Long term, unexplained chest pain

Hello all, I have been following this discussion for a while now as the symptoms described perfectly explain what I have been experiencing for 2 years. It got to the point that last time I had an 'attack' I couldn't wear a seatbelt my chest was that sore and also a hard lump had appeared on my sternum. I have had x Rays, ecg etc before but this time I was sent for an ultrasound on my chest. The hard lump has formed because the bones have splintered due to the amount of inflammation over a long period of time. Her first diagnosis is that it is arthritis, I'm due to see a specialist soon so I will keep you posted. I am an otherwise healthy 30 year old female.

Wow! Where to start! I have felt so alone in this awful journey...Im a 38yr old female with a smoking history. I have been dealing with constant chest pain that shoots straight to my back for 5yrs! I have been through every test under the sun and to every Dr imaginable and no one knows why im having this pain. Is has gotten severly worse this past year...its all on the right side...now its in my shoulder and upper arm and neck. Im terrifed that its lung cancer, but nothing is showing up. This has ruined my life. Please if anyone has any suggestions on what to explore i am open to hear. Ive been to MDs, Chiropractic, and acupuncturist.

Hi all, I'm new here and joined the forum just to comment on this post.

I am a 25 yr old male and can relate to almost every single post on this board, I too suffer from severe chest pains that are felt 1 moment and not the next. I was seen by multiple ER doctors and had multiple tests done (blood test, xray, holter, ultrasound, echocardiogram, ekg, excersize stress test) but still the docs could not figure out what was causing the chest pains (the docs would always try to pass them off as muscle pains! Yeah right, muscle pains for years? No.) So I began my journey to find out what was wrong. 4 years later I was diagnosed with chronic pain due to nerve damage (neuropathy) and I started a med called Lyrica, it helped but not very much. Fast forward to today, I had been having acid reflux for over 2 months when I was finally hit with a new more severe chest pain right over the heart (not sure if it was the same pain that was just getting worse) it stopped me in my tracks and brought me down to the floor crying in agony, I called an ambulance (3 times in the last 2 weeks for the same pain) The severe pain would subside before the ambulance would arrive and I would be left with the normal chronic pain but would still go to the hospital by ambulance. The ambulance said everything seemed fine and once at the hospital so did the doctors. Finally 2 days ago I went to a new hospital I haven't been to, complaining about the same pain (I didn't have a severe flare up but I could feel it coming on). They did the usual EKG, blood test and xray which were all fine, I had an echocardiogram done also but I'm waiting for the results. I was told I may have inflammation of the rib cartilage and possibly something called gout. I am still skeptical as I am still having the pains on and off every 20 seconds and about once a day the pain gets so severe I think I'm about to die. I am currently contemplating whether I should go to the hospital to right because the pains are so bad. If I come a Ross any information or diagnoses I will report back here asap, I wish everyone luck! Its not fun at all going through this pain and having nothing done about it.

I too am having chest pain about every other day. one grabs and holds, the others is chart pains that are stabbing pains. i have panic attacks as well so i never get checked. i am not sure what it is. karen56

Much like every post I have read I can relate to.  However, after having an EKG, Stress Test, blood work, and most recently went to chiropractor for a few months...still no relief.  My Cardiologist is certain my chest discomfort is not heart related based on test results so he had me get in touch with my physician.  So I met with him this morning and he referred me to the Gastroenterology/Endoscopy for them to look down into my esophagus and lungs/liver....but can't get in till September.  I will post back if this brings any good news, as I can relate to everyone's stress and struggles with this!  

32yr old, Male

Hi,

i can understand your frustration, you give a clear history of symptoms but as yet have no diagnosis.

Since you mention exacerbation associated with coughing, have you considered asking for lung function tests. Also, the musculoskeletal route might be worth further investigation.

I have problems with multiple disc herniations and protrusions with nerve impingement. When I get an inflammatory flare up in my spine, I get chest pain and severe pain between my shoulders. My muscles become involved in a chain reaction which causes me problems when coughing.

this might not be the cause of your symptoms but it may give you some ideas of where to look next.

Don't give up until you get to the bottom of your problem, it may be something very simple but until you know you and your family are more likely to increase anxiety levels which will not help.

Good luck and I hope you find a solution soon and get peace of mind.

Hi there I'm gavin I'm 33 I live in th UK and I know what your all going through and feel for you all its the worst feeling having this pain in the chest I've had it for about 9 years and everything is the same as you guys had all the tests everything normal comes and goes and it's irritating there's been times were I've wanted the pain to get worse or something happen so it could be all over I get frustrated and angry because theres a few different doctors I've seen and I get the same thing, it's acid reflux or its a panic attack anxiety I was once told by a paramedic it could well be a blockage and others saying it's nerve damage and to do with muscles or its pericarditis and I have tests and nothing all clear so now I'm going back through the same stuff I did in the beginning a camera down my throat etc etc, I think I'm still going to get the same results that I had in the beginning and it's frustrating me I just hope and wish ji86 and the rest of you find the answers we are all looking for so we can all return to a normal and happy lives again God bless you all.

