Anxiety, Indigestion, Heart?

[Squirrelsmum]

Or am I just a bloody hypochondriac?

About 2 weeks ago I was waiting in the car for the kids to get out of school and started getting these awful pains in the chest are. An intense crushing feeling in my chest and a horrible pain between my shoulder blades. This moved up my chest and fanned out into my shoulder region and into my jaw and it felt like I had a toothache in every single tooth. I had to breath deeper to get enough air and I felt like I was going to be sick without actually feeling nauseated. This lasted around 5 minutes but I had a residual pain in the chest and back for another 4 or 5 hours, not sore but like I'd pulled a muscle a few days earlier.

Yesterday around lunch time I had the same thing happen, although this time it lasted longer, or felt like it did, probably 10 minutes where I couldn't get comfortable and I felt like a space cadet all afternoon and into the evening and still had pain when in my chest and back when I went to bed.

I spoke with DH about both incidents and he said it sounded like his anxiety attacks. I used to get panic attacks but haven't had one for over 5 years now and they were nothing like this, they were gut churning, sweating, fidgeting. Yesterday and the other week I was too busy taking note of symptoms to be worried because it was nothing like I've experienced before.
I went to the hospital after the first one and they told me it was indigestion. I get heartburn occasionally but again totally different. And of course dr google is a bigger hypochondriac than I am.

I don't want to go back to the hospital again only to be told to go and have a lie down like a good dear. I guess I'm just having a vent and if anyone else has experienced similar and what the cause was

[VegasIsBest]

Gallstones?? You need to see your doctor.

[NCIS]

I've had an identical pain every now and again for 25 years. I have ECG's fairly regularly and my heart is fine. I get it about twice a year and don't worry about it.

[Squirrelsmum]

I've had my gallbladder removed and there have been no ongoing issues with stones. Digestion overall is pretty good.

NCIS did they tell you what it is from?

[NCIS]

No I haven't bothered getting it checked specifically. I do regular ECG's on myself and they don't show any cardiac issues. I reckon if it was anything serious something else would have happened in 25 years. Thank God we didn't have Dr Google back in the day so I didn't get worried.

[PenguinPoser]

It could be any of the things you have mentioned. Only way to know is see your GP ASAP and in meantime if any further chest pain - hospital / 999. Chest pain undiagnosed is to be taken seriously and will be.

[ApplesinmyPocket]

I speak as someone who's had a lot of chest/heart symptoms over the years, missed beats, chest pains, palpitations, a heart that fluttered and didn't beat for what seemed like ages, even a touch of jaw pain when cycling which classically fit an angina profile. But I've had lots of ECGs and so on and it seems my heart is fine, and since the worst of these symptoms happened 30 years ago and have eased off a lot since my 50s, and I'm generally very fit and active, I just don't worry about my heart any more.

I say this to reassure you that it can definitely FEEL serious and BE very little.

HOWEVER I think you really, really should just go and relate what happened to your GP, not under-playing it, and let him/her decide if it's trivial or not. Just in case. Really he/she shouldn't mind at all, because it does sound unpleasant and just might be something that needs investigating. My DH had an actual heart attack that sounds just a little like what you describe, esp, in the 'churning, fidgeting' and the 'felt like nothing you'd ever experienced before' (he's fine now 12 years on by the way.)

Do go. But I'm hoping you're fine