unresolved chest pain

Please help. My quality of life has suffered. I have been having chest pain , on and off every day, for over a year. I have had multi ecg's, stress echo, cardiac mri, all negative. Upper Gi series negative. Brachial plexus mri neg. Same for thoracic and cervical mri(as well as xrays). The pain is mid sternum to left nipple area. It is intense and very painful. It lasts for seconds. Then is gone. Not brought on by food, stress, cold, excersize, motion. Only comes at rest but cardiol says not Variant Angina. I never get shortness of breath, but I do get the associated left arm and neck pain. Also, neg on gallstones. No joint pain, Pain in chest and arm feels very deep. Pysch says i do not have anxiety or GAD, with the exeption of that which is caused by these painful and scary episodes. I am 44. I run 3 miles a day with no pain. never smoked. GI says it is not gerd, hiatus, or GI related in anyway. No pain upon movement. Not worsened or brought on by excersize. After all of these visits, I am still scarred that something is being overlooked. Any advice?

[jimmyC22]

Also forgot to mention, tearing back pain under left shoulder blade, and also left lateral mid back. Doc says no aortic aneurism (aneurysm) evident in mri's or xrays. This pain also comes on at rest and is not caused by motion , food, excersize, etc. I am taking percoset for the pain(which knocks the pain from a 7 to 4 on the scale but i can still feel it).  

[jimmyC22]

and one more question. I am exploring the possibility that these symptoms may be being caused by a few old mercury amalgam fillings in my teeth. Any one have any input on that? Thanks so much. Through all of my chest pain and PAC's(i forgot to metion that), it is the people of  this forum, and not the medications, that has kept me from going out of my mind.

[ChatterAlly]

How did they rule out variant angina?  The reason I ask is that I have coronary artery spasms and the chest pain with these is exactly the same as the chest pain with my heart attacks.  I suffered with these until it was finally diagnosed as spasms.  I take a long lasting nitrate and calcium channel blocker to help.  They do not go away, just under control.  When I have a serious attack I take the NItroquick and it stops the pain every time.  I was advised to also take a magnesium supplement to help control these.  The chest pain I have with these is a burning ache that radiates out and I do have some discomfort in my upper and middle back.  Take care, Ally

[jimmyC22]

Thanks for the response. The cardiologist says the pain is not strong enough or long enough in duration to be variant angina. Also, the pain doesnt even last long enough to get out the nitro. I finally had a series of pains that were intermittent for a total of 30 minutes(longest episode by far) so i finally got the nitro on board. After 3 pills sub ling, no relief(no diff breathing) and off to the er. After all of the tests came back neg, I was discharged with atypical chest pain. My cardio says that if it were variant angina, i would feel the spasm clamp down and it would be relieved by nitro. Also i was on a 10 day event monitor and felt the pain several times, so i hit the record button. Everything came back negative. Lastly, the common variant angina triggers(cold, stress, etc, have not once caused the chest pains).
Also , I too take calcium, magnesium, and taurine. Take care and thanks......Jimmy

[ed34]

If it was artery spasm, you would almost certainly notice a shortness of breath, especially as you feel pain. It sounds like it could be a nerve problem or muscle. When your muscles are warm and supple, you don't seem to suffer. It only seems to be when they are cool and tight. Have you tried some stretching exercises when you get your muscles warm? Nerves that are pinched are a nightmare to track down, for example, a trapped nerve in the foot could give you a pain in the arm, making it impossible to discover. Stretching exercises are good if done slowly and properly with the muscles warm.

[jimmyC22]

I will give the stretching a shot. I have considered doing this, but really didnt think it could be muscular  or neurological because i can not cause the pain by any type of movement or exertion, regardless of my muscles being warm or cool. The chest pain is what worries me the most, but the associated left arm back neck and jaw  and back pain terrifies me, since my neurologist says there are no impinged or compromised cervical nerve roots. I should mention that i never get the associated pains at the same time. Sometimes the arms hurts, sometimes the jaw, etc. Thanks for the response.......jimmy

[ed34]

I had something similar a few years ago where I had chronic headaches, aching arms, aching neck and my chest/back killed me. It came on in bouts, and it wasn't when I was in certain positions or doing anything in particular. I went to the hospital and the first thing they suspected (heck knows why) was a bleed in the brain. A Doctor had 4 attempts at performing a lumbar puncture on me, and the 4th time he had my right leg twitching like mad so I knew he was hitting nerves. I told him to get the needle away from me and I discharged myself. A week later the pains got a lot worse and I had no choice but to go back to ER and give myself to the Doctor who likes needles. However, this time, I had a chinese Doctor and I know they certainly know their stuff. He asked me about 10 questions, starred at me for quite a while and then said "I know what that is". He came back with, (yes you guessed) a needle. He explained that I would feel strange for about 20 mins, my muscles will be relaxed and I will find it hard to move. Wow he was right, it did feel odd, but the pains all vanished. All that pain was caused by a cramping muscle at the base of the skull, squashing nerves. In many years the problem has never returned.

[jimmyC22]

Wow. That's great. I have seen a chiropractor a few times but no relief. I don't know where i would find an MD to do that but maybe an acupuncturist is called for? Thanks again and be well...........jimmy

[jimmyC22]

Wow. That's great. I have seen a chiropractor a few times but no relief. I don't know where i would find an MD to do that but maybe an acupuncturist is called for? Thanks again and be well...........jimmy