Sharp, shooting, shock pain in left side of chest....anxiety?

Posted , 43 users are following.

I have posted in here before and everyone is so helpful and awesome... so here it goes.

I have been getting on and off sharp, shooting, shock like chest pains in the left side right near my left breast. The sharp pain will come for a second and be annoying and painful and then it'll disappear. It's on and off. It started earlier when I was at the physical therapist, and I did feel myself getting anxious and nervous when it happened. It went away while I was there and when I got home...then I ate and it started up again.

I am dealing with a thoracic disc herniation that's pushing against my spinal cord, which I would assume will cause certain shock-like feelings in certain places of the body. But I have to say, feeling this is making me INCREDIBLY nervous. I keep thinking I am going to die of a heart attack. Has anyone felt these types of sharp pains from anxiety? I do not know how to tell the difference between anxiety and an actual heart problem.

I don't have any other symptoms, some sensations in my leg and also my right shoulder but it came and went. My heart seems to be beating fine and I can breathe. The chest pains just really bothered me. It's a pretty terrifying feeling if anyone has ever felt this before also! rolleyes

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  • Posted

    I'm going threw the same exact thing your going threw it's amazing because its like no one else understands and the way you described it was like you took the words right out my mouth I feel 100 percent the same as you. So what kind of meds did you end up taking and is it helping.

  • Posted

    Hey I have the same pain on my left chest and it goes to my arms too.. left upper arm.. took ECG also.. came normal.. did blood test last month came normal.. doc said it is a muscular pain.. but me not sure about it.. i still get pains like sharp, shooting pain.. u r not alone.. 
  • Posted

    Hello? I know this discussion was a year ago but I've been concerned for at least 4 yrs about the sensations I have in the left side of my chest. I haven't found one thing (and I've searched over these years, believe me) that describe my symptoms. I have random sharp (not intense sharp but sharp), short, sorta pulsing but not always pulsing pains. It happens under my left breast inside the rib cage (at least that's how it feels) and there is an area on my left side under my left arm pit just under ribs. Ribs in that spot even seem to feel a soreness/bruise feeling when I push with my gingers to try to find the sharp pain. I also have, at some of this, my back by my left shoulder blade will feel irrirated where it makes me want to massage there but can't reach it. I have looked at so many heart disease symptoms and none describe this. It's happening more frequently lately and very noticeable and makes me pretty nervous. I've just gone through so many tests for GI problems and severe sleep apnea and a lung infection back in Jan with clear CT in April. I'm already being called a hypochondriac. My EKGs are fine. CBCs are fine. BP fine. I don't have short breaths. I don't have tightness or heavy chest pain. I had an endoscopy & CT Monday for GI stuff. Gastritis. CT fine. I have anxiety disorder. I have panic attacks. These sensations of noticeable, sharp, random, frequent, pains do not coincide with anxiety or panic attacks. They do not happen after activity. They just happen. I realize all I can do is go pile up more medical diagnostics (I don't pay my copays. My parents do) and cause more frustration and cost to them and add to my reputation as a hypochondriac. I can't go running to my dr to get a referral to see a cardiologist to do stress tests or whatever. I have had way too many medical tests done within the last 4 yrs or so but this is not something I can ignore. I don't know if I'm gonna drop dead of heart disease at any time or what.

    • Posted

      I have the exact same problem. I've had numerous panic attacks and a persistent pain in my left shoulder blade. Whilst having a relaxation massage, the massage therapist noticed I had a very large muscle knot in that area. I'm wondering if that's been causing the weird pains in my chest, as I've also had 3 ECG's that have not shown any abnormalities. I'm extremely worried about the chest pains and unsure what to do because I know the GPS will not refer me to cardiologists. 

    • Posted

      You described my symptoms perfectly. I’ve had the echo stress test and been told my heart is fine. Did you ever find the cause of your pain?
  • Posted

    I'm a 14 year old guy and I've been feeling these for years. They do really suck. I don't have any heart problems and everyone's best guess is stress, even though I don't think I stress too much, but heart problems could be a reason for you. I stumbled upon this because I decided to search it and see if anything else came up as to why this would happen for me.

    • Posted

      hey i am 15 and this has been happening to me too.. is it normal? i’ve been dealing with a lot of anxiety as well and stress. 
  • Posted

    I have the exact same but mine stop me in my tracks and especially as a 14 yr old the only thing I think is the worst but the pains are soooo bad for me.
    • Posted

      So I'm a 14-year-old girl, and I'm actually freaking out because I've been just having random sharp pains on the left side of my chest, and I have to stop what I'm doing and take a breath, then it stops after a second. I don't think I have anxiety or anything, but do you really think that it's just stress because now I'm worried that I'm about to have a heart attack or something, and often the pains just come at random, not necessarily when I'm stressed?

  • Posted

    i believe its a combination of stress and anxiety. its NOT your heart, its he acid going up to your heart and lungs. had this bothering thing for months. chest pain, pin like eletric shocks in chest left and right. dont worry, mine went away in an instant. when you get stressed, you tend to worry. thats the time the acid builds up.you feel some extra saliva in your mouth sour tasting, some times you even cough. you will also feel some dizziness. you want it to go away? THEN STOP WORRYING ABOUT IT! it will go away in an instant. drink a little warm water at night and i the morning.it will help.avoid chocolates, salty foods. again dont worry about it, it will make you anxious and acid will build up. DONT THINK ABOUT IT. smile
    • Posted

      I agree 100% with you. The more I thought about it’s like the pain gets worse. 
    • Posted

      I have been having the same symptoms! About a month ago I went to the ER with A-fib and my body converted the rhythm on its own. Since then any pain I have in my chest freaks me out. I went to the ER again last week because of the pinching feeling near my heart that would not go away. All of my tests came back normal and my EKG was normal as well. I also had a stress echo and that came out normal too. But I still continue to have the pinching sensation in my left chest that continues to scare me. I also get an electric shock feeling in my left thumb, I wonder if this is related similar to the ‘shock’ feeling others are having? I feel the pinching more when I am laying down trying to relax which is so annoying!! Help!
    • Posted

      I have had similar symptoms and discussed with a friend all my issues. Reflux, electric shock aches in chest. He had similar thing years ago. Stress was deemed to be the cause.
  • Posted

    Ya i am felting those chest pains which you have due to anxiety and stresse. I test my ecg also. It got normal. So don't worry it lost for few months. You don't get heart attack. Ok bai

  • Posted

    Well right at this moment I'm feeling the same way .I been feeling with this pain for two days .Ang I was thinking the same maybe is the anxiety cause I do suffer anxiety disorder. That's why I was looking for information and read your post.

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