Chest pain, arm numbness and upper back pain

[laurenissick]

I have been to the hospital 3 times for chest pain, mostly on the left side, left arm pain (sometimes numb, sometimes achey), and sharp pain in my upper back.  They ran an EKG, CT scan (they thought i had a blood clot in my lungs), and a chest x-ray.  Their results where all basically the same, that it was anxiety or indigestion.    Now, I have been on Zoloft for a long time now for anxiety, but when I started having chest pains and numbness in my arm, I began having panic attacks. (Mainly because nobody can figure out what the problem is)  So, I am now on meds for anxiety attacks, which isn't helping because nobody can tell me what is wrong with me. Now I still have numbness/sharp pains in my left arm, which varies in strength.  I have a pain directly to the right of my left shoulder blade and another about 2 inches below my collar bone.  Pain medication temperarily helps. The other thing that really helps is drinking beer, which is very costly.  Sometimes it hurts when I breathe in, but it may just be the expansion of my chest that hurts.  Does anyone know of anyone who has the same sort of thing. This has been going on for 4 months and I just cannot take it anymore. I am basically afraid its my heart since my arm keeps getting numb and my chest hurts.  Help!!! Please! (Oh yeah, Im 26 years old, I smoke, but I am pretty healthy. I am 5'5'' and weigh 124 lbs)

[capricorn_06]

hi! i have the same symptoms, i have numbnessin my left arm for almost amonth now, i occasionally having chest pain or heaviness mostly in upper chest, it's started when i had my first panic attack, i already consulted few doctors, 3 of them are internist, they requested for my blood sugar and cholesterol test, it was fine and both in normal range. sometimes when im having panic attack i calm my self  
by listening to soft music or your kind of music, drink some warm milk, take a warm bath, and sometimes when i feel my heart is racing or beating too fast and when i thought that i can't handleit anymore i take atenolol half tab of 25 mg, it helps!  i use it for situational anxiety and i also have a 1 tablet maintenace of b-complex vit. everyday. My advice to you is measure your blood pressure 3x a week, take bcomplex, lessen your sweets, caffaine, colas, and limit your smoke. and ofcourse yor fat intake, eat meat but dont eat the fat. your not alone in experiencing anxiety and panic attacks, lats just pray that god will listen to us and guide us in everyway. Godbless!

[capricorn_06]

Guys if u want to talk and ask some question or just need someone to listen to, this is my phone # [phone] i willing to listen and exchange comments, be can help each other. godbless! hope for your reply..

[sexychick]

i have had everything in teh first post for almost 9 years.  have had all kinds of tests ekg, blood work you name it i had it done and still have no idea what is causing it.  they did find out that i have mutral valve prolaps but my daughter stated that it shoudl not make me have chest pains everyday.  so hopefully you guys can figure out whats wrong so maybe i can go to my doctor and get some results.
26 year old female

[shell1925]

Hello all.  I also have similar symptoms.  My arm discomfort is mostly left sided but I also have chest discomfort/pressure with it.  I also can go months in between episodes.  I have a had numerous EKG's, treadmill stress test, echo stress test, and a nuclear stress test.  All of the tests show that my heart is functioning fine, no evidence of CAD, but that I do have MVP.  My cardiologist and my PCP do not believe that the MVP is causing my problems though.  I also thoracic outlet syndrome on the left side, a hiatal hernia and GERD.  I am told anyone of those can cause my symptoms.  I am having extreme anxiety over this because all these symptoms are suggestive a heart condition but with all the tests I have had none of my doctors believe it is coming from my heart and they refuse to do anymore testing on my heart or anything else for that matter.  They have me on propranolol 20 mg bid and I was just recently prescribed Celexa 20 mg 1 a day and .5 Ativan PRN.  I don't want to start taking the anti-anxiety meds again, I took them for 2 years and was able to get off of them 4 years ago :-).  Oh, and I'm only 30 years old, most of this started 6 years ago but it got really bad in 2006 when I was pregnant with my son.  I've tried physical therapy, on my second round.  It worked the first time but this time around I have a different therapist and she doesn't know anything about thoracic outlet syndrome which is very frustrating.  Hope everyone is well...

Shell

[Francesanne]

Hi, I'm a 58 female and have been suffering from severe pressure sensation on my chest for almost 2 years. I'm also suffering with problems with both shoulders but the problem is more severe in my left shoulder and can only lift my arm to a certain level without a great deal of pain (GP tells me it's 'wear & tear'. I also experience pains in my grain, plus a burning sensation on both shin bones. I had part of my thyroid removed a couple of years back and I'm on Thyroxine 100mg,Valsartan 160mg,Atenolol25mg,Navidrex 0.5mg for high blood pressure.With my chest pain I also tend to experience a burning sensation,irrating little cough. I've had numerous tests i.e. CT scan on throat, barium swallow,chest x-ray on shoulder and chest, ECG and every test has come back completely normal.I've been told that I haven't got a hiatus hernia. I know I'm an anxious type of person but do tend to think friends,family & GP tends to think this is a nerve problem but I really do not believe these pains are stress related. My GP now thinks my problems might be related to  Fibromyalgia. I just wonder if the medications I'm taking could be part of the problem. My pain and discomfort actually seems worse during the night and when I first wake up. I long to feel normal once again because feeling like this is so awful.

[Crewchief67t]

Hi,

I have been having very similar issues with chest pains on both sides (usually left side), arm, hand, shoulders, tingling and numbness, and some abdominal pains.  I was told it is a combination of herniated disks and anxiety.  

It is still hard to believe that these symtoms are not cardiac related, but everyday i start to believe it even more.