Severe Chest Pain

For 2 years now, I have been experiencing bouts of severe chest pain. It feels like my heart is being crushed and the pain spreads from my chest to my arm. I also start sweating profusely and have shortness of breath. Sometimes it is so severe, I must sit down right away for fear of collapsing on the spot. I have actually called an ambulance on 5 occasions because I thought I was having a heart attack...but nothing ever shows on the EKG. The pain lasts from 10 minutes to an hour......and afterwards I feel drained of energy and even sick sometimes. I have had some heart testing: monitor, stress test, and ECG - all of which were reported normal. My heart rate is generally fast (90 - 110) all of the time. This pain comes on at different times....sometimes when I am active, and other times even when I am relaxing. I am 9 months pregnant and during the past few weeks, the pain has become worse and more frequent - almost daily. Are there any other tests I should have done? If it is not related to my heart (which I find impossible to believe since that is where the acute pain generates from) do you have any other suggestions?
Please help - I am getting desperate and depressed over this!

[CCF CARDIO MD - DLB]

Dear Jen.

If it is not your heart, one possibility to consider is acid reflux from the stomach into the food pipe. This can cause severe chest pain. There are tests that can be done to diagnose this and treatment is usually simple - antacids.

I hope this has been useful. I wish you the best of luck. Feel free to write back.

Information provided here is for general purposes only. Specific questions should be addressed to your own doctor. If you would like to make an appointment at the Cleveland Clinic Heart Center, please call 1-800-CCF-CARE or inquire online by using the Heart Center website at www.ccf.org/heartcenter. The Heart Center website contains a directory of the cardiology staff that can be used to select the physician best suited to address your cardiac problem.