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1138654 tn?1260836712

Echo is good, but...I am scared...

I am 64 years old and about 30 pounds overweight.  My BP is good and cholesterol is within normal limits.

When I do anything cardio, I begin to feel a pain in the far left upper part of my chest.  When I stop the activity, it goes away, very quickly.

My GP sent me to a cardiologist who ran an EKG (was good), an echo which was good.  They performed an angiogram, it looked good.

I know I should feel safe...but I don't.   I feel something is radically wrong.  Does this ring a bell with anyone?
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1138654 tn?1260836712
I don't believe so.  I have no skin discoloration.  It is all about the heart rate and the pain ONLY when the heart rate is up.
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Avatar universal
Do you by any chance have Raynaurds?
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Avatar universal
I understand you fully, some exertion doesnt seem to really increase heart rate much whereas other activities do. Even eating a meal can cause the heart to race enough to cause discomfort. It does sound like your heart has a problem when under stress so perhaps as a starting point they should do a nuclear perfusion test to see if all areas of heart muscle are receiving enough oxygen. Most tests are done with your heart relaxed and of course this is not really going to necessarily show up any problems if you feel fine. You could also ask if they recommend having another echo, but this time under stress. The problem is, your coronary arteries looked fine in the angiogram but these do not show up the tiny vessels in the heart. For example, your left anterior descending may look clear, but if many tiny vessels fed from this are occluded then the muscle will cause you discomfort.
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1138654 tn?1260836712
It is related to when the heart beats faster, not so much "exertion".  I don't know how to put this so that it's acceptable for this forum, but if I am lying down and am "involved" (but not moving), and my heart rate goes up, the pain is there.  The moment my heart rate slows, it is gone.

If I walk on an incline, I get winded (that has to do with being out of shape now), and the pain comes.  If I stop walking, it stops.  

It is not random if my heart rate is normal, it doesn't just come on for no apparent reason.
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Avatar universal
You have had an angiogram which has shown no problems. This however will not show the condition of the smaller vessels. You say you had a stress test but this doesn't always reflect how a person is actually feeling. When on a treadmill, a patient can be in lots of discomfort with nothing strange showing to the operator.
Can you describe the kind of exertion which brings on the discomfort and do you get short of breath when the discomfort appears?
Helpful - 0
367994 tn?1304953593
QUOTE: "When I do anything cardio, I begin to feel a pain in the far left upper part of my chest.  When I stop the activity, it goes away, very quickly".

That experience would indicate vessel(s) occlusions.  During exertion there is a higher demand for blood/oxygen and that demand is not met when there is vessel stenosis, but blood flow is adequate with rest according your post.  The results would show a positive stress test if true. I have read having chest pains at rest and pain goes away with exertion!  Don't know of any solution, nor the details of the condition.  You have negatively passed all heart tests so the symptoms may be associated with conditions that mimmic angina.

Several  things may precisely mimic, or be mimicked by, heart pain. Most common would be esophageal pain or an ulcer. Less commonly it's mimicked by acute lung problems (potentially fatal), rupturing or dissecting aneurysm (highly lethal), gall bladder attack, pericarditis (inflamation of the sack around the heart) and others. Each of these other possibilities have their own 'typical' presentation and it's necessary to weigh the evidence of one vs. another to arrive at a presumptive diagnosis.

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1138654 tn?1260836712
Yes, it was good when I was active, but the cardiologist was concerned about my "at rest", hence the echo.
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Avatar universal
Did they not do a stress test on you???
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