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Chest pain Questions

Cardiology: Does a negative EP study cancel out SVT diagnosis? Background: Previous SVT diagnosis by NHS Hospital cardiologist (via multiple ECG's over time). Problem: Years later. An Electrophysiology Study (EP) has been completed on me by another Hospital cardiologist since moved from area. During this,10mg Diazepam administered before the prodedure. This EP study failed to evoke SVT arrhythmia or usual chest pain, only sinus tachy - thus no ablation. Cardiologist who performed this procedure now dismiss previous SVT diagnosis outright. GP prescribed home oxygen and verapamil has also been removed as are NHS referrals to a cardiologist because the GP naturally thinks this is no longer appropriate. Question: Does a single negative EP study entirely rule out previous SVT diagnosis and, thus can the cardiologist alter my diagnosis from my old cardiologist like this? Thank you for your opinion and help. Benjamin

I have a problem with pain/sensitivity. Hi, for the past week I have been experienceing a weird pain/sensitivity on my left uppper torso under the armpit area which extends around my shoulder blade at the back and sometimes on the left side of my pectoral muscle. I say sometimes because the intensity of the pain shifts from one place to another in the areas mentioned above. I have been taking strong ibuprofen and this seems to help but the discomfort and pain comes back everyday. It is more noticeable when I move these areas of my body. Can you please help?

Can you get pain in left arm with trapped wind? For the last couple of years or so I have had several episodes where I get pain in my upper left arm (sometimes in my shoulder and/or radiating down into my hand) and get chest pain - usually central, at the same time. Im obviously terrified that it is heart related but have had a stress test which I passed and have also had an ekg which showed nothing and a few ecg's (including a 24hr one) which showed a slight heart murmer and something i didnt quite understand about my 'waves' not being in sync and causing my heart to race occasionally but nothing that the cardiologist was concerned about as he said that because im young (25), its unlikely to be anything serious. I am an extremely anxious person by nature and know this can cause these problems but i get this even when im not stressed out and am feeling fine. Sometimes the episodes last a few minutes but more often it can be for a few days at a time and then i wont get it again for weeks, maybe a couple of months. My own dr says the arm pain is neck related (even though i have no trouble with my neck at all) and the chest pain is oesophagal pain. But if this is the case, why do i always get the 2 symptoms at the same time? I know im young so its probably nothing, but i'd really like some reassurance that I dont need to worry about it! Sorry to go on a bit! Thanks.

