Sharp chest pains that come and go - connected ... - Thyroid UK

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Sharp chest pains that come and go - connected to thyroid?

PurpleNel profile image
13 Replies

This may be totally unrelated to all the other symptoms I have and not thyroid connected but I am starting to realise that there are so many connected symptoms that this may be one of them and this is such an incredible collection of minds and experiences I will mention it.

Several times now I have had an incredibly sharp pain in my chest. The first time it happened I thought I was having a heart attack. It was so sharp that I could barely breathe in without it getting even worse. It passes in minutes - perhaps even less. I haven't even mentioned it to my doctor. Has anyone else experienced this?

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PurpleNel profile image
PurpleNel
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13 Replies
tattybogle profile image
tattybogle

Thyroid hormones do have a big effect on the heart. I found this which explains how :

healthunlocked.com/thyroidu....

(written for GP's , by Dr Iqbal , a specialist Registrar in Endocrinology and Dr Krishnan, a specialist Registrar in Cardiology, Liverpool.)

PurpleNel profile image
PurpleNel in reply to tattybogle

Thank you. An awful lot of that is over my head - especially with the brain fog I have all the time - but it is enough to know it is linked. I will mention it to my doctor then.

bantam12 profile image
bantam12 in reply to PurpleNel

You need to see your GP and have tests in case it's angina or another heart problem.

tattybogle profile image
tattybogle in reply to PurpleNel

yes .. most of that went over my head too.. :) (i only saved it to use as proof that a lower TSH is recommended.)Don't be surprised if your GP hasn't read the 'thyroid/heart' memo either, even though it is 11 yrs old. So it may be an idea to take the link with you.. but say it's "from your research" .. don't use the words "thyroid forum" to a GP.. it's like a red rag to a bull, and to be fair, there is some really dodgy thyroid advice on the internet.

Not saying what you're feeling is a heart symptom, i've never had any experience of them fortunately , and there are presumably loads of other causes for what you describe.. but it helps the confidence when talking to GP's if we have proof that thyroid hormone plays an important role. I think many of them them think it involves nothing more than putting weight on and feeling cold/slow. (But everyone's different .. no one thought to check my thyroid for 4 years because i HADN'T put much weight on)

There are plenty of reports on here of heart issues that magically went away when thyroid hormone , particularly T3 issues, were treated.

PurpleNel profile image
PurpleNel in reply to tattybogle

All so very very helpful and interesting. It is like magic....you ask a question and some kind soul somewhere responds. Just starting to feel so empowered after feeling so helpless and hopeless. There is so much information that I really can't take it all in but I will gradually work through it.

tattybogle profile image
tattybogle in reply to PurpleNel

yes ... just get used to the idea that you're not going nut's first. Allow the rest to filter through very slowly. it can all get overwhelming.

It's really hard understanding 'A' level endocrinology when you cant remember the first half of a sentence at the same time as reading the second half :)

PurpleNel profile image
PurpleNel in reply to tattybogle

😂 yes, yes and yes!

Yeswithasmile profile image
Yeswithasmile

Is it like a sharp stabbing pain that increases in severity when you breathe in? You have to take short shallow breaths to be able to get air in? It doesn’t last very long though. I get it or rather I did get it in my chest to the left. I suppose just at the inside mid to bottom of left breast. I know this is a form of indigestion. I had a lot from a child up. Mainly if I was overly hungry but at other times too. Very uncomfortable.

I can’t recall the last time I had it and I have been treated for thyroid for 6 years.

Does it sound similar?

PurpleNel profile image
PurpleNel in reply to Yeswithasmile

Very! Vey scary the first time. Now it is something that I have just put at the back of the queue to worry about when all my other symptoms are making functioning on a daily basis such a challenge. Didn't even think about indigestion.

Yeswithasmile profile image
Yeswithasmile in reply to PurpleNel

Well if it’s the same thing I can totally relate to you thinking it was heart related. It hurts!! Also I think I panic a little that’s why I do the short breaths. Feel like I can’t breathe but it is over pretty quick copy (even though it doesn’t feel quick at the time).

Worth mentioning to dr as elephants shrew said, may be something different and wouldn’t hurt to mention it.

If hadn’t experienced it as a child when really hungry I don’t think I would of realised, as an adult, that it was indigestion mind you.

Hope it’s settles soon for you.

ElephantShrew profile image
ElephantShrew

hiya, is it an occasional really sharp pain caused by breathing in, can make it not happen by taking small breaths?

i have had somethign like this in the past i think it's pleurisy, i've had it following on from chest infections , the membranes arround your lungs get inflamed and the pain is caused when they drag over each when you breath. Or something nhs.uk/conditions/pleurisy/

i also thought it was heart-related at first. It's such a sharp pain and caused by breathing which you can't just stop doing :(

(I may have also given it to myself once by breathing in oven cleaner by accident 🙄)

PurpleNel profile image
PurpleNel in reply to ElephantShrew

I get it very infrequently....maybe once every few weeks. And breathing in oven cleaner probably not recommended 😝

ElephantShrew profile image
ElephantShrew in reply to PurpleNel

i got unexpected driftback 😁 Not ideal though! So when i've had this i've had occasional sharp pains over a couple of weeks following on from the chest infection but it gradually got better and went away. If you keep getting the pains i would check it out with your doctor as that sounds like an infection which isn't going away and you might need some proper antibiotics or something to fight the infection?

[#i am not a doctor]

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