It Started While Jogging

[Lemonade]

Hi, my name is James (not Lemonade, apparently, James was already taken) and I have a few recent concerns regarding my health.

1. I am 23 years old, 6”1, 205, in great shape, eat well, non-smoker, a lot of stress from work and grad school as I do both full-time.

2. 16 days ago while jogging, I began to experience a sharp pain in my lower left breast. It did not affect my breathing pattern and the pain was not severe enough to prevent me from finishing my jog. The following day, I experienced a similar episode about halfway through my jog.

3. The following day while sedentary, I began to experience a dull pain sensation in the upper left quadrant of my left breast. This has now been an on and off occurrence for the last two weeks. When I exercise, the pain is at the lower left quadrant of my left breast. A few times, the pain has radiated into my upper arm, and it seems to be in the muscles. I am unable to determine if the focal point of the pain is in, above, or below my breast plate.

4. I have gone to my doctor twice. I had an EKG, X-ray on my chest, and blood work conducted. All returned as normal. A week later, I returned to my doctor and he diagnosed me with either a muscle problem in my chest or a viral infection. The only problem is that there was no immediate catalyst for the pain, e.g. injury, bad sleeping position, etc. The pain comes to me at different times of the day. It is not consistent and it relocates itself throughout the left-half of my left breast. It is not severe, only a disconcerting nuisance. One day, however, I did experience sharp pain in my left breast (upper-center, inch and a half directly above the nipple) when I was shivering from being outside in the cold and rain for two hours. This pain was indeed noticeable and not dull. Even as I was helping my boss relocate a 300 pound desk, I did not have any pain. It simply comes and goes with no warning or no correlation to activity (except while jogging).

So, thank you in advance for reading my story, I hope to acquire some advice as to what I should do from here. I am not a hypochondriac but I do not trust my doctor, for some reason, he wouldn’t let me finish my story and also had a poor attitude with me on both occasions. I don’t quite know why. Thank you, -James  

[willtme]

I had a similar pain yesterday after jogging (left pectoral), and it has persisted through today.  It definitely feels like the pain is in the pectoral muscle, but it is hard to pinpoint, and sometimes it seems to move.  I wouldn't say it is painful, but it occasionally throbs and radiates to an point.  I noticed that my back was really tight today and knotted up on my left side about nipple height.  It seems to me like it could be referred pain (nerve or muscle).  

In your case, I doubt it would be viral, especially lasting a few weeks.  You've had tests run, and they're normal, so likely there's nothing serious wrong.  If you are still concerned with it being a heart condition, you can have a holter test or stress test done.  My advice is to try stretching it out.  Take anti-inflamatories and see if they help.  If the pain persists, you might look into getting a chiropractic adjustment or seeing a masseuse.  Best of luck.

[star queen]

This could be from residual lactic acid in the pectorial muscle that just hasn't worked itself out.  Does the pain get worse when you take a deep breath during the episode?  If it does, there is a possiblity that you are having referred pain from a spasm in the diaphragm.  If that is the problem, spasms there are often caused by chronic mild dehydration.  If you like more soda and coffee than you do water, then you should switch to water or a sports drink that is mostly water, like Cytomax (powder).  Make sure you have enough iodized salt in your diet; about 1 tsp/day and eat a bannana every day or two to keep your electrolytes up.

[speceeee]

first i want to say that i im not anti doctors but i have never been to a doctor who has help me and like u said they wont even hear the whole story. they give u a diagnosis tell u to come back if it persists and run up your medical bill. any ways i have been running for 6 years now and i have experienced the pain u are talking about in nummerous occasions. i even felt that pain in my neck just yesterday. my point is this, whenever u excert your body , your body will start acting weird with no rhime or reason. it will go away in time and if u keep running a new and different pain will appear somewhere else. ignore it. PAIN IS WEAKENESS LEAVING THE BODY.

[mongoofy]

EXACT Same thing here!

24 6'2" 245, eat well, sleep well, been losing weight steady for about a year now.

I run on an elliptical for anywhere from 20-30 minutes a day and the pain has never once stopped me from running.

Exact replica of your symptoms, dull ache noticeable about 20% of the day - no position or anything makes it a lot worse or better. 1 or 2 "painful" moments out of the blue.

Had an EKG and blood work done and all is well.

No stress test yet - doubt I am going to get one done.

Glad to hear I'm not the only one in the world with this bizarre situation.

[Confus-sed]

Male 22, 6'0 175lbs very active but I do party. My friend and I have the exact same situation, a transient pain in my lower left breast that is somewhat sharp when it comes around. It does not affect my breathing but I do notice it when I inhall deeply. The pain even transfered to my back in the same spot for a short time.

I have not done any extensive exercise on only my left side or had any significant trauma that could possibly be linked to it. However, I was very stressed and overworked when it started to happen. I was going to get a chest x-ray until reading the similar case above

After not exercising for a couple weeks the pain has slowly diminished but it still lingers. It makes me wonder if this is some sort of new virus or bacteria that is not tested for. But I instinctively decided not to go to a doctor because there were little symptoms for diagnosis.

If the pain goes away or you figure it out please post again.