Chest pains

[Macdadz]

Hi everyone, just wondering if anyone else has been getting the same problems. For the past year I have been getting these random sharp chest pains. They usually occur on my left side but can occur on the right side of my chest. Some times I get an "electric jolt" across my heart and pains in my collar bone and stomach. Usually the sharp pains come and go and reappear in different locations in my chest. It's very annoying and I've had all the usual tests like an x ray, blood tests and ECG and even seen a cardiologist. All my doctors seem to think it's due to stress or anxiety but I find it hard to imagine because I wouldn't say I'm any more stressed than usual so why now?

[blondguy]

Hello Macdadz and Welcome to the forums

I used to get those stabbing occasional pains too and had the xrays which ended up clear. Even if you dont suffer from anxiety disorder or depression, basic stress (for me it was working in corporate) can tighten our muscles around the chest (and abdomen) and result in short stab like pain.

It is disturbing and sometimes scary. After being cleared with all the tests the only gremlin left is usually muscle spasm resulting in these sharp pains.

Sometimes the bigger picture can speak volumes, as in if your sleep is poor quality....waking up at silly hours for no reason.....minor heart palpitations......increased stress at work or in our personal lives....

There are many kind people that can help that suffer similar symptoms Macdadz. Ive had anxiety for a long time and when I dont have any anxiety any excess stress did result in the odd sharp pain...

I hope that some of this has been of some help...You are more than welcome to post as many times as you wish 🙂

My Best

Paul

[BballJ]

Hi Macdadz,

Firstly, welcome to the forums, I saw Paul above commented, one of my favourite people who post and support people especially in the anxiety section so please take his advice.

Before i knew I had anxiety i used to get all sorts of weird things happen to me, specifically the chest pains, they were intense and one day i actually thought I was having a heart attack. I was only 23 and every doctor almost laughed when i told them and said I was too young to worry about it, I worked out it was anxiety related as it always appeared when faced with stressful situations or events, one was I used to hate being home alone for long periods of time, and during the times I was home alone I was so stressed I would get sharp chest pains, left or right side, only once I was no longer home alone, my stress went away and so did the chest pains. Point is at the time I didnt feel stressed or have anxiety that I knew about so I thought it was abnormal. Low and behold years later, diagnosed with Generalised Anxiety Disorder that it all started making sense.

Hope that provides a bit of clarity for you.

My best for you,

Jay