Very Concern Wife

[Dltkids]

Good morning:
I am very concern about my husband. He is having a big problem with his stomach and chest. For the past 5 months he has complain about his stomach and says he feel like he has gas and his chest is hurting at the same time. If he eats after 5pm his foods does not digest correct and he is up all night and early in the morning. The situation has gotten worst in the past two months because now when he walks for a long period of time he feels so tired and he will say he is feeling like he is having a heart attack. What should I do and what might he have?

[Glen805]

I have had the same problems i went and had my hart checked and my stomic was checked from the top bown then from bottom up there was nothing wrong. I could not get the problem fixed. On one of the med help sites i read that vit d shortage give the hart simtams I have been takeing vit d and the chest pain and the weight on my chest has gone and the tiredness has stopped but he still needs his heart checked ASAP. My stomic they found a virus that is very hard to kill with antybotic still fighting with my stomic he need his stool to be tested to find what is in his stomic I have also found out when i am bloted it feels like i am haveing a hert attack but it is my biaframe that is pushed up by my bloated stomic when the gas is bown the pain goes away i have had to change the way i eat i stay away from food that causes gas the worst of all is gas cold drink. Sorry for the spelling

[TheButchersWife]

I would watch out for bloating, swelling of feet, ankles, stomach..  If he says he has a lot of pressure in his upper abdomen, there is a chance it could very well be cardiac. Of course, your first plan should be to get him to a doctor ASAP!. Chest pains are no joke, and usually don't happen for no reason at all.
My husband had very few chest pains if any at all, but when he started being short of breath and had a really wet sounding cough, and then swelled up all over, we finally talked him into going in to the E.R. There, they did an echocardiogram and discovered that the left side of his heart was completely failing. You would be surprised at how little the symptoms a person can have with major health problems....   Try to talk him into getting to the hospital or doctor and be checked out.   Best of luck to you!

[Braintoobig]

Is he just doing the man-thing and not seeing a doctor about this? I think chest pain is ALWAYS a cause for concern. I'm guessing this is either cardiac related or gastrointestinal related (GI). The most important thing to rule out first is the cardiac problem. If everything is ok with his heart then you can move to the GI issues. You said he has trouble digesting and the pain awakens him at night so there could be a possibility of gallbladder disease or gallstones. That pain can be quite intense and can cause all of those symptoms you described. He can have an abdominal CT scan to check for stones or a HIDA scan to check the functioning of his gallbladder. There are also less severe things like gas, acid reflux etc.. Gallbladder issues tend to have referred pain to the shoulder blade and back along with intense right upper abdominal pain or epigastric (upper middle) pain. If it's a pancreatic issue then the pain would be more on the left upper side which an also cause referred pain to the back. Inflammation of the pancreas is also something to consider and shouldn't be ignored because it can be very serious.

Things to watch out for:
Skin color- If he becomes pale and sweaty with this pain then he should really go to the ER. Also if he becomes jaundiced (yellow) in the skin and eyes then that's another emergency that shouldn't be ignored.

Bowel changes- if there is a GI issue then there can be changes in the appearance of his stools. They can become pale in color or have a "sticky" or greasy appearance.

What is he eating/taking- Some foods or alcohol can make these issues worse. If he's taking pain medications particularly with aspirin in it or NSAIDS like advil, ibuprofen, these can make stomach acid issues worse.
He really should see a doctor about this. These guys are so tough with seeking help and it can be frustrating as a wife watching him go through this. I hope he goes!