Pain in heart area of chest advice?

[Asayake]

I'm not sure where to post this thread or if its even allowed but I am in a state of desperation. Remove thread if you want.

Three days ago I drank 5 cups of coffee and stayed up late at a friends place watching movies. All fine until I got home and started experiencing chest pains where my heart is located in the ribcage. I didn't think much of it until it didn't go away and I got a bit spooked. I figured I'd fall asleep and it'd be gone by the time I woke up.

Annoyingly enough, the following day the pain was still there. One second long dull aches, sometimes minutes apart and sometimes multiple ones with only seconds apart. My problem solving survival brain kicked into action, I figured it could be gastritis or some other stomach issue and so I went to the store and got antacids, but they offered no relief. Then I figured maybe I sprained my chest muscles on the workout a couple of days prior. But I did a pushup, no pain.

Weirdly enough the pain seemed to become less frequent when I was up and walking, and the worst when I lay down. I prayed to god it would be gone after I went to sleep again. Then yesterday morning I woke up, pain still present. So I pulled the trigger and went to the ER. They performed some tests on me like EKG scan, checked my blood pressure, breathing, pulse, oxygen %, touched the area of the chest where I'm having pain so see if I'm sensitive there, which I'm not.

Everything came back good. But they didn't have blood tests available there though, which I found a bit strange. I got recommend to take anti-inflammatory painkillers and wait 5 days. If it doesn't get better within 5 days I'm supposed to go back there. But I've now had almost constant pain that feels like it's coming from my heart and I started researching online about EKG and it seems it's far from heart attack proof. Now I'm kind of annoyed they could not take a blood test because that seems to be more reliable.

Cardiac issues run in my family, my dad almost died to a blood clot in his lungs. Now I'm having trouble sleeping, daydreaming about horrific scenarios this could end up in, with me dead or paralyzed by a stroke. After contemplating possible outcomes my left arm started stinging and radiating pain occasionally. Could this be Kundalini or is that wishfull thinking? Should I follow the advice I was given and wait 5 days? I really have an uneasy feeling about this, like they missed something at the ER. Should I dial 911 or am I overreacting to the situation and should just wait? I know all of you are not medically licensed professionals but I'm not sure what to do and scared of the outcome.

[puporing]

I would get a blood oxygen, blood pressure and pulse monitor if in your ability to do, so you can check yourself when it's not an emergency but you want some reassurance.

Are you experiencing stress? Like psychologically? Sometimes it's tied and if you can minimize the psychological stress, it might minimize the cardiac stress.

Edited September 6, 2022 by puporing

[Asayake]

5 hours ago, puporing said:

I would get a blood oxygen, blood pressure and pulse monitor if in your ability to do, so you can check yourself when it's not an emergency but you want some reassurance.

Are you experiencing stress? Like psychologically? Sometimes it's tied and if you can minimize the psychological stress, it might minimize the cardiac stress.

I will see if I can get my hand on these things today. It seems like a good idea to me because when I was at the ER the pain seized so I felt a bit uneasy considering blood pressure etc could easily be wack when the pain is present and then they'd missed it.

It certainly seems stress is triggering more of the pain. Tonight I had to focus on my breath and listen to meditation music to calm myself down to the point where the pain seemed to become less frequent and then I was able to sleep. If I'm just lying there focusing on the pain with no distraction it seems to make the pain more frequent and the left arm starts stinging too.

[Nilsi]

Watch it with the stimulants. The same thing happened to a buddy of mine once when we snorted way too much MDMA. His heart felt like jumping out of his chest. I'm sorry you are in pain, and I don't really know how to help you, but be fucking careful with stimulants, especially when your have a family history of heart problems.

[Michael569]

Could it be related to anxiety? Anxiety attack feels similar to chest tightness. The more you ruminate the worse it gets - that's a common sign of panic attacks.

GERD is definitely a possibility l. You could take some antacid when it occurs and if they help you will know that's what it is.

Also costochondritis may feel similar when the ligaments between sternum and ribs are inflamed. There may also be bacterial infection of sternum. You could locate the source of the pain by pressing on these regions and they will hurt the most when taking the deepest breath 

Cardiac problems are statistically less common in young people when it comes to clotting and atherosclerosis issues. Rare occurences include things like patent foramen ovale - no idea how common that is and i believe those are not painful. Have you had your cholesterol levels checked? 

Based on what they investigated it is probably not heart related but keep exploring . Go get a second opinion or pay for more investigation if you have to. 

