Chest pain and shortness of breath

[AriesGirl71]

I am 35yrs old and for the past week.. I have been having pressure in the middle of my chest and/or chest pain. I have also been experiencing shortness of breath. I am fine when restin or lyin down as the pain goes away.. but as soon as I get up and start moving around.. i get the pain back and the shortness in my breath comes back. I am worried that something is wrong with my heart for this reason.... last friday night.. my heart was racing and pounding so hard.. for about 25-30 min. that I had chest pains, pain in m left shoulder and neck and I also had numbess in my left neck and left side of my face. I am worrried that I had a heart attack but yet I feel I am too young. I have been told that it could be acid reflux, too, because I have been burping ALOT!!! Also.. someone said that I may of just had a major panic attack. The only thing that doesn't make sense for those reasons is.. usually acid reflux happens at night when lyin down.. and i am fine then.. and another is.. if it was a panic attack i had friday night. why is my chest still bothering me. I AM SCARED TO DEATH!!!! I don't want to go to the ER cause I am afraid they will tell me I am having a heart attack or have heart damage and I cannot afford those bills due to being uninsured. I guess u could say that I am in denial and have been telling myself that it is not my heart but still at the same time. my gut says something is not right. What do u think I should do? Does it sound like a heart attack to u?

[Unregistered]

I am replying to you desperate plee of some pain in the chest . I am 39 and was driving to work one day and I had a sharp pain under left rib cage. it sent me into a panic I was dizzy and almost fainted. I stepped out of the car got some frsh air. and darted to my work(hospital) because I was in a panic I sent my bp to a very high number. They did some tests and I found out I was low in potassium and magnesium. All this crazy stuff was due to stress and I didnt even know it. Since that day I suffer from panic attack and shortness of breathe. I am learning to meditate and take it easy. I had a heart monitor and ekg done everything came back normal. (hypertention) I still get some pain in the chest but thats because of anxiety I take bp medicine now and and begining to take it slow.. go get yourself look at dont mess with it it may be nothing. good luck!!!

[AriesGirl71]

Well, I have an update.. i went to the ER last night and they did an ekg, chest xrays, blood work etc and everything came back fine.. I almost argued with them.. asked them. if i am fine.. why am i getting shortness of breath and chest pain.. and they just told me to take baby asprin, and go see my dr this week. GRRRRR... it is so frustrating. cause i am back where i started! Sometimes.. i wonder.. if i had insurance.. if they would of admitted me and looked until they found what was wrong!

I am 35yrs old and for the past week.. I have been having pressure in the middle of my chest and/or chest pain. I have also been experiencing shortness of breath. I am fine when restin or lyin down as the pain goes away.. but as soon as I get up and start moving around.. i get the pain back and the shortness in my breath comes back. I am worried that something is wrong with my heart for this reason.... last friday night.. my heart was racing and pounding so hard.. for about 25-30 min. that I had chest pains, pain in m left shoulder and neck and I also had numbess in my left neck and left side of my face. I am worrried that I had a heart attack but yet I feel I am too young. I have been told that it could be acid reflux, too, because I have been burping ALOT!!! Also.. someone said that I may of just had a major panic attack. The only thing that doesn't make sense for those reasons is.. usually acid reflux happens at night when lyin down.. and i am fine then.. and another is.. if it was a panic attack i had friday night. why is my chest still bothering me. I AM SCARED TO DEATH!!!! I don't want to go to the ER cause I am afraid they will tell me I am having a heart attack or have heart damage and I cannot afford those bills due to being uninsured. I guess u could say that I am in denial and have been telling myself that it is not my heart but still at the same time. my gut says something is not right. What do u think I should do? Does it sound like a heart attack to u?

[qhills@yahoo.com]

I've been experiencing many of the same symptoms in addition to muscle spasms/twitching. From my research, my symptoms are very similar to those associated with angina attacks. It is serious, but not as serious as a heart attack. I had an EKG last month and the results came back positive; my heart does not receive enough oxygen. This can be caused my blockage in the arteries, eating too much. When you eat a lot, more of your body's oxygen is needed to digest the food, taking away oxygen that is needed to help the heart pump. I had to repeat the EKG because, in order to make a proper diagnosis/prognosis, you need to take a blood test on the same day as the EKG is done. I haven't gotten those results back yet. My doctor (gen. prac.) is going to send me the the best cardiologist center in my state for further diagnosis and treatment.
I am very nervous about this latest development and I am often afraid to go to sleep. When I over exert myself, it takes up to an hour or more to regain composure. You definitely need to follow up with a specialist about your heart.

