Months of Chest Pain - Please help

Posted by capt209 @capt209, Nov 19, 2017

Hello all,

My name is Brandon and I'm a 34 year old male. I'm excited to get signed up on here and hopeful this may help my anxiety which is through the roof! I have been through ongoing chest pain for the past 4 months. The pain started off as a pinch on the left side of chest. It evolved into a pinch and pressure onto the right side of chest. It would be nearly daily, but didn't really get worse after meals or doing a lot of exercising. The pain then started radiating to my shoulders and sometimes into my arms but rarely. Now, it radiates into my jaw occasionally. I get a wierd fluttering in my chest occasionally when I lay down, but when i sit up and get doing stuff I don't realize it much. Now the chest pain mainly feels like pressure in my chest snd i get occsssional sharp pains on the lower portion of my ribs and sometimes on each side of my sternum. What could this be?

Here's what all I've had done....
CT scan of heart and heart echo - found i have a slightly dialated aerota at the base that they will monitor yearly. I also have a bicuspid aerota valve with moderate regurgitation. Cardiologist does not think my heart is causing the pains. I have no blockages at all and they aren't concerned at all of a heart attack.

I was scoped and found i have a moderate to large hiatal hernia and esophagitas. They also did a manometry test and found I was having esophogas spasms. I am set to have a bravo test this week to see if acid reflux might be the cause. I bet that will show that is the case because I've had acid reflux since my late teens / early 20s.

During my CT scan, they saw a slightly enlarged lymphnode...which i think was on the right side of my chest. They said they would recheck that in 6 months. I had a cold or infection during that test and had some congestion and they say that may of been the reason for that.

I have been on a proton pump inhibitor, zantac and tums as needed but i haven't really noticed much of an improvement on them, if at all.

I have back problems and a neck injury as well. They also think that may be the cause of the chest pain. I had an MRI which did not show any nerve compression but I am constantly battling neck and back pain, sometimes severe.

Any help would be appreciated,

Thanks all,
Brandon

Interested in more discussions like this? Go to the Digestive Health Support Group.

Good morning to all in the Chest Pain discussion group. Connect has another discussion group that is currently ongoing about many of the same symptoms that you have all been mentioning. I thought you might find it informative and perhaps helpful. Here is the link,

https://connect.mayoclinic.org/discussion/sinus-node-dysfunction-sss-chronotropic-incompetence/?pg=1#comment-251663
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Im suffering with the exact same symptoms. Ive had xray and blood test. I know deep down there is something wrong with me. Nobody wants to listen to me and they just keep saying that its a chest infection. I honestly cant keep going like this and its been 6weeks. The stress i now feel is unbelivable. I cant go on somebody please help me!! 🙁

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@moosoon10

@capt209 @russellbeard
Your symptoms are very similar to mines. I have had chest pain over 4 months so far. I was diagnosed with chronic gastritis in August after rushing to ER for sudden chest pain one morning. I never had radiating chest pain before, so just like many other people would mistakenly think, I thought it was heart attack. And it turned out to be it was not heart attack. Through endoscopy my doctor discovered I have gastritis and I had been on proton pump inhibitor as well for the last 3 month. I also have ongoing back pain prior to gastritis diagnosis for over 4 years. I will post details of my symptom soon. Please check it out.

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Just updates on mine. My chest pain has improved. For 9 days, I had no chest pain. 11 days ago, I began only eating vegetables, sweet potatoes and steamed rice. I also removed any acidic spices from my meals. Within 3 days doing such diet, I noticed I no longer had chest pain. I am not taking any medicine but I have taken B6, 12 and Magnesium daily. And those vitamin and mineral supplements are to prevent PPI side effect from taking PPI for 3 months and also for high blood pressure. Last Saturday, I ate spicy food and within 2 hours the chest burning sensation came back but now it is all gone because I have not eaten anything spicy since then.

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@lonewolf85

Im suffering with the exact same symptoms. Ive had xray and blood test. I know deep down there is something wrong with me. Nobody wants to listen to me and they just keep saying that its a chest infection. I honestly cant keep going like this and its been 6weeks. The stress i now feel is unbelivable. I cant go on somebody please help me!! 🙁

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I am sorry to hear that. I know how you feel because I have dealt with mines so far 4 months. If you write more details of your symptoms, there maybe somebody who might be able to help you.

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Good Day Brandon, do you have an update of your prognosis? I have many if not all of the same symptoms you have had, thanks for your time.

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@bren85044

Good Day Brandon, do you have an update of your prognosis? I have many if not all of the same symptoms you have had, thanks for your time.

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Welcome to Connect, @bren85044 and @lonewolf85.
I’m tagging @srodriguez @hokiefan @marychapman @mary1121 @hanark0068 @juangarcia90 @bbbogh @izzylt123 @catherinelewis @karolyn as they’ve talked about undiagnosed chest pain, and may be able to share their insights that may help.

