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Heart Disease (Expert Forum)
buzzing/vibrating sensation in left breast/chest
Answered by
Cleveland - OH
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buzzing/vibrating sensation in left breast/chest
by TCE, Sep 05, 2005 12:00AM
I am a 29 yr old female, 5'6 1/2", 150 lbs & used to be healthy . Since Jan, I've been having a lot of weird symptoms -episodes of racing heart (120), spikes/drops in bp (140/98 or90/58), leg tremors, flushing, lightheaded (while lying down;not upright), fatigue, blurry vision, jittery (extreme at times for hours; only seconds other times), itching face, especially eyes & nose, cold feet, achy legs, nausea, occasional hives, etc.. I can fell ok for days or weeks and then I hit a bad spell for days or weeks. I am unable to identify triggers, adide from heat, although many symptoms, especially hr & bp occur at night.
Tests done: ekgs, echos, chest xrays, blood work, tilt table tests, eegs, mri (head, cervical spine, and abdomen), cat scans, 24 hour urines, stress test, and allergy tests. All were normal. Just recently, one batch of blood work showed low magnesium. I am taking supplements. I've seen every doctor in multiple disciplines and many could not find anything wrong. Multiple tests on heart and thyroid and even looked for rare things like pheo and carcinord.
Last week Hyper beta adrenergic syndrome was suggested. Can you tell me more about that disorder. Toprol was prescribed but haven't started. Tried beta blockers before and didn't really help. Florinef sent me to ER with bp 154/105 three times and made me feel horrible. Prednisone did the same. Verapamil raised hr & bp. Lopressor made me feel horrible and thirsty. Nadolol gave me an irregular hr.
I also just started getting vibrations in/under left breast that last few seconds. What is that?
Tests done: ekgs, echos, chest xrays, blood work, tilt table tests, eegs, mri (head, cervical spine, and abdomen), cat scans, 24 hour urines, stress test, and allergy tests. All were normal. Just recently, one batch of blood work showed low magnesium. I am taking supplements. I've seen every doctor in multiple disciplines and many could not find anything wrong. Multiple tests on heart and thyroid and even looked for rare things like pheo and carcinord.
Last week Hyper beta adrenergic syndrome was suggested. Can you tell me more about that disorder. Toprol was prescribed but haven't started. Tried beta blockers before and didn't really help. Florinef sent me to ER with bp 154/105 three times and made me feel horrible. Prednisone did the same. Verapamil raised hr & bp. Lopressor made me feel horrible and thirsty. Nadolol gave me an irregular hr.
I also just started getting vibrations in/under left breast that last few seconds. What is that?
Doctor's Answer
by Cleveland Clinic, Sep 05, 2005 12:00AM
, Sep 05, 2005 12:00AM
tce,
thanks for the post.
The beta-receptors in the body are hormone recpetors whose function are to control physiologic events such as increasing heart rate, cardiac contractility, vasodilation, bronchodilation and breaking down fat cells.
It sounds like you have a lot of non-specific symptoms that overlap with the function of the beat receptors. The 'hyper beta' syndrome is kind of a garbage can term that describes your symptoms. If this truly were the case with you, beta blockers should improve your symptoms not worsen them, florinef and prednisone would have no role, and verapamil shouldnt have any effect.
Sounds like your getting a lot of medications with out a true diagnosis which always causes me concern. I would seek a second opinion. If it were me I would carefully review all of your data and also look into things like anxiety and stress which can cause a lot of the symptoms you describe.
As for the vibrations, there isnt really a good physiologic explanantion other than what Ive stated above.
good luck
thanks for the post.
The beta-receptors in the body are hormone recpetors whose function are to control physiologic events such as increasing heart rate, cardiac contractility, vasodilation, bronchodilation and breaking down fat cells.
It sounds like you have a lot of non-specific symptoms that overlap with the function of the beat receptors. The 'hyper beta' syndrome is kind of a garbage can term that describes your symptoms. If this truly were the case with you, beta blockers should improve your symptoms not worsen them, florinef and prednisone would have no role, and verapamil shouldnt have any effect.
Sounds like your getting a lot of medications with out a true diagnosis which always causes me concern. I would seek a second opinion. If it were me I would carefully review all of your data and also look into things like anxiety and stress which can cause a lot of the symptoms you describe.
As for the vibrations, there isnt really a good physiologic explanantion other than what Ive stated above.
good luck
Anxiety was discussed early on. I tried Xanax and Atovin (?). While I was calm, I still had symptoms. I was hospitalized for 6 days early on and some of the doctors who saw my "episodes" felt that it was not anxiety. They also could not figure out the problem though. They did a bizillion tests and all were normal. They kept me though because my bp kept spiking up for nor reason. They put me on meds to reduce it but I was only on them for a few weeks and then my bp was too low. I also saw a counselor early on and she also did not feel my symptoms were stemming from an anxiety disorder and actually suggested I stay clear of the meds.