Edited September 6, 2022 by Michael569

[Asayake]

54 minutes ago, Nilsi said:

Watch it with the stimulants. The same thing happened to a buddy of mine once when we snorted way too much MDMA. His heart felt like jumping out of his chest. I'm sorry you are in pain, and I don't really know how to help you, but be fucking careful with stimulants, especially when your have a family history of heart problems.

Yeah.. Let's just say I'm not going to be drinking coffee in the near future.. nor taking any other stimulants for that matter. This gave me a proper scare.

11 minutes ago, Michael569 said:

Could it be related to anxiety? Anxiety attack feels similar to chest tightness

GERD is definitely a possibility l. You could take some antacid when it occurs and if they help you will know that's what it is.

Also costochondritis may feel similar when the ligaments between sternum and ribs are inflamed. There may also be bacterial infection of sternum. You could locate the source of the pain by pressing on these regions and they will hurt the most when taking the deepest breath 

Cardiac problems are statistically less common in young people when it comes to clotting and atherosclerosis issues. Rare occurences include things like patent foramen ovale - no idea how common that is and i believe those are not painful.

Based on what they investigated it is probably not heart related but keep exploring 

I guess it could be related to anxiety. But my pulse and breathing is normal even when the pains occur so if it is anxiety it's at such a deep level that I can't tell. Being that it starts off with a physical pain sensation and me being calm for 5 hours until it finally starts to get to me. I felt more anxious at the ER than at home but the symptoms didn't appear at the ER. Hmm..

I tried antacids and they seemed to offer no relief

Costochondritis is certainly a possibility, being that I worked out pretty hard for the first time in a while a couple of days prior. But I felt no pain or discomfort 3 days following the workout. Maybe the coffee "OD" could have made it worse somehow..? But, I seem to have no painful regions of the chest when I'm applying pressure to it. Also I can do a pushup with no pain. Also the pain seems to come and go unrelated to the breath, I can take a deep breath in with no symptoms, the pain comes and goes seemingly randomly.

I guess my biggest fear is that it is just that, some sort of blood clot. Since that's what my dad had in his lungs. But he had it when he was 50+ years old and I'm 26 years old so statistically I'm in the green.. 

 

[hyruga]

Did you take the covid vaccines? Sometimes, the vaccines will lead to heart pain.

[Asayake]

2 hours ago, hyruga said:

Did you take the covid vaccines? Sometimes, the vaccines will lead to heart pain.

I didn't.

[Ulax]

I think its better to be proactive than passive in situations like this, personally.

If you feel like you might need to be seen again sooner I'd support your taking rapid action to get that to happen, i.e. 911.

It might simply be that its something like anxiety. However, it could also be something serious. On that balance, I think it would be sensible to treat it as though its something serious.

[Asayake]

3 hours ago, Ulax said:

I think its better to be proactive than passive in situations like this, personally.

If you feel like you might need to be seen again sooner I'd support your taking rapid action to get that to happen, i.e. 911.

It might simply be that its something like anxiety. However, it could also be something serious. On that balance, I think it would be sensible to treat it as though its something serious.

Thanks for your reply. Luckily my symptoms seems to have improved slightly today so I didn't feel the need to dial 911 as of yet. But I don't exclude that as an option if it gets worse again.

If it really was the coffee that fked me up I find it astonishing that a few cups of coffee could have this impact..

[Razard86]

17 hours ago, Asayake said:

I'm not sure where to post this thread or if its even allowed but I am in a state of desperation. Remove thread if you want.

Three days ago I drank 5 cups of coffee and stayed up late at a friends place watching movies. All fine until I got home and started experiencing chest pains where my heart is located in the ribcage. I didn't think much of it until it didn't go away and I got a bit spooked. I figured I'd fall asleep and it'd be gone by the time I woke up.

Annoyingly enough, the following day the pain was still there. One second long dull aches, sometimes minutes apart and sometimes multiple ones with only seconds apart. My problem solving survival brain kicked into action, I figured it could be gastritis or some other stomach issue and so I went to the store and got antacids, but they offered no relief. Then I figured maybe I sprained my chest muscles on the workout a couple of days prior. But I did a pushup, no pain.

Weirdly enough the pain seemed to become less frequent when I was up and walking, and the worst when I lay down. I prayed to god it would be gone after I went to sleep again. Then yesterday morning I woke up, pain still present. So I pulled the trigger and went to the ER. They performed some tests on me like EKG scan, checked my blood pressure, breathing, pulse, oxygen %, touched the area of the chest where I'm having pain so see if I'm sensitive there, which I'm not.

Everything came back good. But they didn't have blood tests available there though, which I found a bit strange. I got recommend to take anti-inflammatory painkillers and wait 5 days. If it doesn't get better within 5 days I'm supposed to go back there. But I've now had almost constant pain that feels like it's coming from my heart and I started researching online about EKG and it seems it's far from heart attack proof. Now I'm kind of annoyed they could not take a blood test because that seems to be more reliable.

