Chest heaviness - Stress test shows nothing
Posted , 5 users are following.
Hi All - first post here. I'm confused and concerned. I'm 48, 145 lbs, 5'7 life long asthma, and this year has been a challenge. I thought I was having asthma issues ( heavy chest not relieved by inhalers). Went to urgent care and they gave me a nebulizer for home use. I was getting some relief but the heavy chest and discomfort wouldn't go away. Saw my PCP who then prescribed a steroid inhaler which seemed to work for a few days then the heaviness came back. I went back to urgent care where they did EKG and sent me to ER. I've had many palpitations over the years and the EKG is always normal so I thought it would be this time too but they said it was not. So in the ER they drew blood and although it came back normal they kept me overnight which truly I was relieved about. Lots of palpitations but no answers. So they did a nuclear stress test the next morning. The MRI was normal but I knew I would not be able to stay on the treadmill for long. I was on for about 5 minutes and said I was going to need to stop. They injected the second time and I stayed on treadmill for the next minute and then got off. I laid on the gurney and felt better almost immediately. The cardiologist said, "It's not your heart. It wouldn't feel better if it was your heart." I asked what it could be and he laughed and said, "I'm a cardiologist! I don't know but my guess is a bronchospasm."Followed up with my PCP and she isn't comfortable with not having an answer and so now I do have a pulmonologist appt coming up but through all of this, my O2 level has been 99% and my lungs have been clear. I am also following up with a cardiologist. I am still having some pain and palpitations but not lying down.
They don't feel it is A-fib and they said my risk factor for heart attack is very low so I feel grateful for that.
A friend who is a nurse in ER at another hospital asked if they gave me nitroglycerin but they did not.
I'm at a loss.
0 likes, 7 replies
kathy219 caroline77893
Posted
Hi Carolyn!
I know how frustrating it is to not be able to get a diagnosis after extensive testing!
I can't really help, but I can share two things...
I had random heart palpitations for years & had the nuclear stress test, echo, etc. done a few times with normal results. Years later I was diagnosed with afib which had progressed to permanent. My current heart doctor said afib in its beginning stages can be hard to catch...hence the progression before diagnosis.
Second, last summer I was short of breath daily! This can be a symptom of afib or many other things. Had another stress test which was normal so heart issues were ruled out and like you I was referred to a lung specialist. He also found nothing wrong and attributed it to several factors: side effect of afib, 20 pound weight gain and extremely humid summer. It did resolve during the colder months.
It does not appear to be afib as your doctor says, and heaviness is not a typical symptom anyhow. I think the referral is good given your asthma history, but it is puzzling why the various inhalers have not helped long term.
Anyhow, my advice is to continue to push the issue bc in my case my condition...the afib...did not turn up until it was more progressed. Had they caught it earlier I could have had treatments to cure it.
Wish you the best of luck...we know our bodies best!
Kathy
caroline77893 kathy219
Posted
Thank-you so much for the reply. I am wondering if this is exactly what is happening with me. It makes sense . My daughter is a paramedic and a-fib was the first thing she thought of. I plan to follow up and get to the bottom of it all because anxiety has me worried to go too far from home or even dig in the garden which is one of my favorite things to do.
And yes, I agree - we do know our bodies best and mine is telling me something is not quite right!
Thanks again.
moon53540 caroline77893
Posted
Have you had a d-dimer blood test?
caroline77893 moon53540
Posted
I am not certain, just that several vials of blood were taken initially and then throughout my stay every 6 hours they drew one vial at a time for the enzyme test.
moon53540 caroline77893
Posted
You could ask for a copy of your blood results and see if it is on there. If it is isn't get it tested.
caroline77893 moon53540
Posted
oh yes...that was ruled out. Just looked at paperwork.
thank you!
Awaiskhan caroline77893
Posted
Because there are many muscles in the chest, stomach, rib cage, neck, and throat areas, these muscles can experience tightness, too. ... While anxiety can cause chest tightness symptoms, so can persistently elevated stress, since the stress response is activated by both anxiety and stress.