Hello everyone,

I've been experiencing chest pain since november, so about 6-7 months now, i'm only 21. I can not sleep on my left side without being extremely uncomfortable or in pain. Some weeks are much worse then others, sometimes aching, other times sharp sudden pains that hurt so bad it stops you in your tracks. The pain stared in my upper chest which lasted a few weeks, I did notice it hurt when I took deep breaths. Now for the last few months most of the time its always in a specific spot, in the largest gap between your ribs(i forget what its called), about 1-2 inches under my left breast, would probably be in the complete middle of the rib cage im guessing. I have not noticed it hurting when I take deep breaths anymore but that may because of the location. Sometimes it feels tender and other times its does not. I sometimes get those sudden sharp pains when I move a certain way but I also get them when not doing anything at all just laying down. My doctor keeps diagnosising me with costochondritis, which I generally accept but my father had his first heart attack in his 30s so it worries me. I do have high blood pressure and what is odd sometimes i'll be 130/90ish, and other times i'll be 150/70ish. Is this normal for blood pressure to vary like this?

I told my doc my dad had a heart attack in his 30s and he finally took me more serious it seemed. He did an EKG and their was an abnormality, he showed me it but didn't tell me what it was, I just noticed it was a slight spike(like a peak) near the end of the EKG, the rest was generally flat. He referred me to a Cardiologist which I will see monday.

My main question is can heart pain last this long?

Also, this may not be related but when these pains first started happening I was having some awful digestive problems(diaharea and constipation alternating), blood in stool, sharp pains in rectum, but no real pain in stomach area. I ended having a colonoscopy(found hemmroids which explained blood) and since all the symptoms have went away and came to the conclusion the pain was from proctalgia fugax(sp?). Just thought i'd add this info incase it could be related.

Any opinions/questions would be appreciated.

Thanks
Jake

Any one?????

I need to find out whats wrong with me, I'm starting to doubt the costo diagnosis. I've never experienced pain near the middle of my chest, which is what seems to be typical of costo. This pain is also mostly in one specific area for the last few months.

I have a stress test scheduled for monday.

Hey Jake,

I don't know what to tell you, but I get wierd pains also around my left breast, but I write them off as "woman" hormonal issues or that I slept funny. My father died when he was 56 from a heart attack and his brother died in his 30s from heart attack.
I don't know much about my uncle since he died before I was born and everyone told me he smoked and etc. I also can't seem to get a consistant answer from my mother about my dad and what all happened. He died when I was away at college and didn't even get to say goodbye before he was cremated.
But, yes, this scares me to death. I have hbp also and last year I had every test imaginable up to a cardiac cath. All tests showed nothing wrong and since I haven't had an attack yet and I just keep praying that I don't.

The stress test you have on Monday should give you some sort of relief or knowledge if something is wrong.
Just do your best to get exercise, eat right and take meds if they perscribe something. Otherwise, its is in "someone elses" hands and sometimes you can't prevent it.
I wake up the majority of mornings with side pain and arm pain, but a quick check of the blood pressure puts me at ease.

good luck and you will be okay,
Lyl

Jake,

My doctor keeps diagnosising me with costochondritis

That's the odds on favorite for the right diagnosis.
Try some regular chest stretching to help alleviate recurrences and use naproxen if you need an analgesic.

Heart pain isn't sensitive to body position or motion, nor to deep breathing, but costo certainly is. Costo can hurt for MONTHS.

I don't think you have reason to fear for you heart as a result of your current symnptoms. Of course with hypertension, a wonky EKG reading, and your awful family history it behooves your to take care that your blood lipids are appropriate for a high risk person.
I think it would be wise to ask the cardiologist to perform a nuclear stress scan to ascertain any blockages. I'm sure he will agree.

Take daily aspirin come Hell or high water.

Hey Jake,

I don't know what to tell you, but I get wierd pains also around my left breast, but I write them off as "woman" hormonal issues or that I slept funny. My father died when he was 56 from a heart attack and his brother died in his 30s from heart attack.
I don't know much about my uncle since he died before I was born and everyone told me he smoked and etc. I also can't seem to get a consistant answer from my mother about my dad and what all happened. He died when I was away at college and didn't even get to say goodbye before he was cremated.
But, yes, this scares me to death. I have hbp also and last year I had every test imaginable up to a cardiac cath. All tests showed nothing wrong and since I haven't had an attack yet and I just keep praying that I don't.

