Gastro or heart?

Hi everyone.  I'm hoping you will share your opinions or advice with me.  I'm a 25 yr old female who has had several symptoms (connected or not) over the last three to four weeks.  Upper left abdominal cramps, like exercise side cramps, some left chest sharp pain/discomfort, intermittant sharp pains in left breast tissue, and numbness (slight soreness) and tingling in left arm from shoulder and chest, down to fingers.  Upper and mid back pain during day and night.  Also, during the day (after meals usually), and often at night when I go to bed (usually with a pretty full stomach) it feels like I can feel my heart pound right through my chest - it keeps me from falling asleep sometimes because it's so strong.  I have such fear of heart attack, I went to the doctor who listened briefly to my chest and tapped different parts of my body/arms, and said it seemed like panic attach and/or carpal tunnel. ??  Reflux runs some in family, and I know stomach is right near heart - stomach disorder could mimic the chest discomfort and cramping, but what about arm tingling/numbness, and heart pounding?  Do I need to have a stress test/EKG? I take my pulse myself all the time and it seems strong, and good.  I exercise 5 to 6 days a week, don't smoke, don't drink.  Doc's visit helped make me feel LITTLE better, but his exam was not very thorough.  Thanks so much you guys, I've read almost every entry on this board, and it's been interesting and good to read all the diagnoses and perspectives.  Thank you.

[sued]

I had a similar experience, with chest pressure and a tingling in my left hand, along with a pain in my left elbow----also diagnosed as a panic attack.  I had indigestion and bloating that lasted for 3 weeks, went to a gastro doctor and am having an upper endoscopy done. Apparently my heart is fine, I was scared too. If your symptoms continue, it might be worthwhile to find a gastroenterologist, just to ease your mind.

[dawnms]

I have a suggestion, if you can't get any relief or answers from your docs, maybe try a chiropractor. I have had alot of the same symtoms (symptoms), but I have had them off and on for years, since I was 12. I am now 28 and still no answers. The chiropractor does seem to help some though. Good Luck!!

[reb]

I would ask your doctor for an electrocardiogram. I wasn't sure if my chest pain was due to heart problems or gastro. and since I was born with wholes in my heart (which were operated on) I was rather concerned... but it was surprisingly easy to do an electrocardiogram, it was doen by a trained nurse and only took a couple minutes. Nothing was wrong with my heart but it was SOO reassuring to have it done! If you don't have any history of heart disease in the family I wouldn't worry too much about your heart as you are young, however, if you don't get any answers from your doctor, and he thinks it is a panic attack, perhaps you can convince your doctor to give an EKG, to at least ease your fears and hence stress levels, which contribute to panic attacks!
I have also had similar symptoms to you (pain, numbness) and it was due to difficulty digesting things (after treatment with antibiotics). All the best.

[cwendyhawk]

I'm sorry that you are having trouble with your doctor.  Mine does not take me seriously either since I am 21. I have to argue and demand tests be done or he simply does not do them.  He thought I was a hyprochondriact but after the catscan showed a swelled liver he was ashamed of himself (as he should be).

The majority of the symptoms that you have I share.  The pain in chest area - pain in breast especially left underside.

The back pain also mid and upper back- where liver is and where heart is.  My neck is also stiff/hard  and my muscles in my back are now stiffening due to either pressure from my liver or lymph nodes.

Pain in that area could also be associated with pancreas.

A catscan of abdomen might be helpful and perhaps one of the chest.  I will be asking my doctor Tuesday for these - or likely arguing for these.

A chest X-ray is suppossed to show if the lining of your hear is inflamed which also could be causing your pain.

My EKG was normal.

I had a stress echocardiagram to check the heart since I had stabbing pains and constant dull pain.  The cardiologist noticed a swelling of the right side of the heart--the echocardiagram can also show if you have valve damage which could be causing your pain.

I wish you luck in finding the correct diagnosis.

cwendyhawk

[Moppet]

I have similar pinching chest pain and constant dull pain  which goes through to my back. I have had my gallbladder removed, my throat scoped. Blood tests ran for liver and pancreas problems. Heart ultrasound, stress tests and another ultrasound to see if they missed  a stone. Which by the way I had one tiny stone and they removed my gallbladder. They did an upper mri to look for cancer and AFTER ALL THAT they came to the conclusion that it's Acid Reflux.

Then came Protonix.....

After 9 weeks of 2 (40mgs.) Protonix daily

[emeraldone]

I had chest pains and gastrointestinal problems.  Had many tests done and figured it out on my own--I had started drinking a lot of Crystal Light which contains aspartame (aka Equal or Nutrasweet) around the same time the problems started.  Stopped drinking and the symptoms gradually disappeared, but required some gastroenterologist help.  

If you drink/eat a lot of diet foods, may want to research this product.

[upadhyaganesh]

A related discussion, Chest pain was started.

[Numerate]

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[gig47]

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