Chest Pains - No Diagnosis? Posted: 04-18-07 13:02pm
I didn't know where to put this, because I
guess it could go into 5 or 6 categories.
I've had this issue for awhile and I'm
getting rather frustrated with my doctors'
inability to diagnose it. BTW, I am a 32
year old male.
2 months ago I started getting chest
pains. Bad tightness in the chest, some
small shooting pains, but generally just
very uncomfortable. These pains happen
more often when I smoke, but they're
always there. Nowadays it just feels like
someone is sitting on my chest. I don't
have bad shortness of breath, though,
which is strange.
I initially thought it was a heart
problem. (I've had lone atrial
fribulation once). That scared me,
obviously. I saw a cardiologist and they
ran me through every test imaginable-
stress test, ekg, 48 hour monitor, blood
work, echo, you name it. Everything came
back fine. The cardio did notice that I
am in tachycardia (fast heartbeat) more
than 40% of the time, but didn’t think
much of it and didn’t think it was
causing this pain.
So I went back to my physician, got a
chest X-Ray. That came back normal. The
doctor did say something about emphysema,
but he then did a breathing test which I
passed and did real well on (especially
considering I smoked). He then said
something like "they just thought it was
emphysema because of your frame". (I'm
rather tall and skinny).
The doctor also thought it may be
gastro-intestinal, gave me meds for that.
That didn't help, and I don't believe it
is anyway.
Emphysema seemed crazy for a 32 year old,
but I quit smoking anyway. I've not
smoked now (other than a slip here and
there) for 3+ weeks. But that doesn't
help. The chest pains/tightness is still
there. Maybe it’s the lungs, maybe the
heart, maybe gastro-intestinal… I have
no idea.
There's nothing worse than when a doctor
says they're at a loss, and that’s where
I am.
So I'm opening it up to ideas/suggestions.
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HealthySex
Experienced User , Rather EHEALTHy
Joined: 09 Jan 2007 Posts: 414
Posted: 04-19-07 10:04am
Congrats on quitting smoking. Even if you
find out it has nothing to do with, I'd
hope you'd stick to it.
As for the pains...something
gastro-intestinal could be it, such as
GERD. Seems simple enough to diagnose, but
did they do any tests other than give you
a drug? Does it occur at certain times,
such as before or after eating?
Another cause of chest pain is anxiety,
which could also cause mild shortness of
breath and rapid heartbeat.