Anxiety or worse? Hello, I have asked a question here before around a month ago as I have been having persistent chest pains since quitting cannabis. I smoked for 5 and a half years 2 or 3 joints a day and a lot more on weekends. I was never very active in terms of exercise and ate terrible diet full of processed sugar, usually 3 or 4 times the RDA for sat. fat, sugar and fat intake. No fresh fruit and hardly ever vegetables. I am 25 years old. My grandad (on my mother's side) died of a heart attack and my dad suffered one when he was younger too. I am quite slender, teetering 2 incraments above the normal weight on the BMI. I quit smoking (both weed and tobacco) as I had a panic attack, my second ever episode. I had heart pulpitations, a sense of impending doom and shortness of breath. The attack lasted a couple of minutes but I felt ropey for a few hours and the pulpitations and dizzyness came and went in that time. Since then I have somewhat dealt with my anxiety better, I haven't had an attack in 3 weeks now. But since quitting smoking I'm constantly anxious about my health. I have been to 2 separate GP's who stated it was stress/anxiety causing the puplitations and chest pains. One listened to my heart from different points on my chest. One prescribed me propranalol (I have never taken this since being prescribed it). This could be due to my sternum clicking. It has clicked around 5-10 times a day for over a year and a half now. I believe it occured when I stretched and pushed my chest out and heard it click, since then it has done it daily. I was involved in a car crash 4 years ago, 70 mph head on, so I know the impact could have damaged my ribs but I do not recall having any pains until recently. I went to hospital 3 weeks ago because the chest pains were not getting any better. I had a panic attack as soon as I got through the door to A&E. They did ECG, blood tests, blood pressure, heart rate monitor, chest Xray and urine tests. The ECG, Xray, blood pressure was fine, they didn't mention anything about blood or urine tests results. I did mention my diet and such but they said it was unlikely I had diabetes, but with no response from my blood and urine tests I had no idea what the results were. Their conclusion was possibly anxiety or poor posture. These were the 2 ideas I had offered them as my posture is rather terrible and I have been suffering from anxiety for a long time. But the ECG wasn't performed when I had these chest pains, it was long after I had calmed down. Their thorough checks and extremely vague conclusion left me feeling no more confident or reassured, infact I felt even more scared. Since then I took further steps as I simply wasn't happy and constantly worried. I visited a chiropractor who said I might have Tietze's syndrome, one side of my ribs (the left side) were slightly raised, possibly inflamed when joining my sternum. I also had very bad posture issues and a muscular scan revealed large amounts of tension throughout my spine. She has begun treatment on my back which has really helped my posture and neck pains. She has worked on my ribs with an adjuster which clicks and apparently gently encourages the ribs to sit back into the correct position. I have been having 2 sessions a week with my chiropractor for about 3 weeks now. But still the pains persist. She believes they should not last too long after treament is concluded (in one week). However I still experience pains, I will try to describe them as best as possible: The pains come and go. Usually never longer than20 minutes at the longest. usually it lasts a few minutes at a time. In my sternum (and sometimes an inch or 2 to the left and infrequently to the right), usually burning or aching pains. Sometimes I get pains when i breathe, and resort to clicking the sternum which relieves the pain instantly. I occasionally feel aching under my left armpit or slightly below it on occassion. My sternum is sometimes tender to the touch, on the ribs she has been working on adjusting. I know aching is common after a chiropractic session. The past few days i've felt more intense pains to my far left side near the bottom of my rib cage. I also experience pains around my heart area (which feels like it's behind the ribs). Every now and then I feel a sudden sharp pain around my heart area, followed by what feels like a small rush of adrenaline. I also get aching in my shoulders and down my left arm around my elbow. Sometimes pain occurs to the right hand side of my sternum as well. I am also experiencing stomach aches for the past week now. The pains are in the centre body, about 2 cm's below the bottom of my ribs. Occasionally I get sharp pains, which feel like they're a little above the rectum. The sharp pains come and go within 10-30 seconds (usually less) but are never constant. The duller pains higher up in my stomach can last several minutes. For the past 4 weeks or so I