Aa
Why All These Symptoms If I Have No Heart Problem Diagnosis
2 years of chest pain.My family history of heart disease,CHF,& heart attacks.I started to get pains in my chest 2 years ago.I have not taken it seriously because it's wasn't the left side.It all began with this massive tightness in middle of my chest that hurt& I couldn't move &after it starts it then goes into my jaw (on right side)&then up into my right ear.I usually get warning signs before as something under my jaw bone starts pulsating 1st & I can't move cause the pain is bad.I feel like something is gong to burst in my chest or my jaw.last week I was in the pharmacy when it happened & I could barely move so I used their public blood pressure machine & it read 158/65..why?I would think my blood pressure being high is a signal something is wrong. For the past month or so I have got pains on the left side of chest.It is different as it either just a quick sharp pain and sometimes small periodic ones which subside after a while. I had a heart stress test done 2 years ago &I got an IV to race my heart to do the test and my Dr. said results were normal.I read it and it said normal except a few times it showed slight ischemia.I feel very weak & tired & sometimes when I am standing up I feel I am going to pass out & I get cold & shaky & weak & feel like I am going to faint.I have nausea & get palpitations day & night.The other night I was woken out of my sleep with this pain in the middle of my chest right where the breastbone is and it felt like something had cracked like a rib..what is going on with me???
You should definitely push the doctors for tests. You should have an angiogram to check your arteries in your heart, you should also have your carotid arteries checked again, and have the leg checked. I would not doubt it if you have blockage in your heart, more in your neck, and in your leg. The leg can be very serious as you can lose your leg from blockage. Our family member did because a doctor told her it was nothing to worry about. The multi-slice CT scan puts out a lot of radiation, hundreds of times the amount of a chest x-ray. An angiogram is covered by insurance whereas the CT scan most likely is not. The angiogram will show for sure if there is any blockage in the arteries which is what cause the chest pain. The blockage makes the arteries spasm therefore causing the pain. Be firm and request the tests. If your doctors will not listen, find a doctor that will. Good luck and let us know your results.
I sometimes have chest pains but my dr sent me to 2 differnt specialists and after he sent me to the local hospital.The local hospital said they found something with the test but the specalist said there was nothing wrong.I also have high blood pressure.It did shoot up to 150/102 when the dr raised the blood presure medicine it went back almost to normal.What should I do.
I A CURIOUS AS TO WHAT A LIFE TEST IS AND IF ANY INSURANCE CO. WILL PAY FOR IT. I ALSO AM CURIOUS AS TO IF THIS TEST WILL SHOW ALL PROBLEMS AND WHAT THE DR.'S DO IF THEY FIND SOMETHING WRONG ON THIS TEST. LAST NIGHT I WENT TO BED AND AS I WAS GETTING THESE PAINS ON THE LEFT SIDE OF MY CHEST ... THESE WERE NOT SHARP PAINS THEY WERE JUST DULL NAGGING TYPE OF BRIEF PAINS AND IT WENT ON FOR ABOUT 10-15 MINS. OFF AND ON.....
