Wellness

[pepes mom]

Google esophageal spasms and see if your symptoms fall into that category.  I sometimes feel like there is an elephant on my chest and feel a horrid squeezing in the area above my bra.  I was diagnosed with esophageal spasms and placed on an old anti-depressant called nortriptyling.  It has helped tremendously.  I wish you good health.

[Anonymous032819]

For me, when I get pain/pressure in the chest area, it's heartburn. I pop a couple of Rolaids, and maybe belch to get excess air up and out, and I'm fine.

[LilacTree]

I would suspect Costochondritis which is a painful  but rather mild chest condition.  It usually heals itself, but I would definitely have it checked out by a cardiologist if it is persisting.  If you are comfortable researching it, it is easy to find on Google.

[dennylilly]

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@pepes mom wrote:

Google esophageal spasms and see if your symptoms fall into that category.  I sometimes feel like there is an elephant on my chest and feel a horrid squeezing in the area above my bra.  I was diagnosed with esophageal spasms and placed on an old anti-depressant called nortriptyling.  It has helped tremendously.  I wish you good health.

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I havent looked that up yet , but I was wondering if yours got bad by the end of the day? I feel so terrible at the end of the day that I have to go to bed to get relief.  I apparently cant relax without going to bed.  This makes me think it mignt not be reflux because that is usually worse if you lay down.  I almost think its a heart attack becasue the pressure and terrible feeling is so bad.  STill it never turns into pain so I just go to bed and wait for relief. When I wake up I feel like an adrenaline rush all day.  ITs so wierd and I have NEVER had anything like this in my entire life.

I had a stress test (nuclear) Tuesday and still have not heard back from my dr. so I am not too worried its heart.  I will still be on the lookout for pain and go to the ER if that happens.

[hckynut]

@dennylilly 

Chest pain is the most common talked about symptoms of a heart attack, but! I personally did not experience it with either of my 2 heart attacks.

After my hospital stays I also attended 36 Cardiac Rehab Sessions after each, a total of 72. Most of the patients in those classes had suffered some type of Cardiovascular Event, but many of the fortunate ones, did not.

I include this because finding the source before a heart attack saves heart muscle from being destroyed. Once a part of that muscle is gone, it never regains what was lost. With myself, the bottom portion of my heart has a very low efficiency, because both heart attacks were in the same Major Artery.

There are a myriad of different symptoms of having a heart attack, not just the pain or heavy chest feeling. Over half the many patients I met during those 72 Classes did not experience the "Classic" heart attack symptoms. My main symptom, that was what got my attention, was a sore throat. That along with knowing my body well from my decades of athletic training are what told me something serious was happening.

That along with having my own home Oximeter and Blood Pressure Cuff, told me for sure of my 2nd heart attack. I use both of these regularly, along with my own Chest Strap Heart Rate Monitor. All of these things are priceless to me and there are very few days I do not make use of them.

Unless something new that I have not heard about is now available, the Heart Catheterization is the one that is still used to detect, and sometimes fixed with Stent Angioplasty, that is the premiere standard for detection.

My very best to you,

hckynut

[dennylilly]

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@hckynut wrote:

@dennylilly 

Chest pain is the most common talked about symptoms of a heart attack, but! I personally did not experience it with either of my 2 heart attacks.

After my hospital stays I also attended 36 Cardiac Rehab Sessions after each, a total of 72. Most of the patients in those classes had suffered some type of Cardiovascular Event, but many of the fortunate ones, did not.

I include this because finding the source before a heart attack saves heart muscle from being destroyed. Once a part of that muscle is gone, it never regains what was lost. With myself, the bottom portion of my heart has a very low efficiency, because both heart attacks were in the same Major Artery.

There are a myriad of different symptoms of having a heart attack, not just the pain or heavy chest feeling. Over half the many patients I met during those 72 Classes did not experience the "Classic" heart attack symptoms. My main symptom, that was what got my attention, was a sore throat. That along with knowing my body well from my decades of athletic training are what told me something serious was happening.

That along with having my own home Oximeter and Blood Pressure Cuff, told me for sure of my 2nd heart attack. I use both of these regularly, along with my own Chest Strap Heart Rate Monitor. All of these things are priceless to me and there are very few days I do not make use of them.

Unless something new that I have not heard about is now available, the Heart Catheterization is the one that is still used to detect, and sometimes fixed with Stent Angioplasty, that is the premiere standard for detection.

My very best to you,

hckynut

---

Thank you. So you are saying I still should be concerned even though I had the stress test?  A heart catherization is the only one to really tell for sure?  I had a friend who had and EKG and I think some other tests but he was told to have the catherization just to be sure and he needed a quadrupal bypass.  He was experiencing pain tho, which I am not.

So I don't know how long this can go on before I would have a heart attack but since it is happening daily now I keep thinking I'm probably OK as far as that goes.  If I did go in for the pressure feeling, would I have to ask for a catherization?  They would probably run the tests that are not showing anything and send me home?

[sarahpanda]

Someone once told me , regarding a heart attack he'd  had, that the chest pain was one thing but the pain between the shoulder blades was the worst part.  hummm

[Annabellethecat66]

So, regarding the headaches.  Some people who don't have migraine headaches might actually have a blood disorder called IGG.

I know because I have IGG as does someone else here.  I go to a Dr who specializes in allergies and infectious diseases.  IGG is not infectious to others, it just affects my blood.

You might look into that.  There are very specific tests that can be done by a Dr who knows what he's doing.

The treatment for IGG (if it's bad enough) is to get "infusions".

I'm way past due to get one.  First they do the testing and if it is low then you get the infusion.  My infusions takes about 7 hours of being hooked up.  Every 15 minutes the nurse will check my blood pressure because the infusion can cause elevated blood pressure.

The gluclose stuff is actually (a simplistic way of saying) it's the immunology of thousands of people who've donated blook.  They remove it from their blood and give it to you.

When you have IGG you have very little immunity.  You might look into that.

After I get an infusion for a day or two I'm totally wiped out, but then I start to feel much better.

I don't know if this helps you at all but it's an idea.

[RedTop]

Chest pressure and back pain were my oldest daughters complaints when her gall bladder was functioning at 19%.    As soon as she woke up after surgery to remove it, she instantly realized the pressure and pain was gone.   She has never felt that pressure and pain since.   

[hckynut]

@dennylilly 

I am not saying anything about your specific situation. What I was/am doing is passing on my experiences and that of many heart patients I have met, both in and out of the hospital. Your concern should not be heightened by my personal experience.

From your several posts, I am assuming you are seeing, or have seen a Cardiologist. If so all your questions should be addressed by that specific doctor. A Heart Catheterization is an invasive procedure, unlike a Treadmill stress test or an EKG. It is one that most Cardiologists may recommend after seeing the cumulative results of the other tests done to find the source of your issues, or done when one is presently having a heart attack.

I personally am one that does not concern myself with "what might be's", and wait till I have what are my doctor's conclusion as to what needs to be done. Then my focus moves to what is necessary for me to do in the next step. Again, that is just me!  

hckynut