I'm at a loss. I'm barely working and no doctor seems to be able to definatively figure this out. It came out of the blue and has completely consumed me. I can't function and I'm only 29. And I guess it would be fair to say that at this point anxiety and depression do have a role but it is in response to the situation and was not there in the beginning.
I have no choice but to try Toprol again. I'm not getting better on my own and the "high salt" diet with gatoraide also prescribed just doesn't seem to be cutting it. I've been seen by many doctors in many disciplines. While some of my symptoms are suggested of POTS or dysautonomia, I pass the tilts with only mild symptoms. My bp drops when I am lying not when I stand. My heart tends to race when I am lying as well.
Neurological exams and tests are fine so far (I go for a QSART and TST this week). Cardio work up was stellar - no mitral valve or other issues. Monitor was fine aside from one peak heart rate of 130. Endocrinologist found absolutely nothing as did nephrologists. Rheumatoidologists also conducted "normal" tests. Allergists cannot identify any irritants. No infectious disease has been identified either. It just doesn't make sense.
I feel horrible a lot of the time and while many of the docs have been great, the fact that these "expert" docs at the clinic can't figure this out is very discouraging and unsettling. I just don't get it. Some of the docs have even just looked at my file and cancelled my appts stating that they did not think they could help me. They did not offer any advice or referral. That's quite difficult to hear at this point. I would think that most established docs would welcome a unique case. I guess maybe it is impossible to figure out.
It's been nine months. I just want my life back. I was perfectly normal and happy and then BAME, one day back in January this just started.
Any help would be appreciated!!!
Thank you for your time.
As someone who has experienced similar symptoms (due to an outburst of paroxysmal atrial fib (PAF), subsequently cured), I can tell you that it's amazing how much your nervous system can do to make life unpleasant. As others have pointed out, there is a feedback loop which eventually creates an over-reacting system...ie, plenty of twitches, vibrations in odd parts of the body, including inside the chest (which, btw, is probably your diaphragm), night sweats, palps, etc. It could have been some simple bit that starting it all, like an unexplained increase in the HR, and then your subconscious takes over and every little tweak becomes a major issue. These are real physical effects, and they cannot be wished away once they start up.
If anxiety is the issue, then I would suggest paying close attention to the form that the "trigger" event takes; it may not always be the same. Once identified, it may take some reasoning to figure out how to avoid it, and it may be difficult to avoid (because by now it's a habit). But, the only way to break the conditioning that your nervous system has acquired, is to change the routine that leads to symptoms.
Of course, on the flip side, you may actually have something wrong somewhere (two edged sword here... on the one hand, if something's wrong, we need to find it and cure it, so let's worry about it and make it worse...or, on the other hand, we are worried about something that's not really there, but, in worrying about it, we create it). The only physical thing I am familiar with that can cause your symptoms is a disorder of your adrenal glands...have you checked for adrenaline metabolites in blood or urine (24 hr collection)? There is a somewhat rare, and usually benign tumor of the adrenal glands called a pheochromocytoma, which is difficult to detect but does cause odd fluctuation in adrenaline and wide variety of "unexplained" symptoms like yours.
Good luck with your odyssey, it took me a full year after being diagnosed with PAF to overcome the anxiety associated with the diagnosis...the trick for me was to persistently avoid checking my pulse...simple, but extremely hard to do.
btw...I am not a doctor of medicine.
-arthur
this all started about 5 months ago and the first symptoms sent me to the ER. since then all the doctors basically look at me like im crazy and all tests come back normal. i went to one cardiologist who told me that i had a "lazy heart valve" and gave me 25m of atenolol. later he ran a stress echo, and said i didnt have a heart valve problem. i tired stoping the atenlol and was going good for a while, when all my symptoms came back and my doctor told me to go back on atenlol. at this point i honslty dont think that medication is helping me, or i dont have the correct dose.
they also started to mention stress or anxiety... im sorry, but all i do i stay home and feel sick for the last 5 months. there is really nothing in my day that can stress me out.
i know what you mean when u say you want your life back. i feel the same way. i cant do any of the things i used to and even lost my job over this.
go to new doctors and a new hospital. ive seen a lot of things you could call medical errors during my treatment. one doctor told me that on my xray it looked like i had phneumonia, but the radiologist reported nothing wrong... that just goes to show that some of these people dont know how to spot a problem when there is one.