Upper body pain after stressful life event

[Pilgrim09]

A week ago following 5 nights of constant partying and drinking I had a racing heart constant most of the Sunday afternoon/evening. It wouldn't calm down and I became very concerned so I went to a&e. They did an ecg and checked my blood pressure and heart rate which were fine. They said if I got chest pain to go back but that the racing heart was probably due to the caffeine in the diet coke I had drank as that is the only mixer I ever have and obviously the amount of alcohol I had consumed. They advised me to stay off alcohol for a week and stay away from caffeine based drinks, which I have been doing.
The next day I had pain mainly on both sides of my rib cage and back and felt a tightness in the same area. As the day progressed the pains spread from my lower back/stomach area right up to my shoulder and my arms. I went back to the hospital on the Tuesday and got another ecg and blood pressure test which were normal again. As my heart was still racing on and off and I had these pain they did blood tests for any heart problems, blood clots in the lungs, kidneys and blood count all of which came back normal. I also had a chest x-Ray which also came back normal. They basically said that it could be anxiety/stress related. I had been worried and anxious about it and even though the tests came back normal I Remained worried about it thinking, 'what if they haven't picked up on something and it is my heart?' etc...
I literally have stressed about this from tunes until now and my heart was nearly jumping out of my chest by the Friday and I still had all the same pains. The hospital said that if the pains didn't go away to go to my GP which I did on the Friday. She was able to see my test results from the hospital ANC confirmed that all the test results where perfectly fine and she prescribed me propranolol 10mg to calm my heart down. She did say that what I described about the pains sounded a lot like anxiety but didn't want to prescribe any anti depressants as I'm not really naturally a depressive person, it's not my nature.
I took one on the Friday afternoon at work and 2 hours later it took effect but the side affects were awful. My heart felt heavy in my chest and like it was over heating and I went really light headed and dizzy, I felt like I was going to die! I won't be taking them again!
I am still having these pains and it does mainly seem to be on my left side and my left arm, which you instantly think is your heart but obviously not due tot he test results. I've been able to control my thoughts about worry which has calmed my heart down and I'm taking kalms which are herbal to chill out when I can feel I'm getting a bit edgy.
The pains feel like when you've got a stitch but on both sides and it's in my back just under my shoulder blades, like I've been bent over for ages and I've got back ache from it. I also have the pains under by breast area in my rib cage and I get the odd few shooting pains in those areas as well as my chest every now and then but not very often which last a few seconds. I also have the pains in my lower back kidney area and my lower stomach and the tops of my arms but mostly the top of my left arm. Every now and again, not often I will also have a shortness of breath and feel a bit dizzy/light headed but again not often that happens.
I'm wondering is this the class symptoms of anxiety/stress or have I stressed myself out that much over thinking I had a heart problem and that I was seriously ill and now that I'm starting to accept it's not a serious medical issue am I experiencing muscle pain from being that stressed and tense all week over it?
I have had bouts of anxiety in the past and stressful times in life but I have never had pain as a result of it before which is why I'm concerned. I have noticed if a lean away from the pain which is worse on my left side it does ease it a bit and when I get up on a morning because I've been rested I don't have the pains for a while after I get up. They just come on as the day progresses.
Sorry for the essay but hope someone has experienced something similar and can help :)

[Carolynita]

I know this is a lot later than your post was made but unfortunately I've started having exactly what you described since November 2015. Have you found any peace? I started with a cardiologist, blood tests and two different GPs, a chiropracter and now physiotherapist and psychologist. Other than a run-of-the-mill neck and back issue due to bad posture and other normal daily activities (lifting things etc), I seem to be fine. I still feel awful though so I started reading up on herbs and drinking teas and now I'm seeing different alternative healers (shiatsu, pranic healing etc.). The good thing is that the panic associated with all this seems to be under check now (although there is always that underlying fear that someone 'missed something' and it really is pathological). The bad thing is that the dizzy spells and upper back pains just wont go away and stress seems to exacerbate the problem. On particularly bad days the whole thing starts in the front just above the solar plexus and then radiates to the same spot in my back (especially on the left side) where it suddenly feels like my whole thorax is locked and painful.

Please message if you have anything to share.

Wishing us all peace and relief...

[birdie0907]

You mentioned " I literally sometimes can't let things go and I end up making myself worse."
Here is an excerpt from a CNN article today. Perhaps you can find something useful in the article. "For the first time in my life, Dr. Lin, my therapist, explained how our thoughts, feelings, moods and behavior were interwoven, and taught me how to identify negative, self-defeating thoughts and replace them with positive, life-affirming thoughts."

http://www.cnn.com/2014/03/04/health/ramprasad-depression/index.html?hpt=hp_t3

[Pilgrim09]

Hi, yeah I agree with you totally. I have been given my results and instead of doing what some people would do by accepting it and moving on, I literally looked until I found something negative. I've always been like that though, I literally sometimes can't let things go and I end up making myself worse. I've noticed over the past 4-5 days I've had this extreme feeling of sadness, like I get very tearful and feel really down and worried even though I'm not really thinking of anything to worry about. I eventually end up feeling dizzy, weak, get pains in my chest and feel worried/scared. I've had some pretty bad anxiety attacks (or what feel like they have been that) and they have made me feel quite ill. The feeling I get at the time is awful, quite like I can't control my thoughts or feelings and I sometimes get to the point where I can't breathe properly and my chest gets tight and I feel dizzy and weak. Even when I'm not feeling that anxious, like when I'm with people trying to not think about it it's still like a black cloud over me. I've also been reading up on post traumatic stress which I also think I could be suffering from. Apart from the recent heart problem scare I had that I literally worried myself no end over I also had my finger broken in a taxi door last October and I lost 5 weeks of work as a result. Post traumatic stress can be brought on my all sorts and one of them is when you've had an injury or if you've had a massive emotional stress which can cause this afterwards? I'm not sure but I know the feelings I'm having at the moment are awful :(

