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Chest Pain + Fatigue
Hello,
I wasn’t really sure where to go to talk about this, but my current situation has been affecting my life dramatically and I have no ideas on how to make it go away. I am a 16 year old girl from Canada who eats very healthy and balanced meals, I am active, I am on no medications and have never had any issues before now. I struggled with depression in my childhood but I was able to pull myself out of it four years ago.
Over the last two years, I have always had an easy time sleeping. My friends and I would joke about it, but as time went on it became less comedic as it once was.
In the summer/fall of 2019 I started to feel an inconsistent pain in the middle of my chest. It would come and go randomly, not triggered or caused by anything I was aware of, and it didn’t really cause me any issues.
In January of 2020 this pain started to spread from the middle of my chest to the top and sides of my left breast, next to my armpit on my right side, and it would send pains down my left arm and up my neck. I had a sort of what I’m calling an ‘attack’, as it hasn’t happened often, one night in January as well. I was laying in bed at night, playing a game after finishing all my work for the week, and suddenly it pulsed and throbbed and I got a stabbing pain from every affected place in my chest. I was unable to move, and then after 30 minutes it went away. My mother blamed it on anxiety and I went to bed.
With the chest pain has also come an extreme amount of exhaustion. I sleep 8-10 hours a night, and by the time I get home from school in the day I am exhausted. I sleep for another 2-3 hours and I’m still exhausted after that.
In February something similar to my ‘attack’ happened again, and this time I went to the emergency room and I was there until 4 in the morning. They did blood work, I got an EKG, we did a thyroid test, and everything came back fine. The doctor says there is nothing they can do for me and send me home. I am a healthy teenager.
Recently I have had to drop classes in a vocal competition I was in because I haven’t had enough energy to practice my songs. I have needed to cancel social events, my intense chest pain comes out of nowhere and doesn’t leave for days. I’m missing school, falling behind, falling asleep in class, I cannot study or function properly anymore and it’s because I’m always so tired.
Last night I had my third ‘attack’ as I’m calling it, for lack of better words, but it happened whilst I was standing and mid-conversation I fell down. I went home and went to bed, and I have been in bed ever since. My chest hurts to touch, hurts when I sneeze or blow my nose, lay on my side, and I haven’t been able to get out of my bed. My doctors say the earliest they can see me is May 27th but things just keep getting worse. I feel like I’m giving up my life because of some chest pain or because I’m tired.
Is there anything I can do to help alleviate the pain or something I can ask the doctors to check or give me? I have needed to cancel plans I've been excited or looking forward to because I’ve been too tired to go forward with them. I was invited to perform in Florida for a week in June, but all I can think about now is how my body is going to get through it.
Thank you for listening! I hope they can figure out what’s wrong with me soon.
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Hi!! I am experiencing very similar things. I know this post is a few years old but I’m curious what the final diagnosis was? Thanks!!
@bayleekay, @jessicamt hasn’t been active on Connect for some time, so she may not see your question. You mentioned that you’re experiencing very similar things. Would you tell us a little more about what you’re experiencing?
Which of the symptoms Jessica described are similar to yours? How long has this been going on, and what testing or evaluation have you had so far?
Even if Jessica isn’t able to return and update what ultimately happened in her case, there may be other members here who recognize parts of your experience and can share what they learned along the way.
@jlharsh okay thanks!
For the past approximately 3 months, I have been experiencing persistent and worsening symptoms including chest pain/pressure (described as heavy, tight, and sometimes stabbing), headaches, significant fatigue/lethargy, body aches, shortness of breath, dizziness/feeling faint, and intermittent feverish feelings. More recently, I have also developed pain in my right upper arm with shooting pain, tingling/pins and needles, numbness, and weakness in my arm/hand, along with neck and shoulder pain. The chest pain and arm symptoms have occurred both at rest and with activity and have recently become worse, along with worsening headaches. I have been evaluated in the ER twice, and my testing has included multiple EKGs, troponin and BNP testing, an echocardiogram/TTE, CTA, chest X-ray, head CT, spine CT, routine blood work, inflammation testing, and a gallbladder ultrasound, all of which were reported as normal or negative. I have also been evaluated by cardiology, and I was told the symptoms could potentially be related to coronary artery spasms. I have tried medications including amlodipine, which has not provided relief, as well as imdur mononitrate. I also previously tried heartburn medication and aspirin when pleurisy was considered, but those did not improve my symptoms. Despite the extensive testing and medication trials, I continue to have chest pain, headaches, fatigue, and neurological-type symptoms in my right arm. I am a 24 year old female and prior to this I weight lifted regularly and walking at least a mile if not two or three a day. I can no longer do these things.
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1 Reaction@bayleekay, thank you. That helps me understand much more about what you’ve been experiencing. I am full of questions!
It sounds like putting together a little more of the timeline might help. You said this began about three months ago. Were you taking any medications or supplements before the symptoms started, or did you start, stop or change anything around that time?
I’m particularly interested in what you said about cardiology considering coronary artery spasms and your trials of amlodipine and Imdur. Which did you try first? Do you remember the dose of each, how long you took it, and whether the dose was increased over time?
When you say they didn’t provide relief, was there no change at all, or did you notice any change in the intensity, frequency or duration of the chest pain or pressure? Did you have side effects that affected how much you could take or how long you stayed on them?
Did you ever try short-acting nitroglycerin, such as a tablet under the tongue, before or during those medication trials? If so, did your chest pain or pressure respond to it?
I ask because I’ve also taken amlodipine and Imdur for chest symptoms, and my own response to medication has sometimes taken time and dose adjustments to become apparent. I don’t want to assume that what you’re experiencing is the same as mine, but your mention of these particular medications caught my attention.
Since you’ve also developed worsening headaches along with weakness, numbness and tingling in your arm and hand, have you let your medical team know those symptoms are new or worsening?
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1 ReactionOrdinary artery spasm is known as as Prinzmetals Angina and here is a primer for you. Unfortunately the symptoms mimic a heart attack and they must treat you as if it is. Good luck and correct medication control.
https://www.heart.org/en/health-topics/heart-attack/angina-chest-pain/prinzmetal-angina;
Im sorry to hear what you have been going through; it seems that you have had a traumatic childhood and are holding things inside anger bitterness etc which can cause anxiety as well as depression. I feel if you reconcile things in your heart for whatever is going on prayerfully things will get better. Pray for you
I get that pain starting in my right shoulder then going down into my arm. It is so painful. I find to stop it I have to lay down on the bed and raise my arm above my head (it is laying on the bed not in the air). Also, I have found massaging the nerves that go on the front of your shoulder/chest (think auxillary nerve or something like that) stops it. If it is hurting then you hit the right spot. There is also the nerves that can affect the arm/shoulder on the backside just behind the armpit. For me it stops that horrible pain. A chiropractor showed me where to message. Also, on the top of my shoulder, there is the nerve that always tightens up when stressed that hurts and I use accupressure and massage on it. Might explore doing that - won't tell you what is happening in the arm but might give some relief.