Regular chest pains

[beckka]

Im 21yr old female little overweight but regularly exercise 4 times a week and watching what i eat no family history of heart disease except Grandad developed angina in his 80s.
Last october i started with left side chest pain and pain in my arm. I was in hospital overnight where they ran an ecg chest x ray and blood tests all came back negative so they sent me home. My GP dianosed costochondritis. I also saw a cardiologist and had an echo which was normal and he was sure i have no heart problems.
The costochondritis pain has gone now but i still get chest pains, different from the ones i got with the costo and also pains in my left arm, tingling in my hand and pain in my jaw and neck. I have recently started using a biteguard from my dentist for the jaw pain and it is improving. I have been to the hospital hundreds of times thinking im having a heart attack or something but ecg always turns out fine. I have also had another 3 chest x rays and 4 lots of blood tests - all fine. I have seen my GP hundreds of times who also says my heart is fine and it is anxiety related - i admit i suffer from anxiety. Blood pressure is always fine.
What i want to know is:
Am i at risk for heart disease?
Are these pains likely to be something cardiac related that have been missed out on?
Have i had sufficent cardiac examinations for someone of my age to rule out heart disease?
Can these pains be caused soley by anxiety? Even when im not in an anxious state eg just waking in the middle of the night

Also - recently had a cardimemo which showed PVCs and short bouts of sinus tachycardia - my doctor tells me not to worry about this and that it is harmless. I have experenced skipped beats and odd beats for around 3 years.

[Forum-M.D.-bkj]

beckla,

Am i at risk for heart disease?

Not at your age. But the habits you devlop now will have impact in 20-40 years. So keep your weight under control and continue to lead a heart healthy lifestyle.

Are these pains likely to be something cardiac related that have been missed out on?

No. With your evaluation and workup I would be looking into other causes.

Have i had sufficent cardiac examinations for someone of my age to rule out heart disease?

You've had more than sufficient. You are more likely to have a false positive test than a true positive test at your age.

Can these pains be caused soley by anxiety?

Definitely. But I would also look into things like gastrointestinal symptoms.
A good GP or internist should be able to help you.


good luck

[EchoTech]

Am I at risk for heart disease?

No, not being female, 21, and being able to exercise 4 x week.  You have as few risk factors right now as humanly possible.

Are the pains caused by something missed out?

The tests that you have pretty much cover the spectrum of things.  The only other possibility is that you would have an anomalous/abberant coronary,  but you wouldn't be able to exercise like you say you do, and you would probably already be dead.  Even if you weren't dead, the echo would have in all likelyhood picked it up.

Have I had suufficient cardiac exams for someone my age?
Most likely.  Echo ruled out physical problems and the ecgs/holter monitor would pick up any electrical abnormalities.  The blood work would have picked up any heart attacks, which at age 21, would be exceedingly rare unless you are doing drugs like cocaine.

Can these pains be attributed solely to anxiety?

There are certainly cases where such things have happened.  The tingling of fingers and chest pain can be caused by anxiety alone.  The jaw pain might be from clenching/grinding your teeth.  If the pain changes when you move, or if you can get in a postion to relieve it, then it's not cardiac.  In addition, true cardiac pain is more or less a heavy crushing pain vs. a sharp stabbing pain.  I hope this gives you some help.

Good night and good luck.

[beckka]

Hi

Thank you both for your replies. I think i can safely stop worrying about the chest pains being my heart.

Many Thanks