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

Hi srkess,

I too was very skeptical of the ED meds being a cause. However it's not even an issue anymore as I do not have to take them :) I was curious as to what the Cleveland Clinic Doctor though about your symptoms? I still have my days where I doubt it's anxiety but that's just me. They way I look at it, I've done every test out there and they ave all come back negative. And most of the time my meds help me when I am having symptoms. There still is that fear though in the back of my head that they are missing something.

I deleted your post here and started you a new one.  look for your name in  the title.

Thank you for your understanding.

Post Edited By Moderator (stkitt) : 7/13/2013 8:19:54 AM (GMT-6)

This is about as close a description as I have seen yet to what my problem is these days.  No actual problems found yet other than high blood pressure, which is being treated successfully.  Not any better though, maybe worse.  I have always had some questions about my heart, but with no family history of real problems I never worried about it.  But after being strapped in an EKG and monitor several times, blood tests, and others, still nothing.  All anyone could guess is acid reflux ... and yes I have always had some digestion issues ... but sorry, no, that does not cause light headed feelings, bone pains, heaviness, and loss of ability to focus.  I have checked everything I can find on the web, from tyroid to parasites ... tested for most too ... still nothing.  I definately do not have anxiety or any drugs to blame.  Thinking of doing a diet reset of some kind, but doubting it will help. 

I just hope one of us puts our finger on what might be the root cause.  It would probably make me feel better to just know what it is ... that is the anxiety here, which it is true does not help.  Thanks to everyone so much for sharing so I know I am not alone. 

 

JakeBrown

Hello and welcome to HealingWell.  I am glad you felt better after reading through the threads in this forum. Please feel comfortable in starting a thread of your own as this will give you the chance to introduce yourself to the members of this forum.

A thought crossed my mind - one test that may truly put your concerns to rest would be a Two-Dimensional Echocardiogram (2D Echo). It is a non-invasive test in which ultrasound is used to picture  the heart.

Echocardiography is an important tool in providing the doctors with important information of the following: 

• Size of the chambers, dimension, volume and the thickness of the walls. 
• Pumping function: one can tell if the pumping power of the heart is normal or reduced to a mild or severe degree.
• Valve function: it identifies the structure, thickness and movement of each heart valve.
• Volume status: Low blood pressure can occur in the setting of poor heart function but may also be seen in reduced volume of circulating blood.
• Others: “pericardial effusion” or fluid in the pericardium (the sac that surrounds the heart), congenital heart disease, blood clots or tumors within the heart, active infection of the heart valves, abnormal elevation of pressure within the lungs. 

This is just a suggestion as your Dr. may not feel this is a necessary or perhaps he will have another test that will help allay your concerns.  Remember to be your own best advocate. 

I wish you peace,

Kitt

 

shoregal66 Hello and welcome to HealingWell.   Glad you've found our online community. It’s a great place to connect with others traveling the same road...you'll find much support, encouragement and advice from others who understand. Thanks for your imput and I am sorry to hear you cannot get the staff in the ER to just pull up your last visit and read your discharge summary and they would see your problem is respiratory. Keep on advocating for yourself. Kindly, Kitt

Amanda,

Anxiety can cause so many symptoms and chest pain is one of them. 

Assuming that you are under the regular care of your doctor...and with  your ER visits...you are bound to have ruled out any physical reason for these symptoms...you can most likely suspect that you are dealing with anxiety.

We have a great anxiety forum so please consider posting with us in that forum also.

https://www.healingwell.com/community/default.aspx?f=9 

I'm completely new here, but I had to weigh in before looking around.
I have very severe anxiety and my father went into cardiac arrest in 2011. Since then, I have been terrified of heart attacks. He is still alive to tell about it.

In March, I was probably in the emergency room at least four times and at my PCP at least twice. I had to go to a different emergency room because the one close to me has stopped taking me seriously.

I will get a pain in my chest, either above my left breast or.below, and that is when I freak out. I have a pulse oximeter at home and I know how to read an EKG, which doesn't help my panic. A few minutes ago I got the chest pain which radiated to my left shoulder blade and then I got pains in my left arm. I had already taken my Xanax, so I figured hey! Must be a heart attack!

I have been waiting it out. After taking another Xanax and laying down with calming music, I feel a bit better.

I wanted to talk to everyone whose doctors have said it's anxiety because for me, it is. My EKG.is always fine, blood work, d-dimer, blood pressure, oxygen, echo, everything is always fine. I even have a history of cancer and my tests are always normal. Being diagnosed with anxiety is not a bad thing! It means you're not having a heart attack. Your monster now has a face -- anxiety; and it can be treated.
Panic attacks often mimic heart attacks. Sweats, chest pain, stomach pain, shortness of breath, pounding heart. From what I have gathered, learned and been told is that if you are having a mild myocardial infarction, you are not going to drop dead instantly. Take a low dose aspirin or two baby aspirin and a Xanax. You may just be having a full blown panic attack. Take a few moments to calm down first, unless the pain in unbearable, then go to the er. I have currently been resting for about reentry minutes. Do I still hurt? Yes! From being tense. Am I having a heart attack? Probably not. Always remember to slow down those thoughts.

