pimmo2000

iTrader: (6)

Ok, quick summary,

Three years ago I started having "attacks" pains in my chest and down my arms. A&E, doctors and NHS direct all said heart burn.

Skip forward three years, on Nexium, anti sickness and taking cheap Tesco calcium based antacids daily.

Attacks are rare, pains now and then, under ribs (stops me breathing in) generally 90% of the time I have some discomfort.

Tests:

• Physical exam
• Blood tests
• 3 x ECG
• Xray
• Kidney Scan
• Camera down throat
• Swallow test
• 24 Hour PH test
• barium swallow

The Swallow showed some reflux, the rest nothing to report on.


The Ph test suggested I might be overly sensitive to acid, so they plan to treat my brain with a low dose Anti depressant, 20MG of something beginning with L I think, not got it yet.



Seen two different consultants and both have now discharged me., took three years for the above to happen.


So now I'm left eating bland food, taking daily tablets (which they don't actually think does anything) and suffering..


What do I do now ?

jef

iTrader: (13)

is there an apparant pattern of pain, like after eating certain foods, or excess stress in lifes, unhealthy lifestyle, history of similar problems in family history?

no that i can pretend to diagnose anything just suggesting avenues to follow incase theyve not already been exhausted.

presume blood pressure ect has been checked and monitored over a decent time frame?, and cholesterol levels and ratios in check, seen as they dont seem to be following up a potential heart problem?

what impression do you have of your local services, dismissing you or satisfied all is being done to treat/diagnose you with decent effiency?

pimmo2000

iTrader: (6)

Well .. some foods do trigger it most of the time, for example Chocolate, but that said, I look after myself, so no "bad" food anyway.

Blood pressure is fine too.. my dad had a heart attack, thats the closest family link.

KAS35RSTI

iTrader: (73)

I have the same problems as you. Just living with it.

Attacks feels like your heartbeat has stopped?

jef

iTrader: (13)

you dads case, considered a young sufferer or of a decent age and decent lifestyle? what about heart problems further back in family tree? is there a history of such problems? i know its hard to pinpoint - often past generations died through work related illnessess, and prematurley at that.

also whats your own gut instinct?

if john b sees this thread he will be able to advice a bit more.

you over weight, excercise in your life style - or anything that would point to an obvious line to explore?

again, do you feel the service youve received through NHS to be good and conclusive? if so you really have to just go with there recommendations. if you feel your being side-lined or dis-missed all to easy then maybe theres an avenue to explore through second opinions or a change in the medics that assess your symtoms.

sorry not much help - but when it comes to on-line diagnosis - especially by someone (me) with zero training but just a slight knowledge of health implications of lifestyles - its always going to be a stab in the dark. no-one will be able to provide conclusive info - but the best that can be done is to suggest lines of enquiry to follow up, incase something obvious has been missed along the way. or highlighting a poor service you may be a victim of.

David Lock

Have Gallstones been ruled out?

dl

JohnSmith

Anxiety? Panic attacks ?

Some doctors these days aren't arsed at all on the patients (not all though I hasten to add) so will try and fob you off saying there is **** all wrong with you

Moley

iTrader: (9)

I get exactly the same, the only thing that helps is Omeprazole (40mg i think)

KAS35RSTI

iTrader: (73)

So true

pimmo2000

iTrader: (6)

Yup, all clear

They cause me to panic sometimes, when I feel like I can't breath, but they aren't brought on by stress directly and I don't panic for any other reason than the pain is really bad.

Got them here, didn't help, only the Nexium gave me some relief, but the doc has me thinking that's all in my head ..

pimmo2000

iTrader: (6)

I'm about 13 stone, 5 11, go the gym three times a week, swim and cycle 37 miles a week (one routine route). I don't drink, don't smoke and don't eat any unhealthy food .. I can't eat a lot of things because I have IBS, which is very likely related, but not quite sure how.

My heart is fine, I never get shortness of breath or palpitations .. and as I said during a bad attack I went to A&E and they checked my heart first.

jef

iTrader: (13)

oh well sounds like any obvious starting points may have been covered - sounds like you have to have to place your trust in the service you get through the nhs. have they got a plan to further investigate?

ive little understanding of IBS but know people that suffer, and it seems to cause many issues. just gotta wish you the best chasing down an answer mate

Moley

iTrader: (9)

Check the amount of mg. I started on 20mg and they didn't do a thing, but the 40mg made a difference.

My father-in-law has the same, and the 40mg don't help him at all.

pimmo2000

iTrader: (6)

I think I've come to the end of the NHS helping me

Pantoprazole 40mg / Emozul 40mg / Nexium 40mg .. I even tried double dosing at one point to stop the pain

Ste RB5138

I was a about to say have you had a ECG test, but you have already had three, I dont know what else you can do.

Thats how my girlfriends problems started last month with chest pains and it hurt when breathing in.

pimmo2000

iTrader: (6)

Sorry mate .. but your story scared me again .. hope you're doing ok

Dingdongler

Hi mate

Are you the guy who lost his girlfriend in tragic circumstances a few months back?

If so would you mind if I ask whether the cause of death was ever established?

best wishes at this difficult time

Dingdongler

Pimmo, as you may or may not know I am a doc. This would be my approach if I were you (I'm assuming you're a middle aged man!)

1) Exclude a cardiac cause. ECGs will not do this. You would need a myocardial perfusion scan or similar.

