Weird increasing pains

[MEL31501]

I've been having multiple symptoms for about three months, increasing recently that I haven't been able to diagnose.  A couple of months ago I started to have pain in my left upper arm, with numbness in my 4th, 5th fingers.  Pain in my forearm and shoulder followed, along with tightness in my upper back and neck.  I had recently started a job in a hospital where I was sitting in high chairs that caused me to lean forward for hours unless I was conscious of it and corrected my posture (very rarely).  I assumed this was the cause.  I went for a physical for work and my BP was slightly high.  This freaked me out a bit, and I started to be more aware of pains in my body, in my mind now relating them to my heart.  I remembered that I had had quite a bit of caffeine prior to the visit, and tried to convince myself this was the reason for the high reading.  Over time, the pain has increased in frequency, I now have sharper pains in my arm, muscle twitches in my chest and back and below my ribs.  I get weird headaches in one spot in the back of my head, like a twinge and sometimes behind my eye.  I have had a few spasms in my chest and one shooting pain in my left arm that caused my heart to race and then go into an irregular rhythm for 2-3 minutes.  I have been to the ER three times with arm pain, chest pain and recently jaw pain (started on left and now on right as well).  The pain in my chest is alway fast and sharp.  Every time I went to the ER, they said my EKG, blood tests (cardiac enzymes, thyroid, etc) and chest xray were fine.  I was given anxiety meds and told to take Ibuprofen for the pain/spasms.  Last night I had pain in my neck when turning my head and in my back while bending over, so Im thinking it is a nerve/muscle thing?  But, now I'm getting nausea and weird feelings in my throat while swallowing.  One day had a pulsing ache in left forearm that lasted 5-6 mins.  Woke up with shooting pain in front of my neck and fast pulse.  Tightness in back and shoulders increasing, but could be anxiety?  I also have random sharp pains in left foot and under ribs....I don't have health benefits, and I just want to know what's wrong with me so I don't have to keep going the ER, and have anxiety.  Help!

[Dr. Kokil Mathur]

Hi
Welcome to the MedHelp forum!
One possibility is pinched cervical spinal nerve which can cause shooting pain in arm, chest etc. Nerve conduction tests and MRI of spine can diagnose this.  The other possibility is a bad case of gastric reflux. However, reflux can only increase your blood pressure due to anxiety associated with it and can cause weird pain in chest and back, which will not radiate to arm. A third possibility is a muscle pull. Take care!

[petercos]

If you are on any medication like for example cholesterol reducing medicine check it out. Some have bad side effects. But check all medications you are on for serious side effects. I think I am experiencing that myself and am trying to find out more as i have stopped taking the medicine and will consult my doctor Sorry cannot be more specific with your problems. All I know is that before i took the medication I was better off than now and am trying to find out how long the side effects will last after i have stopped.
Good luck

Petercos