Long term, unexplained chest pain

Hi everyone, i am wondering if any of you have finally 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.

I presume they have checked out prinzmetals [ microvascular] angina ?

In the past I had severe chest pains for two different reasons than you (gallstones and oesophageal spasms) and I found a way which helped me to deal with the pain which might help some of you.

I found that if I gave the pains a name, and sort of greeted them, it gave me a feeling of power over them and helped stop the panic which makes the pain worse. I know it sounds daft, but it made life much more tolerable.

Incidentally I found a way of stopping the oesophageal spasms from developing properly ... I grab a large glass of water, and fill my mouth with as much water as I can get in  and swallow it, repeating that until the mug is empty.  Although I am left with the usual 'soreness', the severe part of the attack stops, and the soreness is much less than it used to be after an attack.

I am so relieved to have found this post. Like all of you, I have suffered from mystery chest pains since 2012. I'm a 30 y/o non smoking/drinking healthy female. Other than being about 20 lbs from my ideal weight and having very slightly elevated cholesterol, my doctors tell me I'm healthy.

Since 2012 I've visited the ER five times for suspected heart attack, worn a 48 hour halter monitor, had 2 Echos, 10+ EKGs, countless blood tests, and MRI, a CT to check for blood clots in my lungs, a mamogram, and I just got done with a 30 day ECG monitor. Every test has come back normal.

Yet as I sit here my chest is throbbing. I have developed a debilitating anxiety disorder that is crippling my marriage and is making my work suffer. I teach and today my chest pain was so bad I had to leave my students unsupervised while I had a panic attack in the bathroom. I'm constantly playing the, "Is this a real heart attack or the fake pain?" game.

I've spent thousands on medical testing and I do have good insurance. My husband is at the point where he thinks I'm crazy and it's all stressed and I've convinced my parents in going to die at any moment. My relationships are suffering to say the least. I'm terrified to travel or be anywhere without cell service in case I need to call an ambulance.

I'm just so tired of feeling normal one second and the next suddenly being aware of my breathing and this horrible pain that I can't control. I hate we're all suffering, but there is comfort in knowing I'm not crazy and that other people have this as well.

Please, if anyone has answers, share what you fine out. I saw a neurologist last week that thinks it may be migraines that are manifesting in my chest. Apparently they can do that? I'm willing to try anything at this point so I'm now on new meds to prevent that. I'll report back if I have any relief. Best of luck to us all.

I am a doctor , Gp working in the indian army .Since the last few months i have been suffering from similar signs and symptoms. I a fit 31 yrs old male and exercise daily. Since i am aware of how cardiac chest pains are so ingroned the pain for few days they were not gastlric related eiter since i eat healthy. I used to smoke but left. But the pain continued and were more in frequency as well as intensity. So i did my ecgs and chest x rays no of times and evrytime it was normal even the blood test were normal . Pain killers, ant acids wont help either. Its probably idiopathic as they say in medicine when there is no provisional diagnosis. There can be more reasons but a intensive evaluation has to be done..as of now i am just ignoring it..

I too have had almost every symptom you all have had for the last few years. I'm a 32 year old female. I have had a few weeks here and there where I don't have the pains but most the time it's a daily issue. I've also had head pains, short of breath and a wheeze on exhale at times.

I've had 4 echocardiograms, blood work done 2 times, 3 chest x-rays, 2 CAT scans with dye one on my heart other for lungs.

When I started all this my blood pressure was normal but has gotten worse over the years. My doctor still feels it's not to the point of needing meds yet. I'm over weight but weight loss does not seem to help matters. I hurt more when I lay down and have taken to sleeping sitting up right. The pains are always on my left side under my breast. The attacks are very random in nature and don't seem to have any one trigger. I've gone out with family and friends and had then happen within minutes. But then I can go grocery shopping for a few hours and feel fine.

I've been told I have GERD, I take meds for that but it's never helped with the chest pains.

