Hello, I am a 29 year old healthy (Lifts Weight and runs) male that has had constant upper chest tightness since March. The tightness is 24/7. It varies in severity, but never goes away. There is nothing I can pinpoint that makes it worse and there is definately nothing that makes it better (Other than Golfing). I can feel the tightness in my upper chest/lower throat.
It all started in March. I started feeling the tightness and figured I was just getting sick. I have Asthma as well and whenever I get a cold I get this tightness. However, I never ended up getting sick and the tightness has never went away. My Inhalers do not help at all.
I went to my Asthma doctor and he thought that it was allergies. He also did a Pulmonary Function Test, which turned out good. Although March is too early for my allergies to start, I started taking Calritin anyways. He also give me a perscription of prednizone just incase there was an infection in my lungs.
A couple weeks later the Claritin and predinzone wasn't working, so I went to my family doctor. He did an X-ray to rule out Pneumonia and an EKG to make sure it wasn't my heart (Keep in mind that the tightness does not get worse when I am exercising). Everything turned out normal. His next theory was that it was acid reflux aspirating into my lungs. He put me on a stronger PPI and said to come back in 4-weeks if it wasn't helping.
The PPI did not work so I went back and he scheduled an endoscopy. The endoscopy showed no signs of acid reflux, however, there was a small Hital Hernia. He said the Hital Hernia was too small to be causing the tightness I was feeling and to keep on the PPI's and come back in another 4-weeks.
No surprise, I went back to the doctor in 4-weeks because nothing was helping. He scheduled an abdominal and chest CT. We also did some blood work. The Cat Scans and blood work all came back normal.
I have been off the PPI's for a couple weeks and although there has been a little reboud reflux, I don't notice any increase in symptoms. I will also mention that I was on a light does of PPI's before this because of problems swallowing food, (Started in November 2010) which helped take that away.
I do feel bloated sometimes, also, I haven't had what looks like a normal bowel movemant since March (sorry for the detail) that I wonder if it has anything to do with it.
I also went back to the Asthma and Allergy doctor to test for food allergies and It came back positive for slight allergy to Soy, but the doctor doesn't seem to think this is the problem. However, I am going to cut out soy for a month and see what happens.
Is there anyway this could still be realted to acid reflux? Although my difficulties swallowing are gone, could there still be an esophugus strictor that is causing this?
Please let me know if you our someone you know has experienced similar symptoms and what they found out.
High I have the same problem uoper chest and lower throat super tight. I haven't done endoscopy but I know it's from rebound acid but it feels like scar tissue bc it's super tight and used be sore. I won't be able go gym. I also have small hernia so I was wondering your endoscopy showed no signs of any inflammation or scar? Wonder why it's so tight for you? If I did dips I'd be in pain.
I hope you feel better already Gonzoe. Based on my experience with acid reflux, it DOES cause tightness of breath. I got good results with a diet free of yeast and all things that the yeast likes to grow on. This means no bread, pasta, pizza, wheat products, yoghurt, pickles, mushroom, broth cubes, and no alcoholic beverage--beer and wine were very bad for me. I only started to see results after one month and I got gradually better. I'm still on the diet (5 months later). I feel much better and don't need anti-acids most days-- I used to take them everyday. The PPIs never did anything for me. Another thing that is important to consider is ANXIETY. You need to be relaxed. More importantly you need to pay attention to your spiritual growth. I certainly saw a relation. I hope this helps. Pray and meditate and you will get results.
I know exactly what you mean. I have the same problem. Mine is in the middle of the chest, practically all the time. Mine also causes breathing problems. It started almost 2 years ago that summer when it got super humid all of a sudden (i live in Missouri, and i have never experienced humidity this bad ever, and ive lived here all my life). I assumed i was having allergies and brushed it off by occasionally taking allegra or something. It never really bothered me that much because it would go away in a day or so. But a few months ago, it came back with a vengeance and it has stayed since then. It got to be everyday so i finally went to a surgeon (referred by my MD), he did a gallbladder ultrasound and low and behold found a pal lop, so i had the gallbladder removed. This was a week ago and I have still had no luck getting rid of this, so the doc gave me a PPI and told me to hang in there. From the research i have done, a PPI may take some time to really start to work, so im trying to be optimistic. I have done everything i could possibly do (i quit smoking (stupid for starting), i changed my diet by: completely eliminating caffeine, replacing 2 meals with fat free or low fat foods, i drink nothing but water or herbal tea, and im trying to exercise more). Im not overweight and im only 24, I never thought i would be having problems like this. I know some of my symptoms relate from anxiety, but I can usually compartmentalize. I guess it all affects eachother though. If anyone has any ideas, I am completely open.
