Strange Chest Pains

[AGBP]

I have had pain and heaviness in my chest and it constantly feels like something pulls my heart like a rubber band then lets it go, with this crazy pain in my arm and under my chin part of the neck, blood pressure has been spiking to 156/99 for almost 2 weeks, my ekg came back negative and I was told I am ok.  I am not one to complain, but I know something is wrong can anyone give me any suggestions.  should I just ignore my doctor who is quite good or seek another opinion.

[caregiver222]

This business about "my doctor being quite good" is utter nonsense. Two heads are always better than one. If a physician is so arrogant as to object to another opinion then you are better off without him. I disagrre one thousand percent about worrying about the "doctor patient relationship".  The graveyard is full of people who "valued their relationship with their doctor". Maybe this was important in 1934. By the same token I am not stating your physician is incompetent or in any way lacking.  In almost every case you are better off getting evaluated at a teaching hospital where several students evaluate your case, supervised by an experienced physician. If you are under VA care, you get a pretty card that enables you to go to any VA facility in the United States and get another evaluation. They will type in your "last four" and pull up all your lab tests. The VA facilities are generally top shelf. At the VA you are assigned a permanant primary care physician, but this physician gives you referrals to the various departments, and I am sure you have had an evaluation by the cardiology department at the VA.  Go down to records and ask for a complete print out of all youe medical records and lan tests. The VA is very good about this and you will get a file on everything. I contest very strongly your comment about "people at the VA who don't care". In general the physicians at the VA get top ratings in caring about their patients. They also have to put with a lot of hypochondriacs, chronic complainers, and mess-kit repair specialists who have never seen a day of combat trying to gat phoney PTSD evaluations. You get a lot mof bennies from the VA, including a 24 hour 800 hotline to VA nurses. As you know you can go to the morning clionic at the VA any morning and be seen by a physician. If your primnary care has the duty you can ask for him/her, but you may have to wait an extra hour or two. I would advise you to put your problems into writing and mail them to your primary care provider at the VA. I am sure they will take interest.

[AGBP]

Yes I am under VA care, and as much as I try to be positive, it can sometimes be a challenge to deal with some people who really don't care.  Now don't get me wrong, most do care, but there have been a few lately who says, you're getting 100% so why do you keep complaining about what ells you!!!

[FLBrat]

AGBP, are you under VA care?

[snowlas]

Those are serious symtoms. A dye test will show what is really going on inside. Have you asked for one if your doctor didn't suggest it yet? No one is perfect, go see another doctor if you aren't happy with his answers. If the test comes back OK, all the better to rule out all kinds of things.

[suger0301]

If it were me:   If you are still having the pain that you expressed, I think you need to ask for a stress test, which would show more than an EKG...having pain like that is nothing to fool with.  I've heard of many people complaining of the pain you are dealing with, and you need to make sure there is nothing wrong, especially still having pain...or I would if it were me.  If your dr. doesn't want to do more test at your request, I think you should get a second opinion.  But I see no reason why your dr. wouldn't do this if you let him know of your concerns.  Let us konw what happens.
Donna

[FLBrat]

ah, I see now.  The Gulf War clue is a big one.  Good luck getting all the proper tests.  

[AGBP]

I am probably one of the most calmist people anyone would ever meet.  Yes I trust my doctor, I guess the only reason I have questions is because they look at most Gulf War patience as though we are all stressed out.  They didn't even want to consider any other test.  This is why I am asking for other ideas.

[FLBrat]

If you doctor is quite good, why would you doubt him/her?  Ask if there are other tests that could back up the finding of your being ok.  Unless your doctor is a boob, the relationship of doctor and patient is a valuable tool.  They know your history, the meds and your reaction to them and so on.

[travissanders]

have you ever looked into maybe stress you have has caused panic and anxiety attacks?