1. < Digestive Health

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.

Ethan McConkey, Moderator | @ethanmcconkey | Dec 31, 2019

Hi @amm97 you may have noticed I moved your post to this existing discussion you had joined before so that all your posts would be in one place and so that you can learn from others who have similar experiences like fellow Connect members like @jadillow @rubywitch67 @afrobin @ak999 @downtowntiger may be bale to share their experience and offer suggestions. Simply click VIEW & REPLY in your email notification to get to your post.

Is a pheochromocytoma something your doctor's are considering? What, if any, treatment are you currently receiving?

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1 reply
amm97 | @amm97 | Dec 31, 2019
In reply to @ethanmcconkey "Hi @amm97 you may have noticed I moved your post to this existing discussion you had..." + (show)
@ethanmcconkey

Hi @amm97 you may have noticed I moved your post to this existing discussion you had joined before so that all your posts would be in one place and so that you can learn from others who have similar experiences like fellow Connect members like @jadillow @rubywitch67 @afrobin @ak999 @downtowntiger may be bale to share their experience and offer suggestions. Simply click VIEW & REPLY in your email notification to get to your post.

Is a pheochromocytoma something your doctor's are considering? What, if any, treatment are you currently receiving?

Jump to this post

Yes i think so but my urine levels came back normal, so its becoming unlikely that a pheochromocytoma is the cause. But I've have seen research where there are cases where people have had pheochromocytomas despite having normal urine levels.
No treatment right now.

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abedin | @abedin | Jan 29, 2020

Hi Brandon just wanted an update. How are you doing now? I’ve been experience some of these things recently and the only things I’ve done is a blood test and an x ray but they said everything seems normal, yet I still feel these pains.

Is everything going good for you now and have you found out what is going on?

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samb33 | @samb33 | Feb 3, 2020
In reply to @crystal06 "I am new to all this so If in posting in the wrong place please correct..." + (show)
@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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hi @crystal06 I am having similar feelings and wanted to see if you found anything helpful? thank you!

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Ingegerd Enscoe, Alumni Mentor | @astaingegerdm | Feb 4, 2020
In reply to @amm97 "Hi! My name is Alex and I'm a 22 year old female. I have been having..." + (show)
@amm97

Hi! My name is Alex and I'm a 22 year old female. I have been having left sided chest pain for about a month. The pain is on my left side and radiates under my left breast. It is a sharp, stabbing pain. It happens all the time. With the chest pain I've also have had high heart (no less 100 and up to 150 at rest) and also high blood pressure. The pain is usually between 6-8 out of 10. I also have no history of anixety.
I've had EKGs done, a stress test, chest xray, upper gi scope, and labs. Everything so far has came back normal. My doctor has me scheduled for a kidney ultrasound next week.

Any suggestions?
Thank you.

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@amm97 - Hi! How are you doing now? I have a couple of questions for you - how often do you have elevated heart rate and blood pressure? Have you been wearing a Holter monitor? Any other changes with health in general? Appetite, weight?

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lioness | @lioness | Mar 9, 2020
In reply to @amm97 "I’m 22 years old and have been having chest pain for the last 5 months. This..." + (show)
@amm97

I’m 22 years old and have been having chest pain for the last 5 months. This pain happens all the time, it’s a shrap stabbing crampy feeling. It starts in the center of my left chest and goes under my left breast. Along with the chest pain I have high rate (100-140). I have had multiple tests done including ekg, blood work, ct of abdomen, mri of chest, kidney ultrasound, echo and stress test, holter monitor. All these have come back normal and we are reaching a point where we don’t know what else to do. I’ve been put on different meds and they haven’t worked. They ruled out anxiety or stress as I have pain all day every day. I need help!!

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@amm97 Im so sorry they haven't found out what the problem is . Welcome to connect we are a caring bunch of people and try to help with out own experience . Id like to invite @johnbishop to come in and help John is a great resource for problems. Id like to ask you have you gone to a university hospital of Mayo clinic if one is near you . They are better at diagnosing as they have more resources available to them . I wish you well.

