Chest pains every few months

[Helenj1977]

No other symptoms, I am a bit depressed and coronavirus virus is really worrying me.

It's in the middle of my chest, almost like the bone hurts. I've had it before and it just goes. The dr wasn't bothered the first time I had it.

Could it be anxiety, pulled muscle? It's still there when I'm in bed.

It could definitely be anxiety.

Things that would point in that direction:

• it doesn’t worsen or lessen with physical activity or when in different positions
• it isn’t getting steadily worse

I have had these types of pain before and in my case it was anxiety. At the time I was also experiencing issues with swallowing - both symptoms disappeared and reappeared a few times but have stayed away for a while now, although my new thing is stabbing pains around the bottom of my ribs. They fit both the tests above so at the moment I’m working on a hypothesis of anxiety for this too.

It is difficult as you can’t say for sure obviously.

Things you can do:

• when you first notice a symptom like this, mark in your diary two weeks from the date a little reminder to see the Dr if the pain is persisting. This allows your brain to stop focusing on it and going into high alert mode
• If it goes on for longer than two weeks I always see a Dr at this point, as it could be something with a more physical cause. Also helpful to be able to tell the Dr how long you’ve been experiencing it
• in the meantime concentrate on getting enough sleep, water, fresh air and friendly company in your days, and try to do a little meditation/breathing wxercises/yoga if those kinds of things tend to work for you. All of these are going to be good for you whether or not it’s anxiety related, but if it is hopefully will see an improvement!

Thank you. I think it is the more I think about it. Just sitting here talking about Coronavirus with dp has made it worse.

I get really bad anxiety about family get togethers so know I'm getting worse.

Thank you again for your reply xx

Could also be indigestion?

Have you considered gallstones? Check it out. Symptoms feel like a heart attack, close under the ribs, attacks last 4-5 hours. Very painful - then it goes when a gallstone gets through. Unless it gets inflamed and then the pain lasts much longer.

Typically it happens to women who have had children over 35 - 40.

Interesting, I'm 38 and have 3. I'll Google that, thank you.

I've tried indegestion tablets etc incase it was that. It made no difference.

I did a home urine test last month, I keep getting cystitis. My level of bilirubin was high. Just googled gallstones and its linked.

You could get a scan for gallstones at the gp if you go and tell them your symptoms?

If you are worried / stressed you might be clenching your stomach muscles without realising. This can cause your ribs to ache which feels like chest pains and that will make you feel more anxious. Try some relaxation techniques - Dr Chris Williams on NHS website has a 5 minute audio session which might help as will some gentle stretching to stop the tension.