The stress test you have on Monday should give you some sort of relief or knowledge if something is wrong.
Just do your best to get exercise, eat right and take meds if they perscribe something. Otherwise, its is in "someone elses" hands and sometimes you can't prevent it.
I wake up the majority of mornings with side pain and arm pain, but a quick check of the blood pressure puts me at ease.

good luck and you will be okay,
Lyl

Thanks Lyl, yeah i'm actually pretty excited for the stress test to atleast get some answers. I just like having answers and not being left in the dark wondering, that can sometimes be much worse!

Jake,
That's the odds on favorite for the right diagnosis.
Try some regular chest stretching to help alleviate recurrences and use naproxen if you need an analgesic.

Heart pain isn't sensitive to body position or motion, nor to deep breathing, but costo certainly is. Costo can hurt for MONTHS.

I don't think you have reason to fear for you heart as a result of your current symnptoms. Of course with hypertension, a wonky EKG reading, and your awful family history it behooves your to take care that your blood lipids are appropriate for a high risk person.
I think it would be wise to ask the cardiologist to perform a nuclear stress scan to ascertain any blockages. I'm sure he will agree.

Take daily aspirin come Hell or high water.

I actually had my first visit with my cardiologist and he said that the machine read my EKG as abnormal but when he looked at it he said its "pretty normal" and the machine just read it as abnormal, whatever that means LOL! He listened to my heart for awhile after making me deep breath, stop breath, breath normal, ect and said that my heart sounded good.

I had blood work done also and everything they checked for was good, my total cholesterol was 130

Do you suffer from costo? Can it happen anywhere in your chest and stay in one particular area? Also sometimes it almost feels like the area is swollen, which leads me to believe this would be costo? Is this something that happens with costo? I assume it would since its an "inflammination".

Thanks for your advice I really appreciate it.

I recently had chest pains - right side, left side, sometimes center. My doctor told me it was anxiety and I really didn't believe him. He sent me for an abdominal ultrasound, chest x-ray - both were normal. Because I had heart tests done in the last year, he ruled out any heart problems. Plus, my BP was good (I'm on meds), and I take Lipitor for cholesterol. I drove myself "crazy" thinking I had angina, etc., ( you name it). My doctor told me it could also be acid, so I take Pariet for that. The chest pains have disappeared as mysteriously as they came.(I also had a cardiogram).- normal. My doctor told me to get out and walk and be active - it's very important.

Hey Jake !!
I dont know if you still looking to these post.. but I been having the same pain for the last week or so....and what makes it even weirder is that the pain moved a little higer in the last day or so... I have the feeling it's muscular since it hurts the most when I move
today I'm meeting with my Doc....I'lllet you know about it Hello everyone,

I've been experiencing chest pain since november, so about 6-7 months now, i'm only 21. I can not sleep on my left side without being extremely uncomfortable or in pain. Some weeks are much worse then others, sometimes aching, other times sharp sudden pains that hurt so bad it stops you in your tracks. The pain stared in my upper chest which lasted a few weeks, I did notice it hurt when I took deep breaths. Now for the last few months most of the time its always in a specific spot, in the largest gap between your ribs(i forget what its called), about 1-2 inches under my left breast, would probably be in the complete middle of the rib cage im guessing. I have not noticed it hurting when I take deep breaths anymore but that may because of the location. Sometimes it feels tender and other times its does not. I sometimes get those sudden sharp pains when I move a certain way but I also get them when not doing anything at all just laying down. My doctor keeps diagnosising me with costochondritis, which I generally accept but my father had his first heart attack in his 30s so it worries me. I do have high blood pressure and what is odd sometimes i'll be 130/90ish, and other times i'll be 150/70ish. Is this normal for blood pressure to vary like this?

I told my doc my dad had a heart attack in his 30s and he finally took me more serious it seemed. He did an EKG and their was an abnormality, he showed me it but didn't tell me what it was, I just noticed it was a slight spike(like a peak) near the end of the EKG, the rest was generally flat. He referred me to a Cardiologist which I will see monday.

My main question is can heart pain last this long?

