Captain Kirk

not seeking medical advice, jyst thoughts and oppinions.
i am a recovering benzo addict and alcoholic. i'm 28 years old. i'm not over weight but i don't do any psyical activity at all.
about a month ago i quit gambling and smoking cigarettes. since then i've had a burning heavyness kind of pain/discomfort in my chest and left arm, sometimes right arm as well. it seems to get worse after i spend hours in front of my computer or after i play guitar. however having said that yesterday i didn't pass a considerable ammount of time on the computer and neither did i play guitar and still i lost a nights sleep because of the pain.
i've been to the emergency room twice about this and they did an ekg and said all was ok.
i've spoken to my doctor who said it's just stress.
and i've spoken to a herbal doctor who says i'm not stressed!
so what do you rekon? heart attack warning signs or just gambling and/or cigarette withdrawl? in my situation do you think it would be worth going to see a cardiologist about this?

PupMum

See an expert...can't hurt, can it

Captain Kirk

as i've already seen 4 professonals who said there's nothing wrong with my heart i thought maybe i was being paranoid.
i don't even know if the pain i have is for real because if i think of something else sometimes it goes away.
but you're probably right. i'll make an appointment with the heart expert.

Gertiegirl

Perhaps its anxiety or panic attack symptoms? Or maybe muscle strain? There could be a number of things causing darl and my best advice would be just keep on seeking medical advice... Best wishes. Gert

Rusty Zipper

aldo have you been honest about your addictions with them aldo?

keep peeling away my friend...

rz

Kellye C

Panic attacks were the first thing that came to mind as I have had similar instances, been to the ER, worn a holter monitor for 24 hours and the end diagnosis was stress.

Don't give up, keep seeking answers to your health issues and as RZ suggested be 100% honest about your addiction history.

Best wishes,
Kellye

Captain Kirk

deffinalty not anxiety or panic. i'm no stranger to them!
muscle strain is an interesting theory. just the other day i was thinking that i have a terrible computer posture.

the discomfort has actually moved from my arms and chest upwards to my throat and neck during the past few days. it feels like i can't breath.
so the doc had me have a chest x-ray which i'll get the results from after tommorw.

Anna

Aldo,

I don't know if it's anxiety or something physical. I do know that anxiety can show itself in many, many ways in our bodies.

I think it's great that you are pursuing answers with your drs and don't give up until you find what you need to know.

colagirl

Hi Aldo,
I have a friend who had chest pains similar to yours but not as severe. It turned out that she was carrying all her stress in her chest, and the doctor "cracked" it for her and it immediately went away. She still gets it back about every few months, and when she does she goes in and has the cracking done again. So it is possible that it's a muscle/stress thing. I hope you get some answers from your xrays!

Jwife22

I normally don't post here but have you spoken with your doctor about gastrointestinal reflux disease (GERD). I had these symptoms. Had a stress test, had ekgs saw specialists (heart and pulmonary) and it came down to having GERD. It is very painful and very scary. It should up really bad in me after I quit smoking about a year ago.

Captain Kirk

today i got back the lung x-rays. they look fine.
so i guess i'll be going back to the doc again tomorrow.
i'll have a look in GERD.

Captain Kirk

i just found this.
Anxiety and Stress Forum - Arm Pain???
i hope so much that this is all that might be wrong with me. i'm so unprepared to die. it's like having to go on vacation but not having anything ready.
still i guess it's far more honerable to die of a heart attack rather then an O.D. or hypothermia because i was too drunk to find my way home

Anna

Aldo, you're not going to die. The drs have checked you and they haven't found anything yet. So, it just means you need to keep pursuing the problem and you'll find your answers.

Captain Kirk

that's the best thing i've heard all day
rationally i know i'm probably not going to die in the forseable future. i keep telling myself: if the ekg was ok and the blood pressure was normal and the beats are ok there's probably nothing wrong with my heart. rationally i know that. but then i start to worry and i have terrible thoughts and i've lost so many nights of sleep worring that i won't make it till morning. it's so scarey - but this isn't anxiety or panic. i have diffrent symptoms when i'm anxious. and i don't think i'm stressed either at the moment.

Anna

Well, maybe it'x anxiety but it's showing itself in a different way this time?

All you can do is continue to seek answers. Try to focus on your breathing when you're worrying. I know it's hard, but it will help.

Captain Kirk

even now my symptoms have changed but i'm still stuck with the "i might be dying" thing. lol.

so basically what i just said in my most recccent post in my thread (see link below) is much the same as what i said above months ago.
and in the end the above cheast pain i talked about didn't cause me to die or anything, so i guess Anna [hello! how ya doin? i hope you had a good xmas and new year] must be right.

ok. now i've got this all off my chest hopefully i can go to bed and get a good nights sleep.