Aa
Aa
A
A
A
Close
Avatar universal

Help my chest hurts

Help my chest hurts.   About 8 years ago( age 32) I had chest pain so bad I thought I was having a heart attack. I went to the ER and had all the tests ran for my heart.  They found nothing and sent me home.  About 2 years later (age 35) it happened again.  This time they said I probably had acid reflux.  I took Prevacid for a week or two and was fine.  A year later (age 36)it  happened again.They decided it might be gall stones.  They did an ultrasound said I had one stone and that may be the problem.  At age 39 ( a year ago) I began to be short of breath, felt like someone standing in the middle of my chest, pain and pressure ran from between my breasts straight down to about a fists length above my belly button, and slight pain right under my right breast. I would sleep from 10-12 and then up the rest of the night. I went to the doctor and they thought it was my heart. Ran many tests over a 2 day period and said I was fine and sent me home.  I was in pain for 3-5 days and then ok.  This past summer ( 3 days after turning 40) again I wake up at midnight with unbearable pain 3 nights in a row and getting no sleep.  I went to yet another doctor and they said it could be your gall bladder. I told them I really thought it was acid reflux could they just get rid of the pain.  They insisted it was my gall bladder and ordered an ultrasound to be done in 5 days.  Before I left they had me drink some yucky green stuff (I think it had lydocaine in it) they said if the pain went away then it might be acid reflux.  The pain did go away and they prescribed me Prilosac.    I did have the ultrasound and found that I now had 2 gall stones each 2 mm.   So I took the Prilosec for 2 weeks.  Now 3 months later I wake up at 12 in horrible pain the same as before...pressure on the chest, between the breast, down to above my belly button, and just under my right breast.  I called the doctor she told me to stay on Prilosec. Then she said you might want to have the gall bladder out.  I started taking the Prilosec that day and was fine all day long.  Tonight at 12 I hurt soo bad I feel like I am dieing. By 9 am every  morning the pain is gone.
I have been to 5 different doctors over the course of this time.  I have tried Tums, Malox, PeptoBismol, Rolaids, all kinds of stuff.  I know I am not a good eater, but I don't eat a lot of fried foods either.
  I would stop eating all together to get rid of this pain.  Tell me what to eat that I can afford to buy, get in a local small town supermarket, that is easy to prepare and I will change my habits completely.  I don't eat a lot of meat, I prefer fruits and veggies.  At age 18 I firstsuffered with mouth sores severely. It was not uncommon to have 3-9 at a time ranging in size from a pin ***** to a 50 cent piece. I also saw lots of doctors for this and was told it was stress and too much acid in my diet, but nothing was ever done.  At the age of 27 I got to where I couldn't eat or even swallow my own saliva because the pain in my throat and all the way down was horrible.  I went to the doctors, but they werent concerned until I lost 11 pounds then they took me serious. They ran a scope down my throat and said that my esophagus was totally covered in sores. They put me on prevacid and for a whole year I was canker sore free, It was wonderful. I stopped taking the prevacid because my insurance changed from 5.00 perscriptions to regular pay and I couldn't afford the prevacid. 2 months after being off the prevacid my sores in my mouth returned. At the age of  30 someone told me to start taking lysine on a daily basis. I did this and after 2 months the sores didn't come back. I would sometimes get one from biting a chip wrong or poking my gum with my toothbrush, but the sores would be small, last only a day or two and not be near as painful as in the past. I also found that eating yogurt every morning keeps the mouth sores away.  I only mentioned the mouth sores, known as canker sores to me, but called stomach ulcers by my doctors,because maybe letting you know that will help you solve my chest pain now.  I might also add that I have had 2  children one at the age of 21 and the other at the age of 25 and during my pregnancies I never once had a canker sore and didn't have one until my babies were 2-3 months old. Both babies were born before I knew about the lysine or the yogurt.  When I pointed this out to the doctors they would say something was present in your system during pregnancy that must not have been pre or post pregnancy.
This is why I am having a problem with doctors. I want them to diagnose the problem and help me not just make calls like maybe it is your gall bladder and well your body must be missing a nutrient when you aren't pregnant, I  know they don't know everything, but removing my gall bladder isn't an easy decision for me even though I know I can live without it. When I had all my mouth sore problems they thought maybe removing my tonsils at the age of 30 might help.  I was considering it but while researching it on the internet found the suggestion of yogurt and then my friend told me about lysine. The lysine and yogurt really work well and no surgery was involved, why didnt my doctors know about those things. I feel it was because they made no profit off of the yogurt and lysine, but would have made some money from the tonsil removal. This is not meant bad against doctors, just meaning I want to fix my problem without surgery if possible. I am almost done here...I am not a burping person, but I notice that when I have  these pains in my chest I just want to burp all the time and it seems that if I burp I would feel better. Burping doesn't make me feel better, but I still have burping feelings. Does this help you know if I have acid reflux or gall stones. One last thing.  It is now 2:30 a.m.  I got up in major pain at 12 got on here to look for help.  As soon as I got up I took peptobismol, no relief. I took another prilosec, no relief. I found a reader suggestion to chew some tums, I took 2 no relief. The 2 people suggested warm water and baking soda. I was desperate and tried it. It is now 2:30 I am finishing up this question and I am pain free, feeling 100% normal getting tired and going to bed.  I don't know what helped, I really think it was the baking soda and water. Any suggestions?  Any one else have this problem and can't help me figure out what I have? Gall bladder need removed? Acid reflux?  Please help me in anyway. Sorry this got so long,, but thought the more information you had the better you could help me become pain free. Wow, I feel good already.

