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6304265 tn?1381037118

uncomfortable feeling in chest

My labs were all good, while I was taking synthroid, but I never felt good, so I insisted that my doc try me on armor.
While taking armor I notice a feeling that I have, it seems like it comes from my sternum, (the bone over my heart).

This feeling I describe as uncomfortable. Long ago I was a cigarette smoker, this feeling I have reminds me of when I would feel a strong desire to smoke a cigarette, I called it a nicotine fit feeling.
Has anyone else felt this feeling. I describe it to my doc by saying I feel anxiety, but I am not sure that is a correct definition.
13 Responses
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6304265 tn?1381037118
Thank you!
I got it and responded back to you!
SB
Helpful - 0
649848 tn?1534633700
COMMUNITY LEADER
I sent you a Private Message, rather than answer all your questions, here on the forum.  You can access my message by clicking on your profile page, then messages.
Helpful - 0
6304265 tn?1381037118
No, I am not using those same docs.
I am getting better doc's as time goes on.
We had to move to a different city to start getting treated correctly though.
We went from Scottsdale to Mesa and thats when I started to get better. My wife and I believe that they were trying to cover my problems up.
I know it sounds very dramatic but we really believe that. One reason is that the day they gave me the brain injury, they kicked my wife out of the hospital saying she threatened staff. She weighs about 100 lbs, and is soft spoken.

Also, they didn’t document my complaints at all.
Thank God I myself, called and eye surgeon that I use to work for from ICU and told him I woke up from surgery with double vision, he said it sounds like you had a hypoxic event. At that time I had no idea that I was having “HYPOVENTILATION” in the operating room for 1 hr and 20 min. before they placed a new breathing tube in and put me on a vent.

This whole thing has been a nightmare to say the least.
Having pituitary problems really *****, it is trying to ruin my life.

Where in Florida do you live, I have been to Lakeland near Tampa, a couple of times during the winter months, went fishing in the bay that was lots of fun.
Are you retired?
What kind of work do or did you do?
I was a board certified Surgical assistant I use to work for Mayo Clinic assisting surgeons with operations. I also worked for a group of Orthopedic surgeons in Mesa Az, I assisted them and billed the patients insurance for 10% of the surgeons fee. I made a good living doing that but I got tired of it and finally retired after 23 yrs of doing that to open a handy man/woman business with Sharon, My wife. after 12 years of that the brain injury that was just short of 6 yrs ago
Well thats my life in a paragraph.
I hope I am not being to forward on this site!
SB
PS
the bear is what Sharon gave me in the Hospital after the brain injury. I still sleep with him and sit with him watching TV all the time.
Helpful - 0
649848 tn?1534633700
COMMUNITY LEADER
It will be interesting to see if the feeling in your chest comes back after a while without Armour.

Wow, you've been through the mill, haven't you?  Sounds like you're quite a fighter, though and you must have a wonderful wife. I'm sure that typing on forums is great therapy...

"Some of my doctors tell me the reason that they haven't settled yet is that they are hoping I will just die."  No, that's not very nice, but then, a lot of people these days aren't very nice.  I hope you're not still using these same doctors?  

I live in Florida.

Helpful - 0
6304265 tn?1381037118
I think I missed some of your questions from a different post.
My brain injury was from an anesthetic complication. I was extubated at the end of a surgery for a bowel obstruction post appendectomy. My breathing tube was removed, but I was kept in the OR for 1 hour and 20 minutes without any documentation on my anesthesia record, then I was reintubated and placed on a ventilator. The only way we found out how long I was laying there not breathing correctly was because the OR nurses record said reintubated to ICU on Vent at such and such time which was and hour and 20 min after the anesthesia record said extubated.
This lousy doctor checked the box on the back side of the record that says “NO APPARENT COMPLICATIONS” and signed her name. When asked why she did that in her deposition she said because she was tired of being called down to medical records all the time to sign her records.

Can ou believe that?
The law suite should be wrapped up soon I hope.

I have lots of different areas in my brain that were or are affected.
Double vision, pituitary disfunction, visual perceptual problems, short and long term memory problems, multiple muscle movement disorders, neurogenic bladder and bowel, central sleep apnea.
I have to use a ventilator to breath for me whenever I go to sleep now, because I stop breathing.
Some of my doctors tell me the reason that they haven't settled yet is that they are hoping I will just die. Because the law suite will be dropped if I die!

