Ok im at witts end. Lets strat with this my name is will, im 23 years old, 6 foot 1 currently weigh 285 (was 326 small victory) suffer from hypertension altough its been under control with the help of some medication. I currently take 75mg of metoprolol, 20mg of benicar 10mg of cyclobenzaprine or flexeril. My oddysse all sarted about 7 months ago, one day while at work (im a cable guy) i was out and about doing my normal routine when i started to feel the sense of lightheadedness and dizzy, i stoped and looked at my arms and they were shaking like crazy, i immediately panicked and drove myself to an er. Thats when i was diagnosed with high bp and tachycardia. I was terrified, altough ive been overweight for most of my life im actually pretty active yet over the past year i balloned from 250 to 326 (junk food,stress, etc). I had been feeling a bittired before all this happened but i just tought it was me being fat. My bp on that day was running at 170/95 scary!!!. and my heart rate was at 140bpm scarier!!!. Since then ive been on my meds and my blood pressure has been normalized i run at around 124/70 -130/80, so the meds have worked only problem now is that ive been having DAILY CONSTANT chest pain and pressure. I would say a week after they found out i had high bp and i was on meds they started. FIrst as light little flinches kinda like if someone was poking you with a tack around the left sideand my sternum. The first time it happened i would gently rub it and it would go away but since those days it has simply progressed to the point where its EXTREMELY dibilitating. Ive gone to the er 1 and to the urgent care about 10 times. For the same symptoms, it always feels like someone stuck theyre hand in my chest and started to slowly press on it, sometimes it feels like there a ballon stuck there, it feels like im having a heart attack daily, and for the most part my bp and pulse stay the same (on occasions i have panic attack and my pulse rockets and so does my bp) but for the most part ive tried o stay even keel. Theyve done cardiac enzyme test, event monitors, ekg’s, stress test, heart ultrasound, and they all come back fine. Theres times where i really feel the pain with my ekg on and it shows nothing other than an elevated heart rate. Its so debilitating when i know somethings not right yet it seems to the docs that nothing is wrong. They always tell me relax its not your heart yet the pain is STILL there. My primary care doctor has sent me to 2 well know cardiologist and they all come to the same conclusion and exclude any cardiac reasons for my chest pains. Hes sent me to one of the best g.i doctors in my city and have had a endoscopy performed on me and all they found was mild gastritis and no signs of GERD. Ive had a gallbladder ultrasound wich only found a fatty liver. Ive had a abdomen and pelvis cat scan which came back negative. Ive had a chest cat scan which also came back negative. I really dont know what other test can be done, i dont feel normal anymore, i feel like im living yet im not?? like im just going trough life with this unknown burden on my shoulders. I constantlly feel anxiety and mostly due to my pains,(had you met me pre- these pains i was a care free type of guy) now i worry about everything. I honestly dont know what else to do. Im getting a mri on my brain cus my primary care doctor sent me to a neurologist to see if it might be neural related. Im scared that im gonna get a heart attack or stroke but it seems everytime i go to the docs they have a different point of view. What can i do? im going to ask my doc for an mri on my chest, might it be a pinched nerve? ( my work requires me to climb poles up to 25 feet) or a disease? my family history has diabetes and arthritis but no heart problems. both my parents are still alive and healthy. My doctor is really trying and tahts why i havent given up on him and all the times ive gone to the urgent care they tell me the same thing, "follow up with your primary". Has anybody gone trough the same thing? am i going crazy??? only suggestions. thanks and god bless
are you a doctor, pharmacist I think you are mind fu..k..g yourself there is medicine called nitro relieve chest pains talk to your doctor quit beating yourself up sound like a whipping post
**Sigh** 23 year old with daily chest pains for the past six months…Any ADVICE OR EXPERIENCE would help…?
August 24th, 2009 | blood pressure normalized
2 comments ↓
First of all, I’d like to say that it seems you’ve done most of the things you possibly can to find out what is wrong. That being said, I would encourage you to consider if your job is causing some / most / all of the stress you are feeling. Is it possible your job or any aspect of it is ‘getting to you’?
I say this because two years ago I had many of the same symptoms you describe. My job was killer. My heart rate and blood pressure were nearly what you describe. I evaluated my life closely. I did not want to die, either. My home life was good. My personal life was good. My job was hell. The main help for me was that a person who did the same job as me died a year earlier. It was contributed to the stress of the job.
Since I transferred out of that job, my heart rate and B/P are nearly back to normal. A friend of mine – who also did the same job as me very recently had the same complaints. I talked her into transferring. All of her symptoms resolved in a very short time.
I am not saying it’s your job alone. You do state you have a few pounds extra. Losing those extra pounds via some light/regular exercise (walking/swimming at a leisure pace) might also help. Trade in the junk food for some carrot sticks or celery sticks, some apples, etc. to decrease the amount of sodium, fat and chemicals you ingest.
Your doctor mentioned GERD. Ask him what he would suggest for medication (prilosec/zantac) to help with the pain that GERD and gastritis can cause. Over the counter TUMS or Mylanta Extra Strength might help in the short term. Dietary changes mentioned above might also help your stomach problems. Many times stomach problems can mimic heart pain.
The anxiety and depression you describe are normal for the type of chronic pain (chronic meaning you’ve had this for 6+ months).
I think that, if you take some steps to overcome some of the problems with your health. and start to see some improvement, it will give you a sense of taking back some control of your life.
I only offer these suggestions in absence of any definite diagnosis after all the testing you have gone through.
This also may sound silly, but if you have ever watched ‘biggest loser’ on TV, you would see ‘miracles’ happen to people who are very much like yourself as far as their health is concerned. They lose weight, eat healthy and turn their lives around for the good – physically speaking.
I really hope you get a handle on yourself physically. We are our own best advocates. No one else can do anything for us. We must do it on our own. You have great support from your doctor. Seek additional support from a nutritionist and a fitness trainer/coach.
You are so young and have your whole life ahead of you.
God Bless you in your quest for a healthier and pain-free life.
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RN/FL
are you a doctor, pharmacist I think you are mind fu..k..g yourself there is medicine called nitro relieve chest pains talk to your doctor quit beating yourself up sound like a whipping post
References :