chest pains

[dawnms]

Hi, I have had chest pains since age 12. I am now 28. At first i thought it was heart related. I have had numerous ekg's, 2 holter moniters, stress test and the last was a ct scan of my chest, which I am waiting for the results of that one.Now I am wondering if maybe my pains might be esophageal spasms. The pains that I get feel like a spasm and its right under my sternum. They come on suddenly and last a few seconds and then they are gone. They hurt terribly, but one they are gone, I am fine.I have been to the er a few times and they find nothing.Once when I went they gave me that gi cocktail. About 5 minutes later I had a really bad pain-one of the worst. Would that cocktail have prevented that pain if it was my esophagus? And I was wearing a heart moniter when it happened.The moniter beeped a second before I had the pain, and then there was a huge difference in the pattern on the moniter. I told the doc when he came back in and he went to check the print up. He said everything looked normal and it was just me moving. Can you tell the difference between heart related pain and other pain on those moniters?I don't want to keep hounding my doc,but the pains really scare me. I have also had a endoscopy. Would spasms show up on that if your not haveing pain at the time. Sorry so long, I just need help. Thanks

[individual]

I think maybe what the test results meant is that it's not your heart. My son gets these pains, and he's had multiple tests done on his heart. He also had a rapid heartbeat when he was younger, but he grew out of that. Thankfully, there is nothing wrong with his heart. I would be intrested in hearing what you find out, though. My huband tells him that he'll grow out of them because he had them when he was younger, but that doesn't make the pain any better for my son. Keep seeing doctors until you find someone who helps you. There are a few out there who can help you, but it takes a while to find them sometimes.

[pikamom]

It sounds to me like your chest pains are not from your heart. If your were having pains while on the monitor and the doctor said it looks normal then that's reassuring. Especially if you were worked up by a cardiologist, then you should start looking for other things that could be causing your pain. I started getting chest pains one year ago and went to the ER the first time, the doctor was worried about my EKG and sent me home with holter. I had to go back to the ER when the doctor got the holter results because he thought I was having a heart attack (I'm 37 and female). I had a stress test with thallium, and echo, and other stuff, thankfully I didn't have a heart attack or even blocked arteries. But I was given nitrostat for angina, and kept having problems all year and finally ended up in ER again. This time my EKG was so abnormal that a cardiologist was called in the middle of the night and I had a catheterization and was diagnosed with coronary artery spasm and a persistent tachycardia and started on cardizem...I havent' had chest pains since (except for terrible reflux which I think is worse from the cardizem)! I can tell the difference between angina and heartburn. Heart pain feels like a heavy squeezing pressure in the center of my chest that radiates to my left arm/hand and left side of neck, even upper back between my shoulder blades. It makes me sweat and turn white. I feel out of breath. Heartburn gives me a bloated feeling with a burning in my throat. If you go to the heart forum you'll find the doctors' answer to the cause of chest pain, and there's lots of them. Could be like you said, esophagus spasms, or it could be your gallbladder, reflux, etc. You just need to keep working with your doctor till you find out what it is in your case. Hope you find the answer soon.

[davesh]

I started having chest pains when I was 21. I kept thinking I was having heart problems.  I made some trips to the ER also. I had all the tests to check the heart many times. Everytime the heart was normal. Anytime that the pain felt different or was in a different spot I would think that this has to be the heart.  I just had a cardiolite stress test again.  The test was normal of course. I think the Doctors started thinking I was nuts, but the pain is very real. I'm finally going to quit worrying about the heart.  Guess what, I'm 48 years old now and still alive with no heart problems, but wasted a lot of years worrying.  Good luck with your chest pains and I hope you can get them taken care of.

[Frankie99]

I've been to the doctor several times for the same symptoms.  Sudden, sharp pain on the left side of chest under breast.  I'm 27 and have been having them for about 5 months now.  I've only had x-rays taken.  They keep telling me this is normal, esophageal spasms happen when you are sitting, sleeping, in the same position for long periods of time....but I've only told the doctor 10 times now that it happens when I'm just walking around, so.............I just don't think they have any clue.  They haven't told me how to prevent them either, with diet? medicine?  Any help would be appreciated!

[rubberstampman]

I had a feeling when laying down as if a cinder block was on my chest.  There was short burst of pain in my left arm also.  When I sat up or stood up, the pain went away.  Thinking I may be having a mild heart attack I went to the hospital.  I was there 3 days with a battery of tests down on me.  The diagnosis was onset pancreatis.  I am still scheduled to have a stress EKG done in a few weeks, but nothing seems to be wrong with the heart.  I had an ultrasound for gall stones, but I had an almost empty bladder at the time as I was NPO after midnight and urinated about 30 minutes before the test.  I believe there is an answer to the control of pancreatis through diet, but I dont know what the answer is.  I know Jay Kordich (the Juiceman) recommends Pineapple juice because it contains an enzyme Bromalain.  Not feeling like juicing pineapples (they are difficult to juice) I went out and bought some Bromalain.  After eating anything with Dairy or Animal Fat, I take one of these pills.  It does seem to help the nausea feeling.  Anyone else have any other ideas?

[resque911]

Hi, I am a 19y/o male. I started having chest pains about 2 months ago. They come everyday around 2100hrs and 2300hrs. The pain in under my strneum and normally lasts for 15-60 minutes. the pain doesn't go anywhere else. When I have an attack my pulse goes through the roof and hits about 140-160bpm. I went to the hospital last night and they did an EKG and that was normal. Now they are going to hook me up to a holter mointer for 2 days.The pain that i get is very sharp and it hurts to move around when i get the pain, however the pain comes whenever, it doesn't matter what i am doing at the time i could be lying in bed when the pain comes. Does anyone have any information for me. Please Help.