Chest Pain

[Lynnly]

My husband is almost 28 years old, tall and very skinny.  He was diagnosed with having very high blood pressure at the age of 16. Because he has been unemployed for a while we were unable to afford his blood pressure medication.  Last Friday My husband came home early from his new job that he had been at for 3 days.  He told me he wasn't feeling good & he felt really nauseous. He then ran to the bathroom & threw up. He came out of the bathroom, stood in front of our couch & told me his chest was hurting really bad , he grabbed his chest & started crying. I have only seen my husband cry a couple of times before & it was always when something was seriously wrong.  I asked if he wanted to go to the hospital, he said yes & started gasping for air.  I immediately dialed 911.  Within seconds of speaking to the 911 operator my husband passed out.   My husband began desperately gasping for air & then stopped breathing.  I of course freaked out & started screaming while crying at him to breath.  Just as I was ready to start slapping him to make him breathe, he took a horrifying gasp of air, this happened several times where he stopped breathing.  He finally came to at the hospital. They gave him a breathing treatment, which helped him breathe,  but did not help the chest pain. They took a chest x-ray & blood work which came back normal, so they told him he had bronchitis & sent him home.  He went to his regular doctor on monday & was told it isn't bronchitis, but an anxiety attack & that he thinks my husband may be bipolar???? He upped one of his blood pressure meds but thats it.  My hubby is still having chest pain a week later. We have no more money to see another doctor especially since we have no health insurance since i started a new job 2 months ago.  Does anyone have any advice, or know what may be wrong?

[Lynnly]

He never cries unless something is seriously wrong like when his grandmother passed away. He only has anger issues that intensify greatly when he isn't taking his blood pressure meds.  He has seen a pshyciatrist in the past and she put him on some pshyc meds that only made him go into a rage and get violent.  He never hit me or anything but he threw stuff which he had never done before.  As soon as he stopped taking the pshyc meds and his blood pressure was regulated by meds he was fine. This again was a time we could not afford his meds.  
He rarely drinks anymore cause it messes with the blood pressure meds too much. He does smoke, and has never really has stomach issues before.

[Dr. Kokil Mathur]

Hi
Welcome to the MedHelp forum!
It could have been an anxiety and panic attack. Just one episode of crying does not make it bipolar—does he have bouts of elation followed by bouts of depression/anger/crying?
In all probability, it was either a severe angina or a severe gastric reflux. Let me take omeprazole (empty stomach in morning) and antacid gel and see if it helps. Also refrain from smoking, alcohol, spicy food etc.
It could also have been due to very high blood pressure. Taking those medications may help. Get a repeat EKG while he is having pain to rule out heart condition completely.
Take care!

[Lynnly]

They did do an ekg and have him on a heart monitor at the hospital. I don't exactly remember his blood pressure, just part of it which was, 152 sometimes 147 over something else and his pulse was really low.

[geminigirl1963]

Nausea, vomiting, chest pain, passing out, stopping breathing -- these are all symptoms that need to be investigated much more in depth than a simple chest xray and some blood work - IMO.  Especially with your hsuband's long term fight with high blood pressure and him not taking it recently due to the financial issue (which I'll cover in a minute), this really is not something that should be dismissed so quickly as either bronchitis or an anxiety attack.  Did the hospital even do an EKG or have him on a heart monitor at all?  What was his blood pressure during this time?

As far as the financial difficulty in getting his meds, many, many drug manufacturers have patient assistance programs for just such a purose.  You can find out the manufacturer of his meds by simply looking at the prescription bottle (or researching it online) - simply call them (or go to their website) and ask about a patient assistance program.  These programs, if you are eligible, will either give you a great discount on the med or sometimes provide the med at no charge.  your local social services department may also be able to help.  Each state differs as to what their requirements/limits are for medical assistance, but it would definitely be worth at least a phone call to them, and perhaps filling out an application to see if you would be eligible for any type of state assistance, at least until your insurance from your new job kicks in.

In the meantime, if your husband continues to have chest pain or the other symptoms, definitely do not hesitate to return to the ER.  Don't worry about the financial problems - they can be worked out later (and an ER is legally responsible to treat you for a life threatening illness/injury no matter your ability to pay).  Many hospitals also have patient assistance or charity programs, so you can always talk to their billing department about setting up a payment plan or seeing if you quality for any of those programs.  Your husbands health and life is much more important than worrying about having to pay a hospital bill.

I hope he feels better soon.