Chest Pain

[jkoconne]

Hi all,

If you've read my past posts you probably know i have an odd chest pain symptom. The pain is just under my left breast and goes through to my back (almost like a pole through me). Its a stabbing pain mixed with a cramping feeling when i take a breath. It can last a few mins or hours. It makes breathing painful and its a very scary feeling considering it feels like heart pain. I've gone to the hosptial 3-5 times for it in the last year they always say its not heart related. My last visit the pain was the worst its even been and they thought it might be my lung. A week later my doc said she more so thought it was the muscles in between my ribs or my chest wall. She said the pain was chronic imflamation...this made no sense to me but she insisted!

Well becasue she assumed this I was sent to the physical medicine department at mayo. Loved my doc, he was great (Dr. Freeman). He asked for a very specific MRI that looked at where my pain is (ribs, back chest wall), my heart, and my lungs. He was very indepth.

Today I went and got my results...Everything is Normal! Good news and bad news. Good news nothing is wrong but im left with no answer as to what is causing my pain. No imflamation...no abnormalities...nothing. So he is at a loss of how to help me. He gave me topical anti inflammitory gel and sent me on my way

Does anyone expericne anything remotly similar or have advice for me. Im pretty discouraged about this specific symptom...the other syptoms are pretty stable so im thankful for that.

[Katybug]

I do get significant stabbing left chest pain and while it feels heart related, no one has ever found anything wrong with my heart or lungs. It definitely is related to my POTS as it started at the same time as all of my other symptoms. I don't know what causes it although we have had other threads on this forum discussing this issue and it is conjectured that it is caused by thoracic perfusion.

The only other thought I have and it's a stretch is....do you happen to be taking a tumeric supplement or eating a lot of tumeric. I ask because my Lyme doc, several years ago, tried me on a tumeric supplement and it caused me to have what I thought was a heart attack in the middle of the night. Woke me out of my sleep with cold sweats, crippling left chest pain, very hard to inhale because of the pain. I couldn't get to my phone or roommate because of the severity of the pain until it was over so never went to the hospital. I stopped it for a week and then tried it again, the same thing happened. I am sure it was specific to me but even if it's not tumeric, have you considered if any of your meds could be the cause?

[Angela]

inflamation is indicative of biofilm/parasites.

[jkoconne]

Thanks katybug, But i dont take anything like that and its rarely in my diet. Ive thought about my meds but i havent found a link to any of them or a combination of the them. The pain is often but very random and the time it lasts is also random and unpredictable.

Angela, I know but there is no inflammation in my chest, heart, lungs at all. All they found was inflammtion in my colon but thats not new...ive had that for years! In 5 years the only time my inflammation tracer came back even a lil high was 2-3 weeks ago in the ER and its back to normal already.

[E Soskis]

Perhaps it is "referred pain"? - pain that originates somewhere else but is "referred" into another body part.....like, gastric pain can be referred into the chest, especially the left chest and up into the shoulder or through to the back? Any history of gastritis, ulcers, gastroparesis, or even abdominal "pooling"? How about gall bladder or gall stones - these all could be interpreted by the body as "chest pain"....

[Angela]

any inflammation is indicative of something not right, tho? no matter where it is.

[ukwildcat]

With my pots I have chest pains a lot, tight chest, stabbing pain under my breast, and some trouble breathing during these pains sometimes. Right after my first pacemaker surgery I had these pains and they kept getting worse and worse and it became harder and harder breathe. I tried to wait it out to see if it would go away but became so difficult to breathe and awful pain that I finally called my cardiologist emergency line and they said to go to ER right away. It turned out that my chest wall had become inflamed.

[dpeeps]

jkoconne - you are not alone. I have chest pain randomly. Upper left side behind my breast. Feels like a stabbing pain in my heart. Terrifying!!! Honestly, I can take the dizziness, nausea, palpitations, tachycardia, chronic diarrhea, light headedness, brain fog, heat intolerance....anything, anything over the chest pain. Two EKGs normal, Echo cardiogram normal. I want a Holter monitor, but the cardiologist says it is all related to POTs. I really do not cope with this symptom well at all. How do we know for certain that our body is not trying to warn us of a pending heart attack? The EKG on tells you if you have alreay had one.

[jkoconne]

Ukwildcat- They oringally thought it was my chest wall too when it go so terrible a few weeks ago but nope...MRI shows no immflation and the pain is still coming and going. But its nice to know im not alone and someone else has experienced. Except I know the pain and im sorry you have felt it too

Dpeeps- Im sorry you experience this pain too...yet its comforting to me im not alone. And i couldnt agree more with you that this is the one thing i cant cope/deal with. I feel like its a heart attack or something serious. They keep telling me EKGs are normal while its happening and im "not in immedate danger" okay but what about future danger? Ive had many EKGs they are all "normal and the same" Ive had the holter monitor, 30 day event planner (a year ago, you push a button when you feel the pain and it records the last 60 seconds and the next 30 seconds), echo and my cardiologist said he doesnt think its my heart. The MRI last week looked at my heart too and didnt see any abnormalities. Im thinking of asking for another event monitor now that its coming more often and more intense. Have you had indepth testing? The pain doc said to talk to my neurologist about testing the nerve function in my chest wall...ive had it done in my legs and arms and it isnt fun but well see if they think doing my chest will be worth it.