have been passing quite runny stools. I am wondering if I am causing stomach upset with anxiety or the radical diet change I undertook after quitting smoking. Oddly when I ate nothing but processed junk I never really had issue with my stools or stomach aches. I have been suffering health anxiety pretty constantly. Before I smoked cannabis I suffered from depression, and in general i've been a worrier for most of my life. When I leave the chiropractor I feel at ease, but when pains begin I try to remain positive, but when they persist my mind starts to worry again. However when I'm at home I tend to feel a lot better, and calmer and the pains seem to subside, however a lot of the time (even at home) a pain can come from out of the blue and my mind starts to try and work out what the problem is, and possible causes. It's been a month and 1 week smoke free, I quit cold turkey. I radically changed my diet when i quit smoking too; from cakes and sweets and processed junk food (almost constantly) to fresh fruit, vegetables, wholemeal rice, pasta etc, plenty of water and no more coffee (which i used to drink far too much) instead I drink green tea. Avoiding all processed foods and replacing them with only natural foods. I have also purchased a road bike and have been cycling every other day and i'm currently up to 20 miles on my cycling trips. I feel better about myself, but the cycling again brought health anxiety when I noticed after an hour of cycling my heart rate was still quite rapid after 30 minutes rest. However I somewhat compulsivley check my heart rate if I feel nervous, it tends to start quite slow, but then i begin to get anxious and can feel it speeding up whilst my fingers are against my neck. I just worry that maybe there is something more than Tietze's Syndrome at work here, in fact the chiropractor did not perform much of an analysis to come to this conclusion. My family history of heart problems has me worried that I will in the future suffer from a heart attack, possibly sooner than I imagine.. 2 GP's and the doctor's at the hospital all said "don't worry you're not having a heart attack". Their response infuriated me, I'm never thought I was having a heart attack, i'm more worried that there might be something wrong with my heart and I know that an ECG cannot detect possibly future heart problems. Considering my diet has been attorcious for around 15 years, I just think there must be some sort of issue. Many people have said the chances of having a heart condition at my age are minute, but it still doesn't rule out the possibility, and this is what is playing on my mind all the time. I know chest pains can be caused by something mild, or something quite severe or even life threatening. I've been cycling now for a week and a half, this could contribute to shoulder and arm pains as I've only experienced these more recently. I was fitted correctly for the bike but I notice I'm quite heavy handed holding the grips which i have read can cause arm and shoulder aches. I am going to my GP next week to speak to them about stress management (this could offer a possible solution) maybe CBT. But I have considered for weeks now about visiting a cardiologist at my local hospital or a physiotherapist? The problem is the chiropractor is quite expensive so I'm waiting till the course is finished before deciding my next move. My previous response to a question on here suggested it was nothing sinister, possibly rebound anxiety from quitting smoking, or my general health anxiety (again since quitting smoking). I just feel that the ECG and Xray weren't enough to put my mind at rest, and maybe I should have gone all the way and have further tests done, the idea of heart issues is hanging over my head constantly. Even when my mind is off it, someone mentions a heart attack and I just get swamped again with worry. I know that my heart won't exactly be top notch since quitting smoking, and maybe this is why it takes longer for my heart rate to recover after an hour or so of exercise. But the chest pains occur frequently enough for it to worry me a lot of the time. At work I am busy, I try to keep my mind off of it, but it seems to only calm down when i'm cycling or when i'm at home, because I usually try to keep my spirits up by watching comedy on TV or films, just trying to keep my mind active really. Basically when I'm busy and my mind is happy and not thinking about it at all. This would lead me to think it is anxiety, but I just think "how can anxiety cause all these pains?". The past few days the chest aching has been more constant around my sternum area, but also my mind has been fixated on health worries the past few days as well, as i'm nearing the end of my chiropractic sessions and just worrying that the chest pains aren't getting any better. I am sorry for the length of the query, I hope you can offer some form of advice, and possible solutions.