[birdie0907]

"I'm just worried as I've been reading online that sometimes blood tests aren't always 100% accurate but this a very small possibility."
If you are worried about something being life threatening and Google it, you will be able to find something that tells you that you can die from that. You are best to stay away from googling, since it is causing your anxiety to remain active.
The secret to peace is accepting your test results especially the ones that you have had done more than once,and realize there is nothing wrong with you. Obviously I am assuming the second opinion will tell you that you are fine. Reaching peace isn't always easy, but will never happen if you are googling to search for frightening things.

[Pilgrim09]

Thanks for your comment. I also am a worrier but haven't been diagnosed with anything as yet but have been advised I could be having symptoms of anxiety which have similar symptoms to a heart problem.
I know all my test results have come back fine and I've had some of them more than once, I think I'm just worried as I've been reading online that sometimes blood tests aren't always 100% accurate but this a very small possibility. I have also been thinking since I had the results, 'what if they missed something?'.
I haven't been having as much pain, aches every now and then but now I get more of a prominent heart beat, like if I'm nervous or have ran for the bus, like you can feel your heart beat more. This happens some days on a regular basis, even when I'm sitting just watching tv and haven't done any activity. I've also noticed al well if I tidy up for a shirt while or when I last changed my bedding I could feel it beating more then, like more than I felt it should be. I don't know if this has always been the case but I've ignored it in the past or it's linked to what's been going on recently?
I've got another appointment with a different doctor in 2 weeks to get a 2nd opinion

[Tanarya]

Dear Pilgrim09,

To begin with, I have panic disorder and general anxiety disorder for the past 2 years and I'm 20 years old.
I' ve been having the same symptoms and pains just as you described for a more than a month now. Went to the ER a couple of times scared to death that I'm having a heart attack or something similar. Both times my ECGs were okay, my BP was fine, my troponin levels were normal, the only issue was my heart rate (115) which was probably due to my fear. I still have those pains, my upper back hurts a lot, my chest in the middle and just above the left ribcage and just next to my armpits, my left arm aches just below the shoulder and also my palm hurts.
The last diagnosis I had was GERD before that it was my spine (due to inactivity) and nobody knows for sure. (I have scheduled a gastroscopy to check if it's GERD)
Even though several doctors told me it wasn't my heart, that my heart is fine... Every night I experience the same fear of having a heart attack.

Anxiety can surprise you with all kinds of physical symptoms. A year ago I was certain something is wrong with my head because of bad headaches and after tons of test and a couple of doctors checking me, I finally started to believe my brain is fine.

And also, anxiety comes just like that. I was a completely normal, carefree 18 year old when I had my first encounter with an anxiety attack. And I didn't believe it either at first because I was so relaxed and always happy and positive.
My first psychologist told my it's my body's way of telling me I have to change my habits (I lived a fast life, drinking every weekend until dawn, etc.) and slow down.
Eventually, you'll accept it as a part of you.

I recommend seeing a psychologist, he/she will help you feel better, I assure you.

Sorry, I've written an essay too. After two years, this is the least I could've written.
(And sorry if bad english, not my native language :))

[Pilgrim09]

Thanks both of your for commenting. Fortunately drugs & smoking are 2 things in life I've managed to avoid. I also found out today that I don't have a thyroid problem which I had a blood test for on Monday as well as another ECG and blood pressure test. He said my blood pressure was at the higher end of normal but it's probably as I've been worrying about the whole ordeal.
I do tend to let things get to me and they quickly become all I think about and it causes me a lot of stress and upset. This doesn't happen to me often but when it does I do massively stress over things.
So according to all the tests I've had done there are no issues with anything. I must admit I have been thinking to myself, "What if there is something else they haven't picked up on or found yet?" This questioning is probably causing me the anxiety and the symptoms which I'm instantly thinking is my heart failing or something!
I'm just going to try and not think about it and see how my symptoms are. But again thanks for commenting as it has helped me a great deal :) x

[Paxiled]

Were there any drugs involved in that five days of partying?  And what do you expect to feel after that?  Did you get enough rest to recover?  Do you remember lying on one side for a long time?  I'd say, this is a hangover, and if you obsess over it it will turn into an anxiety problem, so work hard on not obsessing over it (though I know, being human, that's easier said than done).  Peace.

[birdie0907]

Anxiety makes you over-analyze your body looking for clues. Your symptoms are classic anxiety ouches here, dizziness there etc. The more you search the more you get worried because they are not going away - the result is you get more anxious and more "symptoms" show up. The solution is to stop worrying that you have a physical ailment and the "symptoms" will likely go away. Not everyone can resolve their anxiety however many do - See the CNN article which is the 4th one down which shows a guy who was not able to resolve his fears at the time of the article http://www.medhelp.org/user_journals/list/676326?personal_page_id=308570

If you look at other threads on this forum you will see many others with the same symptoms you have who have had ECG tests showing there is nothing physically wrong with them. The posters have one thing in common - no one writes back years later saying they actually did have a heart problem that the docs misdiagnosed. I hope that gives some comfort to you that you have no heart issue and allows you to get back to your former relaxed state. Even people without anxiety experience many of these issues all day long and you likely did too but just ignored them in the past because you knew they were meaningless. As I write I note some of those "symptoms" but I ignore them because they are meaningless.