Also, this may not be related but when these pains first started happening I was having some awful digestive problems(diaharea and constipation alternating), blood in stool, sharp pains in rectum, but no real pain in stomach area. I ended having a colonoscopy(found hemmroids which explained blood) and since all the symptoms have went away and came to the conclusion the pain was from proctalgia fugax(sp?). Just thought i'd add this info incase it could be related.

Any opinions/questions would be appreciated.

Thanks
Jake

Jake asked: Do you suffer from costo? Can it happen anywhere in your chest and stay in one particular area? Also sometimes it almost feels like the area is swollen, which leads me to believe this would be costo? Is this something that happens with costo? I assume it would since its an "inflammination".

I wouldn't say I "suffer" from it but it is a rare year that I haven't experienced it at least twice. Each attack is a little different becasue there are HUNDREDS of muscle and tendon strands that hold the rib cage together and weld it all to the spine and breastbone and clavicles etc. etc.
Any of these compnents can "sprain", which means form small tears. Since the chest has such a dense nervous system the pain can seem to radiate all over, front back and sides. The pain lasts until the tears heal and depending on the extent it can be quick or long lasting.

If I remember to do regular gently stretching, I can prevent costo pretty well but how easy it is to forget and then WHAM...from picking up a fork, turning my head, or something equally silly.

Naproxen REALLY does help.

Hey Jake !!
I dont know if you still looking to these post.. but I been having the same pain for the last week or so....and what makes it even weirder is that the pain moved a little higer in the last day or so... I have the feeling it's muscular since it hurts the most when I move
today I'm meeting with my Doc....I'lllet you know about it

Yeah be sure to let me know. Mine did seem to move higher also but eventually localized to a specific area which I described.

I had my stress test today and it came back normal except for a few skipped beats, which the doctor said isn't to abnormal.

Jake,

That was a NUCLEAR test then, Jake?
If so, you can stop worrying about your heart.

Jake,

That was a NUCLEAR test then, Jake?
If so, you can stop worrying about your heart.
It was a treadmill stress test

I've been having left side chest pains, on and off, for months. I'm actually hoping that it IS costo, because none of the other diagnoses would be good. I'm tired of seeing doctors. My cardio tests all came back normal, mammograms too. A little history: my 4-year old son has a habit of lying on my left side with his head on the left side of my chest when he's tired - he's been doing that since birth - and I wonder if the repeated pressure (he sometimes plunks his (quite large) head down pretty hard) has caused the cartilage to become a little strained over time. Guess it's time to "cut the cord" so to speak anyway, so I'm going to not let him lay with me anymore (at least not on my chest). If it clears up I'll assume that's what it is, but it might take some time. Anyone know how long it takes to "recover" from that?

I know the feeling,I'm so tired to hear...everything looks okay...I'll try a Chiropractor ...

I tried the ice pads,Motrin,vicodin...nothing helps.

I had this pain last year. It feels like muscle pain, but I went through all the cardio tests (treadmill stress test, heart ultrasound). Nothing came out. The only thing that the cardiologist noticed was my pulse rate was low (he put on halter for 24 hrs. and noticed that pulse went from 39 to 120). Most of the time, my pulse rate is around 50.
Without any answers from cardio, I went to a gastroentrologist, to rule out any gastro problem. I had an endoscopy done, and the doctor said that besides mild duodenitis, he did not see any problem.
The only thing I have noticed is that when I have the chest pain, my BP is low (around 90/60 or 100/70). My normal BP is around 110-70.
Just recently (4 days back), this pain has started again. I am not sure what I should do now. If I go to the doctor, she'll continue with some inconclusive tests. She has ruled out costo (no visible imflammation).
Any ideas would be greatly appreciated.

I'm trying with a chiropractor...I'm feeling better this week.

Hi Jake, I went through something very similiar a few months back. I went to several docs and they said it was inflammed muscle wall. I kept going for second opinions because I knew it was not muscular. It was sharp shooting left sided pains that hurt more when laying down, and started to get worse. Well after normal EKG's and echos my doctor diagnosed me with GERD! GERD can mimic heart problems. He put me on aciphex for it ( I had no other symptoms, some burping but thats it) and the pain went away for the most part.

Check out the acid reflux board, it may give you some answers. I never have reflux but supposadly had the espogeual spams which cause this pain.

Keep us posted!