Chest Pressure/ Heaviness Going On Two Weeks Now

[statesof]

Hey everyone, so for the last two weeks i've pretty much had somewhat consistent chest pressure everyday. The first few days it felt like tighness in my chest like my heart was being squeezed and like my upper abdomen had a tight band around it, and also heaviness like someone was sitting on my chest. And i've had this issue pretty much everyday, though today its not as bad as it was originally, and it will also turn into what feels like sunburn under my skin over my whole abdomen, and sometimes it just feels like my chest and abdomen are just messed up and blaahh feeling, like my chest has a bad hangover. Anyways, i've had some of this in the past not usuallly lasting this long, sometimes its just random and stuff like anxiety and stress will make it worse, other times it seems to be triggered by sex. I also get a feeling like i have way too much adrenaline, like a few of the mornings during the first week my hands would feel a bit shakey, and it seems like my whole body is overactive like anxiety or worrying about things, or being in a room with alot of people and noise, just seems to make the pressure worse at times, so its been reall reactive to that, and also i get these periods where its like my body shivers but i'm not cold, i assume its some sorte of adrenaline or hormone or chemical response to something in my body. But i'm on a beta blocker but that doesnt seem to help, i've tried xanax a few days and thats ok, but doesnt seem to solve the problem. Also tried eating a bunch of beets last night because they are filled with nitrates which dilate blood vessels, that seemed to change the feeling but not exactly for the better. Anyways just wanted to see if anyone has had stuff like this, or if they found anything that has helped. It seems like its just one of those everlong episodes i just have to wait out, but since it feels like my heart its a bit disconcerning. Also have had ekg's all fine, holter monitor all fine but i think i'm going to make an appointment with my old cardiologist just to make sure.

[Guest Alex]

Statesof,

obviously you know your body and your reactions better than anyone, but if this chest pain is getting any worse or if it's something you have never experienced before, please consider having it checked out. A cardio appointment sounds like a good idea, but if things get out of control an ER visit doesn't sound unreasonable.

I'm also dealing with chest pain - for me it started soon after I took my first dose of beta blockers. Also, for some reason (my drs haven't ever answered my questions) all beta blockers I've tried make the pain worse. I'm on what is considered a very low dose of propranolol and I only take it when my HR is really out of control (no more than once a week, most times even less than that) but I know to expect some chest tightness the day after taking it.

What helps me with the chest pain: many times the pain simply goes away by itself, at times tylenol # 3 has helped, a hot bath (if you don't have a problem with the higher temps), an electrical blanket, and lately I discovered that 200 mg magnesium glycinate calms things down. The excessive adrenaline - I haven't had that in a while (used to have a very bad case of it after I weaned off klonopin) - the only things I found helpful for that are deep diaphragmatic breathing (there are many posts mentioning this on dinet) and meditation/visualisation (lots of resources available for free online - you just have to find the one that works for you).

I hope you feel better soon.

Best,

Alex

[RichGotsPots]

First thing you need to see a cardio to rule things out and make sure its only POTS. A friend of mine who has hyper pots had a heart attack 6 months back. There is also something called MicroVascular angina/chest pain http://www.heart.org/HEARTORG/Conditions/HeartAttack/SymptomsDiagnosisofHeartAttack/Microvascular-Angina_UCM_450313_Article.jsp

The singer Toni Braxton had it. Its diagnosed with an exercise MRI, thats what the top MicroVascular doctor at John's Hopkins told me in an email.

Be well,

Rich

[Gemma]

Hi, did your friend have heart attack because of microvascular angina or othe heart problem? I just read about it and it says that it very rarely causes heart attacks. I also have those pains. Its mostly on my right side and feels like squeezing pain that comes and go. It scares me so much. It can happen at any time. I already saw4 different cardiologist for it and nobody found anything. I had 2 echos, stress test, echo stress test, cardiac ct scan, pulmonary ct scan, 24, 48 hr monitors, 10 event monitor, and many ekgs with all normal results. But the pain is still there. I suspected Pritzmental angina, but fo not quiet fit all the symptoms. Now since you mentioned microvascular, i suspect this. But i dont know if my cardio will take me seriously if i mention this to him. And does cardiac mri test for it?

[RichGotsPots]

Gemma, I don't my friend was even evaluated for microvascular causes. All I know is she have hyper pots and had a stressful situation. She isn't in the best shape but she isn't that over weight or anything. So the answer is I don't know the cause besides hyper POTS.

Like I mentioned before I emailed with the top microvascular cardiologist in the country and that's the only test he uses to evaluate he told me. If you can get to John's Hopkins in Baltimore then maybe I will try to dig up his email and you can go see him. I emailed him over a year ago about it.

[Gemma]

Ohh i see. Did you have that test done. I might ask my cardiologist. My pain is not severe, its just like squeezing feeling on the right side above my breast. Its very enoying. My cardiologist and many others cardio docs that i saw said the pain doesn't present as cardio related. I just had dysautonomia test done at columbia university and received a call that results showed negative. If i do have dysautonomia than its either POTS or OI. Pain are very enoying and i wish it goes away. I started experiencing these chest pains when i first started Lexapro, then i was on xanax for 7 month and had pains all this time. Never had them before starting those meds.

[spinner]

Hope youre feeling better soon. That can be scary. Im throwing out ideas for you to research, since with DA so many

other things can interact/cause/relate to original causation. This is not medical advice, im simply listing

things ive researched myself and found lots of information about

-allergy/gluten/MSG/ leaky gut/inflammation/autoimmune response

-salt/deficiencies/d3/magnesium/

-sleep apnea (where your 02 plunges overnight can cause ALL kinds of problems, muscular and 02)

-cardio, arrythmia, angina, valve,

DA/POTS, circulatory issue, constriction, pooling, hypovolemia, mast cells, eds

-asthma,

-adrenaline, adrenals, thyroid causing a "seizing" feeling, tightness in neck, agitation

-hydration

-neuromuscular issue (muscles in chest), enzymes,

-parasite/infection/lyme disease

-anxiety (low serotonin)

-hpa axis, vagus nerve

--question: if your cardio checks out have you ever sampled klonopin? Cautiously used it can

help with these types of things depending on your body. It helps me.