Cardiac issues run in my family, my dad almost died to a blood clot in his lungs. Now I'm having trouble sleeping, daydreaming about horrific scenarios this could end up in, with me dead or paralyzed by a stroke. After contemplating possible outcomes my left arm started stinging and radiating pain occasionally. Could this be Kundalini or is that wishfull thinking? Should I follow the advice I was given and wait 5 days? I really have an uneasy feeling about this, like they missed something at the ER. Should I dial 911 or am I overreacting to the situation and should just wait? I know all of you are not medically licensed professionals but I'm not sure what to do and scared of the outcome.

Here you go.

https://www.webmd.com/hypertension-high-blood-pressure/ss/slideshow-hypertension-overview

[Asayake]

34 minutes ago, Razard86 said:

Here you go.

https://www.webmd.com/hypertension-high-blood-pressure/ss/slideshow-hypertension-overview

Interesting, maybe that could be why the pain goes away when I get moving, because the movement is helping regulate the blood pressure? I'm going to look into this further, tomorrow I'm going to go on a hunt for a blood pressure and oxygen saturation tester. My blood pressure tested at 140/90 at the ER but they didn't react to that at all but according to that link that's considered as hypertension.

Edit: I would like to add that I've been a regular cannabis user on and off for a couple of years, and lately I've introduced more coffee into my diet to help increase my productivity at work. It seems both these things spike blood pressure which could be unhelpful if I already have high blood pressure to begin with. Also I started drinking a sugar free soda this summer that I now realize contains high sodium, which would impact blood pressure. I am physically active but the last 1 1/2 months I had to take a break from exercise because of a hand injury. So there are definitely some things that could cause increased blood pressure and I'm guessing the stress of thinking I'm having a potential heart condition would also increase the blood pressure further.

Edited September 6, 2022 by Asayake

[undeather]

21 hours ago, Asayake said:

I'm not sure where to post this thread or if its even allowed but I am in a state of desperation. Remove thread if you want.

Three days ago I drank 5 cups of coffee and stayed up late at a friends place watching movies. All fine until I got home and started experiencing chest pains where my heart is located in the ribcage. I didn't think much of it until it didn't go away and I got a bit spooked. I figured I'd fall asleep and it'd be gone by the time I woke up.

Annoyingly enough, the following day the pain was still there. One second long dull aches, sometimes minutes apart and sometimes multiple ones with only seconds apart. My problem solving survival brain kicked into action, I figured it could be gastritis or some other stomach issue and so I went to the store and got antacids, but they offered no relief. Then I figured maybe I sprained my chest muscles on the workout a couple of days prior. But I did a pushup, no pain.

Weirdly enough the pain seemed to become less frequent when I was up and walking, and the worst when I lay down. I prayed to god it would be gone after I went to sleep again. Then yesterday morning I woke up, pain still present. So I pulled the trigger and went to the ER. They performed some tests on me like EKG scan, checked my blood pressure, breathing, pulse, oxygen %, touched the area of the chest where I'm having pain so see if I'm sensitive there, which I'm not.

Everything came back good. But they didn't have blood tests available there though, which I found a bit strange. I got recommend to take anti-inflammatory painkillers and wait 5 days. If it doesn't get better within 5 days I'm supposed to go back there. But I've now had almost constant pain that feels like it's coming from my heart and I started researching online about EKG and it seems it's far from heart attack proof. Now I'm kind of annoyed they could not take a blood test because that seems to be more reliable.

Cardiac issues run in my family, my dad almost died to a blood clot in his lungs. Now I'm having trouble sleeping, daydreaming about horrific scenarios this could end up in, with me dead or paralyzed by a stroke. After contemplating possible outcomes my left arm started stinging and radiating pain occasionally. Could this be Kundalini or is that wishfull thinking? Should I follow the advice I was given and wait 5 days? I really have an uneasy feeling about this, like they missed something at the ER. Should I dial 911 or am I overreacting to the situation and should just wait? I know all of you are not medically licensed professionals but I'm not sure what to do and scared of the outcome.

If your symptoms become less frequent during movement, then a heart issue is basically off the table. 
I have seen many young patients with weird chest-aches in my career and in 99,9% of cases, it's nothing serious at all.
Mostly musculoskeletal issues (Ribcage or spine) or gastrointestinal stessors. 

Blood clots in the lung are for the most part not related to heart issues. Its mosly the result of a venous thrombosis in the lower extremities and the risk factors for that are diverse and super, super rare in males your age. There are some cases where it could origin in the heart, but this would show highly prominent in your EKG , which was fine. Again, dont worry about it. 

