Chest pain

[dotti]

Hi folks

Have not posted for a while as i have up until now been plodding along very nicely.

About 3 weeks ago i developed chest pain ( i do suffer with palpitations had them for years and they have been investigated due to electrical problem within the heart)

The pain is always left sided underneath my left breast, into armpit and occasionally centre of chest, it occurs on and off through out the day and is not brought on by exercise or anything else.

I went to my Docs twice who said it could be Angina or Costocondaritis, it got so bad i went to A and E twice, they did all blood tests to see if i was having heart attack it all came back normal as did my ecgs.

I have been referred to chest pain clinic and have an appointment next Wednesday, has anyone else suffered with something like this, i know in the past when i begged my Doc to test T3 it came back as out of range and the next time it was tested it was low in range about 4 i think.

Is it possible that my t3 could be the culprit any thoughts guys would be great

Thanks

Dotti x

[dotti]

I should say that i am Hypo and have been for 16 years i take 75mcgs of Levo.

Dotti x

[Clutter in reply to dotti]

Dotti,

What are your most recent thyroid results?

[dotti in reply to Clutter]

Will have to dig them out will take a look for them now

[nightingale-56]

dotti, I have been suffering pain exactly as you have described for the past month or so. Have mentioned it to GP who has also said Costochondritis. As BP and pulse are still good and there are no other signs I will put it down to this at the moment. It helps to know that you are not alone.

[dotti in reply to nightingale-56]

Thanks j-bee

Yes it is good to know, at times though it does freak me out thinking i am about to peg it !

Dotti x

[misha008 in reply to nightingale-56]

HI

Same here. I have similar pains and doc reckons Costochondritis as well. As I've only recently been diagnosed with hypothyroid and Hashimoto's so I now think it may be the inflammation. I worry as well, have had it for years on and off but as I can press the pain I don't think it's heart related.

[dotti]

Just rang docs as i cant find my last print out of thyroid tests, last test done June this year and my tsh was 0.40 i asked for the range and they said they didnt have the range!!!! also my cholesterol was tested same time came in at 6.2 good cholesterol came in at 1.7

Sadly as we all know to well they didnt test for anything else.

regards

Dotti x

[humanbean]

Anecdotal info :

I developed episodes of chest pain a few years ago. I wasn't medicated for hypothyroidism at the time. The episodes became more and more frequent and the pain became more and more severe over time. Eventually I was in pain to some degree almost all the time. I went into A&E several times because I was in so much pain I thought I was having a heart attack but I was always discharged and told I was fine.

The thing that made the biggest difference in reducing my chest pain was fixing my iron levels. The problem I had was that my ferritin was in range (only just) but my serum iron was very low. And since doctors treat iron deficiency on the basis of your ferritin level (or at least, mine did) I really had to beg to get treated. I got a prescription for two months worth of iron supplements.

Luckily for me I found out, purely by accident, that I could buy prescription-strength iron pills without a prescription, and I could test my iron levels privately without involving a doctor. So I decided for myself, on the basis of blood tests I paid for privately, when I needed to stop supplementing. It took me nearly two years to get my ferritin levels up to mid-range, and even then several of my other iron measures were still not quite optimal. I've been struggling ever since to find the dose of iron which will maintain my optimal levels, and it is taking ages. If I stop taking iron altogether my levels drop like a stone.

Getting thyroid treatment in sufficient quantity and of the right type for me was also essential for getting rid of the chest pain. I test and treat my own thyroid too.

These days I still get the odd twinge in my heart now and then, but it is rare.

Be aware that, if you supplement iron, it must only be done in conjunction with regular testing. I have seen people supplementing iron long-term and coming really unstuck and really sick because they didn't test regularly. For a low-cost full iron panel :

medichecks.com/find-a-test/...

Even that isn't complete though - you would also need to get a full blood count every so often as well.

medichecks.com/find-a-test/...

Please note that I have no medical training and you act on anything I write at your own risk.

[SmallBlueThing]

Unstable angina (i.e. occurring randomly as opposed to with increased exertion) is associated with hyperthyroidism.

I was getting it (unstable angina) when, looking back, I feel I must've been hyper (if only my GP had asked me the right questions and done the tests...), but it was put down to referred pain from a back injury.

I've had it since, when taken off a calcium channel blocker which I'd been on for six months for hypertension; and more recently when I'd been back on the calcium channel blocker but changed it for another.

Mine had always been felt on the left of the ribcage, with a central feeling of fullness, until the last occurrence, when it was more left of centre. Not an extreme pain, but enough to wake me. Thankfully, it ceased 10 days ago, along with other side effects from the new treatment.

It's something doctors look out for when treating hypothyroidism: press.endocrine.org/doi/abs...

Best wishes, at least yours is being investigated!

[dotti]

The Docs at A and E where adamant is was not angina ( but i have very little faith in them) they said it was more than likely muscular skeletal! i do have severe spondylosis of the neck which caused chronic migraine, i am recieving botox injections which have helped greatly.

But i do wonder if it is unstable angina, i will just have to grin and bear it till Wednesday.

Thanks for your replies

Dotti x

[SmallBlueThing in reply to dotti]

If they offer Nifedipine, make sure it's the modified release type. Best to have an alternative though, as it's anticholinergic (possible link to dementia) as well as impairing cognitive function in the here & now.

[dotti]

Thank you for all your help

Dotti