Chest Pain

[firefly_63]

Here is my story. I am a 45 yo mother of 4 children (ages 16 mo. to 9 yrs) I have had a tremendous amount of stress in my life for the past 6-7 years. I also just got over mild depression I just recently started to work on reducing stress by exercise, meditation therapy, life coach, etc. I can say that it has made a difference. I still have this chest pain (periodically) that has been going on for 6 months and is now getting worse. I am seeing a cardiologist who ran the regular stress test and an echo; Both were normal. He is now going to do a stress test with pictures because I told him I experienced chest pain while on a machine at the gym. I also do a body pump class that involves weights. Been doing it for 2 months now.
Here are my symptoms: Usually the pain occurs at night but can during the day. It is an intense ache in the center of my chest that sometimes feels like it radiates towards my lungs or back. Recently I had pain in my jaw or temple that lasted just a few minutes. First the left side then both. I also get pain in various parts of my head that come and go. I have also felt nausua, visual disturbances and tingling in my hands or numbness. Today I have had the pain in my chest all day long. I finally took an Advil so that I can get some sleep. If anyone has any suggestions I would appreciate it.
Oh, and my Dad has had quad by-pass surgery. It saved his life.
Carolyn
firefly

[Davy9]

Have them check out esophageal spasms too.

[firefly_63]

I slept pretty good last nite but the pain returned today and got worse as the day went on. I then felt fluttery feelings in my heart. I felt very tired also. So I took a baby aspirin and went for a brisk walk to see if the pain was still present during the walk. It was. I called my cardiologist and got a woman Dr. who was on call. She asked if I was an anxious person. I told her sometimes. I described all my symptoms to her and she was not concerned??
I then laid down to rest and fell asleep. I guess I was a little run down and tired from taking care of my family. A lot of factors could have contributed. Extra coffee, doing a lot, not eating enough protein.
For the rest of the day the pain was mostly gone and then it returned this evening. I will have to see how it goes. Tomorrow I am calling my cardiologist.
BTW I looked up esophogeal reflux and the only symptom I have of the list is the chest pain. I don't have difficulty swallowing or heartburn.
Carolyn

[Davy9]

An Esophageal spasm is not reflux AKA GERD. It is like a muscle spasm of the esophagus. I doubt if this is your problem given your description of todays events. I hope you can find the answer to your situation.

[tmarx]

I have had similar symptoms. I am a 43 year old female. I have had stressthe past 1 1/2 years. I do not take any medications. I get chest pains in the middle of my chest when I am sitting or even sleeping and it wakes me up. I get a throbbing pain in the right side of my head that comes and goes. The right side of my neck below my adams apple gets a throbbing pain from time to time. For 10+ years I have gotten a pain in my right shoulder blade that lasts for about 2 hours and feels like a contraction. I now have a consistant pain in my back a little below that. My inner right leg throbs where my artery is. A month ago I got a throbbing pain under my right rib that woke me up during the night. Friday I woke up at 2:30 am from sound asleep and felt very faint. I started trembling in my jaw and legs and couldn't control it. I had an overwhelming sense of doom. I finally got up and walked around and that seemed to make it go away. Ever since then my shoulders have been hurting and the pain in my chest is more intense and constant. I have had a test for acid reflux, stress tests (last september) colin test and a gallbladder Hida scan (however they told me I could have a latte before the test and then was told I shouldn't have drank the late when I got to the test). I'm going in for a CT scan of my kidneys tomorrow. When I got the pain under my right rib it lasted into the next weekend day. I called the doctor on call who thought I might be having apendiscitus (sp?) so I went to emergency room. They sent me home and said they couldn't find anything. They did a bladder infection test, nothing. I'm going to see a cardiologist in 2 weeks. I feel like a hypocondriac, but the pains are real. I have 3 girlfriends that have had heart attacks at my age. Also I weigh 170lbs. 5 ft 4.
I don't exercise enough and my father had heart disease. I have never smoked, I try to eat healthy and go for long walks 3 times a week. I have 1 latte per day and got myself off of the caffeine months ago. I don't drink sodas. What in the world do you think is going on with me? My primary care doc thinks I had a panic attack. I'm not accepting this answer as I sit on the couch typing this and having slight chest pains.

[firefly_63]

Wow! You sound like something is definately going on. A lot of what you describe could be fibromyalgia. The back pain, and it's funny that you mention the right shoulder pain. I have the same type pain in my right shoulder. I even had 2 cortisone shots in that arm by a Rheumatologist. He was the one who diag. me with fibromyalgia.

I had a CT scan and it revealed a 1" diam. mediastinal cyst in my thoracic cavity. I went to 2 thoracic specialists and both thought that it was not the source of my pain. It is located at T6 and is right next to my spine. They did a 2nd test to rule out cancer. They said it was most likely neurogenic. In other words.. A nerve that grew. So nothing is to be done about it. One said they could remove it but why?
I thought that the recovery and pain would not be worth it. Nerves that are cut take years to heal.

So there is another condition that may be the source of your pain. At the moment I can't think of it. I saw it while surfing the net one day.

I hope that you can get some anwers to your questions. I know how it feels to be in pain and no one takes you seriously. Write back anytime
Carolyn