Still having chest discomfort despite Normal EKG's , Blood Work, and Stress Test....UGH!!

HI All,

First off I an 38 years old, about 240lbs, don't have the best diet, suffer from ED (for about 5 years and which kind of started me on this thinking my heart is bad kick), no family history of heart disease, diagnosed with sinus brady (resting heartbeat of 55-60 bpm), non-smoker, and only drink on the weekends. I just took a new position at work that puts me on the night shift (7pm-7am) Anyway here's my story. about a month ago I was getting ready to finish up work for the night and all of the sudden I get this tingling feeling all along my left arm. Not numbness mind you, just tingling. I was also having some chest tightness (have had it on and off for years). Well the combination of the two kind of scared me so I went to the ER. The took and EKG and did blood work on me. All of which came back normal. I felt fine the rest of the day. The next week I had a couple more bouts of the tingling feeling in my arm. Not as bad as before but noticeable. The Saturday of that next week I went with some friends to Boston. That is when all hell broke loose. As soon as we got into the city I started sweating, my heart was racing, I felt out of breath and felt pressure in my chest. I told my friends and I was promptly brought to Mass General. They did an EKG on me that was normal and kept me over night. All blood work was normal and I actually had a stress test the next day which was normal. So I was released and went home. That following night I am getting tingling all over, both arms, my face a bit so I had my girlfriend bring me to the ER. The doctor there took a look at the drugs I was taking (I do take Cialis and Viagra and was taking them together for a bit) and concluded that was the reason for the tingling. Of course as she tells me this my symptoms stop. So now I am doing good for about another week then at breakfast with my girlfriend I have another attack when I feel breathless and tightness in the chest. Not as bad as the Boston one but bad enough. I calmed down, went to work and felt great. However the next night at work I had another spell late in my shift and went to a walk in clinic the next morning. Again EKG, Blood Work all good. The next day I saw my primary doctor and she put me on Kolonopin. Then claimed that she was 100% certain that my heart was fine. I still feel tightness and little pains from time to time in the chest. It's not like I am overly tired or anything (Other than working nights) I guess my next step maybe to be referred to a Cardiologist. Just wondering if anyone was in the similar boat that I am in??? Thanks in advance

I have had same and lots of other symptoms. You both have anxiety and panic disorder. I know because I have been there after going thru so many test myself and all are normal. I bought a program that has helped a lot. It is called The Linden Method.

Thanks for the input folks!! Kitt, I am following up with a Cardiologist. Just want to be on the safe side. Although my PCP also prescribed me Buspirone to go with the Kolonopin and I have been feeling great since. Never the less I will still see the Cardio guy as well.

Hello TC,

I will say that night shift is very hard on the human body. I have had to work them alot in my line of work and it has always seemed to aggitate my heart. I will tell you however, I think the big culprit could be the viagra & cialis. Those medications are very hard on the body.

I ran a code on a co-worker about 10 yrs ago. He was 50 yrs old and pretty healthy. A hard worker. He was a bit of a player at his age and was using the meds to keep up with his several girlfriends. One day at work he just dropped. He had a major MI. I did CPR on him, along with other measures by the medics and hospital staff. He didnt make it.

When I had talked to his family several weeks later they said the report came back that his heart attack was caused by the Viagra & cialis that he was taking together and frequently. So just be careful with those meds.

My husband needed viagra when we got together, he is 15 years older than me. They had put him on a new blood pressure med that killed his sex drive. When I found out he was using viagra I made him stop. I said we would figure out other ways to enhance things to help him, I did not want to subject himself to the risks. His body got used to the meds and we got creative. He has not needed the viagra in three years now.