Dont freak yourself out, you are fine!
You dont have a heart attack. It just doesnt fit your description at all.
Yes, they should have tested your blood, thats true.

 

2 hours ago, Asayake said:

Interesting, maybe that could be why the pain goes away when I get moving, because the movement is helping regulate the blood pressure? I'm going to look into this further, tomorrow I'm going to go on a hunt for a blood pressure and oxygen saturation tester. My blood pressure tested at 140/90 at the ER but they didn't react to that at all but according to that link that's considered as hypertension.

Edit: I would like to add that I've been a regular cannabis user on and off for a couple of years, and lately I've introduced more coffee into my diet to help increase my productivity at work. It seems both these things spike blood pressure which could be unhelpful if I already have high blood pressure to begin with. Also I started drinking a sugar free soda this summer that I now realize contains high sodium, which would impact blood pressure. I am physically active but the last 1 1/2 months I had to take a break from exercise because of a hand injury. So there are definitely some things that could cause increased blood pressure and I'm guessing the stress of thinking I'm having a potential heart condition would also increase the blood pressure further.

No, you dont have high blood pressure.
140/90 in the ER is completely fine and that's not high enough to cause symptoms. Everyone has a higher value during stressful situations. A normal 120/80 in the ER is super rare. If you feel uncertain about this, buy yourself a cuff from amazon and measure your blood pressure at home, when at rest. 

Also, again - it doesnt fit your case since your symptoms tend to get better during movement.
Also, you are in your mid 20's and even if you blood pressure was elevated - your arteries and heart would propably deal with it just fine for now. 

PLEASE, when it comes to acute medical questions like these - dont ask this forum.
People dont have experience with medicine and they will freak you out even more.
This is an issue that has to be dealt with on the ground with a qualified professional.

Visit your general practitioner as soon as possible. You should definitely get a checkup, just to be safe.
Most of these cases will just get better on their own - thats why they send you home with pain medication. 
Dont hesitate to call 9/11 if it gets unbearable.

PM me if you have further questions

Cheers

Edited September 6, 2022 by undeather

[Asayake]

1 hour ago, undeather said:

If your symptoms become less frequent during movement, then a heart issue is basically off the table. 
I have seen many young patients with weird chest-aches in my career and in 99,9% of cases, it's nothing serious at all.
Mostly musculoskeletal issues (Ribcage or spine) or gastrointestinal stessors. 

Blood clots in the lung are for the most part not related to heart issues. Its mosly the result of a venous thrombosis in the lower extremities and the risk factors for that are diverse and super, super rare in males your age. There are some cases where it could origin in the heart, but this would show highly prominent in your EKG , which was fine. Again, dont worry about it. 

Dont freak yourself out, you are fine!
You dont have a heart attack. It just doesnt fit your description at all.
Yes, they should have tested your blood, thats true.

 

No, you dont have high blood pressure.
140/90 in the ER is completely fine and that's not high enough to cause symptoms. Everyone has a higher value during stressful situations. A normal 120/80 in the ER is super rare. If you feel uncertain about this, buy yourself a cuff from amazon and measure your blood pressure at home, when at rest. 

Also, again - it doesnt fit your case since your symptoms tend to get better during movement.
Also, you are in your mid 20's and even if you blood pressure was elevated - your arteries and heart would propably deal with it just fine for now. 

PLEASE, when it comes to acute medical questions like these - dont ask this forum.
People dont have experience with medicine and they will freak you out even more.
This is an issue that has to be dealt with on the ground with a qualified professional.

Visit your general practitioner as soon as possible. You should definitely get a checkup, just to be safe.
Most of these cases will just get better on their own - thats why they send you home with pain medication. 
Dont hesitate to call 9/11 if it gets unbearable.

PM me if you have further questions

Cheers

Thank you so much for your reply Doc. My symptoms are nearly gone for now so I've calmed down, but your post helped make me even calmer. Have a great day!

[hyruga]

5 cups of coffee a day is simply too much for you. Sometimes, you also add in caffeinated drink like Coke and that's even more caffeine. Just by drinking 2 cups of coffee a day, I may start to have headache. 

[Asayake]

17 minutes ago, hyruga said:

5 cups of coffee a day is simply too much for you. Sometimes, you also add in caffeinated drink like Coke and that's even more caffeine. Just by drinking 2 cups of coffee a day, I may start to have headache. 

Yeah,  I usually drink 1-2 cups but that day I was tired as heck and we were doing a movie marathon late at night so I went for way more than I usually do.