angina or not angina

[andrewb]

i have been getting tightness in my chest on left side mostly and in the middle some times its on the right some times it goes in to my abb area. there is a stab pain were my abb meets the chest bone in the middle but the pain only lasts 4-6 seconds and only happens once and a while then the pain is gone. the chest tightness comes and goes when it wants i dont see a pattern with it, it can last 2 minutes to 2 hours. its been happening for about a month. i'm 18 5'6 186 pounds i weight lift i could lose 10-15 pounds my blood pressure is usually in this range 100 over 60-122 over 74 my resing heart rate is 52-65. i have all wasys been active since i was younger.in the past 8 months ive had 2 resting ekg's one during a sinus tach of 132bpm with horrible chest pain and shortness of breath and both came out normal. 4 weeks later had heart palps and still do have them i have about 15-25 a day. then had an echo and a holter. holter showed sinus tach at 192bpm while i was running up stadium stairs for exercise and had a blood test and all three of them were normal. the cardiologist told me he cant find any thing wrong with my heart so stay healthy and go of and do what ever you want.do you think the chest tightness and chest pain is angina i have had it a few times during some mildy heavey physical activeity it went away onece when i finished the activity and sat down some times i get it when i lay down on my chest or my back i notice it at rest most of the time

[Cleveland Clinic]

andrewb,

It is exceedingly rare for someone your age to have significant coronary disease to cause anginal symptoms.  Given the duration of your symptoms and the continued occurence with really no progression makes it even less likely.

The heart rate of 192 while vigorously exercising would be normal. Im not sure why you had a heart rate of 132 while having a resting EKG.

Alot of things can cause chest pain that mimics cardiovascular pain. These include gastrointestinal and musculoskeletal etiologies.

I would work with a good internist to try to figure out the etiology of your symptoms. Make sure you have someone do a good history and physical exam.

hope this is a start

[pat57]

I sprained my chest muscles once, I wonder if you might have- lifting weights. I could not lay on my side for months- without pain. Just a thought.

[cdausman]

My husband was admitted a couple of days ago with chest pains. As of right now they still don't know what caused it. They had already ran all the necessary tests. The strange thing is that it all started after a powerful sneezing fit. He must sneezed 15 times in a row without catching his breath. His lips suddenly went numb and his chest tightened and is still sore(not as much now) despite nitro. I have heard of "Dejerine's sign" or other chestpains of radicular origin. I am not sure if this is the case.

[3rdMajor]

Angina increases when you increase your level of exertion, and decreases or stops when you rest.  If your steps exercise does not directly increase your chest pain, and rest does not alleviate that pain, then it is not angina.