2) Exclude anything wrong with your liver/gallbladder/pancreas. Sounds like you have already done this.

3) Exclude anything nasty going on in your upper GI tract. This has already been done by 'the camera down your throat' etc. Whether it's worth repeating in case something was missed in the first endoscopy is worth considering.

4) Exclude anything nasty in your chest.

After all this has been done you can be pretty sure there is nothing going on that is going to kill you or do you serious harm.

If the attacks are then, as you say pretty rare, I would not get overly obsessed by the whole matter. If they don't stop you working, playing, sleeping etc just learn to live with them. Otherwise you'll go potty and let it ruin and rule your life.

We can't always make a diagnoses with some symptoms. As long as life threatening conditions have been excluded sometimes you just have to accept this and get on with life.

DISCLAIMER; THE ABOVE DOES NOT CONSTITUTE FORMAL MEDICAL ADVICE, IF YOU ARE WORRIED SEE YOUR DOCTOR IMMEDIATELY

pimmo2000

iTrader: (6)

Thanks, no I didn't know that. I've just turned 30.

My doc is comfortable it's not my heart so I guess I live with it.

Lisawrx

iTrader: (1)

I'm on the same dose, along with an anti-sickness tablet, and another back up tablet for when the first two aren't enough.

Even with all of those, I can have bad attacks of what I assume is reflux. When this happens, the pain in my chest is awful and it goes right through into my back and arms. I don't know if this happens to you Pimmo, but at these times I usually notice I produce a lot more saliva than usual?

Turbohot

Regular beers, lack of targeted exercise (doesn't matter how much you run about at your workplace), unconscious stresses potentially cause psychosomatic issues. That's what it is; in many gastric malfunction problems.

For Pimmo, just live with it unless it is causing you terrible discomfort or life threatening situation. if you find it difficult to develop coping strategies, get some CBT.

Leslie

I used to have those types of pains and it was pretty awful at the time. I had an endoscopy and the diagnosis was that I had acid reversing into my oesophagus from the one way valve at the entry to my stomach. It even made riding my motor bike unpleasant purely by leaning forward slightly to hold the handlebars.

I was given a prescription for Omezaprole which is easy to take and it gives virtually instant relief. It slows the rate of acid production in the stomach. I still take one pill a day and have never had any further problems.

What can happen is damage to the oesophagus from the acid. The oesophagus is not designed to resist the onslaught of stomach acid.

I can't say if that is the actual problem that you have got of course but it is a thought which might just help anyway.

Les

pimmo2000

iTrader: (6)

Pretty much, although the back pain is more of a lasting effect from an attack.

I don't drink and that's not great advice (no offense) you have pain, ah well, learn to live with it .. I hope you're not a doctor

Turbohot

And the doctor in his post (post 18) provides you similar advice with a disclaimer, although he puts it differently. I am not a doctor, but I work with psychosomata in my line of work very often, and receive referrals from the doctors. My advice may have sounded very direct, but sadly, that's all what you can do, Pimmo. Once again, when there isn't any medical diagnosis and cure, nor is there any 'red flag' situation, one needs to learn to live with it.

Leslie

I think it would be inadvisable to try to live with it. The reflux could well be causing damage to the oesophagus.

I would go and bother your doctor again,he gets paid well enough!

Les

pimmo2000

iTrader: (6)

Les has hit the nail on the head.. I have pain .. pain means something is wrong .. pain triggered by food suggests its not all in my head .. so what is being damaged to cause the pain ?

Add this is with the poor fella who lost his g/f and you have a reason to keep looking ..

We don't know, go live with it is a poor response from any doctor. It's easier for someone who doesn't have to experience it to dismiss it.

Lydia72

My MIL has the same thing you describe and has 'lived with it' for about forty years. I can see what Turbohot is getting it as with MIL she is a very anxious person who is prone to depression and I'm sure that this has some part to play with her health issues. The problem is that 'living with it' for so long has caused something called Barrett's Oesophagus.

MIL avoids chocolate, cinnamon, peppermint, coffee, fatty foods like cream or pastries because she has found these cause attacks. Might be worth you keeping a food diary and see if there are any triggers?
Good luck anyway, must be very frustrating for you.

Dingdongler

Hmmm, I think you may actually need the help of somebody like turbohot more than you need a doctor

finalzero

Could it be nerve, muscle or tissue related? I have had similar pains recently, in fact I wondered if I had the on set of heart problems (due to get a big health test done soon).

I have started to get pains in a spot on my back behind my heart, related to a tightness of the chest on the left side but like you, I am very active, healthy, have regularly pushed my heart and not been concerned about anything.

Then someone suggested it could be a trapped nerve further up, pain usually is an indicator of a problem on the actual area or further back (or forward) somewhere. Could be you pinched something one day and it's caused these problems now.

As Les stated, get it checked, it will only get worse at best give you a troublesome life.

IWatkins

I'd get it checked again. I went through pretty much the same stuff and got more worried about it as no one seemed to help. I'm not saying this is it but sounds very similar.

Four years later? Tear in a muscle in my diaphragm that kept tearing through exercise was the final thing. Eating usually brought the pain though, not exercise, which was the big distraction.

After three months of only very light exercise and eating normally, I eased into exercise again and everything was fine. Nine years later all is still well.

Not saying that is it, but just an idea.