To the people who have had all these heart tests that were normal, has any doctor checked you for pleurisy, costochondritis or lupus? TtThe first two are inflammation of the lining of the lungs and inflammation of the cartilage surrounding the ribs, respectively. Weird movements make it worse. Deep breathing, sneezing, or coughing makes it worse. You will feel it in your chest, back, or both. I was recently diagnosed with both. It's super treatable, but painful.
I mention lupus because lupus can cause these diseases, but they are mostly caused by viral infectiona. If you are a worrier, like me, have your doctor do an ANA (anti-nuclear antibody).blood test to rule out lupus. If that's negative, have a blood test for sarcoidosis; another disease that causes ridiculous inflammation. If both are negative; congratulations! You most likely have pleurisy and are not dying. Get rest, don't do crazy exercises, don't move in weird ways, and take at least 400mg of ibuprofen every 6 hours.

I know they was a lot.. Sorry about that. Let me know if anything helped. My anxiety is extremely severe and I'm a hypochondriac in med school, so I know a lot more about conditions than a probably should -- eek. Hope to hear how things are going!

Ohh! I was also diagnosed with fibromyalgia 3 years ago when I was 20. My biggest flare ups are in my chest -- rule that out for yourself! Ruling things out will ease your mind, I promise.

to TC1973.  Acid reflux and the gall bladder can create some of these symptoms.  Gall bladder pain can radiate everywhere, front and back.  Acid reflux can cause discomfort in the middle of your chest from the back of your mouth down to the center of your chest.  And also, 12 hour shift are horrible especially the night shift, stress can do many negative things to your body.  The best to you.

I've had a stress test and echocardiogram and everything looked fine. But for weeks, I've had chest discomfort, today actual pain, back pain and it feels like pain in my lungs. I notice it when breathing. I have shortness of breath. I'm 35, in good health. But there is a long history of heart disease in my family. I'm very worried and an becoming anxious, which I'm sure isn't helping. What other tests should I have done? What should be my next step?

I am 43 yrs old and had been a good athlete in my younger days. I still worked out and ran some, but had gained weight over the years. I started going through the same symptoms you have discussed. In August 2013 I had a sever pain in my back while driving. I could tell I was about to pass out and managed to pull over in a parking lot. I developed a cold sweat, but did not go completely unconscious. I gathered my wits about and called my wife and stated that I thought I just had a heart attack. I went to the local ER and all bloods tests were negative. They called a cardiologist who had me do a treadmill test. he said it was the best he had ever seen. No way a heart problem just a muscle spasm. Over the next 2 months I had 6 ER visits with chest pain, jaw pain and a weird tingling sensation that would come over me (like passing out, but would go that far), 2 nuclear dye tests, numerous x-rays and EKGs ALL Normal. I had been to 2 (what I found out later were non-interventional) cardiologists. Both stated my problem was not my heart. They did not know what it was,, but it was not that. I contacted a relative who has a surgeon for a husband and he recommended a third cardiologist. When I went to him he stated that everything but a heart cath had been done and that was needed to rule out any problem. So he sent me to a interventional cardiologist. He stated that, " yes" I needed one that was the "ONLY" way to rule out for sure it wasn't heart disease.

Going in to the test he ever stated he did not think so that it would be unusual. During the test he was talking to about football and so forth. Then he abruptly stopped and told me to be quite. He stated to let him review the film. He came back and asked me how old I am, I advised 42. He stated that is the only reason he was not going to cut my chest open in the morning. I because I could change bad habit. He stated I had a 90% black in my LAD and two 85% blocks in my circumflex. I received three stents.

During the two month wait it seems I developed panic attacks due to waiting for the eventual heart attack that I knew I was going to have. I still have issues with these feelings especially when driving due to the initial pain. I am taking Berlinta, aspirin, Lexapro and Atorvastin. I know I have rambled but PUSH you cardiologist to do a cath, the other theories they come up with are not life threating (most of the time) this is so make sure it is not your hear and find out about you cardiologist

I am new to this forum. However, I am a 41 y/o male. I have been have chest pains off and on for the last 7 weeks. It is now almost constant. My employer (fire department) placed me on leave for a while because of this. I have been to the ER x 2. Everything was completely normal. I have had a nuclear stress test. It was completely normal. I had a calcium scoring CT through my employer. According to this I have a 2% chance of developing CAD in the next 10 years.

I have periods of left or right sided chest pains. Pain in my arm. Epigastric pain, abdominal pain, pain behind my shoulders, no appetite, no energy. I could go on and on.

I have a hx. Of GERD. I am taking a PPI. This does not feel like my GERD. No one seems really concerned. Doctor thinks it is "generalized anxiety disorder". My life revolves around stress. I am a professional fireman and have been for 17 years. The doctor has finally agreed that this "is not" stress and anxiety. However, I do not believe that he believes me. They are doing an upper GI this week. This darn problem is consuming every waking second of my life. No trouble sleeping, but as soon as I wake up it started again. I am so sick and tired of feeling like this. This is not me. No one seems to be concerned. I just wasn't to feel normal again.

very old thread, maybe start a new one. welcome guys. maybe susie might start it for ya when she around?

Mamaof3boys, none of these posters have been back to this forum since the above dates. Sorry to read about what you have going on. If your testing has all been normal that is excellent. If you do have anxiety & stress, this often brings on the chest pain. When anxious & stressed the muscles in the chest often tense up bringing on pain. People that are dx'd with GERD often have chest pain. If you are dealing with a lot of anxiety, do yourself a favor & see a dr..

Take care.