Infrequent Minor Chest Discomfort?

Frequent chest pain/discomfort?

• I'm a college student who recently got married and moved to another city to go to school, so I'm no longer covered by my parents' insurance policy. I'm not sure how to go about seeing a doctor anymore, and I haven't since I've gotten married. I am seeking advice on my current situation and would appreciate any help you have on how I should handle it. When I was a kid I remember having intense, stabbing pains in my heart that came on suddenly. I mentioned it to my doctor, and he told my mother and I that it was "just growing pains" and completely normal. Recently, I've started experiencing these pains I've had all my life more frequently. I don't remember exactly, but I know I never had them more often than once every two months, but now I'm experiencing them at least once every few days. They don't last for long, but they are extremely painful and I can't breath much or move until they are gone. Sometimes they last for up to two minutes, and lately I've felt a dull pain afterward. I've read that these pains are common in children and not thought to be related to any heart problems, but lately I'm not so sure. Within the past six months I've started to get a new type of chest pain along with the now more frequent stabbing pains. It feels very dull and somehow hot in my chest and my left arm. My chest feels as if someone is squeezing it - sometimes I would describe it as painful, while others just uncomfortable. Sometimes I experience dull pain in my left arm as well at the on sight of the chest pains. I'm not sure if it's all in my head or not, but I think that blood isn't circulating properly in my left arm while this is occurring. The only way I know how to describe the chest ache is like I swallowed a really big, really not-well-chewed mouthful of french fries. Earlier today the pain was very uncomfortable, and my husband told me to take an aspirin around 4. Now it's 7 and I've been experiencing the feeling again for at least an hour. The first time I experienced these pains I was wearing a fitted tank top with a built in bra, and I just assumed the tight elastic around my chest was the reason I was experiencing this circulation problem. However, I'm still having these pains. I don't know what to do, and I don't have a doctor to talk to because of our situation. I'm afraid I'm making a mountain out of a mole hill by worrying about this whole thing, but I want to make sure because I'm positive I have some sort of heart condition. I wish I would have pursued my doctor about it more when I was younger, because now his reassurance that it was just "growing pains" makes me hesitant to take this seriously. My diet has changed a lot since I've gone to college and got married, and I'm hoping that doesn't have anything to do with it. I feel that I eat pretty poorly - I've always really disliked eating meat and I hardly do, except for hamburger meat or really dry white chicken. other than that, I never do eat meat unless it's pepperonis on a pizza or whatever is in McDonald's chicken nuggets. I work as a waitress in a restaurant here near school, so I eat several french fries and random other fried foods several times a day while I'm working without thinking about it much. Sometimes I'm under a lot of stress while trying to balance school, work, and being with my husband. I've never done any type of drugs, I don't smoke, and I don't drink alcohol more than once every few weeks. I'm 21, 5 foot 3, and I weigh 110 lbs. I'm not over weight, and the last time I had my blood pressure checked it was good. No one in my family has a history of heart problems, although my grandfather did have a stroke but he also suffered from diabetes and after my grandmother died his health went down hill. I'm trying to think of anything I can that can be the source of these problems, but I'm still unsure. Any thoughts or advice you have would be greatly appreciated, and thanks for reading this long spill of mine

• Answer:

  I know EXACTLY what you are feeling! I have never been able to describe it as well as you have here but I have the exact same thing going on and the doctors have looked at my heart and said there is nothing wrong there. So they said they don't know what it is. I have been told several thing along the lines of heart burn, inflammation of the chest, and fibromialgia. None of which sound right to me, especially the fibromialgia becasue with that you have several points of pain and not just the one or two in the chest. I have tried taking anti-inflammatories when the pains happen alot but I haven't noticed any decrease in them. I had pains when I was younger and like you I was told they were "growing pains". After I got married and had my first child they became increasingly more frequent. I wish I could give you some hope of relief but I havent found anything. The only thing that seems to help in the tiniest bit is chiropractic care and stretching everyday, with a focus on stretching the chest as much as you can. This helps loosen the chest to help lessen the frequency of the attacks. While you are having the attack(i know this is VERY VERY hard to do) stretch to the opisite side that the pain is on, so as to stretch the side of the chest that the pain is on. This helps ease the pain and shorten the length of the pain. Also try to take a slow easy breath. I hope you can find something that helps you. Feel free to add me to you messenger if you would like my screen name is beebeemoma2002. I would be glad to talk to you if you need someone who understands how these pains feel.