strange heart(?) pain

Factual Questions
1

i wonder if anyone has an idea of what this may be. a bit of background: 18 year old mal, non-smoker, no drugs, little caffeine, excellent diet, lacking of exercise.

about 1 & 1/2 weeks ago, right before one of my finals, i was studying in and got TERRIBLE chest pain. the pain wasn’t too bad, but really hurt whenever i moved or breathed slightly deeper. i went to my final(did great by the way) with this pain gradually subsiding all the while. about a week later(toward the end of school) it was gone. a few days later it began returning slightly, sometimes causing stabbing pains when i breathed anything other than shallow bereaths and moved a certain way. seems to be my heart, but could be sometihng around it. can anyone tell me what this may be? stress related maybe?

also, it shoudl be noted that about 5 years ago, my doctor thoguht i had a heart murmur, checked with a sonograph(i believe), and said all was ok.

thanks in advance to anyone that can help.

2

Could be anything from gas to immenent death. Go to a doc.

3

IANAD, but it sounds like it may be muscular in origin. Perhaps a strained intercostal muscle… do you do any sports?

I second getting a doctors opinion though.

4

i will definitely see a doctor becasue this is nearing on two weeks. i don’t play sports, but me being slightly weaker than usual gves me more reason to believe it’s something to do with my heart.

5

Yes, see your doc right away.

It could even be a case of acid reflux, which can be very painful if it is severe enough. Chest pain doesn’t always relate to the heart, but it’s important to check it out asap.

6

While you should see your physician, many people with pain described similarly to yours have costochondritis.

http://www.emedicine.com/EMERG/topic116.htm

7

You know I’m gonna say it…see a doctor.

I had a similar thing happen to me when I was 15 right before finals. I thought for sure I was dying of some horrible disease (not that I’m a hypochondriac or anything :wink: ) according to my doc I was having esphogeal muscular spasms brought on by stress related acid reflux. It hurt if I sat still, it hurt to breathe and just to move…sleeping on my stomach was out of the question. It basically felt like an entire circus of elephants were dancing a jig on my chest.
Anyway, he gave me a scrip for some muscle relaxers and all I had to take was one and it cleared up. Voila’

but to rule anything serious out…**see a doctor, my friend **

8

In fact, I’d go one step farther and say get thee to an E.R.
They can often confirm or rule out many cardiac problems, such as heart attacks, relatively quickly.
Doctors would one thousand times rather have you come in and find out it’s acid reflux or something than to come in too late.
A family member who waited several hours in a similar situation was roundly scolded by his doctor. “What do you mean, sitting home with a pain like that? You cost me three hours that I might have needed to save your life!!”

9

I concur: ask a doctor. Although it may be nothing—pneumonia and pleurisy were pretty common with that bug that went around a few months ago—it may also be something much more important.

10

I’ve had similar experiences (yes, on multiple occasions) and so have my friends, so i really don’t think it’s super important to see a doctor or go to the ER, it doesn’t seem that uncommon…

11

It seems I’m agreeing with everyone elses experiences today, but I’ll just say that I’ve had these pains too, and, upon asking last night about them (by chance), so have all my friends.

The first time I had oen I thought I was having a heart attack, but it lasted for about 20 seconds. The pain gets even worse if you try to breathe, so you’re stuck holding your breath for about 30 seconds till it dissapears.

12

I’ve had this. In fact, I have it now. Mine was costochondritis and ibuprofen helps that. But, I have to say, it really really sucks.

My husband had a heart attack, etc. and all of his doctors have always said that heart pains aren’t sharp or short-lived. Short, stabbing pains are something else. Anyone care to confirm or rebut?

13

Classic cardiac pain is described as a central, crushing chest pain. People usually describe it as “tightness”, and they often feel anxious, sweaty, breathless and nauseated with the pain. Doesn’t sound like the OP’s problem.

A sharp, severe chest pain that is worse on inhalation is also a symptom of a blood clot in the lungs (pulmonary embolism), coughing up blood would be another symptom of a PE. It would be unusual in a fit, healthy young man, unless he’d been confined to bed for a long time or had blood that clotted abnormally quickly, so I think that that would also be unlikely.

Chest pain that is worse on deep breathing is usually described as “pleuritic”. It can be caused by muscular, bone or joint problems (costochondritis, broken ribs etc) or by lung infections such as pneumonia or pleurisy. The OP doesn’t mention a cough, so infection seems unlikely.

As well as the lung/heart/ribs, there is also the oesophagus (yes I can spell it correctly, it’s spelt that way on this side of the Atlantic) and acid reflux (heartburn) could indeed lead to sharp chest pains.

Studying hunched over in a chair could ead to some muscle spasms in the chest wall and upper back, that might explain the pain, and hunching over books could also make acid reflux worse.

Caffeine may give you the sensation that your heart is racing, but shouldn’t cause chest pain. Stress can certainly cause headaches and chest pain, so don’t discount it.

If the pain goes away after some over-the-counter pain meds, like aspirin, paracetamol (acetominophen) or ibuprofen, you can almost certainly rule out your heart as the cause. Cardiac pain will NOT respond to mild pain medication, but will be relieved by special medication like GTN (the one that people with angina spray under their tongues).

If you have no cough, no sensation of acid in your mouth and the pain is gone, your doc is going to have a rough time trying to work out where the pain is coming rom. The best they’ll probably be able to do is to tell you that your heart and lungs sound fine, and give you some muscle relaxants, antacids and pain meds.

On the other hand, if you still have the pain, SEE A DOCTOR NOW. That will give them a good chance of getting to the bottom of it, and hopefuly stop it happening again.

14

See a doctor - ASAP. I had the same problem, several times. Once, it turned out to be a muscle strain, a couple times it turned out to be anxiety attacks. Whatever it is, chest pains can be nothing, but is it worth your well-being to gamble that it’s mothing?

Peace - DESK

15

I had very similar symptoms, long ago (oddly enough, in college, right before finals). Breathing uncomfortable, coughing or laughing unbearable, any position other than bolt upright slow torture. The doctor told me it was pericarditis. See what a doctor tells you.

In any event, you have my sympathy. Feel better soon.