Chest/arm pain

[Blueman42]

So about three months back, I began experiencing chest pains, which was also felt in my arms. On my first visit to my GP, he listened to my heart, checked my blood pressure and also ordered an ECG. The ECG must’ve come back fine as he said it showed nothing up, so put it down to acid reflux, perhaps causing a spasm in my chest which is what caused the radiating pain. I took Omeprazole for 28 days, throughout which time I didn’t seem to feel any pain.

After finishing treatment, the pain started up again. Went back to GP, he gave me another course of Omeprazole and also asked me to take a stool sample to rule out any stomach issues. The tests came back fine. During this visit, he reassured my that my heart was not the problem, that the ECG would’ve showed something up and that also at my age (28 y/o Male), heart disease was very unlikely.

This second course of Omeprazole doesn’t seem to have relieved any symptoms this time around. The pain also seems unrelated to what I eat, and can happen at any time of the day. The chest pain will differ from being left side and right side, will differ in feeling too. Sometimes it’s felt all the time but other times only if I breathe in deep or cough. Other times I have no chest pain at all, but an ache in my left arm, shoulder or jaw. 90% of the time so far the pain seems to be felt in one of those places rather than several, and seems to move around my body.

I have another GP visit coming up this week, but could anybody hazard a guess as to what the problem might be?

[Blueman42]

I would also just like to add that my current diet is pretty healthy. Plenty of fruit and vegetables, I also power walk for a minimum of half an hour a day.

However, about 10 years ago I was a lot bigger and heavier than I currently am, with a pretty poor diet. Lost a lot of weight 6 years ago, but then put a lot back on again probably 3 years ago, again with a very unhealthy diet. It’s only in the last 12 months or so that I have maintained such a healthy regime, and am currently lighter/fitter than I have ever been.

[johnsmith]

Worth seeing a chiropractor. They can pick up things a GP would not notice.

[grace111]

do you think there is a chance you could have pulled a muscle or perhaps your using your upper body in the wrong way you could be out of alignment and straining your arm musles or some other muscles. worth thinking about.

[Hidden]

One of the issues with the pain you are experiencing is that it keeps changing site, frequency etc. This would indicate that it is not down to a site specific issue/injury. Also, a particular drug controlled it and then stopped controlling it. Are you feeling anxious? Do you have particular stress or worry in your life?

[Elizabeth04]

I have the same. Went through almost the exact situation actually lol. I have a messed up left shoulder, something about the shoulder blade... anyways... there is a muscle back there along your shoulder blade and there is a muscle up at the base of your neck around your shoulder. Those can get tight and cause the jaw and arm pain as well. For me it scared me bc i was thinking it was a heart attack. I'm 27... ekg was fine.

As for the chest pain... look up costochondritis... It's an inflammation of your chest wall. There is also a muscle that connects your left arm to your chest... that could be bothering you along with all the other muscles I mentioned.

I'm sorry if this is hard to understand lol it's hard to explain with out a picture or something! Hope it helps. Try not to worry 🙂😉

[Blueman42]

Cheers for the help guys, it’s much appreciated. In regards to being anxious/stressed, I do worry about these pains and I worry about them a lot. To the point where I’m googling every slight niggle that I feel, and then diagnosing myself accordingly, which probably isn’t helping. I do also have a job which causes stress, and there’s also periods of heavy lifting involved, which I have often wondered whether may be the cause. I have this week off though, so I’ll be interested to see if anything improves.

As a side note, the last 12 months have been quite difficult, with a relationship breakup and also losing a grandparent. So these moments have caused me to feel very down. At one stage I was convinced that I was suffering from depression. Mentally though, compared to a few months ago, I’m now in much better shape. I don’t know if this would have anything to do with this problem.

[Blueman42]

Just as an update to this - I went to see a different doctor this time who said she’s almost 100% it’s not a heart related issue. She did mention the possibility of costochondritis, and also just general aches and pains through the heavy lifting in my job. I’ve been asked to go for a chest x-ray just to rule anything further out.

[Simbistaffy]

Get consultants with spinal consultants sounds could be c spine