Chest pains - 26 yr old female

[hockal]

I'm a 26 yr old female and I've been having chest pains recently. This has happened on and off since I was 22 and I've seen a doctor twice (the same doctor). I had an EKG and blood tests done and the results were normal. The pains typically come when I am stressed, and my worry about the pain makes it worse. They happen more frequently than they have previously and are now accompanied with pain in my left arm. I also felt shortness of breath and aching in my shoulders and clavicle area, even into my left armpit. I am 5'6, 130 lbs, and relatively healthy (used to run marathons, but I've been a lot more inactive recently). I do have a history of cardiac disease in my family.

Help!

[Paderla Anitha, DNB]

Hello and hope you are doing well.

Understand your predicament. The pain you experience does not seem to fall into the category of typical angina. Angina many a times can be missed by a routine ECG. In which case, a treadmill or an exercise ECG may help. The pain can also be due to orthopedic related causes like cervical rib, cervical spondylosis or disc prolapse. A simple x-ray will help and an orthopaedician can guide you.

Your aim should be to first rule out if your pain is of cardiac origin, next to see if it is orthopaedic related.

Hope this helped and do keep us posted.

[Sandman2]

   Well, this is something that you definitely want to see your doctor about.  
It is also possible it could be acid reflux due to stress.  Try taking something like Maalox and see if the pain goes away.