Chest Pains

[RedMage138]

Guys... It's obviously lupus.

[mmmbeans]

i'm not saying it's aliens... but it's aliens.

[OnlyPantherFaninMaine]

Wow never thought I would receive this many serious responses with some good information and advice. I appreciate everyone who offered some insight and thank you because I was starting to just accept that the pain was here to stay and wasn't going to look into it any further.

Captfluoro- I do not believe they checked my reflux or anything to do with my gallbladder. I'm in the process of scheduling another meeting with my doctor and will bringing up all these concerns.

Zod- I too thought it was heartburn for a while. My diet is pretty healthy overall and because it is a daily pain that rarely subsides and is pretty constant I've leaned away from that theory but I admit it could be in. Tums and other heartburn remedies never really helped much. I've had heartburn before and this pain is just different. It is hard to describe but just feels more "internal" or "structural".

Doyle- I was happy to read this; hoping more than anything that my pain just goes away. Any day now!

ThunderCats- If I had to guess, this is exactly what I believe it would be. Some sort of inflammation of my ribs/sternum and the heart rubbing against the chest wall would make sense I suppose. Definitely going to look into this.

Floppin- Stuff is scary man; believe me. I just freaked myself out by thinking of the worst case scenario every time the pain would start to come on and I just drove myself to the point where my blood pressure would skyrocket. I'm really starting to think it is some inflammation in my sternum somewhere.

Hawk- Back when the pain started I was taking several fish oils a day but when I was lifting heavy and working out frequently. Just starting to get back into real good shape again so fish oils will be implemented back into my diet soon.

Mr. Belding- Thank you! I'll have to mention that. I'm on the inflammation bandwagon as well at this point. Would it go away on its own? Because its been several years but maybe it just can't heal because of me being active or just getting into positions that are unavoidable like when I lay down to sleep for example.

h0llywood- Nope, I haven't experienced any gas before or during these pains. I've had some episodes of heartburn maybe 5 times in my life but never anything consistent. I will look into pleurisy.

Bronn- Thanks Bronn. I may get an endoscopy done just for the hell of it and hope if something is wrong that it will get diagnosed that way. At this point I am pretty desperate and will do whatever it takes.

Thanks again everyone! I appreciate it!

[Bronn]

Quick question...

Do you ever have trouble swallowing solid foods?

Just curious. If you have a hiatal or esophageal hernia that could be another symptom too... Food feeling like it doesn't go down right...

If not, you might have a small ulcer near the top of your stomach/bottom of your esophagus, caused by acid erosion.

Do you find that the pain comes on faster or more often after certain foods, or even when you eat larger meals?

[OnlyPantherFaninMaine]

Quick question...

Do you ever have trouble swallowing solid foods?

Just curious. If you have a hiatal or esophageal hernia that could be another symptom too... Food feeling like it doesn't go down right...

If not, you might have a small ulcer near the top of your stomach/bottom of your esophagus, caused by acid erosion.

Do you find that the pain comes on faster or more often after certain foods, or even when you eat larger meals?

Nope, never trouble swallowing foods of any sorts. From my experience the foods I eat or size of my meal really does not make much of a difference with regards to my chest pain. For instance, right now I am just on my back on my couch and haven't eaten since last night and the pain is just there. It is not really painful...but currently it is just a faint pain that is almost sitting on my the middle on my chest. I wish I could describe the pain more accurately... it isn't really acute or sharp. It is almost like a pressure and feels like someone has their hand wrapped around my heart or something and is squeezing ever so slightly.

[Bronn]

I've also heard of people that can have slightly inverted breast bones, but I think that would have shown up in your XRay...

hmm... keep us in the loop with whatever you find out... I'm very curious to things like this...

[jamos14]

Different thought, it could also be anxiety related. An incident like you had (rushed to ER, thought heart attack) can cause some serious anxiety / panic. In turn, your body can respond to any little similar symptom with the same panic response.

[cptx]

Different thought, it could also be anxiety related. An incident like you had (rushed to ER, thought heart attack) can cause some serious anxiety / panic. In turn, your body can respond to any little similar symptom with the same panic response.

Yup. Even if it's not initially caused by anxiety, laying there freaking yourself out about it can definitely make it worse.

I have PVCs and it happens like that any time I let it. First there will be one or two, then my mind will start spazzing out and they will get worse. If I don't think about them I barely ever notice. Its generally worse when laying in bed at night because my mind will fixate on them.

[Toolbox]

I get PVCs and I really hate how it just pops outta nowhere and freaks me out.

[ladypanther]

I would suggest you try eating a very bland, mild diet for 3 days and see if that makes any dif. Only broth with a few noodles, plain rice (brown or white), bananas, dry toast, tea or water to drink. Maybe a soft boiled egg or two. No raw veggies or fruit. If you see any reduction in pain....may be GI. I would suspect that since the pain increases when you lay down. Also...your head needs to be elevated when you lay down (at least 30 degrees). That experiment will give you some info. (Also...try drinking some water when you feel the pain.)

Anxiety can cause those symptoms (but I think the laying down thing is a little suspect) but it should not be deemed the cause until all possible physical causes have been ruled out.

Let us know how things are going. Make sure you doctors do not skip over things because you are young.

Hope it is something very simple. :)

[Guest]

Yup. Even if it's not initially caused by anxiety, laying there freaking yourself out about it can definitely make it worse.

I have PVCs and it happens like that any time I let it. First there will be one or two, then my mind will start spazzing out and they will get worse. If I don't think about them I barely ever notice. Its generally worse when laying in bed at night because my mind will fixate on them.

I get PVCs and I really hate how it just pops outta nowhere and freaks me out.

Being tired, too much caffeine is what my doctor told me when I used to get those all the time. Much less frequent now but yeah they really freak you out

[cptx]

IAlso...your head needs to be elevated when you lay down (at least 30 degrees).

I would recommend this to anyone. I put blocks under the head end of our bed and haven't had heartburn since.

[ladypanther]

Too much caffeine can make your heart do flips. Not likely the pain thing, but caffeine can also be hard on your stomach.

[cptx]

Being tired, too much caffeine is what my doctor told me when I used to get those all the time. Much less frequent now but yeah they really freak you out

Yeah, avoiding nicotine and caffeine and staying hydrated are the big three things that help me a lot. I took a beta blocker for a while, but when I found out I could somewhat control them by changing habits instead of taking meds I stopped the pills.