Help with undiagnosed symptoms please guys

Firstly Im sorry to hear about your diagnosis and I sincerely hope they can help you get back on track and get you the treatment you need. The first step has been taken in that they have a diagnosis and you can get the ball rolling to get treatment. 

Thanks for your reply. It has been suggested that its partly anxiety and stress related driven by an underlying physical issue that is yet to be diagnosed. Iam 37 and I have never experienced any kind of anxiety or stress related symptoms in my life..

It has been suggested that I am refered to nuerology as I had a tumor as a kid but I woud have expected other symptoms if that had come back such as headaches and facial weakness/twitching as it was a facial nueroma... I was scanned last year for this tumor and they found nothing apparently..  I find it difficult to believe that anxiety can create all the symptoms of a heart problem and nothing else. Ive had the back problem for years and I first thought it was related to my back and neck. An MRI came back clear, no trapped nerves just normal wear and tear. The stress test was done over a year ago now but I felt nowhere near as bad then as I do now. 

Maybe I should try something for the anxiety... see if it changes anything.

Take care Julia I hope all goes well for you 

Hello again dean... ive been today for tests.. ecg showed the lvbbb abd lad.. hmmm so i asked where is the other things which showed up on last ecgs , etc .. ok she said all depends on the leads where the placed. hahhaha had to laugh ok so now what.. so she said ok we should do more tests. i said no i not having any more im no ones guinea pig. tell me if im about to have a heart attack she said no. so i said fine ill not be back till i do  ..thank you hahaha see what i mean dean.. doctors hmmmmmmmmm .. im not wasting my life worrying about what if's .. anxceity is not good .. stop worrying about what could it be .. your alive breathing you are fine   good luck. xxxx

Thanks for your reply. My symptoms dont seem to make sense to anybody its beginning to feel like Im banging my head on a brick wall... 

Maybe anxiety and stress is playing a part here but there is an underlying physical cause that Im yet to find.. Im sure Ill get there in the end. Thanks for your input It means a lot.

Take care

Hi Dean--

I for one am not going to tell you this is all in your head! I would definitely recommend a neurology consult. I have frequent "electrical pain" sensations in my shoulder blades, and pain/numbness that has radiated down my left side. I had it a number of years ago, went dormant for a while and came back. I had/have muscle weakness in my quads, Also, the ribcage pain you mentioned could also have a neurological explanation. (MS Hug) I have only felt this pain once, but it hurt when I breathed in or moved. In short, I have a variant of MS. Lesions were found on my spinal cord and brain. If you had a spinal cord tumor in the past, that may well be the cause of your experiences now. An MRI could better detect what you are dealing with. 

Good luck!

Hi Amy,

Thanks for this reply I know this isnt completely psychological if I have any anxiety its because i want to know whats going on and all im getting is a lot of chin rubbing and head scratching from the various docs Ive seen. I have just recieved the results of an MRI on my upper back and neck that found moderate degenerative disc disease in my mid thoracic region but nothing else in terms of tumors or nerve damage. I think nuerology is probably going to be the next port of call on my tour of the NHS... I have come accross MS a few times whilst searching for answers but dont know too much about it. I feel a weakness in the back of my left side that im sure is the cause of me keep feeling like I dont get a satisfying breath on that side but mention that to my GP and the cardiologists Ive seen and because they dont have any answers all I get is "not being able to get a deep breath.. hmmm classic anxiety symptom that" . Sometimes I think the NHS stands for the no help service... I shouldnt say that I know but it gets a tad frustrating not getting any diagnosis. Maybe I should try the Vet... 

I feel like I share a lot of common symptoms with you. Since September I have been to the ER four times. Every time they did a chest X-ray, EKG, and blood work to check for cardiac markers. I was even admitted once, which allowed them to run an Echocardiagram and a Chest ultrasound as well as a neck ultrasound.