My 7 yr old daughter has been going through this same thing for 3 years. She's had full cardio work ups, GI biopsy, and chest X-rays. They have ruled out all the mentioned things. She has moderate chest pains at armpit level just in the front part of her chest. No excelerated heart rate. Unfortunately we had to switch pediatricians and he told us at this point she either out grows it or gets use to it because they have done everything they are going to do for her. Insert angry mom!! I will not accept that. So I continue to search. She has the same type of episode that was mentioned that she can be relaxing and all of a sudden she's screaming in pain so bad I've almost called 911 several times. It last about 10 min then tapers off to moderate pain. This happens about once a month. It kills me to see her go through that. In February (2015) this year she had a

"seizure" and is under going MRI and eeg for that. The neurologist thinks it's unrelated but I think it's a side effect of the Prilosec the GI dr had her on...but of course they won't even consider that. Ugh!! Thanks for sharing!

Have any of you looked into pleurisy?  I got it from a virus that was giving me no symptoms besides a low fever and fatigue, but pleurisy can be triggered from many things.  It's an inflamation in the lining of your lungs.  Reading all of these posts, many of them sound like the pleurisy that I've been dealing with.  When it's bad it feels like a sharp, stabbing pain in a very specific place, but does move around.  The first time I got it, it spread to my back and shoulder.  Every test for other conditions came out negative.  The second time I got it, I had fallen and bruised a rib and it came back.  What I notice though, is that when I try to ignore it and go about my daily routine, and if I do too much, it will start to hurt.  It may not come on until the evening when I'm relaxing, or it may hurt during the day, off and on.  The best cure for this I've found is rest, rest, rest until the pain stops, and then be careful to not overdo it afterwards until it has been gone for a long time.  Ease back into your normal routine slowly.  Ibuprofen helps, and when it's really bad, a muscle relaxant can be helpful.  I was able to get rid of it completely the first time by plenty of rest over a few months, and this time rest is what is helping it also.  From what I've read about pleurisy, it seems to be one of those conditions that can come from many different things, and everyone's experience seems to be a little different with it, depending on what caused it.  But the sharp, stabbing pains seem to be a common theme, as well as needing lots of rest to get over it.  Also, it's one of those things that Drs say you probably have after everything else has been ruled out.  It's not serious on its own, but from what I've read and experienced, a real pain () to deal with.  Check out the pleurisy boards on this website, and good luck.

Hi Could this be musculer ??

 

I have had similar issues, a sharp pain in my left rib area, about 5 or six ribs from the bottom and towards my sternum.  Once the sharpness subsides, I have a tingly/numb pressure that lasts for minutes, hours or days.  I have noticed that I cant touch or feel or add pressure/pain to the spot that hurts, but in looking for relief I have felt that the end connections of my supporting underlying muscles, the ones that connect to the ribs, are sore at the connections. The muscles arent my pecs, they are underneath my pecs and connect my ribs to my scapula.  Sometimes a quick massage session relieves some of the tightness and the pain, but  it comes back eventually.  I have allways had really tight knots in my back musles so this is common, but I've never had sensitivity in my chest muscles before, and I've been wondering if it is related to a few things.  

I have noticed that when I sleep on my stomach, with my arms under my head, that my left arm has started falling asleep a lot more often than it used to.   This is especially aggravated when I sleep on a couch(sleeping issues often match pain frequency), as my forarm has to bend vertically for me to fit between the armrests. 

Also, this all occurred about the time I got a "smart phone".   There are times where I play a game on it and hold my arm in a certain bent cantilever position for extended periods of time.  Afterwards my arm/shoulder will feel stiff and I realized that I had been using my arm in an extended isometric exercise.  This gives me some stiffness/sensitivity in roughly the same areas as where the chest pain occurs.  I am wondering if I/we are using or positioning our skeletal frames in such a way to put excessive strain/stretching on some of the underlying muscle/bone connections? 

I am going to try strengthening exercises and stretching, along with reduced phone use to see if it makes any difference, but I was curious if anyone else on this thread had similar circomstances.  

Hi everyone, i am wondering if any of you have fimally gotten a diagnosis and if so what was it??? Also i am wondering how do you guys deal with it on a daily basis??? I haven't been able to work in 6 years and it's frustrating, also the pain is still in my chest but it has now spread to my arms and legs. I have had several diagnosis over the past 6 years, the newest one is fibromyalgia.