That isn’t very nice is it?

I am waiting for my labs to post them!
By Barb!
I will write more soon.
SB
Helpful - 0
6304265 tn?1381037118
We agree, today was another day without armor, I still have a slight amount of that feeling, but much less than when I was taking the Armor.
I also agree that we are more than likely talking about the same feeling.

Pain is easy to describe, so is numbness, tingling etc.
What makes things even more difficult for me, is a few things, like I take morphine every day for chronic pain from a bad compression fracture that went undiagnosed, so it didn’t get repaired. Then the brain damage that retards my communication skills. I have my wife help me choose words to type in these sites, but I do the typing. It is great therapy for me, and it keeps me busy for multiple hours which undoubtably she likes.

Barb, you are very nice. what state do you live in?
Thanks again for all of your help.
SB
Helpful - 0
649848 tn?1534633700
COMMUNITY LEADER
I'm pretty sure we're actually referring to the same type of feeling in the chest; we're simply describing it differently.  Sort of the feeling like a panic attack, but that's not really right either.  I agree that it's very difficult to explain.

If you felt better after you stopped the Armour, it could be the T3 that's causing your feeling... some of us simply don't need that much T3. It does take 4-6 weeks for a dose of T4 only med to stabilize, so if you change dosage/med, you should retest after 6 weeks.

Will look forward to seeing your labs when you get them.  

Helpful - 0
6304265 tn?1381037118
I don’t think that the feeling I have is the same as what you are talking about, but then again, I don’t know, because of all of my other problems.
I ignored gallbladder symptoms for over a year because I didn’t know I had gravel in my gallbladder. I thought they would have told me about that with all of the test and studies I have had done.

I too went through two cardiac work ups shortly after my brain injury. After the second one I was asked about the last bowel movement I had, I told them it was about two weeks ago. They told me I was toxic.
My wife had no idea I wasn’t having bowel movements because I didn’t really think about it.
Now we have that taken care of with enemas every other day. I also use catheters 4 times day, because I have neurogenic bladder and bowel. All of this from my hypoxic brain injury.

I do appreciate your time and effort in trying to help me. I am waiting for my labs from my doc, I will post them ASAP.

As for that feeling see the other post I  just wrote to Barb.
Thank you again
SB
Helpful - 0
6304265 tn?1381037118
The feeling in my sternum isn’t pain it isn’t a crushing or a feeling like a weight is on it.
I apologize for not being able to describe it well. That is a problem I have because I have sever brain damage.
Also, barb, No my gall bladder was removed last winer, I also had diverticulitis at the time my gallbladder gave me a bad attack. I was placed on antibiotic until the diverticulitis got better then they took out my gallbladder.

This feeling is close to what I remember feeling when under great stress as a s=cigarette smoker and not being where I could smoke but times 1000 or more.
Its kind of a fuzzy  not good fuzzy feeling, no that not right. My wife doesn’t understand what  I mean either and she deals with all of my problems sense my brain injury.

I did an experiment and stopped the armor for two days and the feeling is gone. I went back onto the synthroid only and feel better. So now I am going to ask for the next lower dose of synthroid and then a small amount of Armor in the afternoon, and see how that works.
I am waiting for my doc to mail me my labs. Sorry!
But thank you for trying to help. I really do need help here!
SB
Helpful - 0
6322039 tn?1380727998
I know the feeling you're describing very well, stuffedpolarbear.  It feels like a horse is standing on my chest and you're right, it is very uncomfortable.  I have had this feeling many times on Synthroid, especially if I needed a raise in dosage.  Now that I've switched to Armour, the feeling is a bit worse, but I suspect it is because I have not reached the appropriate dose yet.  

Three years ago I mentioned this symptom to a doctor and ended up in an ambulance on my way to the hospital because I mistakenly asked, "How would you know if you're having a heart attack?"  Not a good question to ask, they take that pretty seriously.  After an overnight stay and an entire battery of heart tests finding nothing wrong, it turned out my TSH was 32.  That was a very expensive TSH test, lol.

I'm hoping the chest pressure will go away once the meds are right, for both of our sakes!  

Helpful - 0
649848 tn?1534633700
COMMUNITY LEADER
Yes, I understand the feeling you're talking about...For me, it feels like I'm being crushed, right in the middle of my chest.  I get it when I'm hypo and it usually goes away with a slight bump in med.  I also get it, when I'm very anxious/upset about something.