Every one of these tests came back normal or negative. They only thing they  treated me for was my potassium level, which was critical at 3.0. The reference range is 3.5-5.0. Now, like you I know I have anxiety. But I also think there has to be something triggering these symptoms. I am currently seeing a cardiologist and have just completed the first round of testing, which included a plain treadmill stress test, and a 24 hour Holter monitor. As well as some additional bloodwork to check my thyroid and my cholesterol. 

Hopefully these tests will help me get to the bottom of how I am feeling, if not I may have to just accept that anxiety is probably causing these symptoms. But I definitely feel for you, this is a pretty awful situation to be in.

Hi Jon,

Your right it is a pretty awful situation to be in. I hope it is just anxiety but its hard for me to accept at times especially when the episodes of vertigo and the shoulder pain/heaviness kicks in. Im going to bite the bullet and try some anxiety meds from monday I think and see how that affects me. If they dont make any difference then im off to harley street for a ct angiogram (gold standard heart exam!) its expensive at £1350 but worth it just to see what the inside of my heart looks like and check the exact condition of my arteries and vessels. Its something you dont get offered on the NHS until they prove you have angina or you have a heart attack or stroke. I for one dont fancy the wait to see if that happens! I hop they get to the bottom of your problem and if I get a result from the meds or otherwise I will post here as soon as possible. Likewise if you find out whats going on with yourself Id love to hear back from you.

Thanks for your reply

Hey again,

Hopefully the anxiety medication can help you. I had an "episode" last night where i felt a pain in my chest, and then i tried to breath in and it felt almost like I was breathing through a straw or a filter. They always say that you should come in if you feel a different sensation or new pain. So I did, and the short is that they just did the same tests. Told me they dont know why I'm in pain but it doesnt seem likely to be cardiac related. I also apparently had an episode of sleep apnea perhaps due to all the sedatives they put me on to reduce my bp. I still feel the pain, but its getting harder for me to think its related to my heart. 

As far as taking the anxiety medication, if you're worried you will be on it forever that isn't always the case. And hopefully it will really help you get past this if they can't find any physical indications of cardiovascular issues. That doesn't seem too bad, because it will give you peace of mind. 

I'll definitely update what I find out, hopefully on Wednesday the Cardiologist will have some answers. 

I hope, for both our sakes it is just anxiety and we can move on for treatment  in that regard.

I too have had a few more investigations... I am currently waiting for the results of an event monitor being processed that i wore for 6 days last week and managed to catch a major episode on.. hopefully that will tell us something. Still havnt tried anxiety meds as I think its the symptoms driving the anxiety and not the anxiety driving the symptoms, my GP agrees but has said I can take them any time i want so I will await these results coming back. The MSK department who did my MRI on my back and neck have written to my GP recommending I am refered to the vascular department to check if it is a condition such as thoracic outlet syndrome.. I have read up on TOS and it does produce a lot of the symptoms. I looked into the gall bladder thing myself a few weeks ago but i would expect a lot of pain/discomfort under the right ribcage for that where it is located and i have none i dont know about you? We will just have to keep riding the NHS merry go round until somebody pokes at the right body parts I suppose... Ill post back as soon as I have any more info. 

Ok so just recieved the results from the event monitor I was wearing when I had the burning heavy shoulder pains, vertigo feeling and chest pain episode... All normal apparently.. now I am properly confused.. I guess now im thinking if I have narrowed arteries somewhere would that monitor have picked up on it or just read as normal because my heart rate didnt drop too low or go too high?  I started on propanalol on Sunday so Im 2 days in and it has helped with the chest pains, they are now milder than they were but Im still feeling like I cant get a satisfying breath sometimes that can last for hours... Oh and my ears are really ringing! They have been for a few weeks. I had another episode on Sat morning where I actually thought I was going to pass out.. getting really frustrated with it now. My next appointment with Cardiology is now in Feb. In the meantime I have been refered to the Vascular dept...