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Months of Chest Pain - Please help
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
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@hartline What type of surgery did you have to fix the hernia?
ZeeGee
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1 ReactionThanks for the reply.
At one time I don't run too much - say between 6-10km. I consider myself to be physically fit and am used to running, so I'd be suprised if the pains were a result of stress caused by over exertion.
I'm still trying to work our how what/when I eat affects the pains - they do get worse in the evening and when lying down. I try to eat at least 3-4 hrs before I sleep, but often will sleep more immediately after eating, but i haven't noticed much of a difference yet in terms of the pains and how soon I sleep after eating.
I do sleep prone, but recently have been having palpatations which are more noticeable when lying on my front, os have also shifted to sleeping on my side and back. Thanks for the tip on raising the head, I'll do that.
Worryingly my symptoms do seem to be getting worse, I have a permanent ache in my left arm, the left side of my face feels almost numb (although when I touch it it's fine), and I'm feeling nauseous.
@larrydyer, This sounds like something that needs medical attention. I know that you are continuing to follow up with your doctor and that it can be a job to persist in finding the issue. Have you mentioned the ache in the left arm and the face numbness to your doctor? Might worry and anxiety be contributing or exacerbating issues?
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1 ReactionHi
No reason yet, the pressure is mostly in the middle of my chest now and it is quite bad especially when lying down. I feel like its not related to heart. Have you found a reason ?
Possibility of Costochondritis after a Mastectomy! It’s become a chronic chest pain!
@larrydyer and @hjmx94 Sleeping on your chest will compress your heart, and will cause you to need to turn your head which puts strain on your neck and spine. If you already have tightness there, it exacerbates that and can definitely cause arm pain because the nerves that travel from your spine to your arms and pass through some small spaces there. If you also have any issues in your cervical spine where a muscle spasm could move the vertebrae around, that can compress nerves in the head and neck. I have thoracic outlet syndrome which shares these symptoms and also a cervical issue that has been surgically repaired. One of the tests for TOS is the doctor listening to the circulation being cut off when you turn your head, and some patients can pass out from this as it alters blood supply flow to your brain. I've had tingling in my face, jaw and ear pain as well as neck, scapular, arm and chest pain from TOS. My neck and chest are too tight which can cause pain in my arm, tightness in my chest and it even raises my heart rate. I am seeing a physical therapist who does myofascial release work, and after a session, my heart rate dropped from around 100 per minute to 85 because my PT stretched the tight fascia through my neck and chest. This restricts my ability to breathe correctly because my chest doesn't expand correctly. I would recommend that you seek an evaluation with an MFR therapist and a specialist for TOS. They are hard to find and it is often misunderstood and misdiagnosed, so look for one at a multidisciplinary medical center that treats TOS similar to Mayos' approach or a university medical center. These issues can be hard to pinpoint to a specific cause, and you wouldn't need that to do physical therapy. There is a lot of information collected in our MFR discussion and there is a provider search on the myofascial release website.
Here are some links to get you started.
The provider search is here. https://myofascialrelease.com/find-a-therapist/
https://connect.mayoclinic.org/discussion/myofascial-release-therapy-mfr-for-treating-compression-and-pain/
https://mskneurology.com/how-truly-treat-thoracic-outlet-syndrome/
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2 ReactionsI have gastroperisis. It has also aggravated my pancreas. I started having chest pains and pressure. Went to er thinking I'm having a heart attack. He checked enzymes everything fine. He checked pancreas and numbers were almost triple the norm. I wasn't hurting that bad in my left side. My chest and back mainly. Hope this helps.
Hello Brandon, I have been living with this for 5 years now. I went through all of tests forHeart and esophagus. I was diagnosed with Dysfunctional Pepsia , I do not think I spelled it right but I also have Gerd. If I over eat or eat the wrong thing I get the chest pain, shortness of breath and feel at times I want to pass out. I know what I need to do to keep this from happening now, which includes gas e-x pills , a small anti de present and eating right. I hope you find what works for you. P.s I do think this is a hereditary condition as I remember my mother having the same symptoms.
Umbilical
So they put me on anxiety meds no change