heart burn or angina

[spindoc]

for the last month almost constantly i get this minor but very anoying chest pain. centered. it seems to bother me mostly when im at rest. it seems to be getting more and more bothersome by the day. i had stress test done. it was negative. as well as ekgs. 2. all negative. my docter now wants me to have that die put in me. to see if there are any blokages. i was put on nexium over a year ago for very severe heartburn. currently still on it. but if it is heartburn, it obviosly is not doing the job. ive also been told that maybe its severe stress. whats your take on this. i would love to have the tests done just to know, but funds are tight right now.( theyve also mentioned having a endoscoppy) lastly i had a docter prescribe nito spray to me months ago. i never used it. if i use this spray during this pain will i have my answer if the pain either goes away, or doesnt fade. any advise would be greatly appreciatted.

[fizzixgal]

Nitroglycerin can also relieve esophageal spasm, it's not reliable for differential diagnosis of cardiac vs GI origin for chest pain. I've been through this recently myself and don't have any answers either. Nitro (sublingual) sometimes helped and sometimes didn't. Then on Friday I had a stress echo, my second in six months, again definitely negative. I'm also on Prevacid so my cardiologist doesn't think it's GI related but he also doesn't think it's cardiac.

Be careful with nitro. The last time I tried it not only did it not help, it made me nearly pass out and sent my heart rate down into the 30s for about 15 minutes. It's a strong vasodilator and can cause a serious drop in blood pressure.

[SilverLining00]

Hi.  If I were you, I'd try the nitro spray.  I had the same thing going on for me for about a year.  Chest pains centered, sometimes radiating up into my neck, mostly at rest.  I never had heartburn except once when I was pregnant.  All my tests came be negative also.  My cardiodude didn't want to do an angiogram, though, because there are some risks, and the only risk factor I had going against me was a sedentary lifestyle.  I was under enormous stress when the pains started and the fear that it was cardiac in origin added to it.  I had the nitroglycerin sublingual tablets.  I took them, sometimes they helped, other times they didn't.  To this day I have no definitive answer as to the cause of my pains, but they seem to have subsided for the past 6-7 months.  Try the nitro and see if it helps.  My guess is that it won't help indigestion, but would if it was due to vasospasm or other cardiac cause.  It's a less expensive way of checking what affects your symptoms.