5 Responses
Sort by: Helpful Oldest Newest
Avatar universal
I've had same issues as above since Monday morning.  At 530 am I woke and thought i was having a heart attack alone and scared I tried pepto Tums with no help. Finally at 6 I got a hold of husband and he directed me to excedrin which has aspirin in it. It relived it but my problem does not burn. I've woken a lot This past week with same pain in chest right in middle of breast. Bit two days ago I noticed I started burping a lot which I did always massive like two years ago which we attributed to my Graves' disease. So now I'm burping chest fells like heart attack and if I drink anything I must do slow. I tried I eat a small soft cream cheese Danish today and each bite and swallow was slow and very very painful. It's like it gets stuck pain gets worse and it slowly goes down. I wait a a minute or so take another bite and it was intense pain eating a soft food. Need to eat. Because I am just recovering from a battle with graves diseases and need my nourishment. I don't have any burning though and after I did eat it I burped for about 30 minutes as if I drank a ton of beer (don't drink ) have in past but long ago. I thought I was on to something but you all report burning.
Helpful - 0
Avatar universal
You poor people, you are infected with a bacteria, take some antibiotics!
Helpful - 0
Avatar universal
name is eli. i have the same problem. ive been taking maalox, and now my chest or the front bones are starting to hurt.

anyone have any suggestions?
Helpful - 0
Avatar universal
my name is  sandy i have been gaving that same problem, i took prilosec, and maalox, the thing that gets me is that it burns soooo bad and the drs just say what they think. never a full answer, i know the feeling but we will come through it one day in our lives...
Helpful - 0
Avatar universal
To find out if the gallbladder is the problem, the typical tests are an ultrasound and HIDA scan with CCK injection. Since you already know you have stones, ask the doc to do the HIDA scan and see if the stones are causing a lowered ejection fraction.

Following a low fat diet may be of help in the case of gallbladder issues.

If the issue is due to gallstones, the use of acid relux medications will be of no help. If you want to find out if you have acid reflux problems, ask your doc to do and upper endoscopy and also to check for the presence of H. pylori.
Helpful - 0
Have an Answer?

You are reading content posted in the Gastroenterology Community

Didn't find the answer you were looking for?
Ask a question
Popular Resources
Learn which OTC medications can help relieve your digestive troubles.
Is a gluten-free diet right for you?
Discover common causes of and remedies for heartburn.
This common yet mysterious bowel condition plagues millions of Americans
Don't get burned again. Banish nighttime heartburn with these quick tips
Get answers to your top questions about this pervasive digestive problem