Home from ER...Update

Glad to hear it wasn't a heart attack. Omega-3, Green Tea, Ginger and Vitamin C are all anti-inflammatories. I do not know how quickly they will work though.

Huh. I wonder if it's your vagus nerve.

The vagus nerve can cause palpitations, and even stop your heart entirely when it's triggered.

Option A) The ulcer in your stomach is triggering your vagus nerve, which is giving you arrhythmias.
Option B) Your vagus nerve is being triggered by something else and giving you an ulcer AND heart palpitations

((Something else to know: Vagus stimulation is linked to inaccurately diagnosed panic/anxiety disorders))

Might be something COMPLETELY DIFFERENT... But I'd definitely check with your doctor. The vagus nerve does a LOT of things (it's one of the longest, if not the longest nerve in your body, and governs / serves as a highway for a lot of info)... but one of the mnemoics for it is:

Lose all your money in Vegas, and it will break your heart and give you ulcers.

My mom has Fibromyalgia and a heart murmer, not sure if they are connected or not but worth looking up or talking to the doc about I guess. I was also going to say that my son's pedi takes a post dated check for no more than 7 days in advance in cases of emergency and I would say heart issues are just that, it does not hurt to ask the front desk when you call to make the appointment does it?

ETW: You're welcome, my son had to go to the doc and we had 5bucks in the acct until Friday! It was one of those weeks you know where what can go wrong will go wrong - he had an ear infection we all knew it but he HAD to be seen to get the scrip to confirm the severity and I told them I could not come in until Monday - we do not get paid until Friday - they told me that I could post date the check for Tuesday (it was Wed am) and I could get what I needed - the doc made sure to get us the "walmart $4" scrip for him and gave us numing drops for free!

BTW: Glad it was not a heart attack, but still sad something is going on with you and you are not 100% the issue- it's never easy.

For the anxiety and uncertainty take Cuprum Metallicum 30c 4x a day.
It will help you to breathe better and relax you. The main thing it will do is take away your worries. The remedy is known to help in cases of cramping and asthma. Most people who need this remedy are independent, don't want to lean on others and are reliable.

Whew! Sorry, Libby, was unaware of all of this!
GLAD it was not your heart.
Have you looked into the possibility of spasms of the esophagus?
That can present with chest/back pain....even to shoulder....and is aggravated by anxiety.....

Fish oil supplements are a natural anti-inflammatory.

Get well soon!

Glad you weren't having a heart attack!

I have been diagnosed with fibromyalgia and have had this happen to me twice. I went to the ER, was admitted as a precaution both times even though my EKG's were good and they did all the tests to eliminate a heart attack. I have a history of ulcers but do take an anti-inflammatory as needed, along with a muscle relaxant. Fibromyalgia has a lot of symptoms, this may be one. If you are diagnosed ask to be referred to a rheumatologist who can help you understand it and recommend treatments and ways to help yourself.

Be careful with herbs as if you do have fibro it is an auto-immune disorder and can cause your body to react differently to things than most people. For instance, I cannot handle aloe, peppermint or ginger, they have the reverse effect on me and cause severe pain and heartburn. I have what I always thought were allergies to certain foods as well, and now know it's because of the fibromyalgia.

I have FM and have a heart condition of some kind that they can't figure out. I have tachycardia but there's something else that cannot be figured out. I'm sorry I'm no help as far as natural anti-inflammatory meds. I was just on a trial of Prednisone, although according to blood work I test negative for inflammation.

If you do have FM make sure you rest daily and try to figure out what your triggers are. Also, try to get in some bit of exercise, even if it's just stretching to help your muscles out. I'm not sure how closely heart conditions and FM are related. I'm quite young, 28 but have had this heart issue since at least 2007 and just recently was finally diagnosed with FM. Best of luck to you!

Hi tad-

My peter has fibromyalgia. He recently had some issues with chest pains...and we went for a stress test...there appeared to be no issues. I had him get a referral to cardiology though...and I am going to ask for a 'holter' monitor for 48 hours so that we can 'catch' an episode.

