Please I need help with my sister's chest pains. What do we do?

[PurpleHolland]

Hi, my 13 year old sister was diagnosed with hypertension in September. She used some antihypertensives and spent 2 weeks in the hospital and she got better. She was also advised to start working out because she's morbidly obesed for her age (119kg). She did as the doctors said but one time she started feeling breathless and couldn't breathe after a work out session (where she hardly did anything). It also happened one time in the hospital and she was given a nebulizer. After using her antihypertensives and a ventolin inhaler she got better though we didn't know if she was asthmatic. Following the attack, she started having these chest pains, majorly left sided. Sometimes spreading to her left arm/upper back. We did an ecg test and a chest x ray showing nothing. Also a blood test. And everything is clear. But she's still having the chest pain. Please what do we do?

[Damon1864 Volunteer]

Please go to the doctors and get some advice, you can't be too careful with anyone's health. Please let us know how your sister gets on have a good night and take care of yourselves😊 xxxx

[PurpleHolland in reply to Damon1864]

Okay, thank you very much, we will!

[PurpleHolland in reply to Damon1864]

Just wondering, are you a vampire diaries fan? Because of your username lol.

[SORRELHIPPO]

Doctors for sure, when someone is so young must get a manageable life style sorted out, a mixture of meds, diet and activity that can be managed. Did the Consultant from the hospital admission keep her on his books? could be referred back.

[PurpleHolland in reply to SORRELHIPPO]

Yes the consultant did, and we'll be going to have her checked out again. Thank you.

[hypercat54]

Hi this could be heart related so try putting your post into The British Heart Foundation as well. The site is also on this platform.

[PurpleHolland in reply to hypercat54]

Okay, thank you very much.

[Caspiana]

Hello PurpleHolland . 🙋

Oh wow! This must be so scary for you and your whole family. As others have pointed out, this needs to be brought to the attention of the medics caring for your sister. It could be heart related. You have mentioned that she had an ECG and an x-ray the showed nothing. But it doesn't mean there is nothing. I know because I also had an ECG that shows nothing yet I have extremely uncomfortable palpatations. 😁 The next step may be to possibly request for a twenty-four hour Holter monitor. It is a continuous test to record the heart rate and rhythm for 24 hours as symptoms may not always be constant.

One more consideration is that she is not used to exercise and may have inadvertently strained a chest muscle. I have done this before and I thought I was having a heart attack. 😒 It can be pretty painful. Hypertension can cause chest pain too and awful migraine. Does she have a trainer or someone who can advise her when she exercises? Starting to exercise can be a challenge, and without proper supervision she may be over doing things. She needs to lose weight gradually. No crash dieting or mad work outs. Exercising when very overweight, puts a strain on the heart and in turn on the lungs and can cause terrible shortness of breath.

How old are you by the way? What do your parents think should be done? It's obvious you love your sister very much. 💓 She's very lucky. Hang in there. 😊

Sending you and your sister very warm wishes,

Cas xx🎄⛄

[PurpleHolland in reply to Caspiana]

Hi, I'm 17 years old and yes it's really scary for us all. We're asking for advice from everyone we can. They suggested using some analgesics for now and if it persists we should take her for more evaluation. I'll also take your advice into consideration. And thank you for your kind words ❤️

[2greys]

I am wondering if her pain is being caused by not breathing correctly and she has strained the intercostal (accessory) muscles that are between each rib (see the link below).

healthline.com/health/inter...

She needs to learn how to belly breathe,the simple way to do this is to breathe in through the nose and out through the mouth.

youtu.be/_xQJ2O4b5TM(Not working as expected?)

[PurpleHolland in reply to 2greys]

Thanks!

[Response]

Oh, you both need a big hug. So sorry you're going through this. You've found a great forum if you ever need help, advise or just somewhere to reach out to or chat.

Can't help on the heart stuff but I have a degree in food science and think that losing weight at this stage needs specialist knowledge both from a nutritional and mental point of view to find out the causes. Given your sister's age, is there anyway that the doctor can find someone urgently to help with your sister's weight issue as that probably is the cause of the hypertension issue?

You don't say why she's over weight e.g. medical issue or comfort eating) . In the meantime is it possible to take any bottles of sugary drinks or extra fatty foods out of the house to help her avoid it?

Drinking water at meal times can help a lot (but don't over do the water as that can cause other issues) and finding some activity to replace the eating can help e.g. your sister (and you together) might enjoy learning something like knitting something simple like a scarf (youtube has tonnes on this) plus it's not too expensive or there are some lovely books from great authors Michael Morpurgo who writes kids books or perhaps books for older kids - the library can give advice on teenage books and they're free! Perhaps if you both walk to the library together slowly, that will take time and introduce exercise slowly (and unconsciously) to your sister's day. Every step will help her to mentally shift away from food and move forward .

[PurpleHolland in reply to Response]

Thank you so very much. It's been hard but we're pulling through. We'll definitely start the things you suggested. I really appreciate it. God bless❤️

Oh and considering the weight, my mum was diabetic during pregnancy (maybe that's what started it?) and as she grew she kept getting bigger and bigger. We tried including lots of physical activities and diets but they were barely working. She loves swimming a lot but she feels pretty insecure about wearing swimming trunks and her ears are pretty sensitive so she gets swimmer's ear a lot. So she swims but occasionally.

[corriena]

Hi i think she should also keep up the exercises as this will help in the long term. Breathing exercisers like 2greys has described and start off gental and build up slowly maybe find something you could do with her as this would give her help and support.

[PurpleHolland in reply to corriena]

Thank you🙏

[PurpleHolland]

So um update on my sister: a few weeks after I posted this, there was an explosion at our apartment and my sister was the only one who got injured. About 20% of her body was burnt to the second degree with some partial thickness. She got discharged a month after though and she's bounced back mostly from her ptsd. She lost some weight while in the hospital too. Though she has a pinched nerve by her hip affecting her left outer thigh. Her legs sting when she stands and she experiences stabbing pain on the outer thigh that is also numb, at times. We're trying to find a solution for that by the way, I think she needs to lose some more weight. She's really gone through a lot but she seems okay now. We're extremely thankful still.