Your breathing is closely connected to the process of your heart pumping blood. The heart pumps blood in order to provide blood flow to the body’s tissues and to retrieve oxygen from the lungs. When the heart has trouble pumping blood, you might experience shortness of breath. This is sometimes what happens during a heart attack; you feel short of breath because your heart is struggling to pump blood as it should.

Shortness of breath is a common sign of a heart attack among women. In women experiencing heart attacks, shortness of breath is occasionally accompanied by abnormal fatigue. Some women who suffered heart attacks recall suddenly feeling short of breath and  tired, even though whatever they were doing at the time wasn’t necessarily strenuous.

For example, a simple task like walking outside to get the newspaper might cause a woman having a heart attack to feel completely drained and unable to catch her breath. She might even feel as though she is about to pass out.

If you are suddenly overcome with dizziness, lightheadedness, and/or fatigue and fear that you might be about to faint, don’t just ignore this feeling and hope it goes away; seek medical care before it’s possibly too late.