In my case too, when I get symptoms (stomach hardening, stiffening of extreme left side of sternum, nerve pain in left side of throat and some sensation in left side of brain) (I do not have pain) and I start walking, after about 10-15 minutes I have couple of mild bouts of belching (coming from somewhere below the sternum on left side) and from there onwards symptoms start reducing.
Could this be trapping of gas in such locations from where it is not easily expelled? In my case it may be pushing the diaphragm upwards or pressing some nerve (and compounded by my low EF) causing the symptoms. Just a guess!
Thanks for sharing your feedback.
My pulse does increase very slightly to 70-80 but it does thump harder. My pulse is very strong when symptoms are present. I am not sure about nerve damage in my case. If the pain gets really bad, I walk around for about 10 mins and then have several bouts of belching and it seems to ease it a lot. Not completely though and then heartburn occurs soon after.
Other than a micro blockage causing such symptoms (this first thing which comes to mind in case of ischemic heart disease), there could be a possibility of some nerve in stomach getting damaged. In fact, in my case this could be one of the possibilities. What about your pulse rate? Does it go high when these symptoms appear? In my case the pulse remains normal.
Aspirin may sometimes cause such damage to nerves in stomach. I also think that statins can cause damage to nerves, but I know many on this forum disagree with this.
Depending upon which nerve is effected with intake of food, the symptoms may vary. Vagus nerve is one such nerve which has wide reach, from brain to stomach/intestine. Having simultaneous symptoms in stomach, left sternum, left neck and brain raises doubts about something wrong with the nerve, in my case.
If you do not get answers from your scheduled cardio/stomach examinations/tests, maybe a consultation with someone who specializes in nerves could help.
Perhaps I worded it incorrectly and I apologise. It isn't that the stomach doesn't get enough blood, it's that the heart can't cope with the extra demand. My EF is 70 at rest and I have no idea what it is at high work loads. If my heart is working hard (such as after eating) I often get terrible symptoms which are different to those of Angina in many ways. Sometimes I get odd pains in different parts of the body, sometimes I sweat and sometimes I fall asleep because I just can't force myself to stay awake. I have had cases where I get quite dizzy too and wonder if I'm going to pass out. Other times it is just throat discomfort, heart burn, chest pains and difficulty getting breath.
Hi Ed34,
Thanks for the response.
In my case, I am also suspecting excitation of some nerve connecting stomach/abdomen to brain (via left side of throat) but I am not sure the trigger comes from brain and then it goes to stomach/abdomen or it is other way, from stomach/abdomen to brain. Either way, it creates some unpleasant sensation in left side of neck for fraction of a second and sometimes the breathing becomes relatively heavier.
Sometimes, while sleeping, when I lye on left side I can feel discomfort within minutes and breathing heavier and it gets normal after I turn and lye on my back. But again, this does not happen every time I sleep turning left side.
Sometimes, I tried to relate with my current BP and I found that most of the times when these symptoms were noticed, the BP was on lower side (as compared to my normal BP). But not sure how this is linked.
Other, suspicion is on some growth inside stomach which triggers these symptoms.
In my case, shortage of blood supply to stomach could be a reason due to low EF but I am not clear why someone with normal EF/heart function can have poor supply of blood to stomach.
Hope you get answers to your questions and some insight into the problem.
Regds
What you describe is something I have been going through. I spoke to my cardiologist about it last month and he said there are 2 possibilities. First is that my heart is struggling to supply the digestive system and my body at the same time. He said the digestive system does put quite a demand on the blood supply. Second is there is a digestive issue. I am waiting for an appointment to have a scope passed down my throat to see if anything is going on. I will let you know the outcome.