ALSO RECENTLY I HAD THIS SHARP AND THROBBING PAIN IN THE FRONT OF MY LEFT LEG RIGHT ABOVE THE KNEE (ON THE LEG NOT THE KNEE AREA)AND IT WAS LOCATED IN JUST 1 SPOT AND IT LASTED A GOOD 2 DAYS......IS THERE NOTHING WRONG OR ARE THINGS GETTING WORSE AND MR DR. DON'T GIVE A HOOT. I WENT IN LAST WEEK ABOUT A RECENT DIAGNOSIS ABOUT AN XRAY I RECENTLY DONE ON MY NECK BECAUSE I HAVE THESE SEVERE HEADACHES THAT ARE SO BAD AND MY NECK GETS SORE WHEN I HAVE IT SO THEY DID AN XRAY AND THE XRAY SHOWED I HAVE DISK DEGENERATIVE DISEASE OF THE C5/6 AND HE SAID AN MRI SHOULD BE DONE OR I AN JUST GO TO PHYSICAL THERAPY AND ALSO GET SOME SORT OF NEEDLES IN MY NECK BONES.......HE SAID IT WAS MY CALL SO I SAID MRI BEFORE ANYTHING IS DONE TO ME PLEASE.THEN I BROUGHT UP THE FACT ABOUT MY LEFT LEG GETTING NUMB FROM TOP TO BOTTOM WHEN I SIT OR LIE DOWN (NOT WHEN I STAND) AND I MENTIONED THE PULSATING FEELING IN MY NECK BEFORE THE CHEST PAIN COMES AND THAT MY BP GOT EXTREMELY HIGH ONLY WHEN I GET THE CHEST PAIN AND HE JUST IGNORED ME. I FEEL LIKE A HYPOCHONDRIAC BUT I SWEAR THIS IS ALL THE TRUTH...I WISH IT WASN'T CAUSE I AM GETTING SCARED FOR MY OWN LIFE NOW AND MY KIDS REALLY NEED ME. I WISH THEY COULD ADMIT ME FOR 1 DAY AND TAKE ALL THESE TESTS AND FIND OUT WHAT IS WRONG OR WHAT IS NOT WRONG. ALSO, IF I WASN;T MISTAKEN I SWEAR I HEARD THE DR. TALKING ABOUT ME AFTER I WALKED OUT. I WAS STILL WAITING IN THE WAIT ROOM FOR MY SON 'S PHYSICAL FORM AND I KNOW I HEARD HIM TALKING NEGATIVE ABOUT ME AND THEN ALL OF THE SUDDEN HE SEEN ME SITTING THERE AND HE CAME OUT AND ASKED IF I WAS WAITING TO SEE HIM AND I SAID "NO THANK YOU". CALL ME PARANOID BUT THIS HEALTH CENTER SEEMS TO SUCK!!!!
The multi-slice CT scan is a procedure done by a company called LifeTest that has branches around the country (there may be others). This test measures the calcium load in your coronary arteries - which is proportional to the amount of athersclerosis present in these vessels.
I am now 74, and have been working out regularly for nearly 40 years. I have never had any cardiac symptoms. My weight is normal, there is no history of heart disease in my family. My cholesterol was, typically, about 230.
Just for the heck of it about four years ago I had one of these LifeTests - they cost about $300 and take only a few minutes. I found that I have considerable calcium deposits in my heart - more than 90% of people of my age. An unpleasant surprise! I had a nuclear stress test that measures the blood flow in the heart before and immediately after intense exercise. This would show any areas where the blood flow is diminished. Fortunately, my test was negative (as have been two others since), although my calcium score continues to increase despite my getting my cholesterol down to 115.
I learned that the stress test will show positive only when blockages are 70% or more. It gives no indications about "soft" cholesterol deposits, which can lead to clotting in the coronary arteries.
This is why the 50% of folks who die of a heart attack have had no prior symptoms. I am fortunate that I had a LifeTest run back in 02, otherwise I would have had no idea what was going on inside me.
I am now 74, and have been working out regularly for nearly 40 years. I have never had any cardiac symptoms. My weight is normal, there is no history of heart disease in my family. My cholesterol was, typically, about 230.
Just for the heck of it about four years ago I had one of these LifeTests - they cost about $300 and take only a few minutes. I found that I have considerable calcium deposits in my heart - more than 90% of people of my age. An unpleasant surprise! I had a nuclear stress test that measures the blood flow in the heart before and immediately after intense exercise. This would show any areas where the blood flow is diminished. Fortunately, my test was negative (as have been two others since), although my calcium score continues to increase despite my getting my cholesterol down to 115.
I learned that the stress test will show positive only when blockages are 70% or more. It gives no indications about "soft" cholesterol deposits, which can lead to clotting in the coronary arteries.
This is why the 50% of folks who die of a heart attack have had no prior symptoms. I am fortunate that I had a LifeTest run back in 02, otherwise I would have had no idea what was going on inside me.
what is this test you mentioned to me and what does it test for? curious as to what calcium has to do with our hearts/ cholesterol. I never know nothing so I guess you can say I am dumb. Now I have my sister bugging me about my health as my uncle died last year of an undiagnosed massive heart attack...I have had a supposed total work up "blood test" almost 2 years ago when I went to the hospital sick and they sad it was a viral thing. I always get that...it must be a viral thing :).....why???
I'd keep pursuing it. Don't let that go. There are some tests like calcium scoring that might be helpful in determining your risks. Have you had that?
