heart disease?

[sonjus2005]

My fiance is 38yo........has been complaining of chest pain right above the nipple for several weeks. His cholesterol is above normal (it has dropped since talking red yeast rice for 5 months,, but still in abnormal range).......I think it is 220's now.His BP is high at dr's visits.......130/90's, at home it is always 120/80 or below usually 117/75 range. His Doc wants him to start meds for high blood pressure. He has a family history of heart related problems........his uncle had a heart attack at 38yo.......died last year at 55 but of lou Gehrigh's disease. His dad died at 57yo.........had several heart attacks previously , was a smoker and cause of death was cardiovascular collapse.. His youngest uncle had stents put in a few years ago......in early 40's,,,,,,,,  was really tired....went to doc.......and they saw blockages. My fiance does not smoke......drinks very little but considering his weight gain over the last 5 years and family history I am concerned. I have made an appt w/ his regular dr and also an appt with a dr to do a sleep study for apnea. Is the chest pain alone a sign........or is it his anxiety? He takes 10mg lexapro/day for anxiety.

[ed34]

This is an interesting question and something I have just recently been studying. I wanted to understand why some people have much higher pain thresholds than others. Apparently, pain is simply a mechanism in the brain which tells us that something is wrong. If a person is very relaxed, then that pain will not be too bad. If someone panics and gets anxious, the pain levels severely increase. This is why people with an allergy to general anaesthetic are usually given strong sedation, to stop anxiety, and greatly reduce any discomfort. I was given vallium for my last angioplasty procedure because it was going to last several hours and involve lots of ballooning. I was drifting in and out of sleep and the discomfort really was minimal. So yes, anxiety can cause all sorts of discomforts. However, although it is an answer to your question, it is obviously not a professional diagnosis.