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Ongoing, undiagnosed chest pain: I want to feel better
Hi! I am posting in the hopes of finding some answers or possible routes for me to explore after 7+ months of undiagnosed chest pains. I am a 25 year old female. In September of 2020 I woke up in the middle of the night with a sharp chest pain, nausea, and dizziness. Prior to that I had been experiencing premature ventricular contractions (PVCs) (did not know that is what they were at the time) sporadically, but after the night in September they started really picking up frequency. I ended up in the ER twice in one week with chest pains and excessive PVCs and left with no diagnosis each time. Since then I have experienced an array of symptoms including: continued chest pains, arm pain, numbness in hands and sometimes face, back and neck pain, fatigue, dizziness, head pressure, the list goes on. I have gotten just about every test done on my heart that I could - echocardiogram, Heart MRI, Holter monitor, stress test - all of which have come back totally normal. I've also explored neurology and got an EMG of my arms and hands as well as a brain and cervical spine MRI - again, all totally normal. I've also had bloodwork done throughout all of this, everything always comes back normal. The problem is, I feel terrible. Almost every single day I experience chest pain that often feels like pressure or squeezing and can be sharp. I've gone onto Nadolol (beta blocker) which has helped minimize my PVCs but has not eliminated them, and they can sometimes be debilitating. Every doctor I've seen (and I've now seen many in search of second opinions) just says because I'm young they don't think I have anything to worry about, which is extremely frustrating when each and every day I am in pain. Sometimes, I have episodes that are so serious I've been close to or gone back into the ER. Even as recently as a few days ago, I woke up in the middle of the night and felt pressure in my chest and then suddenly felt as if my blood was running ice cold and I was extremely faint. While getting ready to go to the ER, I had to lay down before I passed out and slowly started feeling better, so did not go in. I am living my life in constant fear of the worst happening, and am searching for next steps to explore to try to find some answers. Has anyone had a similar experience or any suggestions of where to go next? Any thoughts or help is so appreciated... I want to feel better!
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It’s a terrible situation to be in I just have two suggestions one please monitor your blood sugar and have a fasting blood sugar done from a hospital lab and the second is blood pressure monitoring you said that you are on beta blocker so betas do cause hypotension and if you are hypotensive then it can be aggravated hypoglycaemia that is low blood sugar can also cause chest pains
It sounds like the most frequent reasons for chest pain have been ruled out. Perhaps you can ask if you can be evaluated for some of the less common causes of angina? I had two ER visits and too many bouts of chest pains where I didn’t seek help because it never seemed to be explained. After a long time, and many tests to rule out the most common reasons for chest pain I was diagnosed with variant angina which usually shows up at night or when I’m relaxed. It is more common in women. My Mayo cardiologist figured it out. Good luck and please post again and let us know how you are doing.
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2 ReactionsYes, I've had some of this... I got in to see a cardiologist and he ordered a CAT scan. One artery, my left circumflex is occluded. Scans show things! Echos and x-rays did not.
Hi, I’m really sorry your going thru this. My covid started with chest pain in middle of nite. 3 days later I tested positive. I has symptons like chills, body aches, loss of smell and taste( no cough , no fever, no lung issues) but I had chest pains and it went up into my neck. It felt like gerd or acid reflux even though I had no burn going up my chest just an uncomfortable tightness. The only thing that took it away was zanax. After I was covid negative all the symptons left except the chest pains. I read about a clinical trial so my doctor put me on pepcid ac perscription for 14 days. 80 mg three times a day for a total of 240 mg. By day 2 I felt a little relief. Today is day 15 and been gone since day 12 but every now a then it comes back for a few min.
But it’s so much better. It has to do with the histamine in Pepcid and the way it affects the covid virus not the acid indigestion
This is my experience. Good luck
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1 ReactionHi,
Is there a plan to do a coronary catherization? To get a more clear and accurate picture of how much narrowing and where along their paths are the points limiting coronary blood flow.
Cardiologist that are 'interventionalist' do catherizations, while they often also see patients in their office. Perhaps your cardiologists would support a second opinion by such a specialist. Good dr's should support patients getting second opinions.
Good luck!
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1 ReactionHi! I just came across your thread. I’m at 26 y.o female who has experienced basically the EXACT same thing you are. Began in Dec 2020 and is still on-going and I have done all similar test as you feeling the same way. Still no answers. I am wondering if you ever got an answer or tried a different outlet? I am desperate for answers and am at a loss at where to turn next. I am experiencing everything you listed and have the same anxieties and fears eating me alive. Please let me know if you ever received a diagnosis or got any answers/input. I hope you are feeling better!
Carolyn
I'm not sure which part of the thread you are responding to.
I my case, after increasing and persistent chest pain, several trips to ER and 3 coronary cath's reporting bery limited narrowing in my main coronary arteries, my cardiologist strongly encourages me to go to a place where they do research.
I went to the chest pain clinic at Mayo Clinic in Rochester MN. They did bery extensive testing. They made suggestions for med changes to my local cardiologist, which help. They conduct ongoing research and I was selected to be a subject for one study of new treatment technique.
They've been very thorough and have offered cutting edge solutions.
For me, it's been worth making multiple trips to Minnesota
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1 ReactionHave you gone to endocrinology? There are many noncardiac things that can cause heart symptoms.
@wessells I’m glad you were able to get to Mayo Clinic. Unfortunately, most are not able to. The university hospital systems in each state also offer excellent care and many are in touch with Mayo Clinic for difficult cases.
https://www.mayoclinic.org/about-mayo-clinic/care-network/network-members
I asked my neurologist about the possibility of my going to Mayo Clinic and she said that she partners with Mayo Clinic. I added the link to find the Mayo Clinic network members. Maybe one is near you. There are also Medical Centers of Excellence in many states.
Do you think these suggestions are a possibility for you?
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3 Reactions@caw670135 I’m glad @wessells was able to get to Mayo Clinic. Unfortunately, most are not able to. The university hospital systems in each state also offer excellent care and many are in touch with Mayo Clinic for difficult cases.
https://www.mayoclinic.org/about-mayo-clinic/care-network/network-members
I asked my neurologist about the possibility of my going to Mayo Clinic and she said that she partners with Mayo Clinic. I added the link to find the Mayo Clinic network members. Maybe one is near you. There are also Medical Centers of Excellence in many states.
Do you think these suggestions are a possibility for you?
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