I thank both of you, all of you, for your supprt. I get worried about symptoms sometimes, especially this chest pain. Im sorry some of you have experienced this pain but im also glad to know im not alone. This seems to be another mystery of pots

[jkoconne]

ESoskis- Im sorry i missed your post! yes, i have thought of this but it seems to happen when my GI symptoms are improving. They have gradually been getting better and the pain is only getting worse. At times i think its nerve pain when i get a specific colon pain and chest pain at the same time but that doesnt always happen...i have multiple chest pains and i do believe some of it is refered from the stomach/gi issues. But not all of it

[issie]

I used to have this type pain too. They thought it was chest wall spasms. I started using a muscle relaxer and seldom have it now. What I use is a very old drug used for IBS called Bentyl. Good for both type of spasms.

Issie

[jkoconne]

Thanks issie! Me and Bentyl do not get along I tired in a couple times. Im glad your pain is under control

[imapumpkin]

jkoconne- you are not alone in this. i also experience chronic intermittent chest pain that feels stabbing and feels like it is coming from my heart but all tests have indicated that there is nothing cardiac that is causing it. I specifically asked my POTS specialist (a neurologist in Boston) what would be causing chest pain in POTS patients since there have been so many threads on this forum about unexplained chest pain. She said there are a number of things that could be causing the chest pain, possibly what Katybug said about thoracic perfusion, but she said it could be many other different things that will never be explained/understood. I get chest pain and I admit it does freak me out because it's localized to the left side and sometimes radiates to my arm...but after my valve surgery in January I've had my cardiac surgeon, the hospital cardiologist, my own cardiologist and an ER doctor assure me based on EKGs, holter monitors, Echo-cardiagrams and a week's worth of constant monitoring in the cardiovascular unit of a major hospital post-surgery that it is not coming from my heart.

It is good that you are exploring different avenues of what this could be, although if you're cardiologist is telling you it's not your heart, try to have faith in him/her. Believe me i know it's hard because even i sometimes still worry even though I've been reassured multiple times. but it does help to step back and think "Ok, my heart is healthy now. it's not my heart. It's not a heart attack. the doctors checked. trust them."

One thing that has helped me given that I am so keyed into my bodily symptoms and so anxious about my health was to buy a pulse oximeter. You can get them at a Rite Aid or CVS or Walgreens. It has been helpful to me by being a reassurance; the way I see it is, if my pulse-ox and heart rate are good, esp when I am experiencing symptoms like chest pain and shortness of breath, I am probably okay for the time being because when you do go to the ER, what do they do? Take your vitals. And if your vitals don't look concerning you are likely not in immediate danger...that's just how it helps me. It's just one of those "for your own peace of mind" things. I hope you find the answers the will help put your mind at ease about the chest pain, and know that you're not the only one!

[issie]

Thanks issie! Me and Bentyl do not get along I tired in a couple times. Im glad your pain is under control

I wonder if some other drug that would work on that would help. I know you've had a lot of intestional issues and maybe the two are some how connected. I still have it sometimes --but, now when it happens --I'm leaning toward thinking that it is mast cell related. Can't say why exactly ---just think there is a connection.

Hope you figure it out. Like others have said ---you're not alone.

Issie

[Friedbrain]

Ditto on having been diagnosed with chest inflammation after an ER visit. Since I have autoimmune problems, I assumed it was related. Strangely......my 12yo has ALSO been diagnosed with this! It was much scarier when he was experiencing chest pains at school and I received a call from the nurse about this! We took him to the ER, and had him seen by a cardiologist. Nothing was found, but he did experience the pain when the chest cavity was pressed. Diagnosed with the joint inflammation, and was told to take ibuprofin/anti-inflammatory during those times.

A pediatric specialist has suggested he my have dysautonomia (and he also has numerous signs of EDS like his aunt, something I learned about from here). At around the same time, he was experiencing tachycardia and bad headaches (I took his bp, and it was dropping upon standing). Poor kid. Something that his pediatrician suggested is that, at least for him, perhaps because his joints are looser due to the likely EDS, there's an increased chance of irritation at the chest joint, resulting in the inflammation and pain. ?

[dpeeps]

jkoconne - sorry for the delay in responding to your question. Actually I just now saw it. No, I have not had any in depth testing. This probably sounds bad, but I just tell myself "Its Pots!" over and over again until I fall asleep, aided by a Xanax. I don't take the Xanax every day, but I am so tired of hearing the docs say it is a normal part of POTs, meanwhile I am certain this pain is coming from my heart and that it is a sign that something is very wrong. I mean isn't that what pain is? Your body is warning you that something is wrong. Anyway, although something is wrong, but it might not be life-threatening, etc. So, when I cannot cope with it, I just try to sleep it off. It is definitely more prevalent pre- and during menstruation, so there may be a hormonal component exacerbating whatever "it" is (?)

Hope things settle down for you. Try to see if you notice it more around your period too.

[jkoconne]

Dpeeps- Well after my extensive workup I was told the docs couldnt figure it out. For the first time they told me to seek alternative medicine. I went to a chiroprator who is also a kinesologist (spelling? they work with muscles) and an accupunturist. Both told me it was my diaphram being in the wrong place. They both worked on the area and i've been pain free...well chest pain free...for over a week now! I was so impressed but well see how it holds up

[jkoconne]

Oh and my periods...everything flares up! I mean chest, legs, back, stomach, dizzy...the whole deal but i started a new Birth Control 2 months ago and its helped so much more then any other brand ive tried!