new chest pain unlike angina

[ben84]

been under investigation for heart disease for last 5 months due to chest pain and very high blood pressure was 170 over 125 when first checked now with mediacation down to 155 over 100 on average i have been given a gtn spray but am reluctent to use it as it gives me major headache but when i take it seems to work. the chest pain is mostly in the chest bone and is like a crushing or pressure pain/discomfort i say that because most of the time it is very mild and more pressure than pain. thing is i also get pain on left side of chest which is more of a tighening sharper pain that can come on even when resting it does not hurt when i stetch in anyway but can very slightly when i bend over or touch it but only hurts a little when i touch it and only if i push it really hard where pain in chest bone does not hurt to touch. when i was 16 i was told i had costochondrists it hurt for about months but then went away could it be this come back but when i had that it hurt lots to touch it or on movement or even when i sneezed. a litle about me i am 24yrs old male and 6ft tall i am overwieght at 235 pounds. my dad has heart disease and had an aortic valve put in at 25 after a major heart attack at the age of just 25. sorry its long thanks for reading any advice would be great as i have a 6 week wait for my results on my radiation test on heart but chest pain in left side is becomung more frequent like 5-10 times a day lasting about a minute or so each time should i get this checked at er now or wait for results?

[John Kenyon, CNA]

Hello -

While your current pain does sound like probable costochondritis, there are several reasons I feel you need to get this checked right away anyway. First, you have a very serious family history risk factor for heart disease. Second, you state that although you don't like to use the ntg spray due to the headaches it causes (and I can empathize with you on that), it does seem to work when you use it, which suggests at least some of the pain may be cardiovascular in nature. There's also that blood pressure issue and the weight problem. FInally, six weeks is entirely too long to have to wait for results of an important clinical test when those results are generally available by the next day.

There's also that ever-present possibility of more than one thing going on at the same time and clouding the picture.

I hope this is helpful. Best of luck to you. Please keep us updated.