I've developed A severe anxiety disorder from it. I get panic attacks almost on the daily. I have tried taking meds for anxiety but have had bad side effects from them.

I take Lorazepam now for the panic attacks as needed now and it does help a lot to calm me down but dose not stop the pain.

They tell me it's stress, GERD, Muscle pain and so on.. But for almost 4 years now it's taken over my life. I just want out to stop. It's taken this long for it to wear me down. I've spent countless hours trying to find a reason for it. I've tried so many meds and over the counter supplements and none have helped. Seeing I'm not the only person with this is a huge comfort. While we all keep trying to find the answers don't be afraid to talk to your doctor about meds for managing the stress.

 I just read your story and I am experiencing exactly what you are.  I am a 39 yr old woman and in excellent health - though these days it's questionable. On 7/13/2015 I was making my daughters lunch and BOOM! I had a horrible pain in my chest and had a hard time breathing.  I thought perhaps this was anxiety but my heart rate was fine. I tried to work though it and went to work.  After about 2 hours of being at work it was a struggle to walk 50 ft.  I went to the ER and got the Normal EKG, Chest X-ray and CTscan - all Normal. The Dr. said I had pleurisy and sent me home.  Two day later I am back in the ER b/c I am having a hard time breathing - they gave me steroids, inhaler and a breathing treatment, which helped for like an hour. I have had an Echo done and a PFT as well (Pulmonary Function test) which was extremely painful but my lungs are fine.  I just recent had an upper GI and that was normal. The pain is pretty constant and does move from the middle of my chest to the right and left, to the middle of my back and the side of my rib cadge. I cannot recreate the pain I experience as other's explain. It seems to bother me more at the end of the day and while I am sleeping. It is taking a toll on me after 3 months of not knowing what this is..I was thinking that it could be intercostal neuralgia as well but not certain.  Even as I type this I have the pain in my chest on the right side and I am just sitting here.  Do you/anyone have any suggestions on how to help with the discomfort since it seems like it's a difficult thing to diagnose?

Hi,

I have had the same thing.  I got an echocardiogram at one point and was in the hospital to be observed.  They suggested Chostochondritis too.   I think that is just a cop out!

First off if it was arthritic which I also have being rhuematoid positive and also have the HLA-B27 marker it would be tenderness and inflamation upon touch which it is not.

  I think it is something the Doctors do not have a legitimate answer for. However I think spasm and very local inflamation is involbed.    I was told that I do not have allergies but do have asthma through testing.  So I started to think maybe it is my left lung.  This is because it is located in my chest near my second bone in my ribcage, near the center where you hear would be.   Anyhow, my feeling is that it is related to my virus or infection causing some type of sharp reaction. You know how it is when you have an earache or infection that causes shooting pain when leaning forward such as sinuses.  Anyhow, that is what I think from my years of this type of random off again on again severe pain right about where you heart is. 

I have a history of subacute endocarditis and two leaky heart valves, the mitral valve and the tricuspid. They had me see a cardiologist that was young and he felt it could not be a leaky valve causing severe chest pain.

Another thing, I have had a infection in my chest for about two months that has made  my asthma worse.  I have noticed a correlation to the pain in the chest and an infection that is subacute or not giving off any fever but smoldering.  

There is some type of vein spasm or sharp inflamation that is localized. I noticed a baby asprin helps also mega dose of magnesium citrate helps me.  The magnesium relaxes muscles and veins.  Many people are deficient and do not know.  Which brings me to the fact that I was told I was deficient in d vitamin. The d can not be absorbed without adequet magnesium and other sister nutrients I have found.  Sometimes when you add in a vitamin or mineral you use up another.  Anyhow,   I have had this severe pain probably over 20 years. It seems kind of random. I noticed a warm moist compress helps.   The magnesium citrate supplement helps close the 300 mg.  I stir it in water.      Many doctors ask me if I pulled a muscle but I have not been lifting any weights or anything.    Although, sometimes I do strenuous work around the house it is not always the case with this flare up.  Normally, it is during cooler damp weather.  This also is suggestive of the arthritis but I think the warm compress helping is also cold weather might be tightening a spasm.  Suffice it to say there is no easy answer.   I think medicine does not have the exact cause or an answer.  Again my guess is to take a look at a spasm type thing and possible magnesium issue too.  This pain is severe and can wake you up from sleep as it has done to me. It is not exactly the same as the subacute endocarditis I had but similar.  All the best. 