I hope you get this resolved and start to feel better. I was diagnosed with Cardiomyopathy years ago and I know what it is like to live with cardiac issues. I also had chest pains and went through a stress test and ecocardiogram last year, like you, everything came back normal which is so frustrating, but my doc chalked it up to some stress I was going through. I still have some chest pains and I'm just chalking it up to the fact that I turned 40 and I'm falling apart So much for the joys of entering the Golden Years! LOL

Just an update and thanks to all who have replied. I am now being treated for Anxiety. I am on a bunch of drugs (Wellbutrin, Buspirone, Clonazepam, and Lorazepam) My doc is trying to ween me off of Clonazepam. I found out I have more Anxiety that runs in my family than CAD (No CAD in my family history) I have been allowed to take Viagra again (will NOT mix with Cialis again) and have a Cardio appt in Aug. Still experiencing chest discomfort although I have been able to workout and do some other physical activities while feeling somewhat normal but still can't shake this feeling that something is going on. I've had about 7 different doctors (1 my PCP (A Physicians Assistant) and he college (A MD) ) tell me my heart is fine, With the PCP's stating they were 100% sure it wasn't my heart. I dunno, I am thinking of trying to get the cardio appt. moved up. Angel sorry to hear about what you're going through. If you don't mind me asking how do they treat your cardiomyopathy?

I had my Nuclear Stress test today and am awaiting results however on thing troubled me. I ran for 13 min, no chest discomfort but at about Stage 3 of the test the took my BP as 140/30? The rest of my BP's were fine but your BP should not drop that much. And I would think I would have gotten dizzy or something. I am hoping it was just a bad reading. UGH, more stressed out now!!!!

Well it was good news. I did pass it, I guess there was an error in that BP reading because it showed no where on the official report. Yet I know I heard it called out. I'm generally feeling better now. I am being treated for anxiety. However the last couple of days I have had this odd sharp pain in my shoulder and a couple of times it causes this warm sensation in my chest/abdomen. My left arm tingling has now gone down to just my pinky and ring fingers...still annoying. So all in all I have had like 8 EKG's, 4 or 5 troponin tests (all negative), A treadmill stress test (passed), and a Nuclear Stress test (Passed). Still I have this uneasy feeling. Just taking it day by day now. Thanks for asking!!!

I have been going through the SAME thing and I really dont buy the whole stress/anxiety thing I know my body and I can tell something is going on. went to the er 3 weeks ago with mild Left chest and back pain and shortness of breath. Ekg, blood, xray normal so they released me. I went to work yesterday am and all of a sudden my left side of my chest from my breastbone over started having this bad dull achy pain (7 out of 10) and everytime i took a deep breath that pain shot up to about a 12! My wife took me back to the Er again ekg blood xray normal they were gonna release me but they called my PCP first and he said to admit me and for me to see a cardiologist. I was admitted I met the doctor he did an exam listened to my heart and lungs said everything sounded good her ordered a echocardiogram, again came back normal. BP normal, Pulse normal, oxygen normal. they gave me nitro to alleviate the pain, lopressor to help lighten the load on my heart and those medications did make it feel better but after the echo came back normal the cardio said well cardiac wise you are perfect, it must be stress anxiety related? I got home about 3 1/2 hours still having a dull achy pain now (3 out of 10) and still hurting when i take a deep breath? im a 22 year old male 6 foot 203 lbs, very active workout 5 days a week work outside no history of heart problems except high bp. also, my left leg from about my calf to mid inner thigh has been bothering me for about two months now and I asked the cardio about this and he said well its not a blood clot because your d-dimmer test came back negative and your leg is not swollen. Im scared that I feel like somethings wrong I udnerstand stress can do things to your body but i genuinely feel like somethings wrong and am tired of getting told nothing is.

