Ok so tonight at work, I began to have some chest pain. This is the 3rd time in the past 3 months that I have had it. I forgot to mention it to the Doctor and I really don't want to be over reacting. It has happened at home in bed 2 times and once it actually woke me up. It usually goes away after about 15 minutes. Do any of you ever have this?
Thanks....

i have been getting chest pains they dont seem to last as long as yours but there quite sharp i did mention it to my doctor and he said that it might be something to do with the heart or something rubbing against something else. it might not be the same as yours because as i said earlier they dont last as long as yours. The doctor did do test jus to make sure and they all came back fine.

Hello there,

I can't diagnose what is wrong with you obviously but it 'could' be costochondritits, which is pain due to inflammation of the cartilage and bones in the chest wall. It occurs when there is inflammation at the junction of the rib bone and breastbone. There is cartilage joining these bones which can become irritated and inflamed. Depending on the extent of the inflammation, costo can be quite painful.

There is not normally one single cause of costo but it might be due to repetitive small injuries to a specific area or even overuse of that part of the body. What this in turn means is that these activities are causing repeated damage to the cartilage of the chest wall, which will lead to inflammmation.

I can only speak about it as I have had it for a number of years. What you could do is go to the top of this page, press search, put in the word and you will gets lots of information which might help you as discussed by other members who have it too.

Heart problems don't present like you stated, I know as I have had 1 major heart attac k and 2 smaller ones + a triple bypass. The pain is entirely different from what you describe. Please don't worry about that, but you might want to ask your doctor for the appropriate tests to put your mind at rest.

Hope this helps. Take care.

goldenwings:angel:
Take care

Hi:

My 28 year old daughter started with chest pains, we thought it was her heart , she was in extreme chest pain .The cariologist checked her out and her heart was fine. She had these flares frequently while at work and sometimes at home. She was taken to the hospital many times until she was diagnosed with Lupus. I think lots of people do not know what Lupus is, because the ER's we took her to did not even think about it. But they did check her out and gave her pain med. We never knew what Lupus was until she was diagnosed and I am glad she was diagnosed . I cried and worried when she was in severe pain.

She is taking her meds now and is doing ok, not perfect. Sometimes she still flare ups but she knows what to do now.

This is so funny that this post is on here for I too am having chest pains. I mentioned it to my rheumatologist last Fri and he thought he picked up an irregular heart beat. They did an EKG and blood work, hope it isn't life threatening (lol) because I haven't heard a word from him yet. Be a week tomorrow. Today I've had chest pains and my heart feels like it is racing. My pulse is usually around 60, today it was 94, then it slowed down to 64 after about 4 hrs. Tonight I still have the pain, but my pulse is 70. Does anyone else feel like their heart is going to pound right out of their chest? I have been having a third flare since summer. This one is hanging on. Just finished my prednisone. Go back to the rheu. in 2 wks.

Hiya pearlandmary,

Has the doctor looked into pericarditis in your daughters case ? This is inflammation of the 'sac' around the heart and can cause severe pain like you describe.

I would point out though that it is not the heart muscle that it affects, so don't worry about a heart attack being the cause or anything like that. It is as I said inflammation of the 'sac' that is around the heart. It gets inflamed or in some cases can get infected and cause the type of pain your daughter seems to be having.

I would check this out with the doctor. I do know quite a bit about this condition as I have had it for many, many years.

Hope this helps. Take care.

goldenwings :angel:

Hi golden, I should have ask you about my chest pains and thallium test. I will be having it done tomorrow morning so I will let you know the results when I get them.

Like watoozie my heart also has been feeling like it is pounding too hard. I have also had those severe sharp pain that increases to a point where you think you aren't going to be able to stand it and then tapers off and away, it lasts about 4 or 5 minutes.

My doc just wants to check things out and make sure nothing is wrong so off to the test I will go tomorrow morning. At my age you have to check it all out....giggle!

Glojer

Hiya Glojer,

Sorry I have only just seen your post.

The thallium test is for detemining the extent of a coronary artery blockage or the prognosis of patients who've suffered a heart attack, also the cause of chest pains. It also determines the level of exercise that a patient can do before they have problems.

Your pounding heart could have a few causes as you no doubt know i.e. exercise, anxiety, stress, fear. An overactive thyroid also could cause this to happen. Don't you have thyroid problems ?Taking caffeine, diet pills, or even nicotine can do it too. Sometimes low levels of oxygen in the blood can cause a problem.

There are also medications that can do it too, such as thyroid pills, asthma drugs, beta blockers, or anti-arrhythmics. (Some of the medications used to treat an irregular heart rhythm will sometimes cause a different irregular rhythm).

All I am saying really I suppose in a roundabout way is that the test you are having as far as I know isn't the normal one used for irregular heartbeat. Of course I am not a medical doctor as you know, but I remember when I found out my heart was in such a bad way and I was waiting for my triple bypass, that I was on the waiting list for a thallium test to determine just what I could/could not do.

Fat lot of good being on the list when I was already 'a ticking time bomb waiting to go off' apparently. I couldn't have had the test anyway, I can't even lift my legs to get onto a step or walk properly never mind trying to use a treadmill hee hee !

Please let me know how you go on my friend. Luv to braveman and to you.

goldenwings :angel: