Hydrea and Chest Pain

[AnneMargaretMary]

I've had Hydrea for ET for about twelve years and for the past seven or so have experienced chest pain for which no cause has been found. Is it known whether Hydrea can cause this?

[Lainy1]

Hi, wow I have been wondering the same thing. I was diagnosed ET jak pos and c/o HU in May x2 tabs mon-fri and x3 tabs sat and Sunday. My pain is not severe so I've not mentioned it to my heam. Due to see her on Monday for my first venesection might ask her then. I also feel tablets stick in my throat and start dissolving there 🤢 good to know someone thinks the same about chest pain.

Best wishes lainy x

[AnneMargaretMary in reply to Lainy1]

Good to hear from you Lainy. I've also be wondering if ET itself can cause chest pain. My pain is intermittent and not too bad but I want to know the cause. What's your pain like? Do you have it all the time and is it mild or severe?

On and off through the years I've had tests to see if my pain is a heart problem - but this doesn't seem to be the case.

Best wishes, Anne

[Lainy1 in reply to AnneMargaretMary]

Hi Anne, mine is exactly the same, intermittent and mild pain. Never had it till i started HU 🤔

I've had a rollercoaster of things found medically wrong with me all due to diagnosing my E.T.

X-ray and Doc found migrated filshi clip in my spine- I've to have removed once platelets normal.

Endometriosis after scan to check spleen 😁 was ok.

Sacroiliatis

Bad headaches flashing vision, so sent to opthomology and found start of cataract in right eye.

All this was identified in a space of a few WEEKS !! trying to diagnose E.T

Ct brain and carotid Doppler all ok there.

So you can see I really don't want to mention chest pain.. its mild anyhow.

Lainy x

[RobinBrum]

Difficult to draw a direct connection, methinks, AnneMargaretMary. I've had chest pain with alarming pain shooting down my left arm when walking too fast (all scarily symptomatic of a heart problem), for about as long as I've been diagnosed with MPNs (PV, now MF). That's about eight or nine years. I've had multiple complex tests to check out my circulation, and all is pronounced OK. The chest pains vary from day to day; it may be down to the fact that I live in a fairly polluted big city; after several days of still air it's definitely worse. So it's impossible to accurately diagnose any single connection to the condition. Maybe it's old age. Maybe it's down to the steady grind that MPNs impose on us all in so many aggravating ways. My solution? Exercise to improve cardiovascular fitness. It's not a fix but it certainly helps.

[mol56]

I'm the same as you, been on Hydroxycarbamide for 12 years and I too get an intermittent chest pain/ache.

I do have a ventricular ectopic beat but don't think it is connected with that.

I find I cannot breathe in too deeply for a while but it does go and I tend to just live with it. Sometime it feels like a strain.

Not sure if it is connected with E.T. or the meds or just something else or even nothing!

[Bluetop]

Where is your pain? I started hydroxy and asprin just over a year ago and have a pain in my middle or lower chest round the bottom of my rib cage . At first I thought it was a stomach issue with the asprin, but really only notice it when waking first thing in a morning -so now I think it may be lungs. I see that lungs can be affected by hydroxy. I mentioned it to my haem last week, (before re-reading the hydroxy leaflet) and he said if it was only mild (which it is) not to worry about it. But I'd like to know what it is.

[AnneMargaretMary]

The pain is to the left of my sternum. It's mild and intermittent; I can have it for days on end and then be pain-free for weeks. When I have it, it comes and goes throughout the day. I've had a variety of cardiac tests and nothing too worrying has been found, though my EEGs are slightly abnormal. I too want to know what the problem is but doctors have told me that a lot of chest pain goes undiagnosed.

Thank you for your information. I'll discuss HU and lungs when I next see my haem.

Anne