Chest pain after complete cardiac work up and everything came back normal.?

Question

Hi my name is Ally and Im new to this, so lets start from the begining. On March 30 2007 was having a normal day then BOOM all of a sudden had shortness of breathe arms numb chest pain I felt like I was going to die husband took my to the local EMS station and I pass out along the way at the hospital I was told I had an anxiety/panic attack. a week later I still felt bad went back to the ER and was told it could be my heart cause of all the chest pain etc etc..went to a cardiologist was put on a heart monitor for a month everything normal, ekg's all normal echo ekg all normal. I had a nuclear stress test firt part laying under the camera resting everything was normal had to stop in the middle of it due to a reaction to the dye they used. went back 2 weeks later to do an echo stress test ran on the treadmill 6-8 minutes jumped off and they did an echo of my heart which I heard was better then the nuclear stress cause the echo picks up more everything came back normal..what can this be.

Thanks everyone for responding. I have been told I probably have GERD by the ER dr's more then once and by my primary dr as well. as far as angina I think they have ruled that out. it just comes on all of a sudden I can be watching tv and start having shortness of breathe laying down and BOOM my chest hurt sometimes it feels like im not getting enough air and i start to freak out thinking im gonna have a heart attack. I do have xanax the lowest dosage possible 0.5 mg but I dont like taking it cause I dont wanna get hooked.

Thanks for the replies I dont know how or reply or comment back. so ill have to add more and more..

i have also had my enzymes(sp) checked everytime i have been to the ER as well as blood drawn from the arteries to check my oxygen levels all normal

Answer 1

Your workup by your Cardiologist was good I assume with no known issues found. Stress could certainly be a factor and your doctors should give you some meds for stress. You could also be suffering some spasms of your esophagus. That could set off a panic attack too. You may need a workup from a Gastro doctor to rule out GERD which can cause these spasms and chest pains. Actually, many so called chest pains turn out to be stomach acid problems. DO NOT IGNORE future chest pains because you think your heart workup turned up fine. Return to the ER and insist they find the cause of your returning chest pains. Chest pains should never be ignored no matter what you think the cause. But it does appear it may be GERD or muscle spasm related. Also, they should have given you some nitro tablets so if you get chest pains in the future you can take nitro. The good news is that nitro works for Angina, heart related pain and it also works very well to stop esophagus spasms.

Answer 2

You need to have your cardiac enzymes checked out with a blood test, especially within an hour of the episode.This will tell if you had some damage to the heart. Many times these episodes amount to minor damage and the enzyme levels will return to normal, which accumulates until you suffer a large heart attack. All the other tests will show is that your heart is functioning normally at the time the tests were done. In fact, your heart arteries and veins can be 80-90% blocked before you have a heart attack. Another simple test is to see if there is a big difference in the blood pressure when taken in one arm than the other. This may possibly indicate some type of heart damage, especially if there is a greater difference than 10-20 ponts in either arm.Although GERD could be a possible cause, it is better to be safe than sorry.Visit naturescorner.com, my website.

Answer 3

Ally - I live with the same issue everyday. I am not a doctor - but I continue to search for an answer. I have finally decided that it is anxiety related mixed with some muscle pain and reflux. The only thing that helps me is massage/heating pad, Advil and Maalox. I find that the chest pains makes me think heart attack and then the cycle begins with shortness of breath, dizziness and numbness. When you get the triggers of this start - inhale deeply from your nose fill your lungs and exhale from your mouth to control your breathing. This will stop some of the anxiety. Do this for a few minutes and tell yourself - I am OK. When I went to the hospital a very nice nurse told me that a heart attack feels like an elephant sitting on your chest. What they did with me was give me something for heartburn and some of the pains subsided. It just maybe all connected. I went to numerous cardilogists - you may want to get a second opinion just to feel better. Sorry for the length - good luck

Answer 4

Cardiac Workup

Answer 5

I heard of a man (true story) who had a complete cardiac work up and walked out and had a heart attack while getting in his car. Good thing he was close to a hospital.
But it could just be stress and gas really, that you are feeling.

Answer 6

sounds like angina. however if you've gotten a complete work up done then they should have been able to tell you this. angina feels like the onset of a heart attack but it's easily controllable with meds.if this is recurring then that's what it could be. but then again im just a first aid volunteer, i'm not in any actual medical field.
the anxiety attack sounds plausible to the situation because it's stressful thinking that you're going to have a heart attack and drop dead.

Answer 7

They certainly could be panic attacks. They can come right out of the blue... chest discomfort, trouble breathing, numbness of both arms, and dizziness are common symptoms.

You should chat with your regular doctor. Now that the cardiologist has made sure it's not the heart, it's time for the regular doctor to step back into the picture and see what else it might be.

Answer 8

Did they do an echocardiogram to look at your valves ? I had shortness of breath twice. The first, an infection that swelled the mitral platelets. The second, a strained mitral valve from too much excitement, believe it or not.

I've had all those, too.

Pay attention to what you eat, stress. Just in case, adopt a heart healthy diet, and try to get regular exercise, even if just walking.

Answer 9

You should go to your doctor and talk about any stomach issues you may have. Don't give up. Keep pestering your doctor or doctors until you have an answer.
My FIL had similar symptoms. They were related to acid reflux for years. Now he's being treated for esophageal cancer.
So it may not be your heart.
Do as much research as you can. Google any topic word that you can think of that relates to your symptoms.
Join WebMD to be able to read medical papers.
good luck and God bless.

Answer 10

Stress