BBB Chest Pains - Not Heart Attack Symptoms

@Butrflynet,

If tomorrow's test doesn't indicate a cardiac problem, gallstones might be a possible explanation for the severe pain BBB experienced. And that might not have shown up on any of the tests they did in the ER and the pain would stop when the stone moves out of the duct.

Quote:

Gallstones may cause no signs or symptoms. If a gallstone lodges in a duct and causes a blockage, signs and symptoms may result, such as:

■Sudden and rapidly intensifying pain in the upper right portion of your abdomen
■Sudden and rapidly intensifying pain in the center of your abdomen, just below your breastbone
■Back pain between your shoulder blades
■Pain in your right shoulder

Gallstone pain may last several minutes to a few hours.

http://www.mayoclinic.com/health/gallstones/DS00165/DSECTION=symptoms

Given the fact that oxygen helped to relieve BBB's chest pain, and the pain included the jaw, it does sound more cardiac than anything else. A very small clot might have been present in a coronary artery and then either moved on or dissolved (and the aspirin might have helped to do that), or it might have been an episode of angina. If she was given nitrogycerin in the ER, that helps to relax the coronary artery walls, which also would have relieved the pain. Hopefully, the chemical stress test will shed more light on the problem, or rule it out as being of cardiac origin.

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@firefly,

She had her gall bladder removed decades ago.

And, I agree, it does mimic a heart attack. When I had my first and only gallstone attack I was driving myself to work in the morning and pulled over to a business that was open and asked them to call an ambulance for me.

A few days later, I was minus a gall bladder and the pain.

The only thing they gave her in the ER was two baby aspirins, oxygen and 1.5 pints of what was probably saline/ringers.

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@Butrflynet,

Well, that eliminates that. Can't be the gallbladder. Laughing

The oxygen would relieve the pain if it was angina.

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@firefly,

Hangin' 'round for the test results. I brought playing cards.

http://www.casinoreviewbank.com/dictionary_images/Playing_Cards.jpg

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Pulling in a chair.

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We're back. She had the stress test and we met with the doctor to get the results. They say her heart is in beautiful shape - it lit up like a Christmas tree - showing good blood flow. They don't find any clues to the cause of the chest pain and say we can pretty much rule out it being the heart.

Doctor advised having the upper GI track examined next.

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@Butrflynet,

That's great news!

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phew!

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@Butrflynet,

That's encouraging then! Hope the cause of her difficulties is found (and treated) soon.

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@sozobe,

Me too.

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@Butrflynet,

make sure they give a look at the intercostal cardial muscles. Im not kidding. There are many people out there who have gone through what is one of the pains that mirror heart attacks a lot. The attacks can be associated with GERD and can be brought on by slight indigestions so that the sufferer makes some weird body movements in order to alleviate the GERD symptom. This, in turn, only exacerbates the ICC muscle spasms. SOmetimes these things can ;ast for weeks.

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@farmerman,

I'd never heard of that but it makes sense..

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@farmerman,

farmerman wrote:

make sure they give a look at the intercostal cardial muscles. Im not kidding. There are many people out there who have gone through what is one of the pains that mirror heart attacks a lot. The attacks can be associated with GERD and can be brought on by slight indigestions so that the sufferer makes some weird body movements in order to alleviate the GERD symptom. This, in turn, only exacerbates the ICC muscle spasms. SOmetimes these things can ;ast for weeks.

I got to read the first few paragraphs of an article about that in the waiting room before I got distracted and forgot to finish it.

Would that be found with an upper GI exam or a second opinion on the heart stress test or something else?

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@ossobuco,

Here's some info on it:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Intercostal_muscle

This is interesting:

http://www.mdguidelines.com/chest-pain

Quote:

The esophagus is a common source of chest pain. Pain may be the result of structural disorders (e.g., esophageal strictures, cancer), inflammation of the esophagus (esophagitis), or functional abnormalities (esophageal spasms). Heartburn (gastroesophageal reflux [GERD]) results from stomach acid being regurgitated into the lower end of the esophagus. This produces pain behind the breastbone. Pain originating from the esophagus can easily be confused with angina pectoris because it mimics it in location, radiation, and quality and can occur with exertion.

Back in the '80's she was hospitalized for problems with her esophagus (I think it was a ruptured esophagus if I remember correctly). Within 3 days of the surgery and discharge from the hospital her chronic (life-long) diarrhea began and she was re-admitted, and loaded up with super antibiotics. The diarrhea has gotten worse as she ages.

I wonder if all this has a common source - is there still something going on with the esophagus?

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@Butrflynet,

That is interesting. Glad farmerman brought it up..

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@Butrflynet,

Quote:

Would that be found with an upper GI exam or a second opinion on the heart stress test or something else?

I think that an upper GI scan would help identify if the pains were strictly GERD or esophagially associated (Im talking out my ass here but if she had , say , an ulcerated esophagus or some ulceration at her valves , the UGI would pick it out). The ICC msucle exam is its own look see and I dont recall what they used on me.

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@farmerman,

hmmmm, i had a pretty serious compression injury to my chest about 7+ years ago, of course being young (well not exactly young) and stupid (okay definitely stupid) i never went to the hospital, in fact i continued to work (a job that required lifting many (100+) 50 pound bags of chemicals about twice a week

came close to getting pneumonia and i think i probably cracked a rib or two

now a couple of times i've been checked for some chest pain that felt like heart attacks (stress tests showed nothing), but the last time the doctor was checking me when he pressed around the side of the breast near the underarm the muscle was sore almost like an inflammation pain, he thought maybe pulled muscle, i never thought of the chest injury

might have to talk to him about his next time i see him

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@djjd62,

yep, that ICC muscle pain. It can be really scary and (with me) I was so hyper anyway, my mind was conjuring up all kinds of "negative outcomes" that my first therapy was to take 20 mikes of valium. When I did that the pain eased considerably. However valium has its own demands and I went on to just using ACE bandages for long pweriods and watching my hevy lifting or unusual positions (AT that time I was into handball like a maniac and that sport has you diving all over the court to make badass shots) I wound up with several "heart attack" pain events. AFter the first two though, I just settled in and endured em with patience and resignation.

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@farmerman,

definitely going to ask about it, wasn't until i read your post that the injury i had popped into my head, especially the inflammation part

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Great news for BBB.

1 Reply

BBB Chest Pains - Not Heart Attack Symptoms

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