chest pain

[domarns]

I was taken to the hospital with chest pain on the left side near the breast area.  I also had numbness on the left side of the body.  My blood pressure was 235/195 which did go down after taking several nitro pills. There was sensitivity to light and some pain in the area of the left eye also.  After having a cat scan of the head, chest cat scan and angiogram i was told there was nothing wrong.  I am on high blood pressure medicine and they are trying to adjust that thinking that might be the problem.  At one point the heart rate dropped to 39.  At one point the top part of the heart was not pumping in sink witht he bottom part.  Anyone have any ideas of what this might be?

[LivingInHope]

You might be suffering from acid reflux, if the chest pain is worse when laying down.  Regarding your head, did you call the doctor about an MRI with & without contrast (or MRA/MRV) to check for signs of a stroke?  

If your head is worse when you sleep, you may have:
a) sleep apnea (which you can  be tested for)
b) TMJ disorder, worsened by clenching and or grinding
c) some kind of change in orthostatic blood pressure that is affecting you?

Just some guesses of directions you might ask your doctor about.

[domarns]

Been home since Thursday nite.  Have still been having pain in the left breast area and last nite in the head.  Blood pressure has gone down into the 140/95 area which is better than it was.  Seems like the pain is at nite and varies in how strong they are.  DONT KNOW WHAT TO DO!

[Dr. Kokil Mathur]

Hi
Welcome to the MedHelp forum!
The symptoms you have could be due to the high blood pressure which can cause arrhythmia (heart not beating in sync) and symptoms of TIA or stroke (headache, vision problems, numbness etc). However a contrast MRI of brain, and carotid angiogram should be done. Also a 24 hour holter should be done to monitor your heart activity. The cardiologist must not have tested further because the drop in heart rate and arrhythmia happened just once in 3 days. However there is no harm in cross verifying with the cardiologist if further tests are required. It is better to play safe in such cases.
Hope this helps. Do let me know if there is any thing else and keep me posted. Take care!

[domarns]

They did a regular cat scan of head no contrast used for that.  They did use contrast on on chest cat scan they did.  Heart doctor did check the heart not pumping in sync and the drop in heart rate.  Only happened once during the 3 day stay at hospital. Dont think i have been tested for plasma free metanephrines.

[LivingInHope]

I feel they should have done an MRI w/and without contrast at least, rather than just a plain cat scan- or did they use contrast to check the blood vessels in the head for signs of stroke/TIA?

  I don't think I've ever heard of a chest cat-scan for heart pain- chest x-ray to look for heart enlargement (not to say it's not done, but I'm not familiar with doing Cat-scan for a heart problem), though I have heard of a basically virtual angiogram and tried to get medical insurance to cover it one time, but they denied it.  

I believe you should go to a cardiologist about the different parts of the heart not pumping in sync and the blood pressure issues in conjunction with the heart.  It sounds like you had some arrhythmia, with the heart rate dropping all the way to 39 too.   Have they ever tested you for fasting plasma free metanephrines?

The pain in the left eye and light sensitivity reminds me of a migraine & pain can  make your blood pressure elevate to some extent at least.