Hi all , I realise it's been a couple of months since anyone has posted here but I'm just wondering has anyone found out what's causing their problems? 

I'm a 20 yo female and I've been suffering with the same symptoms for the past 6 months. It all set in one night when I was lying in bed and I immediately went the the ER because I thought I was having a heart attack. I've had numerous blood tests, X-ray, ecg, ekg, electrocardiogram, Holter monitor and event monitor all of which came back perfect. 

I suffer from daily dizziness, palpitations, left sided chest pain, constant fatigue and breathlessness. My heart rate never seems to go below 100bpm. Cutting back on sugar and not smoking seems to be helping me but I've yet to experience a completely normal day. This past week has been the worst for me as every time I walk anywhere it sets in really bad so I've been housebound. 

Sorry about the long winded post but if anyone has found out anything or has any tips on how to deal with this I would be very grateful. 

Hi everyone. My name is Billy and I'm 23 and decently healthy. Today I had sat down at a friends house and had an overwhelming pain shoot through my chest. I had thought panic attack at first but not the right symptoms, I had 2 previous panic attacks out of nowhere not knowing the cause or trigger. so I didn't think past it and guess kinda forgot that it was bothering me till I got up and set back down again. After this had happened it felt like someone had poured cement into my chest and I had trouble breathing. The pain started shooting from one side to the other and went deeper into my chest. I thought maybe gas or indigestion but it happened sometime around 11 pm yesterday. Its now 7am the next day and I woke up and the pain hadn't gone away. Went to the restroom and thought it might be constipation but to no relief. I slowly am noticing if my arm stays in the same position for a couple minutes when I go to move it it seems like it may have gone numb for a split second. I've read most of the posts on here and I'm actually a bit scared. Like some said it has come and gone when it wants and seems to flare up when I set down or move around to get up. What should I do first in the steps of getting checked out. I can't afford all those tests but id like to know if my heart is going to explode and what people have found out about arms and legs going numb. Please help......sincerely a freaked out 23 yr old!

I'm so happy I found this! After another unsuccessful trip to the doctors this evening I had a look online for some answers. Explained the type of chest pain to my doctor and he just said, he'll send me for a chest x-Ray. Sigh, I've had chest x-rays, ecgs, blood tests the lot and still no formal diagnosis. One time the doctor even said it's probably just anxiety. I explained that it can come up anytime and it's exactly how you described, with it lasting a few seconds or longer. It's very intermittent. Even when the immediate pain has gone, I always describe it as feeling it in "the background".

Ive ve been having these pains in my chest since I was 12 years old, I am now 30 and although it's not constant, throughout the years I get bouts of chest pain, that sometimes gets quite severe. 

On a reassurance note,if the egg is normal and blood test should have been taken for treponium levels,if the cardiologist,I hope you have seen a cardiologist,has not said about 24 hour tape or doing an angiogram??? If cardiologist didn't feel these needed doing then I'd rule out heart.

it could be respiratory related and if so u would benefit from seeing a respiratory consultant

I ended up back at the ER with awful chest pain a few days ago. They ran all the blood work and did x-rays, ekg.. Everything was normal. My blood pressure was high when I came in but not so high that it would have been giving me any physical effects. It went down again to a high normal for my age/size when the pain went away. I don't think mines lungs.. There is never pain when breathing.

They even checked my blood for signs of other issues but again all normal. They want me to do a stress test now just to see if it also would be normal. But again no one seems to know why the pain randomly came on.