What is your body telling you?

It's always best to be alert and in-tune with your body, especially when it comes to your heart. Erring on the side of caution is probably the smartest way to deal with signs or symptoms of heart attack or stroke, although there is not always a need to an alarmist, either. Sometimes what you may think is something serious can, in all actuality, be nothing more than, say, heartburn or hyperventilation. Still, erring on the side of caution is probably the smarter way to operate.

Just the same, here are a few common mistaken chest sensations that may have you wondering if you're in trouble:

A Pounding or Fluttering Heartbeat: Believe it or not, a perfectly healthy man or woman may feel extra or skipped heartbeats on occasion. Turns out it's pretty normal. If the sensation is brief and the onset gradual, the fluttering is probably the harmless result of downing too much caffeine or dealing with a boatload of stress. When to worry? If the fluttering happens frequently and/or are accompanied by feeling light-headed or dizzy.

Pain on the Left Side of the Chest: Heart attack, right? Hopefully not. It may not necessarily be one, though. Fleeting pain on the left side of your chest can signal an inflammation of the lung lining -- which may not sound all that fun, but it's not life threatening. The pain could also be caused by a pulled muscle or even a broken bone.

Numbness and Shortness of Breath: Break out the brown, paper bag, because you may be hyperventilating. If you're struggling to catch your breath, and you lose feeling in your lips or hands, it's possibly being caused by your inability to catch you breath -- and not from a heart attack. When to worry? If after lying down and breathing into the bag for 5 minutes you still have symptoms, it may be time to make the call.

I know I've already said it twice, but I feel the need to stress that erring on the side of caution is still the way to go. Although some of the above instances may sometimes be mistaken for more serious heart problems, you don't want to find out so late that the symptoms you were experiencing were due to the real thing.