Tight chest and fluttery heart.. what on earth could this be?

[nonotquite]

For the last couple of days, in the evenings especially, I've been having a really painful tight chest. It feels like someone is sitting right on top of it / putting an immense amount of pressure on the top of my chest.

I have also had a strange fluttery feeling in my heart.. I don't know if this even makes sense!! It feels like I'm skipping a beat / catches me off guard and is just awful and really unsettling. I'm sat here as I write this and am hyper aware of the way my heartbeat feels, it just doesn't feel right.

I did have the Moderna booster around 2 weeks ago. Could it be this..? I feel terrified it's something worse.

I do suffer with anxiety but this is definitely not anxiety driven, I know the difference and usually get a bad tummy ache / pain with anxiety. I don't know what to do! It feels like I have to take a really deep breath to try and re regulate my heart rate 😣

What you describe sounds similar so something I experienced recently. I also suffer from anxiety, all the tension I was carrying caused a trapped nerve in my neck which caused all the awful feelings in my chest. Not trying to be dismissive at all, it sounds very scary but thought it worth sharing. Speak to you GP asap OP.

Covid vaccinator here, chest pain, breathlessness & palpitations are things I advise to get checked following vaccine if they should occur.
There have been cases of myocarditis & pericarditis associated with the vaccines.
So get medical advice.

I get that and it’s anxiety. Anxiety can change form, I used to get breathing problems and now it’s chest pain and palpitations. Could be linked to peri menopause. Are you in your 40s?

Aren't these typical myocarditis symptoms? I was reading about it when considering the covid vaccine for my young teen.

I'm only 24 so hope it isn't menopause related 😣

This does seem to be a side effect OP.

See this thread

www.mumsnet.com/Talk/coronavirus/4430130-heart-palpitations-after-booster-jab

It might be worth getting your iron levels checked out, once you've ruled out anything more serious.

I have had that 'someone sitting on my chest' feeling, plus breathing difficulties for nearly two weeks now. I had the Moderna booster 3 weeks ago. I ended up calling 111 three days ago and they sent me to A&E to get checked. One of the (many) questions they asked me was whether I had that fluttering/skipping a beat feeling. I didn't. They were very thorough (ECG, blood tests, chest xray) and found nothing so have referred me back to the GP. The issue is ongoing but at least I know it's nothing serious. OP if it's making you anxious (which will be making it worse) I'd call 111 for advice.

Seek medical advice. 111. They have a call back service from the online website if you don't want to hang on the phone.

I second ringing 111. My daughter rang me with a tight chest, she was having trouble breathing,I was really concerned for her (she's in NI). 111 told her to go to A&E, she had tests, and it was a nasty viral chest infection.

Costochondritis?

As a long term sufferer, it very much sounds like anxiety to me, particularly as you are now fixating on it. It’s what I do and it’s horrible but that’s what it sounds like.

It could actually be covid you know. I know loads of people that are boostered but still caught it. Take a test.

OP it is definitely a possible side effect of the vaccine. I’ve had similar since Pfizer two weeks ago. Had been putting off seeing GP as figured it would go away but it’s “evolving” more than getting better or worse so going to give them a call on Monday. Hope you feel better soon.

You need to see a dr ASAP - call an ambulance. A tight chest is to be taken very very seriously.

For what it's worth/save you some time perhaps, if you were to call 111 for advice the outcome will either be being told to attend A&E now, or that they want to send an ambulance. There is zero chance of you giving them that description and it be appropriate for them to tell you it's definitely not serious and you dont need to be seen.

Also, if they send an ambulance the crew will perform obs, ecg, write down your life history, then tell you that you need a blood test in A&E. I work for ambulance service in a major city and our response time at the moment for chest pain is 1-2 hours, plus easily 30mins on scene, so honestly accepting an ambulance only slows down people being seen in hospital but a couple of hours with how busy we are. You should only accept/ask for an ambulance if you feel very very unwell and are too unable to make your own way.

If you've got a chest pain that worries you/you are not certain of its cause (I. e. Diagnosed with anxiety and this is a completely typical episode of chest pain for you which has previously been assessed by a Doctor and know its noncardiac), then you should be seen in A&E without delay.

Given your age unless you have significant family history it does make you quite low risk of having a problem with your heart, but other diagnosis need to be considered like a blood clot in your lung for example. If you've got chest pain now go and get seen.

I have had exactly the same this past week ! Weird. I haven’t had my booster yet, but I have had mild virus type symptoms, blocked nose, tender skin feeling like with a temperature. PCR was negative. I was quite scared by the ectopic beat feeling, even though i get palpitations sometimes due to a thyroid condition.

You should get checked out. Interestingly if a man said the same thing its always get checked out immediately but with a woman it's put down to anxiety. Maybe this is the reason women have worse outcomes with heart attacks. Not saying yours is but do get checked.

I'm currently on hold to 111. J hate to have to call them in a time they're probably extremely busy.

I can completely understand those saying it sounds anxiety based, I'd have thought so too if I heard someone else explain these feelings but honestly I've never in all my 8 years of being diagnosed with anxiety, felt this.

Good luck. You definitely need to be seen.

As others have said, I had similar and then tested positive for Covid. I also recently had the Moderna Booster. I also get similar with periods. It also might be anxiety. But there are a whole list of other things it could be, some of which are serious, hence why you should make sure you are not fobbed off.

Merry Christmas everybody. Just a quick note to remind you all that this is the internet and while the advice here can often be very helpful, we don't actually know the qualifications of anyone who posts, and nothing beats getting checked out by a real life professional if you have health concerns, especially those involving chest pain.

I got this after the 2nd Covid jab. But then all my peri symptoms got worse after that fucking thing. Thankfully it stopped after a few weeks. I think the jabs do funny things to women's hormones.

Yeah you definitely need to see a doctor. Not your fault they're busy. You still need to see someone.

Based on the fact that you had your booster recently and that you are allergic to alcohol, I'd put money on the vaccine having upset your mast cells which can cause your autonomic nervous system to dysfunction (dysautonomia). Among the symptoms for this are palpitations and chest pain. It'll probably settle down if you don't normally have problems with allergies or your heart rate.

Thank you all. Currently on hold as the operator is seeking clinical advice. I hate to be dramatic and can't stop myself from apologising on the phone 🤦🏼‍♀️ I never usually have to call for help. I feel ridiculous but my chest is just getting worse 😞