I'm not sure what is my problem

[patricioperez]

Hello

My name is Patricio, I am a 34 year old male. I consider myself a pretty healthy person, however since 2 weeks ago I started to feel some discomfort in my chest, more specifically on the left side of it. at the same time I feel a very subtle pain in my left arm and in my back also en the left side right behind the chest area where i have the discomfort, also sometimes I have felt like i lose strength on my arms . after two days these symptoms began I started to have a bit of shortness of breath after walking at a normal pace. I went to a GP and the doctor carried out an ECG whose results where a a bit irregular (my blood pressure, body temperature and breathing examinations were all normal). Hence the doctor sent me to the hospital right away fearing that I was having a heart attack. Once in the hospital, they made another ECG, plus two blood tests and and X ray with the result that all of them were normal. As a result, the doctor diagnosed PERICARDITIS and gave me a course of anti inflammatory pills (INDOMETHACIN (ARTHREXIN) 25 MG) 3 times per day

The doctor said that the symptoms should go away by themselves. However, the pills didnt make any effect as I didnt feel any relief neither when I was taking the pills nor after I finished them.

My mother was operated last year because of a valvular problem on her heart. I also used to smoke almost a package of cigarettes per day when i was at uni. but now I hardly smoke. I lead a very stressful lifestyle because I spend at least 80 hours a week working and commuting. and my two jobs are related to physical effort (I've been working in a warehouse for the past 3 months doing heavy lifting among other physical activities).

So, finally my question is DO YOU THINK I WAS DIAGNOSED PROPERLY OR I'M HAVING A HEART ATTACK EPISODE? I am really confused, because I think, if I were having a heart attack, at this stage I would have had it already, on the other hand, if i'm having pericarditis, why the symptoms didnt go away with the prescribed medicine and why i feel no pain if i push the chest area where im having this pain? Thus, I would really appreciate some light on this issue, because I am starting to feel very anxious and now I am afraid that this anxiety might blur the line between the actual symptoms and the ones created by my own mind.

thanks

[patricioperez]

hey Tom, thanks for sharing your experience with me... sorry to hear that you have been through so tough times mate...

yeah, tomorrow I have an appointment with a cardiologist and he might ask me to get extra examinations.... I just want to know what's going on here because it's really stressing me out.

I'll see how it goes if I'm still alive tomorrow!

cheers!
Patricio

[toeroe]

Hi!

I am sorry to hear of your recent problems.  I am not a doctor but I have an extensive history of heart disease myself so perhaps my experiences can help.

I have had several similar experiences.  I had a heart attack 11 years ago at age 48, but the ECG readings at that time were interpreted as normal.  However, the hospital took some blood and measured cardiac enzymes which were very high.  An angiogram revealed the presence of two narrowed arteries and other tests revealed minor damage due to the heart attack.  In the years after that, I have had many cardiac-related hospitalizations, three stents, one rotoblater procedure, a cardiac ablation and a five-way cardiac bypass procedure.  Interestingly, most of the time my ECG readings were "normal" but other testing revealed the problems.

If I were in your shoes now, I would want to get additional testing done - especially since the pericarditis treatment didn't help.  Perhaps a treadmill or other stress test or a stress echocardiogram would be helpful.  

May you have good fortune with this!  I know what you mean about the anxiety - getting more information may help a lot with that.

Take care

Tom