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1 reply
Mentor
John, Volunteer Mentor | @johnbishop | Mar 9, 2020
In reply to @amm97 "I’m 22 years old and have been having chest pain for the last 5 months. This..." + (show)
@amm97

I’m 22 years old and have been having chest pain for the last 5 months. This pain happens all the time, it’s a shrap stabbing crampy feeling. It starts in the center of my left chest and goes under my left breast. Along with the chest pain I have high rate (100-140). I have had multiple tests done including ekg, blood work, ct of abdomen, mri of chest, kidney ultrasound, echo and stress test, holter monitor. All these have come back normal and we are reaching a point where we don’t know what else to do. I’ve been put on different meds and they haven’t worked. They ruled out anxiety or stress as I have pain all day every day. I need help!!

Jump to this post

Hi @amm97, I'm sorry you haven't been able to find any help or diagnosis from your doctors for your chest pain. I have no experience to share with you but there is another similar discussion where you can learn from the experiences of other members discussing chest pain. I'm tagging our moderator @kanaazpereira to see if we can move your post to the following similar discussion:

> Groups > Digestive Health > Months of Chest Pain - Please help
-- https://connect.mayoclinic.org/discussion/months-of-chest-pain-please-help/

Have your doctors suggested any other tests or possibilities for the chest pain since the medications have not helped?

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amm97 | @amm97 | Mar 9, 2020
In reply to @lioness "@amm97 Im so sorry they haven't found out what the problem is . Welcome to connect..." + (show)
@lioness

@amm97 Im so sorry they haven't found out what the problem is . Welcome to connect we are a caring bunch of people and try to help with out own experience . Id like to invite @johnbishop to come in and help John is a great resource for problems. Id like to ask you have you gone to a university hospital of Mayo clinic if one is near you . They are better at diagnosing as they have more resources available to them . I wish you well.

Jump to this post

I have not but I’m definitely considering it. I just don’t know what else they will do for me.

REPLY
1 reply
Ingegerd Enscoe, Alumni Mentor | @astaingegerdm | Mar 9, 2020
In reply to @amm97 "I have not but I’m definitely considering it. I just don’t know what else they will..." + (show)
@amm97

I have not but I’m definitely considering it. I just don’t know what else they will do for me.

Jump to this post

@amm97 - I am very sorry that you have this chest pain at your age! I also think it would be a good idea to get an evaluation at a major university hospital, Mayo Clinic or Cleveland Clinic. Mayo was great for me- there is so much knowledge and there is communication between doctors.
I hope other members will share their experiences with a pain like yours.

REPLY
JK | @contentandwell | Mar 9, 2020
In reply to @amm97 "I’m 22 years old and have been having chest pain for the last 5 months. This..." + (show)
@amm97

I’m 22 years old and have been having chest pain for the last 5 months. This pain happens all the time, it’s a shrap stabbing crampy feeling. It starts in the center of my left chest and goes under my left breast. Along with the chest pain I have high rate (100-140). I have had multiple tests done including ekg, blood work, ct of abdomen, mri of chest, kidney ultrasound, echo and stress test, holter monitor. All these have come back normal and we are reaching a point where we don’t know what else to do. I’ve been put on different meds and they haven’t worked. They ruled out anxiety or stress as I have pain all day every day. I need help!!

Jump to this post

@amm97 I too am sorry to know you are having these problems, particularly at such a young age. Also, as others have said, I think you really need to go to a large medical center, preferably a teaching hospital. They see the most so know the most. I don't see where you are from, but there are excellent hospitals in most areas of the country. I am in southern NH and love Mass General. It is rated the #2 hospital in the country, right behind Mayo.
If you don't know which hospitals close to you are highly regarded, a good starting point is the US News ratings. They are pretty much the gold standard of hospital ratings.
https://health.usnews.com/best-hospitals
https://health.usnews.com/best-hospitals/rankings
I hope you can find something soon that will help to find out what is causing your chest pains and that it will be easily resolved. Please let us know how you are doing.
JK

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