Chest pain, 26yr old female

[asheleyv]

Last night I began to have chest pain just left of the center of my chest.  It started at about midnight and was still there when I woke up and is still there now.  I have never had a feeling like this, and I am fairly sure it isn't indigestion, as I've suffered that all my life and it never felt like this.  It feels almost like a muscle cramp in my chest like you would feel in your side from running.  I am a little scared and not sure if this warrants medical attention.  I don't have health insurance and don't want to spend the money if I am just overreacting.  It worsens if I bend or move in certain ways.  I am in pretty good shape, but I do smoke...but come on!  I'm only 26!!  Any advice will be greatly appreciated.

[FaramirDW]

Three years ago when I was 39, I experienced chest pain but on my right side it was a constant pain like a dull ache. For a day I just ignored it and it went away, then it came back the next day I was smoking a cigarette and my husband came home from work and I told him I might have a chest cold and being diabetic I wanted to go to the ER to check it out. So we went and I went to their triage and told them I had chest pain and sat in the waiting room for an hour, I went in and the hooked me up to the EKG and heart monitors and everything else to check me out. Well as it turned out I was having a heart attack right there but I felt just that dull ache in my chest I got the nitrogliceren pill under my tounge I also got what they call a clot buster to thin out the blood to remove clots stuck in ur heart valves. I was more scared of this than having a heart attack because they told me 1 in 400 hundred die from it. It was December 17 2002 I had a 1 yr old and a 5 yo. They were going to life flight me to a hospital in Pittsburgh but it was foggy so they took me by ambulance, I was in ICU hooked up to everything related to the heart. Next day I was told the were going to put in a cardiac stent in the right side of my heart through my groin area because of my diabetes my arterties were clogged I found out later, my arteries were 95% clogged but after the clot buster was given it reduced to 79%. I have had 2 stress tests since then and my heart has healed and shows no damage.  I knew I would one day have heart related problems, because my father had 9 heart attacks and lived through everyone of them, but he quit smoking reduced his weight salt intake and everything else he could to help plus a cocktail of meds everyday. But he had water in his lungs and died at 85 of congestive heart failure he also had black lung from working in the coal mines when he was younger. I was told the woman have very different symptoms than men do when having a heart attack, I had no pain in my left arm like my father did just a dull ache. Diabetes played a big part in it, I do not have high blood pressure 102/79 was just 2 days ago. I do not have high cholestorol the good or the bad cholestorol are both normal. I do not eat fried foods I am diabetic I smoke and I am overweight. Go get check out pay the hospital what u can a little at a time they have to take what you give them because it shows your effort in trying to pay it. I was in the same boat with no insurance when I was younger and I know u can set up a payment plan at any hospital if ur willling to pay what you can a month

[JoAnnaRF]

You should go to E.R. and get it checked. If the pain radiates at all or you have pain in your jaw /teeth take an aspirin and call 911. I cannot stress this enough. GO GET CHECKED. Weather you are 26 or 96, don't play around with chest pain. Call the E.R. and talk to the nurse. And then get a ride. Don't drive yourself just in case. While there they will run an E.K.G. etc.. and most likely give you a G.I. Cocktail which will take away the pain if it is gastrointestinal. Which it most likely is.
Let us know! Oh and GO GET CHECKED!!

[Christie2004]

You might try posting this in the heart forum.  This is an unmoderated patient to patient forum and we can't really give any specific advice except to tell you that you need to get it checked out.

Could just be a muscular ache, costochondritis, digestive problems, anything.  For sure I can tell you that you should stop smoking.  Go see a doctor if simple measures such as antacids or motrin don't help.