I am a healthy 42 y/o female, 5'7" and 148 pounds. No problems at all until Aug of this year, when I experienced about 4 hours worth of chest pain that was moderately uncomfortable. Up until this time, my bp (on the rare occasions I had it checked) stayed in the 100/60 ballpark. My bp during this episode was in the 170/100's. I did nothing about the pain but rest and it eventually went away. Went to my MD next day who did an ekg and declared that nothing was wrong. Just to watch it and my bp.
No furthur symptoms until the past 2 weeks. Now I am plagued with the same kinds of chest pain (mid sternal, crushing, no pinpoint tenderness, goes away with rest). EKG remains normal, but my doc thought he now heard an aortic murmur. Went for an echo which was normal.
My question is, what sorts of tests need to be done? My doc wants to just assume I am having angina and treat me w/o any furthur testing. He mentioned Prinzmetal angina, but I never have the pain at rest, and all my lipid studies are great. I understand that stress testing in premenopausal women can be misleading. Any ideas how to proceed?
Oh, one furthur question, why would my symptoms be so pronounced when I am only doing mild activities, and not when I am under great stress or doing heavy excercise? I will have 2 hours of pain for example when I am just folding laundry or walking outside, yet when I recently hiked for over 5 miles in the woods, no symptoms at all! Why?
THanks so much for your great service.