Husband with tight chest / discomfort

[Livingjusttolive]

Husband isn’t generally an unwell person, and if he is it’s just a cold every other year or something silly.

He had a cough around 1 month ago, which has lingered. He didn’t have any other symptoms.

But this morning he woke up and told me his chest feels super tight and painful. He’s gone off to work as he doesn’t feel it warrants a doctors call.

I however think the opposite, any ideas as to what it could be? Doctor will probably tell him to go to A&E.

He’s 42, smokes around 5 cigarettes a day and also drinks a couple of beers every weekend.

Many thanks

It could be a pleurisy? Can happen after a cough. Definitely would say he needs to see his GP.

Yes, it warrants a GP appt but he'd be better at A&E as they may want to do an ECG and not all surgeries are keen to do them.

My DH gets recurrent pericarditis, usually in the fortnightly after a cough / cold / virus. It's basically inflammation of the sac the heart sits in and it puts pressure on the heart so it's hard to discern from a heart attack without an ECG and bloods.

Always used to be aggravated when he was still a smoker and especially good at arriving approx 48hrs after a big night out on the beer.

He always describes it as someone pushing on his chest, tightness of the chest, becoming breathless with small tasks like walking up a short flight of stairs etc.

He also had similar symptoms with turned out to be double pneumonia which was a bit of a shock to us both!

I'm a GP.
He needs to go to A&E. As long as anything acute such as a heart attack has been ruled out he can then follow up with his GP for further investigation. But first A&E.

A&E

Definitely a and e when my partner had his first heart attack it presented with a slightly tight chest, he carried on and even saw the gp who diagnosed muscular. The second presented the same way and was only picked up when he collapsed in sainsburys. The third I persuaded him to go straight to a and e

Send him this link and tell him to get help right away.
www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-60358296

Tight chest symptoms need immediate investigation. A&E please OP.

A&E it could save his life, heart attacks aren't always as they seem on tv

Unfortunately he is refusing to go.. he said the air has made him feel a bit better.. I can’t force him. But I am worried.