CAD is the great pretender, especially when you're young. My brother was 47 and not taken seriously because his only symptom was a dry, painful parched throat. He got an ultrasound, a perfect EKG, etc... 2 weeks later he was dead. Doctors need to err on the side of caution and do the tests that will give results, like the IVUS catheter test and the new CT scans. I think the only issue is that the majority of us will have to be told we have CAD.
The test I had done that showed periods of "slight ischemia" was a heart stress test where they place and IV in your arm and they race the heck out of your heart and check it...I cannot remember if they used an EKG or an ultrasound with it a it was 2 years ago and my memory is bad!!!!!!
What is a holter and event monitor and a 64 slice CT scan? How can I get these dr.'s to take me serious???? I told you about the pulsating in my neck before the chest pain and I read about something today called JVP (Jugular venous pressure) and I swear it sounds like it might be this and does anyone know about this?? Thank you to all of you for your help. Also any ideas on what the severe pain could be that woke me up in severe pain that was in the middle of the chest but closer to right side of my breastbone as I felt like my rib broke???
The standard tests that are given, even nuke stresses do have their limitations and generally are unsensative with ,50-70% blockages.
Holter & event monitors check for abnormal rythyms and patterns, EKGs take snapshots (nearly 1/3rd of heart attack patients will have normal EKGs), echos check for structural defects with the heart walls/valves.
The most effective & definitive test for CAD is a cath. Young people can still have obstructive CAD, and present with normal findings with the standard tests. Caths help show a larger picture, and it helps that an IVUS is done of the areas with dense plaque.
In a person with family history, this needs to be taken in consideration very carefully. Elevated BP can aggrevate CAD no doubt. Just a spike into 140/80 territory gives me angina.
So far on the doc side of the forum, I think there are 4 people including myself from mid 30s to mid 20s with CAD & have had heart attacks or multiple stents. It is rare, but possible.
No one should ignore warning signs. If a doc blows you off, find another. I'm in the very rare category of CAD in the young, but it's possible.
Holter & event monitors check for abnormal rythyms and patterns, EKGs take snapshots (nearly 1/3rd of heart attack patients will have normal EKGs), echos check for structural defects with the heart walls/valves.
The most effective & definitive test for CAD is a cath. Young people can still have obstructive CAD, and present with normal findings with the standard tests. Caths help show a larger picture, and it helps that an IVUS is done of the areas with dense plaque.
In a person with family history, this needs to be taken in consideration very carefully. Elevated BP can aggrevate CAD no doubt. Just a spike into 140/80 territory gives me angina.
So far on the doc side of the forum, I think there are 4 people including myself from mid 30s to mid 20s with CAD & have had heart attacks or multiple stents. It is rare, but possible.
No one should ignore warning signs. If a doc blows you off, find another. I'm in the very rare category of CAD in the young, but it's possible.
What kind of tests showed that you were "normal"?. Be very careful with who you rely on to check for cardiovascular disease. My brother died of a heart attack after his GP gave him a string of tests that showed he was "normal" A lot of these silly tests are like trying to put out a fire with a garden hose. The best tests available today are 64 slice CT scans of your arteries and intravascular ultrasound. Other tests only show CVD if you are already really bad.
If your blood pressure is elevated that is a risk factor of significance and you should go to your doctor and have it taken at the appropriate intervals to determine if this is really high blood pressure or if your pressure is being driven up by stress.
Also, blood pressure machines in stores are notoriously inaccurate.
Have it checked by a doctor, nurse or (at least this is true where I live )if you periodically stop by the local fire station they'll track it for over a few days too.
High blood pressure is not something you want to ignore.
Please take care of yourself.
Also, blood pressure machines in stores are notoriously inaccurate.
Have it checked by a doctor, nurse or (at least this is true where I live )if you periodically stop by the local fire station they'll track it for over a few days too.
High blood pressure is not something you want to ignore.
Please take care of yourself.
Have an Answer?
You are reading content posted in the Heart Disease Community
Is a low-fat diet really that heart healthy after all? James D. Nicolantonio, PharmD, urges us to reconsider decades-long dietary guidelines.
Can depression and anxiety cause heart disease? Get the facts in this Missouri Medicine report.
Fish oil, folic acid, vitamin C. Find out if these supplements are heart-healthy or overhyped.
Learn what happens before, during and after a heart attack occurs.
What are the pros and cons of taking fish oil for heart health? Find out in this article from Missouri Medicine.
How to lower your heart attack risk.
