Undiagnosed pain, weakness...Not sure what to do

[sophie832]

Hi Everyone...this is my first time posting on MedHelp, so bear with me.  I am 29 years old, married, no children or pregnancies.  The only diagnosed conditions I have are hypothyroidism, superventricular tachycardia, and IBS.  The thyroid issues are mild.  I take the lowest dose of Synthroid.  The tachycardia is something I guess I just have to live with, and I only have major episodes about once a year.  The IBS was a big problem when I was a kid, but now there are only a few mornings a month where I wake up with a bad stomach ache, and every few months I might have a day where I either throw up or have chronic diarrhea...I attribute these symptoms to the IBS, and it seems to be worse if I eat high-fat or fried foods (or just too much food in one sitting).  The doctors I've seen have done a lot of bloodwork over the years, and everything is normal.  I don't have high blood pressure or high cholesterol.  I am currently not exercising on a regular basis, but I do walk about a mile in the normal course of my day.

For the past few years now, I have felt increasingly unhealthy.  At first, the symptoms seemed to be heart related.  I had flutters a lot or I would feel my heart skipping beats.  This was especially prevelant if I hadn't had anything to eat or drink for a while.  I went to two cardiologists in this time, wore the holter monitor, had EKGs, ultrasounds, and a stress test.  Everything came out normal.  The strange heart sensations have been going on for about 5 years now.  For the past year, I've also felt very weak at times.  I think I might pass out, but I never do.  Then for the past few months, I've had chest pain.  The pain is almost always localized to one specific point on my left side.  I can literally point to it, although there is nothing I can do to relieve it.  The pain lasts for only a few seconds at a time, and is about a 6 on the pain scale.  One night, I had the pain and then felt very light-headed, so I went to the ER.  They did a blood panel, an EKG, and a CT scan, and found nothing (other than a cyst on my thyroid, which turned out to be benign).  They gave me some pain medication in the ER, and that made the pain go away.  I used to only have the chest pain a few days a month, then a couple of days a week, and now it's almost every day (although not constantly...just every few hours).

I haven't had a regular doctor since I was a kid (just an endocronologist for the thyroid and a gynocologist), so I tried to find one.  The only one I've gone to so far (heard a lot of good recommendations about her) seemed to think I was crazy, and told me to take Aleve once a day for the pain.  Since the last cardiologist I saw also told me it was probably in my head, I've kind of given up on doctors at this point.  I don't know what's wrong, and I don't know what to do.  These symptoms don't seem to happen at any particular time...I can be at work, on vacation, at an amusement park, or in bed ready to go to sleep.

Other symptoms:  dizzy or light-headed (can't move my head too fast most of the time), weakness, infrequent pains on right side of chest, lower back pain on left side (went to back doctor a year ago, x-ray showed nothing), pain in neck and sometimes left arm, bloating and gas (could be IBS), feeling of adrenaline rush at random moments

Has anyone experienced anything similar?  Should I go to another doctor?  It's scary, it's affecting my life, and I just want to feel better.

[sophie832]

Thanks to both of you for the responses!  I will definitely try to make those diet changes, and hopefully this is just acid reflux.  I know a good gastroenterologist, but I am scared he'll want to do an endoscopy (I had a bad experience with one as a child).  I guess if that's what has to happen, though, then I'll deal with it.

[Dr. Kokil Mathur]

Hi
Welcome to the MedHelp forum!
Normal GERD will not cause dizziness if under control. However a person with severe uncontrolled acidity or when such a person is hungry or his stomach is empty except for the acid, he may feel dizzy.
The symptoms could be exacerbation of the GERD. IBS too can add to this. Treatment is a combination of drugs to reduce the acid and lifestyle changes. You will need to take a combination of medications like a proton pump inhibitor such as omeprazole,  lansoprazole or pantoprazole empty stomach in the morning and an antacid gel after meals for complete relief. Possibility of H pylori infection too should be looked into and a combination antibiotic tried.
Life style changes that will help include: Avoid heavy meals and eat frequent small meals. Avoid too much of caffeine, tea, smoking, fried food and drinks both alcoholic and non alcoholic fuzzy ones. Avoid heavy exercises within 4 hours of a heavy meal. Raise the head end of the bed by pillows to 30 degrees. Go to bed at least 2 hours after food. Maybe these tips will help you.
You should consult a gastroenterologist (a specialist who looks after the diseases of our digestive system) or a physician for this if these tips reduce your symptoms. You also need to get your liver function tests done and an ultrasound to see the condition of gallbladder since the symptoms are felt more after fried food. Do discuss this with your doctor and get yourself examined.
Hope this helps. Take care!

[katiefaye]

my mom had symptoms like these and it is very scary we brought her to the er many times because she thought she was haveing a heart attack but finally she was told that it was acid reflux causeing the pain and they put her on meds for n noow it happens less.hope this helps