meepa

Preface: I am an otherwise healthy male in his mid-20s.

Okay so one day I wake up from a nap. Shortly thereafter I experience a sensation like I can't breathe in all the way. Unsettling. I go to the toilet and bend over in case I ate something weird and need to chuck. I feel quite woozy and then pass out (at which point my girlfriend says I wheeze heavily like I'm gasping for breath). 10ish seconds later I wake up and, apart from the typical post-faint light-headedness, I feel fine.

The rest of the evening goes about pretty normally, albeit with some nausea. I chalk it up to dehydration or something and don't really worry about it. The next day I experience chest pains. They are difficult to explain. At best it's sort of like a "pressure" in the upper-chest area. Naturally this freaked me out and I then began to display all kinds of signs of anxiety (tingling in the extremities, hyperventilation, etc). I went to the doctor and she said "who knows" what caused the fainting. Had an EKG performed which did not show anything terribly exciting except for a slight abnormality that is statistically common. She refers me to a cardiologist just in case.

I see the cardiologist and he briefly checks me out. He thinks it is nothing and assumes it was stress related. I say fine and leave. A week later, these chest pains persist. I don't have them 24-7 but it seems as if I have them the majority of my waking hours (it doesn't impair my sleep). I would rate it very low on a "pain" scale; it is more of a discomfort.

So I see another doctor and he suggests it's some kind of acid-reflux. Now I am suspicious of this because I have never had any kind of symptoms before, and it doesn't seem to happen by way of eating. He says perhaps some acid got lost in my esophagus and caused corrosion when I fainted, who knows. So I take a month's supply of a medication that is supposed to fight against GERD (acid-reflux).

I honestly can't tell if it helped that much. It is a month and a half later and I still get the feeling in my chest (typically in the center, sometimes migrated around the left breast area). Out of serious paranoia I took the doc's advice and had an echocardiogram performed. They say it checked out fine.

I got another month's supply of the anti-reflux meds which I'm still taking. They seem to think that it is not cardiac related, which is nice but who ever knows for sure. Some of my family thinks it is stress related, and I will admit it seems to get worse when I am stressed out, but I cannot tell if stress IS the problem, or just worsens the problem. All I can say is I have certainly been under a lot more stress since this has occurred because chest pains are scary.

I have read up a lot on GERD, including the long thread here in the TFP. Really the only symptom that I appear to show is "non-cardiac chest pain" which doesn't help me a whole lot.

If anybody has had any experience with something like this or has any bright ideas, I'd be happy to hear about it. Thanks.

Plaid13

Is your chest the only place you get pains? I Know sometimes i get shooting pains from my back through to my chest but it seems like it hurts more on my chest and its normaly hardly noticeable in my back. but the whole problem is just my back. But if your back is fine i bet it is just stress getting to you. If i was you i would go to a second set of doctors just to see what they say. go to a diffrent office and everything. If those doctors seem to agree with the ones you already saw just relax because they are most likely right that its nothing to worry about. Do some stuff to help you relax both mentaly and physicly. Spend some more time just relaxing with your girlfriend or... less time with her depending on how the relationship is. find a hot tub to use. Basicly just try to cut back on anything that could be stressing you out. Even consider what you eat/drink alot of sugars and cafeene and stuff like that will just add to your stress. try to eat fairly healthy and get a little exercise every day even if its just going for a walk for 10-15 min.

cyrnel

Pain and wheezing/gasping? Sounds like it could be in your lungs. Is it worse when you take a deep breath? Have you seen a pulmonologist?

I'd try a mild vasodilator when things tighten up. Maybe just an OTC nebulizer. If the pain fades quickly you can rule out acid reflux. That'd point to heart or lungs.

An EKG is one of many tests. It doesn't show efficiency. Something like pulmonary hypertension wouldn't be obvious from an EKG unless it's advanced, and you'd probably have other symptoms like fatigue.

If this concerns you, ask for an echo or something additional. Read everything you can. Ask what they can do to rule out problems. Keep them thinking. Be persistent but not panicky.

** I'm definitely not a doctor. These are just things that cross my mind from reading your description. **

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meepa

Thanks for the comments so far.

I guess I also should have mentioned that, since the first shortness of breath episode that occurred, I have not yet had any difficulty breathing. Taking deep breaths is not a problem.

I also probably should have added that strenuous activity does not seem to make any problems worse. That is to say, stairs don't bother me, going for walks don't bother me, and having sex is one of the few times I feel rather well (instincts taking over?).

I have tried to lower my stress level in any way I can. I have not yet taken up regular exercise mostly because I hate gyms and I hate the cold. Thus the winter months plus my job in computer software lead to a fairly sedentary lifestyle until things warm up again

Also, at times the pain would be evident in my back and particularly in the muscle area where the breast meets the armpit (can you tell I am quite savvy at anatomy?). After taking up some stretching, that has mainly gone away, although it doesn't seem to help the root chest pain.

thingstodo

It could be som any things...how you sleep, how you sit at work, how you relax. Excercise certainly greases up the body and makes it work better!! Try some Yoga classes...good for flexibility and your mind.

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Brilliant Idiot

Non medical oppinion:

On one hand, it behaves like a block in the cardio-pulminary system, one that is temporary and then unblocks itself, so I can understand your concern.

On the other hand, it also looks like strain in the muscles of the rib cage, or even a cracked rib, and it could be the intensity of it that makes you faint etc. Have you been doing any unusual work outs or lifting?

I would persist in getting this diagnosed.

You might also like to start charting your daily activites, amount of rest you get, your food intake, and problems in your life, to see if there are any links between these and another reocurrance.