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Forum Name: Cardiology Symptoms

Question: Chest Discomfort

MALICE - Mon Jun 04, 2007 11:14 pm

I am a 29 year old male. currently taking Zoloft and metropolo. For the last 4 years I have experience on and off chest discomfort. I went to my family physician and he gave me an EKG and said everything looked fine, but diagnosed me with panic and Anxiety disorder. Over the next year I experienced the discomfort every once in awhile I went back to my doctor about a year later, and he did another EKG sating eerything looked okay and took blood, he also had me do a 24 hour halter. I never heard back about the results of the haalter so I assumed all was fine. Another year went by and I went to a new physician who took blood and said everything was fine, he also told me I had panic and Anxiety disorder. The pain changes, sometimes it is a sharp pain, sometimes it is a dull pain, and it is never in the same place in my chest. I never experience Shortness of breath or arm pain. I am constantly concerned it is my heart, what do you think?

Dr. Chan Lowe - Wed Jun 06, 2007 2:08 am

Given all your normal testing it is unlikely to be the heart. Also, heart pain very rarely presents as sharp pain. It typically is described as more of a dull severe pressure that is difficult to pinpoint to one specific area of the chest. It may be that you have a bit of costochondritis. This is inflammation of the rib cartilage. This pain can be reproduced by pushing on the inflamed area. You may also have some areas of Pleurisy, inflammation of the lining of the lungs/chest wall. This pain can be quite sharp and severe. It is often worse with deep breathing. You may also want to try an Antacid liquid during the pain episodes to see if they are potentially related to reflux. Without some Fast heart rate and Shortness of breath it seems less likely to be related to Anxiety; however, this by no means rules it out. It does not seem likely to be anything life-threatening at this point given all your normal tests. If the episodes persist I would recommend that you follow up with your doctor. Best wishes.

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