Unexplained chest pain for 2+ months
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I’m a 20 year old female, and have been having weird feelings in my chest for a couple of months now. The first two times it was really bad and seemed to be linked to heartburn (I’d eaten really rich foods before both times and couldn’t sleep because of the pain). I went in to a&e twice after the first time and had an ECG done which came back fine. In the last month or so I’ve had another ECG which also came back fine. I’ve had blood tests and had a chest x Ray in the last 2 weeks which I haven’t heard back about so I am assuming nothing showed up on it. I’ve been given lansoprazole and ranitidine which help my stomach acid but don’t help my chest at all. Similarly I was given propranolol to see if it is anxiety related but it doesn’t relieve the pain in my chest at all. I am currently using ibuprofen gel on my chest 3 times a day to see if it is costochondritis, but so far it hasn’t had much of an effect. Paracetamol doesn’t seem to help much either.
The pain never seems to get worse through exercise, but it does usually come on through the afternoon and evening to the point where I sometimes struggle to sleep because of it. A lot of the time it feels like a cold sensation or burning in my chest and pricking feelings (I also feel this in my shoulders, armpits and upper arms, mostly the left one- but I don’t know if I am imagining this). I have pcos and am a little overweight but I am trying to lose weight (so far all I’ve done is gain a couple of pounds more though). I’m also a student at university which does cause me stress, but even when I relax or completely forget about my chest the pain still comes on out of nowhere.
I try to convince myself that because it’s been going on for a relatively long time and nothing bad has happened that it’s probably nothing, but at the same time I am very worried it could be signs of a heart problem that doctors are ignoring or not seeing. I’ve had plenty of tests and my blood pressure is usually fine. Does anyone have any suggestions on how to deal with it or what this could be symptoms of? As far as I know there is very little history of heart problems in the family.
Thanks!
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Mary_Beth08170 jade10533
Posted
Hi Jade10533. You should call to get the results on the chest xray and don't ever assume anything because people forget and charts get misplaced or overlooked; always check when your health is concerned. I check my blood work results and call the doctors office when one thing is not within normal range and i question the doctor as to why i shouldn't worry about an elevated whatever it may be...I've had the prickley sensations and the chest pain right in the middle and I'm guessing the prickley sensations is over sensitve skin and also dry skin because eventually the prickley sensations did go away except on occassion i get them with very rough fabrics so try a good moisturizer and use softer fabrics and also i think the BP medication i was taking may have caused the over sensitive skin and it did seem to come from the inside as well meaning right under my skin as well as topical...cool water also helped for that. The chest pain is very scary and for myself I can say I'd drink Ginger Ale and get relief after belching, but i do notice that it is tender; almost a bruised feeling..i had an echo-cardiogram and the sonographer was too aggressive and i believe he caused the bruising i had under my breast bone. I also had ultra sounds and the sonographer once again was very rough and it caused much discomfort in my neck area and stomach area for a long time...just throwing that in there in case you had any of those types of testing. You can see a cardiologist which should relieve your anxiety i'd think...medications can cause overall sensitivities as did the BP meds i was taking and they also caused cardiac symptoms which i too believed was just that, but then i stopped one (weaned off it) and tapered down on another and I had much improvement...the beta blocker I was taking caused numbness all over and feeling of my body falling asleep as well as other bad reactions and they didn't start until after almost 1 year of taking the metoprolol...(beta blocker). Feel better and think about the meds you may be taking...use cold, heat and try compression if it helps or simply use a cold wash cloth and go over the prickley feeling areas...you can check with a dermatologist too if you want to...i had so many symptoms from medications that it seemed i was having cardiac symptoms or fibromyalgia; pain all over and slowly i got it to go away...for the most part.