[nubianqueen]

I've been having very similar symptoms as well. For the past two weeks I've had trouble breathing. Before I figured it was just part of me having laryngitis. However, once that illness went away and the shortness of breath stayed I got worried. I started vomiting a lot and sometimes blood would come up as well. Not a good taste!! I just went to a cardiologist 2 days ago and am awaiting the results from the echocardiogram. I've been to the ER about 3 times for the symptoms and they hardly ever help. My EKG's keep coming back positive but no one has come up with a reason why and I'm gettin scared as well. But if i were you I would still go and get looked at. At least you'll have a better idea of what's going on in your body.

[VirgoGirl75]

I've been having the same symptoms too for the last week or so (shortness of breath, a bit of chest pain and just basic fear!!!). I went to the ER on Monday morning and got told that it was probably gastro-esophagal reflux and was given medication to cut down the acid and make the symptoms go away. Till today (Friday), I still feel the same and am getting more afraid by the hour. The doc said if a week's medication doesn't help then a scope down my throat would have to be done to see what's wrong. I'd do anything at this point if it'll just find out what's wrong and give me some peace of mind!

[Unregistered]

Hi, I am 38 and i have been having similiar symptoms. I started with a pain in my chest kind of dull but it never went away. excited or angry it would get worse and turn sharp. 15 Oct 06 went to private doctor told me panic attacks. 25 Oct 06 end up in ER, EKG done on me and Nitrogylcern patch given. all of this and no definite answer. They given hurt burn medicine and still testing. I still have the pain it has not improved. I have an appointment with my cardologist in two weeks. I say to all, get second and third checks and make the private doctors give you a precise answer time (3) to satisfy your fear. Good luck to all.

[Deaddancer]

I've gone through a very similar situation - 2 weeks ago I had an episode of heart palpitations that scared the **** out of me. I could feel my heartbeat pounding in my head and it started racing. Then I felt tightness in my chest and left arm. I went to the ER and was admitted overnight for tests. They did blood tests as well as many EKG's, followed by a stress test in the morning. Everything came out negative, although the tightness I feel in my chest, as well as they really strange creepy crawly feeling on the back of my neck, are still there. I have experienced palpitations before, but this attack was the worse. I think that I might be experiencing panic attacks, which just blows me away because I consider myself an intelligent person who is always in control. I have, however, been dealing with a fairly large amount of stress, as well as probably drinking too much (4-5 beers a night). I also occasionally smoke pot, which has been known to cause my heart to race, which in turn gets me freaked out. I am a fairly healthy individual, eat pretty good, and have a good marriage and wonderful kids. Anyway, I wanted to throw in my 2 cents - that sometimes a lot of this supposedly physical stuff we're feeling good be ourselves playing a trick on us - or better yet, trying to tell you something.

[Unregistered]

I have read each of your post and I have some general advice. I am not a doctor or nurse but I used to be a paramedic.

Anytime that you have chest pain or shortness of breath you should take it seriously. It may not always be serious but it is better to be safe than sorry.

Most of the symptoms that you discribed are commonly associated with stress or anxiety but as you are probably aware they can be heart related.

I suggest to each of you that are continuing to have symptoms to seek further medical advice. If you don't have insurance I know it can be difficult but most major cities offer some type of free (or reduced priced) medical services.

Most people (including many healthcare professionals) see the classic heart patient as a male over the age of 40. However, many people fail to realize that heart disease is also the leading cause of death in women. Younger women that present with chestpain, palpitations (fast or hard heartbeat) and shortness of breath are often automatically classified as anxiety related problems if the EKG shows no significant problems.

One post stated that he/she had problems that were relieved when resting. This is normally symptoms of angina. This should be further evalutated by a doctor.

My advise is if a doctor isn't taking you seriously and you really feel that there is a problem get a second opinion. After all its your life.

[taniaaust1]

Ariesgirl.. im glad everything seems fine when you went to the ER. My sister was getting chest pain and it turned to be due to stress.. and panic attack. My sister is now taking drugs for her anxiety and has no problems with chest pains now.

Im 35 and last week suddenly got severe continuous sharp chest pain (I havent had that before).. it was so bad that I wanted to cry and could hardly breath. My chest pain was a little different thou than what you described as I got it laying down when i was about to go to sleep and sitting up relieved it. Then within a minute, it was gone. I thought about going to the ER cause of it..but decided cause it stopped, not too.

I have thou since then been getting mild chest pain on and off while doing things but had a doctors appointment the other day so asked her then about it. She listened to my heart, said it sounded fine and that she thought it may be gastro-esophagal reflux. (I do suffer from breathlessness cause of another condition i have).

Im minorly concerned as I have a very strong family history of heart attacks.. all my family on one side of my family have had one. My aunt had one before the age of 34!! (she does smoke thou and is a little overweight). I also do have high cholestrol and have had high BP too lately.. so hence that all further adds to my concerns.

I see a specialist for another condition I have within the next few weeks..so certainlly will be asking for a second opinion on the chest pain.