Chest tightness and pain, anxiety

[Dshadzz07]

Like I don’t know if my underactive thyroid can cause these or make these worse just feels dreadful sometimes. Like having a tight chest makes me scared and have lead to panic attacks. It’s hard to know if they’re are related or I should be worried despite like countless tests to say my heart is fine.

[humanbean]

There are lots of possible reasons for chest tightness, pain and anxiety. Choosing which one it might be would need a qualified doctor, and nobody on the forum can be assumed to be a doctor. (For example, I'm not one. I've never had any medical training of any kind.)

I would suggest phoning the emergency services, because chest pain is not something to waste time with, and I see from your posting history that you've had this or similar problems before.

If you get given a clean bill of health for your chest issues then come back and let us know.

Good luck.

[Dshadzz07 in reply to humanbean]

Already had like all clear from a cardiologist back in February through ECG, Echo, bloods and more but I don’t know if it’s just anxiety causing it which just triggers more stress.

[humanbean in reply to Dshadzz07]

This is just a personal anecdote, so don't assume it has any relevance to your problems...

I had severe chest pain, very severe anxiety and generalised weakness when I had below range serum iron and very low in range ferritin. I took iron supplements but absorbed them very poorly - but I persisted and got my ferritin up to 50% of the way through the range. It took nearly two years to achieve that. My serum iron never got to optimal but it did improve quite a bit. As my iron and ferritin levels improved my episodes of chest pain reduced in both severity and frequency, until eventually they stopped all together. I then spent a long time optimising my intake of iron to keep my ferritin at 50% of the way through the range. The dramatic improvements in my iron / ferritin levels also massively reduced my anxiety and reduced my feelings of weakness. I got less out of breath as well.

...

I noticed in one of your earlier posts - this one :

healthunlocked.com/thyroidu...

that your ferritin was fairly low : 64 ng/mL (20 - 330) which is only 14% of the way through the range. Optimal for ferritin is around 50% - 65% of the way through the range, which with a range of (20 - 330) is approx 155 - 201.

Also, a TSH of 20 is outrageously high and a Free T4 below range is outrageously low. I hope you're being treated for hypothyroidism already.

Your C-Reactive Protein is a measure of inflammation. Your poor nutrient and thyroid levels are probably responsible for your inflammation.

Vitamin D - your result is much too low, but I think a previous post said you were now supplementing.

Your serum ALT level is very high in range. To prevent it going over range you would need to reduce the proportion of your diet which contains sugar, simple carbs (e.g. chocolate, cake, and biscuits) and grains. You can increase your fat and protein intake to compensate for the reduction in calories, and you can eat vegetables, of course. You have no chance of getting better if you don't eat nutrient-dense food and eat enough calories.

You need to get your B12 level measured, and improve it if it is low, but if it is you would need testing for pernicious anaemia. Don't start supplementing B12 or folate until you've been properly tested and been cleared of having PA. When/if you do start supplement you should supplement with methylcobalamin (one of several forms of B12), and methylfolate (an active form of folate which is better than folic acid for most people because it doesn't need any conversion to a form the body can use.

takecareof.com/articles/ben...

chriskresser.com/folate-vs-...

.

b12deficiency.info/signs-an...

b12deficiency.info/folate-b...

With such dire levels for thyroid, and several nutrient levels being low you don't really have much hope of getting rid of any symptoms unless you start fixing things. If you want help on how to improve nutrients - the best supplemental forms and the dose - you can ask on the forum.

[Imaaan]

Have you ever had a 48 holter test done? I struggled with on and off chest pain for several yrs and everything came back clear thank God ( ecg and ultrasound of the heart) but I was still having issues and didn't have any answers. Until I had a 48 hour test yrs later which showed tachycardia in the middle of the night. It made sense for me because I have sleep apnea.

Many factors can cause or exacerbate it. For example whenever my ferratin gets to midway in the range I tend to experience more of a racing heart and chest pain. Whenever my tsh/free t3/free t4 arent at their typical levels I tend to experience chest pain or an increase in a racing heart, especially with an increase of the tsh. Whenever I take too much or too little thyroid hormone I can experience chest pain as well. Finally I'm sensetive to certain supplements and they can cause me to have a racing heart which can lead to chest pain.

Hope you find answers and relief

[SlowDragon Administrator]

Previous post from 2 months ago showed you were restarted on 25mcg levothyroxine

healthunlocked.com/thyroidu...

Standard starter dose of levothyroxine is 50mcg unless you over 65, frail or heart condition

Bloods should be retested 6-8 weeks after each dose change or brand change in levothyroxine

You are highly likely ready for next 25mcg dose increase in levothyroxine

ALWAYS test thyroid levels early morning, ideally before 9am and last dose levothyroxine 24 hours before test

Are you in the U.K.?

Levothyroxine doesn’t top up failing thyroid, it replaces it. So dose levothyroxine is increased slowly upwards in 25mcg steps until TSH is around 1

Come back with new post once you get new thyroid results

[SlowDragon Administrator]

Looking at previous posts you are male and only 20 years old

Likely to need to be on at least 100mcg levothyroxine eventually

Levothyroxine is not a medication, it’s a replacement thyroid hormone because your thyroid is no longer working

Dose levothyroxine should be increased SLOWLY upwards, usually in 25mcg steps.

Bloods should be retested 6-8 weeks after each dose increase

But sometimes people need to increase slower if been hypothyroid some time. Increasing by 12.5mcg (cutting 25mcg tablet in half) if increasing by 25mcg is too much to tolerate

Many people find different brands of levothyroxine are not interchangeable. Which brand of levothyroxine are you currently taking

Approx how much do you weigh in kilo

Previous post shows folate and vitamin D deficiency

What vitamin supplements are you currently taking

[Jazzw]

2 months ago, it sounded like (from a post at the time) that you’d stopped your levothyroxine dose because your TSH had dropped to 5 after being at 20 in October (after being on 25mcg levothyroxine for a few months)

Are you taking any levothyroxine now?

Hypothyroidism certainly isn’t caused by health anxiety—and with an under range FT4 and TSH at 20, I’d be reasonably confident in saying that many of your issues may be due to untreated / undertreated hypothyroidism.

Levothyroxine isn’t a cure. It replaces the thyroid hormones your body can no longer make.

[Batty1]

Maybe you have costochondritis, an inflammation of the cartilage connecting ribs and breastbone this can sometimes feel like your having a heart attack Im currently having this issue because of psoriatic arthritis its brutal.

[Soundwell1]

Hi, I've taken 75 and 100mcg thyroxine for over 30 years since my heart attack and bypass surgery 20 years ago I've had trouble breathing like I'm to weak to raise chest enough or too stressed and pain in chest to open it to breathe. I didn't take any thyroid one day recently and low and behold I could breathe again and this is with Accord thyroxine which I've taken for years. So now I am seeing endo in May and I think I'm allergic to my thyroxine. It tge fillers but the actual thyroxine. I also have headaches but not tge tiger day when I stopped it for day.