Chest Pains

[OnlyPantherFaninMaine]

Let me preface this by saying I am currently 23 years old and am not a smoker.

For about three years now I have had this awkward pain towards the middle of my chest, right about where my sternum is or directly to right of my heart. If I'm up and walking around I do not notice it at all. However, if I lay on my back for 15-20 minutes or so it will start to get uncomfortable. The pain is worse when I lay on either side for the same duration. If I lean forward it begins to hurt as well.

One night while away at college about 2 years ago I had just finished eating dinner and sat upright on my couch to just watch some TV with my roommates. The pain followed and I began to psyche myself out thinking I was having a heart attack at age 21. My heart was beating faster than it ever did as an athlete during an intense game. I immediately walked myself to the campus doctor where he said my blood pressure was through the roof and I was rushed to the hospital via ambulance and hooked up to oxygen and an IV. I attribute this to just being very scared and thinking I could go into cardiac arrest at any time.

Once at the hospital my blood pressure slowly returned to normalcy and x-rays of my chest and back turned up negative for any structural damages. I immediately scheduled an appointment with a cardiologist back home and had my appointment over winter break that year. The doctor had me run on a treadmill hooked up to all sorts of equipment and once again took x rays. Nothing in any of his tests was abnormal and he attributed the pain to my chest/pectoral muscles.

Then again, last year, the same thing happened. My chest began aching so bad that again my heart rate went crazy and I was rushed to hospital once again for high blood pressure. I wasn't taking any chances. Once more, the emergency room employees found nothing out of the ordinary.

To this day the plain almost comes on daily. Especially late at night when I am in bed. My parents both seem to think it is stress related and I tend to agree. Has anyone else ever experienced frequent chest pains? Did you ever get a proper diagnoses? If it really is muscular I'd love to know what options I have: Stretching? Strengthening? It is just extremely frustrating to deal with every day of my life especially being young as I am. I do not know how it started but would like it to all be over with.

[captfluoro]

Did they check out your GI system, either gastroesophageal reflux or an inflamed gallbladder? Both of those can cause chest pains that can simulate cardiac symptoms. Hope you find out what is causing your problems.

[Zod]

Yep. sounds like heartburn. Try changing your diet to healthier foods.

[Doyle]

Yes I experienced this when I was in my teens. I had an ultrasound and they never could determine what it was. Besides you, I've only spoken to one other person in my life that suffered from this. Mine went away after a few years. All I can say is I feel for you because the pain was unbelieveable.

[ThunderCats]

This sounds alot like what i experienced. hospital, blood pres... anyways family doc pressed on my chest couple places,turned out i had arthritis/imflammation in rib cage/sternum. took med and i never felt it again.

[Doyle]

This sounds alot like what i experienced. hospital, blood pres... anyways family doc pressed on my chest couple places,turned out i had arthritis/imflammation in rib cage/sternum. took med and i never felt it again.

I heard someone else say once that it could be the heart rubbing against the chest wall. So this would make sense.

[Floppin]

I had inflamed cartilage in my sternum, that poo hurt for fuging two years. Every time I sneezed it would put me onto my knees. Inflamed tissue, such as muscle and cartilage, doesn't show up on x-rays. You could have something similar.

The increased heart rate and blood pressure can more than likely be attributed to anxiety. Although not exactly the same, I have an anxiety condition (although it's managed now without medication). When I first started having panic attacks, I thought that I had a heart condition, as a real panic attack feels VERY similar to a heart attack. The anxiety of thinking that I was dying and that I had something seriously wrong with me, only served to perpetuate the attack cycle.

Point is that your increased heart rate and blood pressure could be attributed to a type of panic response derived from not knowing what exactly is wrong with you and being frightened.

[Moose Hoover]

You could try incorporating dumbell pullovers into your workout to expand the rib cage and see if that helps.

[jasonluckydog]

eat tums.....you will be ok.

next patient!

[Hawk]

sounds like you have a cute vagina....I mean....acute angina!!!

seriously...sounds like a digestive thing, I used to get that too and I could never pin point what would cause it.

as a side note...do you take any fish oils? A good friend of mine had a minor heart attack and a fairly young age, mid 30's and after he was all better, his cardiologist recommended that he took salmon oil pills daily. They are pretty cheap and are supposed to do wonders for yours blood. They will give you horrible horrible burps though!

[Chimera]

It wouldn't be angina with the symptoms he described.

I thought GERD at first, but I'm on the inflammation bandwagon. Have your doctor check for mediastinitis - which could be bacterial and pretty serious.

[Hawk]

I couldn't resist the opportunity to say cute vagina!

[h0llywood]

Real honest question, right before or during these pains, do you have gas? Do you also get heartburn?

Look into pleurisy. I have it and it feels like i'm being stabbed in the heart. Like you I was young and healthy when I got pleurisy at around 21 years old. It took over 2 years to get a diagnosis.

[Bronn]

It sounds to me like you might have a hiatal or esophageal hernia... Might want to go see a GI and get and endoscopy done...

The pain you're feeling could be inflammation of that hernia tissue whenever you have acid reflux, causing the pain to be sudden... especially when lying down...