my son's health/heart problem My son aged 30 fit, not overweight, non smoker and doesn't drink has chest pain (central/left sided) when cycling. He has had two abnormal ECG's and an abonormal 24 hour heart monitor. Results from ECG's were "marked bradycardia, sinus arrhythmia, posterior fascicular block" and a few other things that I can't recall. He is very tired and lethargic most of the time. The consultant we saw today dismissed all of the above saying as he doesn't smoke and is not overweight its because is he just fit. He did not give any explanation for the pain or arrhythmia. I am not reassured and neither is my son although he hides this. Both my husband and I are on statins (neither are overweight or unfit but we both have high cholesterol and I have angina - I am 57years old). We have a strong family history of heart disease (my mother died at 53 having suffered 3 MI's plus her brothers and sisters have either died or had bypass surgery). MY son has not had a lipid profile until today when it was taken at the clinic. Doctor felt he was too young to have angina. Please advise. Regards ****

i have minor pins & needles in right arm & slight heavy chest for the past 36 hours i have had slight tingling/pins & needles feeling in my right arm. i have also had a slight "heavy chest" feeling. I am 30 years old non smoker however I have been drinking too much lately & am over weight. I recently had an ECG which was ok but my BP was quite high.

Chest muscular Bone Pain/Rib Pain/Shoulder pain Hi, I am a 27 year old female and for the past 2 months have been suffering from a burning/shooting/pulling/squeezing/Strain sensation in my upper chest area from the muscles which connect to the middle area of the chest between the breasts and also a tingling/burning sensation in my breasts. The breast bone is also very tendar and painfull to touch on both sides. Sometines the sternam hurts and i also feel a burning sensation in my upper left arm. If i am typing i can feel the strain on the middle of my chest which also causes my arms to hurt. I also get a sharp pain sometimes radiating to my back on the shoulder blades. I also sometimes feel a tightness in my chest. These pains are always worse in the morning. I have had blood tests, ECG, Heart Scan, chest Xray and a spine X Ray which have come up clear. This is so painful! I am on dihdrocodiene, paracatamol and Amitriptline but the pain is not improving. I have notice that when I am walking around for a long time, in motion or sitting in the car the pain intensifies and the muscles and bones really hurt I am very concerned and fear this may be chondrosarcoma or some for of undiagnosed cancer! The pain tends to become worse in the morning or in when cold weather hits the chest bones and muscles! If you are able to advise on any of the above that would be very much appreciated. Pain killers do not seem to be helping and this pain is very distressing. I have been advised this is probably muscular however i thought pain would have responded to the pain killers! The worst pain tends to be in the musles and bones from the upper chest area connecting to the sternam area Any adivse would be greatly appreciated as i am very concerenced and anxious about this! Kind Regards ****

Scared I'm having a heart attack! im 19 and suffer from health anxiety quite bad, latley ive been feeling like im getting chest pains like its hard to breathe and heavy feeling, its not svere pain but im just aware of something there, im also getting pain smack back the middle of the top of my back spreading to my shoulders and everytime i think about it it seems to get 10 times worse!! i feel as if im going to faint but never coz i feel dizzy ,, this is not the first time ive thought this, ive had 3 ecgs in the last year and have been fine so why am i panicking again i just dont want to die but everytime i think and focus on it it feels like it getting worse my mum wont listen to and wont take me to hospital!! im scared please help!! *******

What Could Be Wrong With Me? For around 10 years I have suffered with reflux acid and take 40mg of Omeprazole daily. 3 years ago I had an angiogram done after getting chest pains (right hand side) and tingling in my right arm. The results came back as ok and after a course of anti inflammatory drugs things settled down. Around 6 – 7 weeks ago I suddenly one evening felt very unwell. I felt faint, dizzy, disorientated, panicked, and breathless and a pressure in my chest. I made my way to the local medical centre where I had a heart rate of 178 and was transferred to A & E, several tests where done including bloods and x-ray all came back negative for a heart attack. I spent a night in hospital and the next morning felt fine but tired. The doctor was going to discharge me but I failed the treadmill test with an abnormal T Wave. I was admitted to hospital, where over the following days I had 3 more attacks, each time, my heart would race, I would get chest pain, and I would feel faint and afterwards extremely tired. I again had an angiogram, which showed no damage and only very, very early stages of furring. I was discharged from hospital with Myopericarditis, suspicious ETT, Angio – Trivial Lesion to RCA, rest vessels NAD. I don’t know what any of that means. I was asked to take 75mg of Aspirin, 60mg of Omeprazole, 40mg of Simvastatin, 1000mg Paracetamol 4 x daily, PEPTAC Liquid, Codeine Phosphate 30mg 4 x daily and 25mg of Atenolol. One week after leaving hospital I visited a specialist with regard to my reflux. He advised he thought I had functional dispepcia and started me on Domperidone and Colpermin. After several more attacks and ambulances rushing me in to A & E I was finally taken off all of my medication except that used for reflux. This has resulted in me feeling generally better and less confused about life. I am still suffering with significant pain just below my ribs, up the centre of my chest, in my back and shoulders and get extremely bloated in my stomach. The most common pain is either side of my body, where I get sharp stabbing pains. From time to time I get a slight flutter in my heart area, or at least it feels like that area. I feel very tired all the time but by around 8.30pm I am done for. I find if I am having a bad day even walking to the shop get’s me out of breath. I feel generally unwell and my doctor tells me it is all to do with my digestive system and to wait and see what my consultant says. Oh that and most of it is in my head. My pains are very real and not imaginative. Although I understand pain can be phycosymatic I also know my own body and can feel that something is not quite as it should be. No I don’t think I am dying, I just know something is adrift. Any help would be appreciated.