Left Side Chest Pain that radiates

[Czar1206]

Hello all.

I am a 21 year old white male, about 5'10 and 225lbs (used to be 260!). For the past three months or so, I have had chest pains on the left side of the chest, mainly above the nipple but sometimes i have discomfort all around it. On some occasions the pain travels to my shoulder and down the left arm, to the point where I get pains in my left hand. Also, the pain is sometimes present in my back, around the left shoulder and below near the blade. A few times the pain spreads to the right side of my chest. It doesn't feel like indigestion, and I don't have any problems with exotic foods. Sometimes it hurts to breathe, other times I feel like i am wheezing (I have asthma), with other times it is hard to get up in the morning due to the pain.

I have been to the doctor two times so far for this. The first time he sent me to get a CATscan (or CTscan, i forget the right term for it) which came up negative for anything but harmless bone tumors (osteocondroma) that have calcified near my joints, which the doctor said was the result of them just being there as I grew up. He then told me that it was chest wall syndrome, most likely a result of inflammation in the chest wall that takes a while to go away (though I don't remember injuring my chest, perhaps stretching wrong?). He also said that this was not heart related. I am going to see him again as the pain continues, but after another bad habit of looking up symptons online, I figured I would try this forum out as well.

I have mildly high blood pressure, which seems to be a reoccuring theme on both sides of the family, and for which I take metoprolol, which has helped keep it down to normal levels.. Also, I have Asthma, but have not had a serious attack for many years now, and I do not take any medication for it. Finally, I have migraines for which I take either Naproxen or 800mg Ibuprofen (high doses for those really powerful ones, I try not to take these unless it is like last resort.) As a college student, I am constantly facing stress and I could probably work on stress management, but anxiety is something that I find myself dealing with more often than not, which can make the pain even worst.

Thank you for your time.

[Shannon Morgan, CMA]

Your doctor did do an ECG just to be sure, didn't he? A person your age isn't old enough to have coronary disease yet; it takes many many years for the plaque to build up enough to block arteries.

It does sound like "chest wall syndrome", it is very common and does take a while to heal. Your ibuprofen is the best thing you can take. If it hurts with taking a deep breath, it definitely isn't your heart.

Do you also have neck pain? Neck pain can cause pain in the arm(s) as well, the nerves for the upper body originate in the neck. This would also be relieved by ibuprofen.

You do sound like you have a stressful life at this point, with anxiety, and you are exactly right, it does tend to make the symptoms worse. Perhaps you can talk to your doctor about something to help you with that.

[Czar1206]

Dear Ilovepatients,

Just got back from my doctor's appointment. He has acknowledged the pain increase and says this is most likely due to physical exertion, as the inflammation takes a long time to go away.. He has not given me an ECG, but to cover all options and to "calm me down", he has requested that I have a stress test done. My blood pressure is lower than it was (a few points under the "high" classification) and I lost another 3 pounds. I told him that in my line of work (haha) I can't help but be stressed, which is why he decided upon having me get a stress test done, just to be sure. He told me to stop taking Ibuprofen for the time being and started me up on "Lidoderm", Lidocaine patches that, according to my resources, is used for musle related pains. I've had the patch on for about three hours already but I haven't really noticed any difference. Of course, it could take longer. This pain is almost ignorable if I really get myself involved in something, but it is there to greet me when I am done with whatever task I was doing. I have also noticed that the number of bowel movements that I have per day has increased to about 3-5 times instead of 1-2. Again, the doctor says that this is most likely stress related, that I am working myself up to it, resulting in the extra bloated feeling that, when combined with chest inflammation, makes me worry even more.

So, given the latest symptoms, it seems to be down to four things: Chest inflammation (doc bets on this), Heart related issues (doc seriously doubts it), a severe case of acid reflux (no nausea or heartburn sensation, belching, etc, so my doc doubts this as well)), and stress (doc says this is probably making the chest inflammation worst). I have been doing a lot of exercise (cycling is my favorite at the moment) but I have been wary of even doing such things with my chest feeling the way it is.

I am not sure if my family qualifies for true "heart disease" other than high blood pressure. My grandfather died of lung cancer due to smoking and working in a place with carciogenic materials. My grandmother had minor strokes, but they were not "heart related" and her death was not heart related (kidney failure, if I remember). On my mother's side, however, they seem to be qualified for heart disease. My grandfather had a heart attack, but he was a hardcore smoker and drinker. He beat lung cancer and recovered, however, only to die of a blockage that, from what I gathered, ruptured and his lungs filled up with blood. My grandmother also died of a heart attack; she was only like 53, but she was a compulsive gambler that resulted in diehard smoking and stress.
My dad has no heart related diseases. However, he had contrated some sort of virus about 8 years ago that enlarged his heart, and almost put him on the heart transplant list. He takes like 20 pills a day. My mom has high blood pressure as well, and Crohn's disease, but the latter is not heart related. However, it could be related to acid reflux disease from what I hear, which is also another possible cause of my pain (though not yet proven, as I don't have "heartburn" or diarrhea. However, the doctor said that the pain could be a form of heartburn as well.