Oh goodness - I'm just starting on this adventure, and it's scary. I've always been overweight, but this year so far I have lost 50lbs (still a lot to loose, but a great start). Anyhow - a couple weeks ago I had a few days that I just felt like total crud. I also started having burning pain in my left shoulder blade and then that would fade and it would be aburning line across my back between the shoulder blades. that burning like when you've been concentrating to hard at your desk and don't realise how tense you are. Having a desk job, that happens often to me, but I get up, move around stretch a bit and all better. This go around that doesn't do anything. after awhile then my chest would feel tight. I felt generally like crud all the way around, not dizzy but kind of foggy headed etc. I hadn't had my meds adjusted since loosing so much weight - so I thought they needed to be fixed (thyroid, blood pressure and blood sugar). I had labwork for everything - all was normal, no changes. By the time I saw my Dr I was feeling better. But still having the shoulder pain/burning. She gave me Vimovo since 600mg motrin wasn't doing anything. I have acid reflux with ulcers since I was a kid. She said it shouldn't bother my stomach since it has some type of stomach med with it to counter that side affect. she thought it was a bursitis type issue. I tried it for about 2 1/2 - 3 weeks. It helped for a couple days, but then it came back with a vengince. I called and let her know, so she wanted to see me again in 2 days. Well as luck would have it the appt fell on a day when I felt worse than I did a few weeks earlier. I broke down in tears telling her I was afraid is was something cardiac due to family history and all the symptoms that you hear of heart attacks in women having such different symptoms. I had also started to have nausea that day too. Not horrible, but noticable. I had stopped taking the vimovo the day before and wonder if that upset was caused by the aspirin base that it had. My range of movement is not affected by the pain. I have found that a good heading pad does help the shoulder/back pain. While in the office, my BP was great (for me) 130soemthing over 84 I think. They did an EKG in the office, it was fine. One blip (PVC?) but she was not worried about it at all as it could be triggered with stress (and I was stressing over my fear). She truely believes it's something muscular/skelatal. She also had me do X-rays (thoracic lumbar I thinks he said and of the left shoulder). Xrays were clear from what she read. Sometimes I get sharp twinges right at the breast bone, other times my chest just feels heavy... kind of like how your body feels when you first climb out of the pool after being in the water for hours. I haven't noticed shortness of breath. She has scheduled me for a treadmill stress test just to rule out cardiac anything and put my mind at ease. I do have risks in my family history (father had stroke and heart attack, maternal grandmother a blockage, uncle had heart attack). I'm only 37 and she still thinks my cardio is fine - but is looking at this as having a good baseline as well. I felt great yesterday, did a lot of driving but took our time and did lots of wlaking around to stretch out. Last night was fine, today have been fine, until just going to the grocery store a bit ago. We left with 1 very small bag and no strenuous walking and now this evening that heavy feel is coming back. I just don't get it. I'm worrying myself into of course having a heart attack and trying not to read about symptoms online as that rarely helps. I'm glad to have found an area of folks that seem to be going through the same weird feelings. I hope we all find answers to our issues quickly! If I didn't have anxiety before, I will before this is over at this rate!

Oh yeah - and I cut out caffeine, and have also limited the fake sweeteners.

