Pain in the left side of my chest, left arm and neck.
Posted , 7 users are following.
Hi guys,
About 3 years ago, I suddenly experienced a sharp pain in the left side of my chest. I saw a doctor straight away who felt my chest and listened to my heart and told me I was fine.
Since then, I have had recurring pain in the left side of my chest, which is typically a sharp pain but at times can be dull. It often radiates to my left shoulder and my left arm, occasionally to my neck and even my lower jaw. It has become more frequent and more severe, it sometimes prevents me from doing physical work. Throughout all of this pain, I have not seen a doctor - until just yesterday.
I told the doctor about my symptoms. He listened to my heart, pressed on my chest and took my blood pressure (which was through the ceiling but he said it was only because I was “anxious”). He was very confident that my heart was okay. But I wanted answers so I had an ECG; which was fine. He concluded the pain must be coming from my chest wall, and is a result of anxiety and stress. He suggested I speak to a psychologist about managing the pain. He told me that if I really am still concerned I can have an x-ray, but he is sure it is just the chest wall.
It does not make sense to me as I get the pain in my arm and neck, so how can it be the chest wall? I wouldn’t consider myself to be an anxious person, although I can get quite stressed at times.
Should I get an x-ray? Should I see another doctor? I hope for my sake that he is right but my gut is telling me it is more serious than some anxiety induced chest wall pain.
Regards,
Liam
0 likes, 12 replies
arun34249 liam98849
Posted
Hi Liam, I Arun 32 years male . I have all same symptoms and high blood pressure past 2years and still on. I took 15ecg, blood work, x ray, TNT, echo past 2years.. all r fine. Every day I have had the same things.. now I m move on to psychology. So don't worry.. be happy..
liam98849 arun34249
Posted
Southerngal liam98849
Posted
Sorry to hear of your problems. Multiple times over the years, I have had doctors tell me nothing was wrong when I had a partially collapsed lung. You know your body better than anyone and if it is hurting, there is a reason. I would definitely get a chest X-ray.
Good luck!
liam98849 Southerngal
Posted
And yes I agree with you. It’s my body and I know there is something wrong with it. I will be seeing more doctors.
Southerngal liam98849
Posted
When I had a spontaneous pneumothorax, it felt like someone stabbed me in the back with an ice pick. It hurt with every breath. I was also short of breath and in the bad ones, felt like I was panting like a dog. Some were minor and healed on their own after a couple of days of bed rest. Some were worse and required hospitalization with chest tubes. The severity of the pain depended on the percentage of collapse. The pain often did radiate outward into other areas - I remember putting my left arm in a sling once as it hurt so badly when it moved.
I hope you will find the right doctor for you and can get to the root of the problem.
Mary_Beth08170 liam98849
Posted
Hi Liam98849, I sympathize with you and I've know my right arm, elbow, shoulder, jaw, neck and right side of head have all been injured and still I suffer daily needing to use hot compresses and cold packs too. I do have pain which i believe is from the injury on my right side of chest and breast area...I believe a chiropractor or orthopedic can help, but i do want XRays or scans of the affected area too if necessary...my pain has somewhat decreased if i used 2 pillows to sleep on which is uncomforatable, but it does alleviate morning pain somewhat. My insurance doesn't cover all things so far as chiropractors go, but I think if you talk to your Medical doctor maybe it can be arranged or physical therapy can be arranged....Good luck to you and if injury isn't the cause perhaps you may want to see a cardiologist...Do you have TMJ; a jaw disorder that can give jaw pain and other problems ? I have TMJ so it complicates matters sometimes. also, statin medications or other medications can cause joint pain and even pain throughout the body. Lisinopril has done a bad number on me and now i am down to 5mg of it, but soon to be off when i get a replacement for it...think about any meds and their side effects too...again, much luck and quick recovery to you...
liam98849 Mary_Beth08170
Posted
Thank you for your reply. I am sorry to hear about your issues.
I do not have any kind of disorders which can cause this pain, and I’m not taking any medications that can cause it either.
I will be going back to see another doctor and get an X-ray done.
I hope you find answers to your pain!
lyn1951 liam98849
Posted
and do you ankles get swollen.
X-ray would be a good idea, I agree with you, listen to that little voice in your head that says this is more than the GP is saying.
My husband is only alive today because a little voice in my head said there is something wrong here, I insisted he see a cardiologist, he had a serious heart issue, our GP missed signs on ECG and should have ordered a chest x-ray which would have had him delivered to the heart hospital a month before he was, that why I asked the questions above.
He also has had left arm pain, not from his underlying heart failure, but from his electrical system in his heart being on the blink, for months and nobody taking any notice, even the junior cardiologists at the hospital reffered him back to our GP for rotator cuff injury of shoulder. He had Left Branch Bundle Block, and later Right Branch Bundle Block, pacemaker installed, all arm pain gone the moment they switched it on he reported.
liam98849 lyn1951
Posted
No I don’t get breathless with little or no exercise. I also don’t fall asleep the moment I sit down, in fact I struggle to get to sleep when I’m dealing with the pain in my chest.
I definitely am going to listen to the little voice in my head, your story about you husband has given me even more motivation to do so.
Thanks for your comment
travis67849 lyn1951
Posted
Hi lyn
I have same condition left arm's veins pain. Breathless and cannot do little walk or exercise. Best cardiologist of my country checked me.
Actually i have heart problem. At this time when i m writing this post i have pain in left arm's veins that carries through to my left hand fingers. If i walk 500 meter and then do rest my heart droping. If i press my chest with a finger my heart stopping. Heart cannot bear little pressure. If i sit before a gas heater and hearter warm my chest my heart feeling trouble. It cannot bear heart. Many cardiologist checked me and said its anxiety. I m taking beta blocker 40 mg daily. Coenzyme Q10. Do you think Q10 suppliment makes strong our heart. I m taking it 50mg daily but no effect. Day by day i m getting more weak. Its feel like my heart is going to fail or collaps. Dr said its anxiety but i dont believe. I canmot take bath because my heart dont bear pressure. Why not cardiologist understand me. Ok i agree my test like echo bp and ecg is normal. But my heart dont bear stress. But doctors are still not understanding.I cannot sleep and in huge trouble. Any suggestion please.
matyboyie liam98849
Posted
hey liam did you find out what was wrong ? i am mathew 30 years old and going through the same thing the past 3 weeks. chest pain and pain down my left arm went to hospital sent home saying its prob inflamation and doctors sent me for a stress echocardiogram but came back normal and still having the pain. kinda freaking me out a bit.
liam98849 matyboyie
Posted
Hey mate, just recently I Have done a holter test and echocardiogram, both did not show any abnormalities. I am doing an exercise stress test at the end of January. Unfortunately i still experience these symptoms quite often, but over time have become used to them and they no longer worry me. I know its easier said than done, but please try not to worry about the pain because the anxiety only makes it worse.