Chest pain on the left side - do I have a heart problem?

Every now and then I get this weird feeling in the left side of my chest which can last anywhere from 1min to 45mins+. During the duration of the episode, whenever I exhale or inhale beyond a certain point (maybe 1/4 capacity), I get quite a sharp pain where my heart is. As far as I'm aware I do not get any swelling, or increased heart rate during episodes.

When it happens, I avoid the pain by taking slow shallow breaths. That way, everything feels normal and then I just have to inhale or exhale slightly more every few minutes to check if the episode has subsided or not. Lying down or standing up doesn't seem to help, since it feels a bit easier to control my breath when I'm sitting down.

My weight/diet/water intake/fitness are all okay as far as I'm aware, although I took my blood pressure at home today and the reading was an average of 136/82. I don't do drugs or smoke, I only drink alcohol a few times per year and I go to the gym several times a week. As far as I am aware, there is no history of cardiovascular disease in my family.

I went to my GP about it several years ago and they ran a test by monitoring my pulse for 10-15 minutes, but concluded that there were no issues. I did not have one of these episodes during that test, so it's always been hard for me to accept their conclusion.

I don't know what triggers them, it seems random. They can happen a few times a day, or sometimes I don't get them for months. But I notice it as soon as it happens, it's like a switch turning on.

I'm 30 now and I've had these episodes since my late teens. I did a lot of research every time they happened and chalked it up to a variety of possibilities: angina, heartburn, minor heart attacks, and something called precordial catch syndrome that I found on Wikipedia once.

But the truth is, I have no idea what it is, and I don't know how to find out. Every time it's happened, I've had the opportunity to sit down and take it easy until it passes, so I don't know what would happen if I had an episode and inhaled/exhaled past that pain point because I had no choice. I'm terrified that one day, after exercise or on a rollercoaster or something like that, I might not have the opportunity to take a breather when an episode occurs and I might die.

If anyone here knows what might be wrong with me, I would be beyond grateful for any advice please.

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