know them i'll copy my prescription).sorry that i did not reply sooner but i was really down in the dumps yesterday... The things he gave me make me kind of sleepy ...

The doctor said that if i feel worse i might get an open-heart surgery... i am really freaked right now!

Kate

PS: Thanks for your support! it's nice to see people who actually care!

don't worry, i don't do drugs, i don't drink, i just smoke... but i am planing to quit.

Maybe it will go away... who knows? maybe i am lucky...

Thanks for caring,
Kate