I also encourage you to go through these discussions on Connect:
– Ongoing Chest Pain with normal tests https://connect.mayoclinic.org/discussion/ongoing-chest-pain-with-normal-tests/
– Chronic Stomach, chest and back pain https://connect.mayoclinic.org/discussion/chronic-stomach-chest-and-back-pain/

I can only imagine how frustrating and worrisome undiagnosed chest pain can be, but there are quite a few conditions that can cause this kind of pain – GERD and other gastrointestinal problems such as ulcers, muscle spasms in the esophagus, a gallbladder attack, can cause chest pain and symptoms that mimic those of a heart attack or angina:
– Heartburn or heart attack: When to worry https://www.mayoclinic.org/diseases-conditions/heartburn/in-depth/heartburn-gerd/art-20046483
However, it is always safer to get it checked out –the more you know, the easier it is to avoid damage.

Based on Mentor @predictable’s post in another conversation, I’d like to ask members in this discussion if you’ve consulted a specialist perhaps, in internal medicine? Or considered getting a diagnosis/treatment from a patient-centered clinic (like Mayo Clinic or a state university institution) that is equipped to examine every possibility? They could provide a second opinion, which might ease some of the uncertainty and stress with which all of you are trying your best to cope.

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@hiko

Hello guys I have the same symptoms us you have. I have had this problem over a year now, and it drives me crazy. Almost everyday I struggle with it -:(. Been through many test and they were all normal as they say. I have changed my doctors 4 times and none of them could find out what it is. I have pressure, burning sensation, chest discomfort in many forms... only in my left side of the chest and sometimes dizziness, shortness of breath and back pain comes to. I have an appointment on 18 of January 2019 with heart specialists in Germany hope he can help. I will update you guys if any thing happens. Thanks

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@hiko How did it go

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Hi:
Why don’t you make an appointment for a second Opinion at the Cleveland Clinic regarding your aorta and your regurgitation of your valves. Make sure the Cardiologist is an expert on your valves and aorta. I would not wait any longer. Do your own research on who is the best Cardiologist in your problems. Also get your reports and read them very carefully and google the diagnosis. Also get all tests MRI CT Scans and what ever imagines that was done, disks, blood work, Doctor’s notes, and all reports and once you have everything then either mail everything or hand delivered to the new Cardiologist. Make sure it’s registered mail to the correct address.

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I am new to all this so If in posting in the wrong place please correct me but 30 years old female and started having chest pains about 3 years ago and when it first started my first reaction obviously was to go to the local emergency room department which I did and they done an EKG and checked my blood levels and said it was acid reflux so I let it go for a while and started taking the medications prescribed and it continued for some time so I went out on my own and made an appointment with a cardiologist he done EKG an ultrasound and I regular stress test without the dye.... Then so then he gotthe test results back and said the exact same thing that the emergency room did and that it was acid reflux so I couldn't accept it so I made another appointment with another cardiologist in the next town over he done a EKG ultrasounds MRI hey did I another stress test with da he done pretty much all the tests he could except for a heart cath and he wouldn't do the heart cath because nothing pointed toward me needing it and said it was not my heart I have also been hospitalized for a night so my heart could be monitored and I could not find anything wrong with my heart .. so now I'm going to have a scope run down my throat to see if it's something there but it hurts so bad that I get ao scared. I've been called crazy several times.. I feel so alone.

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@crystal06

I am new to all this so If in posting in the wrong place please correct me but 30 years old female and started having chest pains about 3 years ago and when it first started my first reaction obviously was to go to the local emergency room department which I did and they done an EKG and checked my blood levels and said it was acid reflux so I let it go for a while and started taking the medications prescribed and it continued for some time so I went out on my own and made an appointment with a cardiologist he done EKG an ultrasound and I regular stress test without the dye.... Then so then he gotthe test results back and said the exact same thing that the emergency room did and that it was acid reflux so I couldn't accept it so I made another appointment with another cardiologist in the next town over he done a EKG ultrasounds MRI hey did I another stress test with da he done pretty much all the tests he could except for a heart cath and he wouldn't do the heart cath because nothing pointed toward me needing it and said it was not my heart I have also been hospitalized for a night so my heart could be monitored and I could not find anything wrong with my heart .. so now I'm going to have a scope run down my throat to see if it's something there but it hurts so bad that I get ao scared. I've been called crazy several times.. I feel so alone.

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@crystal06 Hi Crystal, I'm JK, a mentor on Connect. I am really most experienced in transplants and knee replacements so this is a bit out of my field of knowledge, although I do have Barrett's Esophagus, and I do take a PPI -- omeprazole.

You definitely seemed to have exhausted tests to discover if you have a heart problem, and thankfully they have all come up negative. You have been advised that it is acid reflux, and it does sound as if it must be. I presume what was prescribed was a PPI, something like omeprazole. They can take a while to really help I understand, so I hope you did not give up on it. If so, you should resume taking it. When an emergency room prescribes something they generally tell you to follow up with your regular doctor so I hope you have, or that you have made an appointment with a gastroenterologist. PPI dosage sometimes needs to be fine-tuned. The gastroenterologist I went to when my Barrett's Esophagus was discovered put me on a large dose of omeprazole initially, then after a month or two it was decreased.

I know how frightening it is to not know what is wrong and to be in pain. You do need to see either your PCP or a gastroenterologist, and I am sure they will help you get through this and find a medication for you that will give you the relief you deserve. In the meantime, you might try googling "diet for gerd" (Gastroesophageal reflux disease). There are a lot of foods that can make you feel worse if you eat them, like citrus, coffee, and anything acidic.

I will be interested in hearing what your doctor has to say. I hope you don't have to wait too long to get to see him/her.
JK

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