Heart Disease and Heart Attack Forum - Can Skinny People Have Heart Problems Too?

I know this may sound like some dumb questions, but these pat two weeks have been pretty hard on me and I just need a little advice to calm my nerves.

About a week ago, I had what my local walk-in doctor described as an "anxiety attack". They said that my chest pains where caused by the slight cold I had and the anxiety caused me to hyperventalate which casued my arms to go numb. That's good news, but now it's almost like i'm a mental nutcase because the experiance was so real I can't seem to just let ago of what seemed to me to be a real heart attack.

A week later, I still have some very short comming symptoms of a heart attack that are most likely caused by my own mind but I figured I should ask a few questions to make sure my symptoms really are nothing... Or if maybe I should be concerned.

I noticed "shortness of breath" was a symptom but i'm not exactly sure what that means. I mean, I get a little winded doing a small task like carrying a full basket of laundry up two sets of stairs but it's not enough where I have to sit down and take a break. I assume this is just me being paranoide again, but I just want to make sure. If I really did have heart problems, would my shortness of breath be subtle like this, or would it be so much that I would almost have to sit down for a few minutes before moving on to a diffrent task?

I'm only 22 years old and I partake in about 2 - 4 hours of martial arts every week. However, I have no idea how to cook so my eating habbits are far from healthy. Until my anxiety attack, my motto was basicaly, "if you can't microwave it, I don't eat it". I only weight 120lbs but i'm not sure if that has any real value as to the the condition of my heart or not. I know it's a general assumption to say that only obesse(sp?) people have heart attacks but is that true? Could a 22 year old 5'9 120lb male have a heart attack?

I also mentioned that I do martial arts. I swithed styles and took a 4 month break between starting at a new school. 4 months ago I could run 3 miles without stopping in 30 minutes. However, last week it only took me 5 minutes of kicking the heavy bag to have me so winded that I really did have to sit down this time. Once again, I was working out so this is probably my own mind playing with me again but I can't help but fear the worst since the symptoms where so real to me. I thought this to be odd since I figured I would be far more fit then that and the surprise of being out of breath caused me to worry again... However it only took me a few minutes to re-catch my breath. If I really did have a heart problem, and I partook in a strenious workout like that, what symptoms would increase and how long would it take for me to recover? Could I even recover from such a workout?

I get short pains in my chest. They feel really sharp but they only last for about 30 seconds. I've read that the chest pains you get durring a heart attack last for minutes or even days. Are these sharp pains natural or should I get those checked out as well? Sometimes I get the same sensation in my right shoulder and upper arm... Isn't it the left arm that feels pain durring a heart attack or can it be either arm? And if I was having chest pains brought on by a heart attack would it be my entire chest or just certain parts or sections? For instance, if my right chest feels pain but my left side has had no effects, can this still be a heart related side effect or just a natural pain caused by something else?

If I wanted to work on my endurance, what should I look for before continuing any further. Like, I keep telling myself that my best cure is to probably go for a run but i'm afraide that running will just make my symptoms worse and i'll drop over dead somewhere with nobody around to help me. I guess what i'm really saying, is if I really did have a heart condition what amount of exercise would be too much? Would walking a mile be extremely tough for somebody with heart conditions?

I know alot of these questions may seem kind of silly, but to me the fake heart attack brought on by the anxiety was real. So like anybody recovering from a heart attack, i'm a little worried about future attacks which is natural, although quiet annoying. I'm also afraid of a missdiagnoisis. Afterall, how many docotors would really think that a young skinny male like myself could really be having heart issues? Since this wasn't an emergency room I often question whether I should go to a "real" hospital or not. I tried to do research on my own in order to make a decision, but many pages about heart attacks were far too vauge to answer my questions. I hope you can clear up these questions for me and thank you for your time and help.

-nate