I have read that chest pain van be a symptom of fibro...BUT I worry due to his age (59 in february) and his family history...so we are waiting for an appointment.

I am sending healing thoughts...

SO glad you went...and it was not a heart attack.

Best Luck!
michele/cat

Thanks for the update. Please be good to yourself, Libby.

:)

If your docs think your condition is related to inflammation, try the anti inflammatory diet. It's hard work, but well worth it. It worked wonders for me. You have to completely avoid gluten, corn, dairy, soy, nightshades (white potatoes, tomatoes, bell peppers, eggplant,), eggs and beef, for 3 weeks. Then introduce each one sperately, 3 days apart. That's the important step. Watch for which one triggers or exacerbates your symptoms. I discovered that beef, dairy and nightshades trigger my condition, and by avoiding them, I'm pretty much symptom free. I can have a small amount of them very occassionally, but if I eat a decent amount of them often, I suffer. It's so good to know, cos I used to eat beef quite often and had no idea it was part of the problem. But it might be a different food group that sets of inflammation in your body. We're all different.
Also tumeric is a potent anti inflammatory, so cook with it whenever you can.
If you try the diet, I'd be really interested to know if it helps.
Good luck with figuring it all out.

Your sysmptoms sound very similar to the sysmptoms I was experiencing before they found out I had a pulmonary embolism. Are you on birth control? I had shortness of breath, chest and sholder pain. I thought I had just pulled a muscle but finally went to ER to have it checked out. At the ER did they do a D-dimer test and/or a CT scan. I am just mentioning it because it happened to me and most people wouldn't expect it to happen.

Have you thought maybe its acid reflux? I had chest pains, shortness of breath and pain in my shoulders too and worried it was my heart, which in turn made me worry and have a panic attack, and went to the Dr. It was acid reflux from meds I was taking for colitis. One of the side effects of my meds is acid reflux, if taken at bedtime. Laying down or leaning over can bring up those stomach acids and even if you dont think you have heart burn, you can have acid reflux. You dont always feel it like a burp that can bring things up, but you get this burning, tight, achy pain in your chest instead. It can make it hurt to take a deep breath. I now have another pill,, an acid reducer to take when I need and it stopped the pain in 2 days time. It was not my heart at all. Which then calmed my fears enough to stop me from having more panic attacks.
Now, on another note, stress can cause a lot of things, some of them serious. In Dec with buying a new home, moving and Holidays, and company, and all the everyday things, I had enough stress to cause rapid heart beat for several hours and went to the ER knowing it was dangerous. IV meds stopped it, and even tho they said my heart was plenty strong, it was a sign that something is wrong when stress manifests itself in weird heart stuff so I had a follow up with a cardiologist this week. I have what is called AFIB,, I wore a holter monitor for 24 hours, just took it back yesterday and await for the results in a few days. Im taking meds now to keep it from happening again. While I was having this AFIB episode I had no pain, no shortness of breath, no anxiety. I felt fine, just had a fast heart. But it is dangerous and can cause blood clots and stroke.
So, its just something to think about. Pain can sometimes be nothing to do with your heart, and sometimes heart problems arent even painful. Always see your Dr when you have these things happen. Try to stay calm, and not worry about it until you know its something to worry about. And a cute little kid bounching on your tummy may very well have brought up stomach acids enough to cause chest pain. Ask if you can take an acid reducer and it might help. Im taking Dexilant. works great. wishing you the best, Feel good!

For the surface stuff, can't lean on stuff, sitting hurts odd places, aches in the backs of your arm pits, etc... wherever/whenever there is pain I use ice. I live for the moments I can put ice on those pressure points and stop the pain.

Freeze some water in Styrofoam cups. When you have pain in the surface type areas take a Styrofoam cup out, peel off the top portion of the cup so that the dome of ice is exposed then have hubby or someone rub deeply on those spots. It is wonderful.

Libby:

I'm glad to hear it wasn't a heart attack!

Thank you for keeping us updated!!

Thanks for the update! So glad it wasn't a heart attack... Hope you figure it all out soon :)

Hope you get to the bottom of this.