Oh God Lesa, I'm exactly like you. I'm so sorry for you that you too have to go through this horrible pain and fear, I really really feel for you! I hate it so much!
I've had it since I was 17, now I'm 37. It started some months after my father had his first heart attack, although that didn't really shock me all that much at the time, and my father was fine for another 14 years afterwards and ultimately died of cancer.
I wish there was something I could suggest to you that really makes a big difference, but if there is I haven't found it yet. Having said that, I'm not nearly as bad as I was in the first few years before I understood what was going on and how it all hangs together. Now at least I know it's mainly panic and indigestion, but no doctor had told me this for the first few years, and for years I was convinced there was something seriously wrong with me.
One piece of advice: get your stomach checked out, and read up on what you can do to avoid indigestion. I always thought I had a stomach like a horse and just didn't make the connection between chest pain and stomach trouble. Neither did my first two doctors. I always thought stomach pain is much further down, and I've always eaten everything without any problem. But believe me, it can cause pain that goes right up to your chest, and exactly where you think your heart sits.
You say you smoke, do you also drink coffee or Coke? If you do then try to cut down, first of all it messes with your heart rate and secondly it's poison for the stomach. I always noticed that my chest pains seemed to appear after I had my breakfast black coffee and cigarette.
Also, it helps me to try and keep the pain and the panic reaction apart. (Haha, easier said then done, but it's something to work on.) Next time you get a heart pang try to keep in mind that the cold sweat and the trembling and the sick feeling is the FEAR and not the HEART!
If it's any consolation I get 'heart' pangs maybe once a month, sometimes a lot more, and after 21 years of them I'm still here to tell you about them! Sometimes I'm ok for a few months in a row. They normally come out of the blue. They feel different every time so you can't even get used to the bastards.
I've last been to an ER about a year ago when the pain wa