Unanswered chest pain

[RichyRich15]

Hello to everyone in this forum,

I am a 25 year old male, 5'10, 206 lbs

About five months ago I started getting chest pain about two inches from the center, below and above my breast. it was like pressure that would last a few seconds and never in the three areas at the same time. I went to the doctor and i had an EKG done, the doctor came back and said the EKG was good, he also said my BP was a little high 140/90 and he started me on some Benicar for that.

I have to say that since I started getting the chest pain I was very worried, and my mind was always on that. One day while driving I started to feel like I was going to faint, then I started sweating and i got really freaked out. Two days later I went back to my doctor and he said it could have been a anxiety attack but that if I wanted to be sure I would have to get my brain checked for any abnormalities.

The doctor did send me with a cardiologist for a cardiac stress test which came back good although he did say that I had a microvalve leakeage which was nothing to be concerned about because it posed no threat to my heart and that it might be causing my chest pain.

I got so worried that I started making changes in my lifestyle; I stopped consumming caffeine, I stopped eating so much fast food, started walking/jogging every night, started sleeping better and had dropped 20 lbs then the chest pain started going away to the point that I was not feeling it anymore. For about three months I was real good; no chest pain, no "anxiety attacks" my BP was a lot better. During those three months I stopped jogging, then i started eating fast food again, and started sleeping late again.

The day before Thanksgiving while I was at work I felt this pain in my chest (about two inches left from the center) and it freaked me out then I started walking to my desk and I once again felt like I was about to faint, then sarted to sweat. From that day the chest pain came back and for thw week and a half following I felt like my preception was off, with mild headaches every day, felt nauseated, and had trouble falling asleep because I would be thinking that maybe I would not wake up the next morning.

In the first week of December I went to the ER because of the chest pain, I just had had enough of it. My girlfriend accompannied me and they got me right away because it was chest pain, they did an EKG, blood work and they both came back really good. I told the doctor there that I had an EKG and a stress test done in the past and he said that if both came back good that I should not worry and then he asked me if I would put a lot of thought into my symptoms and I said yes to which he said that I might have anxiety and that having such could cause chest pain because of the the ongoing thought that there is something wrong with my heart. So, I was sent home with "atypical chest pain". I went back to the doctor and he scheduled me for a brain MRI which took place two weeks ago and the thing they found was that I have a severe sinus infection. my doctor prescribed me with Avalox 400mg and Mucinex D plus he told me to buy a Sinus rinsing treatment and to take one avalox a day, two mucinex a day and to rinse my sinuses once a day for ten days.

I told him that my chest pain had not gone away and he prescribed me with Indomethacin and told me to start taking it after my ten day sinus treatment. He also did say that if the chest pain did not go away that he would sent me back to the cardiologist for a heart cath. (which sounds very invasive and uncomfortable) to make sure there was no blockage.

I have read a lot of negative feedback about the Avalox and my main concern is that there might be something wrong with my heart and that aking avalox is going to make me "crash".

Smetimes i feel this tightness in my upper arm or in my lower arm, pain in left lower side of my neck and below my neck, i still get the chest pain although not as bad as before and just this morning I felt like this sharp pain right below my left breast but to the left side of it for about 5-6 minutes, it came and went for that long.

All this is seriously stressing me out very much, all I think about is that what if there is something wong with me and my days are counted and every night I go to bed I have trouble falling asleep because I fear I wont wake up the following morning. I feel like I have become very aware of everything I feel in my body, specially the left side of my chest. Some friends have told me its the anxiety causing the chest pain but I just cant believe it, I feel like depression is kicking in and I dont know what to do.

[ed34]

An echocardiogram wouldn't go amiss and would give the cardiologist a good picture of your hearts anatomy. I thought that after an EKG this was the next usual test, followed by a stress test if felt necessary. If they do an angiogram I would certainly want an echo done to obtain the full picture.
With regards to your anxiety, I can obviously relate to that and understand. It's the not knowing that worries you the most. However, from what you describe, it doesn't come across to me as something serious enough to make you count your days. At most there could be a blockage forming in a coronary artery and there are  plenty of treatments for that. You are not going to suddenly keel over and die, so don't let anxiety get the better of you and make you feel worse. Next time you start to feel anxiety, sit down and take long slow breaths until you have got everything back into perspective.
You would be surprised at how much anxiety can make matters worse, you will be increasing hormones in your body such as adrenaline. The effects on your body will not be far off those caused by drugs injected to stress a heart for scanning, and that causes many healthy hearts to feel uncomfortable.

[RichyRich15]

Oh! I have had three EKG's done, all came back good.
Cardiac stress test, came back good.
Brain MRI, came back good (except for the sinus infection)
Two blood works, came back good.