Am I just paranoid?

[Henry Lee]

Okay, I am a bit of a hypochondriac, but I wanted to see what you all thought. I'm 28, a former athlete, etc. I am a computer programmer, and over the past 10 years I have slowly put on 50 pounds. I was 200 pounds at 18 (low body fat), and I'm 250 now, with considerable weight, which I am trying to lose (5 pounds).

Over the past 2 years or so, little things have been bothering me. It started with some pain in my chest. It was in the area at the top of my chest, below the throat. It was a dull ache that hurt each time my heart beated. I thought maybe it was a pulled muscle, but it didn't feel typical, so late that night, when I couldn't sleep because of it, my wife and I went to the emergency room. They gave me an EKG, said it came up empty. Doctor dismissed it by saying I had just gotten over minor bronchitis and I probably pulled a muscle, etc. So I walked away ...

Then other things started happening months later. Of note, going up stairs seems to give me problems. I get short of breath and can feel my heart beating in my throat ... as if it has to work too hard or something. What is odd, though, is that I walk and even jog on the treadmill, and don't get the same result. It's only going up stairs. I once tried 5 flights, and I was sucking wind pretty badly when I got there, and had to take deep breaths. Now, I am 50 pounds overweight, and that is what I blamed. But what is odd is that I can run for 15-20 mins on the treadmill with no problems like that.

More in next reply ...

[CCF-M.D.-KE]

Dear Henry,

Sorry to hear about your exertional symptoms. Taking into account your age and functional capacity you are in a very low risk group. I think the likelihood of any significant cardiac disease in a person such as yourself is very low.
It is very likely that the symptoms you are experiencing are related to your recent significant weight gain.
Nothing you have mentioned so far sounds overly worrisome. I would recommend seeing an internal medicine specialist and having your cholesterol and blood pressure measured. You should continue your exercise regimen and discuss some weight reduction strategies with your doctor.  Hope this helps.

Thanks for your question,


CCF-MD-KE

[Henry Lee]

Lately I have been getting acid reflux / heartburn. Not painful or bad, just randomly I feel acid churning in my lower esophogas. It's an annoying thing and comes back often, sometimes for hours at a time. A little Mallox makes it go away, but still, wasn't sure why I never had it my whole life, and then this month, its happening almost every day.

Most of my family members seem to think all of this is from stress. Like most young families (I am married with 1 child and another due in May), money is tight and I stress a lot about the finances. Try not to, but what can you do? I also work in Manhattan, where my commute is 2 hours each way from CT. I think they are right about stress, but not sure.

I've also had palpatations, heart flutters, where it feels like air is taken out of your chest, just for a second, as if the heart skips a beat. I've had this all my life, happens randomly once every few months. I had this little heart thingy since I was a baby, doctor's say its harmless.

On the treadmill though, on two different occassions (out of hundreds of times being on the treadmill), I have felt a slight dull ache on the left side where the heart is. I passed it off as gas?

I haven't had numbness in my arms, no serious pains, constricted chest, difficulty breathing, etc, outside of the things I mentioned.

Is all of this just a case of being overweight and stressed, or do I really have something more serious to be concerned with?

Thanks,

Henry from CT

[Henry Lee]

One last thing. Family history:

My family has a history of heart issues, but all of them at late ages. I have 3 grandparents alive in their 70's and 80's. All of them recently had heart surgery or minor heart attacks, but they are all doing great, fairly active, etc. None of them had any problems before their 70s. The one grandfather I lost died in his late 60s with lung cancer.

So there is a history of heart issues with my family, but nothing pre-70s. I am 28.

[dartmouth03]

i just wanted to let you know that i'm a 23 year old guy and for the some reason whenever i climb stairs my heart goes faster than normal and i'm out of breath.  i think being out of shape and the fact that you're using the largest muscle group in ur body does it.  i've had my heart checked out and everything is normal, so don't feel bad if u get those bases covered.  good luck.

[Henry Lee]

Thanks to both of you, it is appreciated.

Henry

[Ianna]

Hi Henry,
-
Go to the Dr, and let him check your stomach - esophaegus and related acid problems; often stomach problems and PVC's-PAC's and palps are related, and can be brought to a slow when you start eating different (no big meals but 6 times a day small ones)and all the 'bad' things like smoke, cafeine, alcohol, chocolate, sugar, soft drinks, aspartame etc. have to come to a hold for a while.- (rather forever)
Losec and Maalox can help a lot; but first go see the dr.
-
All the best!  --   ***ianna***

[Nic1]

Wow. I agree so much with Ianna. She's right on. I've always felt my PVCs/palps and my stomach were related. As for Ianna's advice, I might even go one step further, and bring in a heavy-hitting prescription antacid like Nexium. A month on that could help a lot.

[hbp702]

Do what the doctor said, but also demand a fasting blood sugar.

Anything over 110 is abnormal, anything over 125 is diabetes.

Over 90 but under 110 is considered normal by most labs and doctors, but if you are in that range, take better care of yourself.

Maybe even get a glucose tolerance test.

I had a FBS of 95 mg/dl and I was impaired glucose tolerant on a glucose tolerance test, but not diabetic (thank God!).

Just think, does your body need a BG of over 90 while fasting?

One problem with diabetes is patients and doctors wait until they meet the criteria for type 2 diabetes, by which time permanent and progressive and unstoppable damage has been done to the beta cells and the rest of the body. Good control after that can slow, but not stop, progression of the disease. And even that isn't guaranteed. I knew someone that was having persistent fungal infections while well controlled within months of a type 2 diabetes diagnosis. No way back.

[rst]

hi henry, just like you i feel the same thing. im into sports also, whats odd is i feel this symptoms when at rest or going up the stairs. its like a loud heartbeat in my throat. it annoys me cause sometimes i get into anxiety and feel that am havin a heart attack or stroke. doc says am completely normal and nothing to worry bout. had all this tests and everything was ok. am under atenolol right now at 50mg. its a big help although when the drug subsides there it goes again. you know what the weird thing is, i dont feel all these symptoms when am busy or gettin a good workout. its after or when am really stressed out. am 24 and bout 210pounds 5'9. guess am a little bit overweight.