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1428287 tn?1283096681

Strange symptoms: Chest pain, diarrhea, chest heaviness

I've been struggling with symptoms of an unknown ailment for about 2 weeks.  My GP suspects it's something gastrointestinal, but we're not sure.  Anyway, the symptoms started out with a sharp pain in the right side of my chest, near the center.  At first it only happened at night when I was lying in bed, so I figured it was heartburn and started taking antacids.  It didn't make it any better.  About 5 days after the pain started, after having it every night, I started having a feeling of pressure on my chest and another spot of pain became evident under my breast, closer to the side, on the right side of my chest.  The symptoms started showing themselves earlier in the day, and the pressure on my chest became much more pronounced.  Now, about 2 and a half weeks since the pain started, I have pain in both sides of my chest and a heaviness like there's a stack of text books on my chest.  The pain now starts at about 11 AM.  Over the past week I've started having diarrhea every time I would make a normal bowel movement.  I went to the doctor 4 days ago and he gave me a strong antacid that doesn't help at all.  I visited him again today and he gave me Align and Celebrex (incase it's muscular).  The pain gradually gets worse throughout the day and it makes it difficult to sleep.  The sharp pain, which is now in 3 places (one on the left side of my chest over my heart, and the two I mentioned before on the right side) feels like someone is pushing one of their knuckles hard into my chest.  My diet is balanced, but even so I have high cholesterol (229).  I also eat Activia yogurt every day, and it had been working great for me.  I am on several medications, including Adderall, Saphris, Cogentin, Geodon, and Nuvigil.  None of these medications have been introduced near the start of my symptoms.   I had an ear infection about a week before these symptoms started, but it seems to have cleared up fine and my GP says my ear is okay.  My chest x-ray was normal.  The pain tends to be about a 4 to a 6 on a pain scale of 1-10.  It doesn't affect my breathing at all, other than the pressure makes it uncomfortable to take a deep breath.  I've found that I become a lot more tired with physical activity (like sleepy, not out of breath or anything.)  I'm tired of feeling this pain all the time and I could really use some answers.  Any ideas?
Best Answer
351246 tn?1379682132
MEDICAL PROFESSIONAL
Hi
Welcome to the MedHelp forum!
You could be suffering from an inflammatory bowel condition such as Celiac Disease/Ulcerative Colitis/Irritable Bowel Syndrome/ Crohn’s disease. Parasites in the gut like threadworm, tape worm, giardiasis etc can behave this way. Hence a stool test is a must. Problems of gall bladder and liver or that of pancreas too cannot be ignored and should be investigated. Possibility of H pylori infection too should be looked into.  I would strongly recommend you to see a gastroenterologist (a specialist who looks after the diseases of our digestive system). Maybe your physician can recommend someone.
A number of times a gastroenterologist is able to diagnose these conditions by clinical examination and detailed medical history. At other times a few tests are conducted. Blood tests to rule out anemia, stool test to look for white blood cells, sigmoidoscopy, colonoscopy etc are used to diagnose ulcerative colitis. Braium meal and follow through, endoscopy etc are done to rule out GERD, Crohn’s disease etc. Irritable bowel syndrome is diagnosed by elimination of other causes. Gluten is a complex protein present in four main grains---wheat, rye, barley and oats. If you have gluten intolerance, then you probably have celiac disease or Non Celiac gluten sensitivity. There are blood tests called celiac test to detect gluten intolerance.
Crohn’s disease is a difficult entity to diagnose. An upper GI series using barium dye is done to see the condition of small intestines. The degree of involvement of the large and small intestine may vary from person to person.  A biopsy is the most confirmatory. A recent advancement in Crohn’s diagnosis is video capsule endoscopy.
Check with your psychiatrist and see if it is side effect of some drug you are taking or stress diarrhea caused by anxiety.
Hope this helps. Take care!
5 Responses
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1428287 tn?1283096681
Thank you for your response!  Nice to have a doctor reply.  I'm sure my GP can recommend a gastroenterologist and I'll ask him the next time I speak with him.  I plan on calling tomorrow and seeing if I can leave him a message so he'll call me back.  If not, I'll make an appointment.  

I can usually get a psychiatrist appointment pretty quick, as well, and will hopefully see him early next week.  I've never had anxiety problems, other than related to racing thoughts and psychosis, but that is well controlled with Zyprexa that I take as needed.

Thank you again.

Helpful - 0
1428287 tn?1283096681
crackerjack4u2: I'll mention it to my GP when I see him next, which will probably be next week since I was told to follow up with him.  Thank you for your input. :)

sakura4000: I do already have mental health issues (schizophrenia) and I plan to see my psychiatrist next week too to see if he has any opinions.  I'll see what he thinks.  Thank you.
Helpful - 0
1477040 tn?1288637885
Get checked for anxiety disorder
Helpful - 0
1461073 tn?1308677548
Hello.  It sounds like to me you could be having a problem with your gallbladder.  They can run some tests to check the function, but be advised that even though the tests are neg-( if they are), that it can still be your gallbladder causing these symptoms. This happened to me when I go mine out anyway it solved my problem.  My surgeon said it's not real uncommon.   I Hope This Helps.  Good Luck.  
Helpful - 0
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