i am a 43 year old female. i had a regular treadmill stress test about 8-10 years ago, because i had a pain on the outside of my left arm and my pcp did an ekg and said there was a "blip" and he referred me for the stress test. came back normal. (oh and cardiologist told me about 70-85% of ppl will have a blip on their ekg, especially if they are stressed)
about 3 or 4 years ago, i got severely dehydrated (even though i was drinking around 10-12 glasses of water everyday) and the dehydration basically gave me heart attack symptoms, so much so, I was afraid to go to sleep, so i stayed up most of the night and stopped at my pcp's office on my way to work.. my BP was normal, they did another ekg in his office and it was fine, but the pain i was having had him referring me to a cardiologist for further testing and he also had a cat scan and some type of barium imaging of my spine, stomach, liver, pancreas etc.. (those tests came back normal) with only a minor "slightly inflamed liver" -- which the doc believes was due to all the tylenol i USED to take way back when. (i dont touch the stuff anymore)
i went to the cardiologist and he had me get a sonogram of my heart in his office, i had the treadmill test done, and the nuclear stress test (that was one weird donut shaped machine to lay in super still for periods of time) :)
anyways, all that came back completely normal. at the peak of the treadmill run -- i did phenomenal and my BP dropped back to normal almost immediately following my no longer running
No history of heart disease or heart problems on either side. I am not over weight.. although yes i smoke, i normally stay under 1/2 pack a day, and not smoking whole cigarettes out of those 10 or less...
i rarely every drink - i eat healthy, i dont cook fried foods, and we rarely buy them. hardly ever eat fast food.. help my boyfriend in our 8 acre yard, work full time, easy -- very little stress -- job... last physical about a year ago, all my blood work was well in the normal range, except i am hypoglycemic: translation: while i was unemployed for over 10 months my mind started to fog over and my anxiety level peaked.. in april this year - went on buspirone for about 4 weeks full strength, then doc tapered off over the next 3 weeks. i take 1/4 tab (.125mg) of .5 mg xanax sometimes daily, sometimes every 3 or 4 days... had to get off buspirone as i developed all the side effects..
since that time, i have lost a couple of pounds, but since its only been about 5-6 weeks since stopping that med, find that i still have some bad days.. i get really gassy (need to belch alot), stomach aches in the evening, after dinner, no matter what i eat, although i have figured out over the last week, i stop when i am around 75% full.. then take 2 tums.. i take prevacid in the am and on a course of 14 days to allow the full removal of buspirone.. but i have had pain in my left arm (i think -- honestly from sleeping 7 straight hours on my left side all night -- without moving into another position)... but for about the last 2 weeks i have had some pain, its kind of hard to pin point exact location, as sometimes i dont feel pain at all during the day, but get a little anxious in the evening and get pain.. some in the middle of my boobs (and bra all of a sudden doesnt fit right), had pain in area above left boob, had nagging throb above left shoulder blade.. after reading alot of the posts on here, and other sites, i am wondering if it just isnt my anxiety.. any body have a clue???
i have taken my BP at home when i have felt bad, and its around 110/68 or 112/70.. pulse runs around 60-72

I am new to this forum. But intensely I retested in your people discoveries.

Chest pains, tingling in one or both arms, and the nearly overwhelming fear that my Dr has overlooked something. Or I'm one if the 2%ers that has a heart disorder, and my age, weight and stress test results don't point to it.

Welcome to Ninita, Trebles, jenn1969 and Kell75, and smukkas !

 

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Hey all. I'm a 22 year old female, and I have been experiencing the same exact issues with chest pain. For some background information, I used to work out diligently, but had to stop due to the damage in my knees and back. I am 210lbs, 5'6", so a bit overweight now.
I was told that I have cardiac arrhythmia when I was 16-17 (this was when I was still extremely active), and since I have had some doctors tell me I don't, some say that I do. So I don't know the true answer. It's all wishy washy. But anyway, I have always felt my heart skip a beat and it knocks the wind out of me for a second. But it was just that, and never lasted.
For the past year, however, I have been experiencing increased feeling of my heart skipping a beat, labored beating (feels as though my heart is trying to knock down a door), shortness of breath (feeling like I am not getting enough oxygen), and numbness in my left arm. All of this is coupled with crippling chest pain that has me doubled over (and I have a high pain tolerance). I have gone to the ER multiple times for this, and all the tests (EKG, blood work, XRays) come back normal. I was talking to a doctor who is with the Cleveland Clinic (which is a prestigious hospital, one that is very trustworthy), and we came to the conclusion that it is most likely not anxiety, as certain symptoms don't coincide. Also, he does not believe it has anything to do with an arrhythmia.
The episodes started as once a month, to now at least every other day.
I obviously am not taking any ED meds, I'm led to believe that may not be the underlying issue for you, either, TC.
I'm out of hypotheses, and my PCP hasn't got a clue either. I have yet to hear back about the thyroid test, as she assumed that could be a factor.
I don't know. If anyone has some input, it would be greatly appreciated!