chest discomfort and skipping heart beat?

[Teluk]

I am a 30-year-old male and have been suffering mainly from a terrible (almost constant) feeling of pressure in my upper chest that radiates into my throat, chin and upper stomach. My heart also skips all the time, which comes on more when I get the feeling in my chest. When this comes on strong, I also get a weird tingling sensation in the back of my neck. I have seen many doctors who haven’t been able to find my problem, but I am finding these symptoms very restrictive and worrying, as it comes on really strong when I do even the simplest of tasks for any length of time. I have recently noticed that lack of sleep, smoking, drinking coffee, mental stress, doing physical activity and drinking a lot of alcohol triggers severe bouts of these symptoms. I have seen a general cardiologist, neurologist and rheumatologist who have run the following tests over a two-year period: -

Echocardiogram
A few ECGs
Exercise ECG
Various Blood tests
24hr ECG
A mobile ECG, which lasted for 5 days. (it showed some heart skipping)

MRI scan on brain

MRI scan on my neck and various xrays on my back.

The tests have only revealed that my cholesterol is sometimes high and my liver function test shows high enzymes.


I also suffer from the following symptoms daily: -

Pounding heartbeat. I see and feel my pulse in the neck, wrist, fingertips and stomach. When this happens for long periods, my chest, arm, elbow, wrist and hand (all on left side) aches.

Constant tiredness to severe dizziness.

Tingling in the lips, face (left side, mostly chin and both cheeks) and fingers.

sharp pain in left armpit.

ache in chest sometimes when walking.

I often feel sick.

hot pins and tingling all over the body when walking (or in hot weather) and itch badly.

muscles in legs twitch all over after walking.


The people I have seen agree that I am suffering from Fibromyalgia, which explains most of these symptoms, but what it doesn’t explain is the constant pressure in my chest and skipping heart beat (lately this skipping has been happening every few minutes all day every day). My mother’s friend (who now has a pacemaker) was missed diagnosed for 15 years and had many of my symptoms, so I am worried that I have a similar problem.  In your opinion, is their any chance that I have a rare condition (maybe of the heart), which would not necessarily be detected with the tests I have had done, and is there any other type of specialist that could further investigate these bizarre symptoms.

Thank you,

Terry Hudson.

[Curls]

Check out a dysautonomia called POTS, Postural Othostatic Tachycardia Syndrome (my spelling is probably off).  Since I'm not familar with heart conditions I can't answer your main question.  But POTS is related to FM and can cause heart and chest sensations.  Hope it gives you a piece of the puzzle.

[PlateletGal]

Hi Terry,

Does your heart rate when you stand up ? If so, then you may have POTS and you might want to ask your physician to do tilt testing on you. I know that heart palpitations sometimes are present in patients who have fibromyalgia. Also, you may want to ask your physician if you could do the 24 hour Holter Test. CFS patients always show repetitively flat to inverted T waves alternating with normal T waves. That is not normal.

[Curls]

Also, you may not notice the heart rate change when standing up... and it might could feel like dizziness... or be not even immediately evident to you...if you're symptomatic from it all the time.  

[PlateletGal]

Oops -- I made a boo. I meant to ask, "does your heart race when you stand up?"  ; ^ )  Yes and Curls is right... dizziness is also a symptom. I have POTS myself and have to stand up very slowly.