Lung pain?

Hi all,

I was wondering if anyone would be able to help me. My boyfriend is in his mid-30s and he occasionally gets chest pains that come and go. He is a former smoker, and he smoked cigarettes and weed on and off for 10 years before coming off everything for good 3 years ago around the time that I met him. He has also worked in construction for about ten years before this year and as a result has breathed in a fair amount of stone dust. This would obviously impact his lungs. He gets these pains randomly, he can go months and months without a pain and then he may have a week or two with on and off pains. He says he feels sure that the pain is in his lungs, and he also says he feels like they are trying to clear themselves out of damage. It does seem that often when he gets the pain, he doesn't cough but brings up gunk or phlegm. It tends to last a few minutes then go away, then may come back briefly again before going away. He can often feel it coming on too. It is very worrying for me though, and sometimes for him, not knowing what it is.

He says he first started feeling it about 4 years ago (I believe he was still smoking at the time?) and he was scared that he was having a heart attack so made an appointment with the doctors. He has apparently had all of the tests and the doctors did not find anything. I did ask if he has had an ECG and he couldn't remember, but I think that may just be his forgetfulness because I don't know why they wouldn't do heart tests on a patient with chest pains, but he does remember having a scan and other things. They basically told him there was nothing, but also did not give him any explanation as to why he was experiencing it. It worries me, as I am a hypochondriac and the last thing you want to see is a loved one in pain, especially having chest pains when you associate that with danger.

These are the same pains he had four years ago that he got tested for and has experienced on and off since. I was just wondering if anyone else experienced this? Do you think it is connected to smoking and if so, when will it likely go away completely?

I have debated whether it could be anxiety or digestion issues, things he does suffer with also. However, in many of the moments he gets the pain, he doesn't seem overly anxious or suffering digestion.

Thanks all in advance. I have really bad health anxiety and it is things like these that worry me immensely.

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