Please help, doctors are unwilling or unable to figure it out -- chest pain, minor coughing, palpitations

[DesperatelySick]

I am 21 years old, male, non smoker, non drinker, otherwise healthy.  I do not drink caffeine and my diet is fairly healthy.  

I have been having palpitations for two months now.  Sometimes when I have the palpitations it feels as if something is moving around in my stomach (and I can hear it also).  I have been having chest pain on the right side, generally under the ribs (possibly where the liver or lung is).  The chest pain is also in the upper right side of my chest, and sometimes in my back also.  Sometimes in the center of the chest as well.

I have had lab work done and everything is in normal range including liver enzymes.  I have had about 6 EKG, 6 Chest X-Rays, and about 4 or 5 lab tests done for various things.  Everything has been normal.  I have had an ultrasound on my gallbladder and that turned up normal.

Sometimes, when laying on my back and breathing in, I can feel an incredible pressure on my chest and I will have to sit up because it scares me.  

Sometimes, when breathing in all the way, the right side of my chest will hurt.  

Also, perhaps unrelated, when I push on a certain spot under the bottom of my right rib (near center of body, not side), there will be a popping/clicking feeling.  I have noticed this for about a month.

I have been taking prilosec for about three weeks.  I don't think it is helping.

I just went to the doctor (urgent care) today and got an antibiotic prescribed because I was coughing and what I have could possibly be an infection.  However, I have had no fever and not very many other symptoms.

It seems like a doctor doesn't want to spend more than 10 minutes trying to figure out what is going on with me and if he cannot figure it out, comes up with a cheap theory and sends me home.  

I want some help, because I don't know what is wrong with me and my gut feeling tells me that this is something serious.  It has been going on for months.

I live in the Mesa, Arizona area and could use some help finding a doctor who would care about figuring this out.  I have been to the hospital three times and they concluded that I am not having a heart attack.

Please help!

[DesperatelySick]

It looks like the problem is related to an elevated TSH level (hypothyroidism).  It is not too terribly high, but I just found that my family has this problem, and the symptoms fit very well into this category.  The muscles can weaken, causing a hernia or heart weakness.  My eyes have also felt like they were strained.  Haven't gotten treatment for this yet but now I know.

I figured all of this out on my own.  If you want something done you have to do it yourself.

[Sunny602]

As far as your palpitations go, when are they worst? Do they start when you stand up? Do they go away by themselves or do you have to do something to feel better (such as sit down, lie down)? You said that you had EKG's...did you ever have a holter or event monitor on you to record your rhythm for a period of time instead of a quick EKG which will tell the doctor what is going on with your heart at that moment?
I have arrythmias, specifically SVT (supraventricular tachycardia)...it took the doc years to finally listen to me. I too was about your age, no doc took me seriously probably because of my age and did not listen to me, chalked everything up to me being a mom and working hence "stress". Sound familiar yet? What finally got their attention was when I passed out at work (I worked at a hospital) with a heart rate of 180. I was whisked to the ER, by that time my rhythm slowed down to the 120's, but I was finally started on the journey to figure out what was wrong. My SVT was finally caught on the event monitor (I wore it 3 weeks and recorded my rhythm when I felt symptoms) and I finally got the right treatment.
I agree with zodiacqueen, you need to push for more testing, you need to have more testing beyond EKG's...ask for a holter to start with, especially if you have symptoms daily. If they aren't every day then I would go for the event monitor which you would wear for weeks at a time, only pushing the record button when you feel symptoms. It will record for a few minutes after you push it, as well as for 30 or so seconds prior to pushing the button so it gets a good range.
You could very well have reflux disease which would explain the chest pain lying down, To confirm this there are tests out there that can confirm this...one is an upper GI series with barium and a table tilt to see if any of the barium goes back into the esophagus (they will see this on the xray), another is an upper endoscopy where they put a scope down the esophagus and into the stomach.
The sharp pain when you breathe sounds musculoskelatal in nature... muscle spasms in the chest wall will make it hard to breathe in. It usually goes away after awhile. Another explanation would be a condition called costochondritis which is inflammation of the cartilage where the ribs and sternum meet (I think) This also might explain the popping and clicking.
I am not a doctor, just someone  who has been through the mill with doctors, so take what I say with a grain of salt.
I hope you find answers...Sunny :)

[zodiacqueen]

Hi, if you have insurance then you need to be a jerk and push the issue, it is your health and it's worth fighting for.  Well, you should push the issue even if you don't have insurance..  Your answers could be found with pulmonary function tests, CT scan, or possibly a gastrointestinal secialist(GERD).

Doctors are not always right and they are NOT gods.  Fight for your health.

Staci