I'm 33 and a male. Lately I've noticed a very slight discomfort on my upper left side when I run on the treadmill. I don't get this feeling while doing other exercise that's just as strenuous, like climbing on a Stairmaster or riding a stationary bike. My blood pressure and cholesterol are both normal, and I don't have any other symptoms and haven't had any history of heart problems, nor is there a history of early heart problems in my family. Could something other than a heart issue cause this feeling? As I said, it's very mild - and it's not painful or tight. It's hard to describe, but maybe the closest word for it would be a very mild cramping. I don't feel short of breath. Thanks.

After doing some research this morning, my symptoms sound like stable angina (hope I'm wrong, of course). Isn't 33 a bit young for that? I've been eating a healthy diet for the past 8 years but before that ate a lot of fast food and went up to 160 pounds (I'm 5'7). I changed my lifestyle when I was around 25. I lost 20 pounds and exercise vigorously four times a week. My weight has been around 140 for years, which looks very healthy on the BMI scale. I wonder if the bad habits from earlier in my life could have clogged my arteries.

The fact that you are not having shortness of breath with the pain is a good sign. Also the fact that only the treadmill produces the discomfort where other exercises like the stairmaster don't would lead me to believe it's not the heart. When I had heart blockage about a minute on the stairmaster sent me to the ER.

Dan,

I have had angina, and had something similar to what you are describing, and only brought on when I was running in the morning (and not always, but it will recur during the runs over a few consecutive days). For some reason, I can tense up at times and this occurs only in my left shoulder reason. What makes it difficult for me is that the discomfort is similar to what I felt when I had bona fide angina.

What I was able to figure out, finally, is that it was related to weight gain (as few as 5 lbs) and perhaps a change in posture while I was running. I noticed the pain went away when I stopped running, but I could experience that pain, after cooling down for 15 sec, by jumping in place. That amount of movement approximated the jolt felt by taking steps during my run and was translated to the pain felt in my left shoulder. Once I experienced that I was pretty confident that it was not heart related.

When I did experience angina while running (in between March and July, 2002, when I had my first and second stent, respectively), it would "roll in" within 15 sec of running and stay, usually intensifying over the next 45 sec or so, so that the pain was felt to migrate from the left shoulder to the right one, and also down both of my arms. I couldn't tell you if there was shortness of breath caused by it, because, heck I was running. I do remember that when I stopped, the pain took another 60 sec to subside and "roll out." I use the roll in/out descriptions because the pain did not appear/disappear quickly. If you notice that it occurs like that on and off the treadmill, then the chances are that it is probably not due to ischemia.

In edit: Yes, 33 is a bit young. I did everything wrong that I could of, ate fast food, never exercised, reached 227 lbs, developed hypertension, diabetes, and heart disease, felt angina for 1.5 months before culminating in a heart attack at 35. I play the game of "life" much differently now.

Thanks, CobaltBlue. Your note reassures me a bit. It could be posture related, I suppose, and my symptoms don't sound at all like what you experienced with angina. I haven't gained any weight recently, as far as I know, however.

I just got back from the gym. I did the stairclimber for 25 minutes at a high rate of speed and it was really tough. No pain, but I definitely got short of breath by the end, perhaps more than usual. However, I jumped on the exercise bike for an additional 10 minutes and kept my pulse rate around 160 with no discomfort. I could have kept going a lot longer but had to get back to work.

I made an appointment with my internist for a week from now, but it might make more sense just to e-mail him my symptoms to see if he thinks I need any tests.