twinges in heart area

[TMCT]

I have strange 'twinges' in my chest from time to time.  Okay - I smoke about 10 cigarettes a day and drink 3 nights a week.  It is what it is.  The twinges are like a sharp pain that shoots through my left breast to the middle of my chest and only last for a couple of seconds.  I tend to rub my left breast during these moments.  I am clear of breast cancer and have had cardiograms..nothing shows up.  I have heard of a problem with an extra sensory nerve to the heart.  Any suggestions out there?  I can't imagine leaving my husband and 2 teens without a mother if this isn't a normal thing.  I need to hear that others have dealt with this problem OR have found results.  Thank you, in advance, for your response!

[erijon]

Pains that are short in duration lasting only seconds are very rarely cardiac in nature. Your pain is atypical for chest pain due to CAD. Having said that, because you smoke you should get it checked out. I would suggest a stress test, see how your heart function while it's stressed. If smoking has cause any issues, you'll find out.

Good luck,

Jon

[CrohnieToo]

Have any of you done the 30 day event monitor (glorified Holter monitor) bit? Some form of intermittent cardiac arrhythmia comes to mind. Some arrhythmias can be benign (regardless how painful) and others can be lethal (regardless how mild the symptoms may be).

[RadioAstronomyObserver]

Not sure if it's the same thing or not;  I get what I thought was a vibration from the heart that lasted about 1-2 seconds.  This started "After" the bypass and continued till I started taking thyroid medication.  I had another separate issue where I thought the thyroid medication caused it so I stopped it for a month.  The "vibrations" started up again and lasted till I went back on the medication.  The last couple weeks it's started up again and I've been taking the thyroid medication.  So, What ever this is apparently is no longer effected by the medication.

  This "Vibration" is strong enough to make me sit up and take notice.  When this does happen I've been attempting to feel my pulse and by the time I find it, the Vibrations are finished and the heart is beating like nothing has happened.  So, Don't know if it is the heart or a nearby muscle.  You might want to try the same thing to see if it has anything to do with the heart.

[cindy707]

I think common sense would tell us that smokers (and i am one too by the way) have these issues because when we smoke it dialates the arteries into the heart and causes them to dialate for a mano second from time to time.  There are so many reasons why we should not smoke and this is just another one of them.  You may want to do a little research but i come from a family of six girls half which are smokers and have had the same thing happen to them as well as myself.  It may be a simple answer but i think with the issue that your tests have all come out neg. you should explore this.....good luck and happy thanksgiving.