I do take generic liothyronine (cytomel) and have for several years; the liothyroinine keeps my FT3 level high enough so I don't have that chest pain, except when I'm under a lot of stress, then nothing, but eliminating the stress will get rid of it. You might have noticed that I've posted that I had to go on anti-anxiety med for a couple years... that's because there was a situation, with an elderly relative, that I had no control over, that was causing unbelievable stress... This sternum pressure was a good share of the symptoms;  I truly thought I was going to die (talk about overreaction...lol).  The anti-anxiety med  calmed me down, eased the pain, and got me through the situation... The elderly relative passed away nearly a year ago and I've been off the anti-anxiety med since the beginning of this year.  

Do you still have your gall bladder?  Mine was removed in 2005, because of stones (same as your "gravel") that were large enough to block my bile duct if they got there...  It's very odd that no one told you, you had the gravel in yours... that seems a bit like malpractice.  I, too, have diverticulitis that doesn't cause issues (as long as I can ignore the hemorrhoids... lol)

Your chest issue could very well be from being hypo, rather than from the  med(s), though some people do react to fillers/binders in meds, so that can't be completely ruled out, at this point, though it's odd that you'd have it with both.

Could you possibly post your current thyroid hormone levels, along with reference ranges?  Once I know what your levels are, I can match them with symptoms.  Just because your levels might be "in range" doesn't mean they are good for you.

Could you also tell  me what dose of synthroid you're on, as well as how long you've been on it, along with your dose of Armour, how long you've been on that, and whether you take it all at once, or split the dose throughout the day.

I don't want to pry, but was your brain injury, only from lack of oxygen, or was there also a lack of nutrients?  Lack of both oxygen and nutrients could be caused by heart related issues, which could be a whole other issue.
Helpful - 0
6304265 tn?1381037118
Thanks Barb,
I never noticed this feeling while on just synthroid. But I would get this when ever they added cytomel. Then they took me off cytomel, and that feeling went away.
Then I thought I wanted to try Armor, Armor made me have that feeling all the time. So I am trying mostly synthroid with a small amount of Armor ,and I still get that feeling.
I hate that feeling.I quit smoking in 2007 as well.

So you understand that feeling I am describing?
Around my sternum area, an uncomfortable, strange feeling,that I just can’t stand having.
You think it might be hypothyroid causing this and not so much from the armor or too much T3?

With my brain damage figuring out things is so difficult. I suffered from gall bladder disease for two years before I told anyone about my symptoms because I didn’t realize the problems. When I finally mentioned it to my primary doc, she said,  “ I was wondering when you were going to mention these kind of problems the cat scan you have a while ago showed gravel in your gall bladder.”
I sure wish someone would have told me that!
I assumed that sense it wasn’t told to me that my gall bladder looked fine. The Cat scan showed Diverticulitis.

Thank you!
Helpful - 0
649848 tn?1534633700
COMMUNITY LEADER
We don't put a lot of stock in "good" labs; could you post your current thyroid labs, with reference ranges, so we can take a look at them?

As an ex-smoker, I can identify with your feeling of discomfort... it really IS a feeling of anxiety, because as smokers, we wanted to get somewhere to fulfill the craving for a smoke...  

I'm not sure how long ago you quit smoking... I haven't smoked since Aug 2007... but sometimes during periods of stress, I do, still get the craving for a cigarette, and all I have to do to quell it, is to remind myself why I quit...  I just posted part of my story on another thread, but I'd gotten to the point, where I could barely make sound that could be heard and every sound that came out of my mouth hurt so badly, that I pretty much didn't talk, if I didn't have to; plus every puff of the cigarette felt like it was searing my throat...

I get similar feelings when I'm a bit hypo (blood tests "good"), but not good enough for me. All it takes is a small bump in dosage to resolve the issue.  I'm on Tirosint (synthetic T4 only) and generic liothyronine (generic synthetic T3).  Right now, I feel great.

Anxiety is a symptom of hypo, though it can be a condition on its own... A  mild anti-anxiety med might help... I did have to resort to that, for a couple of years when I was going through a really stressful time.  I've been off the anti-anxiety med for almost a year.

I learned the hard way that stress does things to us, that we'd never imagine and even when we don't "feel" stressed, we can be affected.
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