Chest Pain Wtf?

[thinoneday 445]

So here I am, lost 150+ lbs and thought for sure all my problems were gone. . . WRONG. . . started getting these painful chestpains, hardball thingy in the throat, back pain and a really irratating pain in the left elbow. . . oooohhhhh "heart attack symptoms" ya'll say. . . me too. . . off i ran to the cardiologist. . he did tons of not so pleasant testing (stress tests, echos, angiograms, etc) and guess what? All normal, except for some wall thickening. . .nothing to worry about. . . ummmmmmm ok then. . . I asked him what he thinks it may be? he is baffled. . .he mentioned "stomach problems" ummmmm I don't have one of those? hehehehe. . .

has anyone else had this happen? what did you or your doctor do? Nexium and prilosec don't work. . a good pain reliever is aspirin. . . nitro didn't work either (guess cause it's not heart related) . . .

anyone????

[LilMissDiva Irene 3,282]

Whoa!!! Scary I'll bet! Not sure what it can be, I hope someone can shed some light. Get to feelin better girlie!!!

[Afro_Cyster 74]

Could it have been anxiety?

[his2my2our4 120]

I was going to say anxiety too. I know that I landed myself in an ER once because I thought I was having a heart attack. Turns out it was a pretty bad panic attack. Hope you feel better...take care of yourself! :-)

[UXgrrl 29]

It's amazing what kinds of weird pains muscle tension can create. It's such a relief that things look OK from the cardiologist's point of view, so that wasn't a waste of time... And you've eliminated the most obvious suspects, which leads me to believe the elbow pain sounds like it might be referred pain, or possibly a pinched nerve from muscular tension in the upper chest and/or shoulders.

Have you been sitting hunched over for a prolonged period of time, or with your shoulders rolled forward?

Does anything help? Tylenol? Ibuprofen? Hot showers? Exercise? Laying down? You might want to consider trying a physical therapist, or even better, a massage therapist who is trained in trigger point therapy.

Trigger points can cause all sorts of bizarre aches and pains and mimic lots of much worse illnesses. They are hard little nodules of contracted fibers in your muscles that cause chronic shortening and weakening of muscles, and can -- over time -- lead to joint dysfunction and possibly osteoarthritis. Most of us have dozens of them at any given time in our bodies but we don't notice them until they start hurting. They've even found them in the bodies of cadavers post-mortem.

Here is a pretty good overview of them: http://saveyourself.ca/tutorials/trigger-points.php

[thinoneday 445]

thanks everyone. I really was thinking anxiety attacks too, but the weird thing is it will wake me up a deep comfy sleep or just happen while i'm talking on the phone. Just random. a pinched nerve i do believe is in the elbow. . .could be tendonitis for sure. . but only pinches every now and then, not consistent. . . I'm am very relieved that it's not something that can kill me, so for now I'll ignore it and next time i head to the doctor then i'll mention that the cardiologist didn't believe it was cardiac, but maybe GI related. . then i'll let her (doctor) figure it out. Thanks again everyone for your thoughts and may you all have a very Merry Christmas and a blessed New Year! (I'm allowed to say that on this forum right?)

[zulydejesus 0]

I also had chest pain and nothing worked its due to your patassium level. its low. Buy the pills and eat bananas, you will see the pain go away fast.

[Afro_Cyster 74]

Try to find out what's happening to you. If you have insurance, make it work to your benefit. I wouldn't just sit on the problem because one doctor couldn't diagnose it.

[Lissa 2,631]

I think that, since the cardiologist said it's not heart-related, that you should try potassium as well. It might be time to revamp your whole Vitamin routine. Did the cardio run labs? if so, what were the results?

Good luck and let us know what helps, if anything.