Chest pains - problem?

hcbaron

I've recently heard news from a friend that they went into hospital due to sudden chest pain during sleep, which they called an ambulance. This is perfectly understandable as they had been at rest and experienced a lot of pain from what they described. However I found myself perturbed.

Throughout a lot of my life I've experienced on-and-off upper chest pains. It was particularly bad during secondary school/college, where I would randomly experience sharp stabbing pain that worsened with breathing. A significant memory is when I collapsed backstage of a school performance and stayed curled up for maybe 10min waiting for the pain to subside. Unfortunately I was not a very good person when it came to my body (I was once given a glancing blow by a car when I was on a bicycle and my first reaction was to see if I could pull out onto the roundabout), so I never really told my family, teachers or medical staff about this issue.
Thankfully I have been experiencing this kind of stabbing pain less frequently, but whenever I do intensive cardio exercise, e.g., cycling, I'll experience a strong almost painful pressure on my upper chest and/or pain along parts of my neck (veins? arteries? nerves? not sure). Even today I walked to a shop a few minutes from my office and on the return journey I began feeling a dull ache in my right upper chest that faded after maybe 15-20min.

I've been told by my parents this is just because I am unfit (I spent several years cycling 3 miles to and 3 miles from college, and I've been pushing myself to carry out regular exercise), but following my friend's hospital visit I am now understandably nervous, and upon discussing this with a couple friends they suggested I go see a GP.

Should I visit a doctor/GP to make sure I'm not at risk of any heart condition? Or am I just unfit and need to push to do more exercise?

junodog1

Why would you not see a doctor?

Aguminus

I think seeing a doctor will clear your mind and help you focus on your goal instead of doubting and being worried.
Sorry for your friend.

TavistockToad

it amazes me the stuff people ask internet strangers....

ladyhusker39

Of course you should see a doctor. It may or may not be your heart. There's lots of other things in your chest. But it might be. The point is you don't know.

I was having terrible chest pain a couple of years ago. The first thing they did was send me to the ER. Everything checked out with my heart. We did a full battery of tests to see what was going on. Turned out to be gastrointestinal. I'v since corrected it with dietary changes. My primary issue is that when I eat too much volume at one time, it creates reflux. The reflux has starting causing other problems that I could only describe at chest pain that moved around a lot depending on time/position, etc.

About 4 years ago my husband woke up in the middle of the night complaining of terrible pain across his shoulders. He figured he had the flu which had been going through our house.

For some odd reason I didn't feel right about it. I insisted we go to the hospital. I wouldn't let him wait until morning (it was 3am).

Sure enough, he was in the middle of a heart attack. No risk factors. He was in perfectly good health except that he was having a heart attack.

It might be minor. It might be something else major. It might be pre heart attack signs.

Again, my point is you don't know.

rsclause

Before I did strenuous exercise I would have a meeting with a doctor. Til then I would probably limit exercise to walking. If doctor is too expensive you can google your symptoms and see what pops up. Before I catch a lot of flak for suggesting Google, it happened to be the first thing the hospital ER did when my daughter went in.

vingogly

Why did you start a program of intensive cardio when you have a history going back to childhood of chest pain? And why on earth have you never mentioned this to a doctor?

Self diagnosis isn't a good idea - neither is looking for opinions from random people online. For several years, I had occasional bouts of vomiting that I attributed to food poisoning. Turns out I needed my gall bladder removed. A few years later I thought I was having problems with lactose or some food allergy. Turns out I needed hernia surgery.

TonyB0588

@hcbaron I'm not a good one for seeing the doctor either, but certainly you should've been checked out after that road accident. Did the driver not stop? That's illegal to leave the scene without involving the police, especially as personal injury was involved.

Regarding the chest pain, definitely get checked to see if there's a heart condition. Angina is a possibility. A few other things come to mind which cause chest discomfort without being cardiac in nature.

Need2Exerc1se

I think whether you see a doctor or not depends on how much you like to gamble.

lemurcat12

Yes, see a doctor. It could be any number of things, serious or not, but that's why you should not ask the internet, but just see a doctor.

ryenday

I have similar, though very few in the past couple of decades. A sharp stab in my chest that is excruciating if I try to take anything deeper than a quick panting breath. These pains used to bring me to my knees - especially when I was between the ages of 15 to 25.

I did see Dr., I even was taken to emergency Room on two occasions. My heart checks out fine, and honestly- the Dr’s I had were uninterested once they confirmed the heart was fine. How a Dr can live with themselves when a young woman is brought to her knees doubled over in pain and can’t take a deep (or even normal) breath at least once a month and they shrug and move on, I don’t know. I learned to live with it, and thankfully I only experience an episode once every year or two now.

But do get the heart checked out.

maura_tasi

If you're experiencing any chest pain during exercise (or any other times) I would 100% recommend seeing a doctor. You could be unfit, yes, but sharp chest pain that you find is consistently happening is not something to take lightly or try to self diagnose. It could be nothing, but the only way to determine that is to make an appointment to get in with a medical professional. I don't think chest pain should ever be something that is put on the back burner regarding your health.

hcbaron

junodog1 wrote: »

Why would you not see a doctor?

The chest pains have been going on for so long that I simply adapted to them. It was only after the hospital incident that I started feeling doubtful.

TavistockToad wrote: »

it amazes me the stuff people ask internet strangers....

True, true. I find I've always gotten more truthful and better explained responses than from family relatives however (seeing as my parents have never suggested I see a doctor, only that I do more exercise).

TonyB0588 wrote: »

@hcbaron I'm not a good one for seeing the doctor either, but certainly you should've been checked out after that road accident. Did the driver not stop? That's illegal to leave the scene without involving the police, especially as personal injury was involved.

I was checked out after the road accident (major bruising but no bone damage) after I told a friend when I arrived at college. Granted, I left the scene before the driver could talk to me. I'm not great at being aware of injuries or processing them in detail.



As response to everyone who have replied (thank you all!), I'm making steps to get an appointment with a GP/doctor.

RachelElser

YES. Maybe not an ER visit since you are not having chest pains, however EVERYONE should have an EKG done once a year so that when an emergency happens, the doctors have a baseline to compare it to.

plus20UsernameOfPower

Well, first, let me say I agree with the others... GO SEE A DOCTOR to get it checked out. However, from personal experience, if it has been going on this long and you've never had to be hospitalized, it's not likely your heart. But, it still could be, so GO SEE A DOC.

I have a painful condition called costochondritis. It's the inflammation of the chest wall and cartilage between the ribs. It causes dull, achy pain - not pressure. It can also be stabby if it's a particularly bad flare up. It comes and goes, and is often triggered by a bout of asthma. My chest wall is working so hard to breathe that it gets all inflamed and angry. While I hope my experience can give you some assurance that it may not be your heart, I am not a doctor, so please go see one to confirm. But ask the doc about costochondritis. Since you had an injury, that could be contributing to flare-ups. It can be treated with prednisone, or just dealt with until it subsides. It is not life-threatening, just annoying, and concerning if you don't know what's going on.

Lounmoun

I am not a person who runs to a doctor for every pain but I'd definittely go get checked out over what you described.
I don't think it is just being unfit.

Unknown

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junodog1

hcbaron wrote: »

As response to everyone who have replied (thank you all!), I'm making steps to get an appointment with a GP/doctor.

Yay! I'm not big on doctors either, but some symptoms are worth checking out.