I must say that my personal investigation of my symptoms has not left me feeling any better (I can't help doing research, what I am going to college for as a historian and a teacher haha). Currently the pain is as previously described, with a fatigued feeling in my left shoulder and arm. Hopefully the stress test will put my fears at ease, but with the multitude of pages that is my family medical history, I cannot help but wonder, you know?
Thank you for taking your time to read this. Your words, along with the doc's words, help calm me down a lot (though I am still stressed!). Thanks!

[houst69]

hey they czar1206, please e-mail me at chris.houston@tiscali.co.uk. I have the same symptons as you.

[FLYME15]

Facts: Am 85 yrs old. Retired military. Blew left lung 9 months ago and had major surgery. A piece of my lung was cut off. Recovery has been slow, with its ups and downs. MY QUESTION: Left side of rib cage gets very warm, but body temp is normal. This happens practically daily lately. It used to cool down when I went to bed and rested, but now it takes longer before it cools off.
Doctors have been or (refuse to) give me a reason for it. I put an ice pack on it to cool it off which works nominally. What could be causing it? and what can I do about it. (I KNOW I HAVE LIVED OVER THE NORMAL LIFE SPAN AND CAN TAKE IT IF ITS NOTHING THAT CAN BE CURED).... One of my graanddaughters gets married in September and I want to last long enough to make her wedding...(grin).
Have great genes and expected to live to 100 but smoking (seems as if everyone in my generation comes down with COPD) had its way.
So, what can I do about the warm left side. I may have aggravated something, as some doctors advised me to use my left arm and doing that may have been the cause.
I feel for all the young people on this FORUM that are having serious problems and I hope them all the best of luck.

[Tony1990]

Hello, I am an 18 year old male.. 10 stone, 6ft, I have had 'left chest pains' before,
honestly I thought i was having a heart attack or I was dying the pain was so bad, I was rushed to hospital, no test were taken, the doctors said i am too young to have heart problems and that it was most defiantly Cramps, this was about a year ago, and just tonight It happened again, this pain is unreal, so i Goggled 'pains in left side of my chest' and i discovered this site and many more like it,
I looked at some symptoms, I Do have cold feet always, tend to get alot of numness in my legs, and pains when i walk far, I really don't want to tell my family who i live with about it.. so anybody on here have any advice it would be great. this pain always comes at night.

[azz10000]

Dear Czar1206
I am 27 year engineer working in south korea, After reading your article I found myself to be categorized with the same symptoms. In fact I am facing the pain since eight months now. I had anxiety attack almost an year ago and after getting the treatment I tried to change my life style to adjust with stress. I have muscular physique and I am a freak for gym. It’s been around 5 years to me since I am doing regular exercise however this pain has destroyed my schedule and I have been irregular since eight months.
I had been to many medical care centers. A famous heart specialist who did ECG, treadmill test and blood test and concluded that the pain isn’t due to heart disease. However I am not relieved. The pain is constant in my left hand and the heart area. I feel the heart muscles are being pulled. Also it radiates on the upper left side of the back. I also notice my left hand being colder than my right hand at times.
After being assured by the doctor, I thought the pain was because of my too much of exercise or some wrong exercise that I did or due to work stress that is troubling me a lot. I find myself stressed due to workload most of the time.
About three or four months ago I was too scared due to pain and was constantly thinking about it and slept in the same emotional condition in the late night. I felt as if I had an heart attack in the sleep and when it stopped I woke up after five to ten minutes due to hesitation. I am still not sure if it was a night mare or a serious attack. I ran to the hospital the next morning and the same kind of tests were done including the ecg and blood test which came out to be normal. The doctor then suggested me to see a psychologist and told me that this all because of your too much of thinking about it.
My life style is hectic and more over I watch movies, news etc. up to late night as late as 12 to 1 am. Almost every night (except few).
I am a Muslim by religion and hence have a habit of fasting for complete month of Ramadan. I did the same for the month of September. Luckily in Ramadan my daily schedule gets revised and I sleep early in night around 9 pm and get up early morning. That completes an 8 hour sleep. And more over there is regular praying etc. that keeps the stress out. Further during the fasting month I rarely do exercise. I found that when I followed this habit the pain slowly disappeared to nil. That really made me relieved.
However after Ramadan I had again started my regular late night lifestyle and the situation came back again.
I am now seriously thinking the reason for such pains is stress and sleeping late night make it worse. I feel if one sleeps early and gets up early those results in a perfect metabolism and health.
For your information I also take whey protein powder for exercise and muscle gain.
I am an emotional person and think s a lot about my health which sometimes makes the situation worse. I think the solution to your and my problem is as follows.
a. Sleep early and get up early (eight hours at least)
b. Acquire a life style which will make you feel stress free and try to help others or get involved in religious activities that will bring peace of mind.
c. If you do exercise check out each of your exercises if you do them correct. Especially the bench press machine (not the free rod and plates but the machine). Sometimes the machine is not correctly set or spacing of your left hand is lesser than your right hand (I have noticed this fault in our gym). Also use safe loads in gym.
I wish you and me find the easy solution to our problems Insha’Allah.