# Young and having chest/angina pain



## atwilson (24 Feb 2014)

Howdy all –

After searching around on here and not finding a situation that matches mine, I figured I’d put this out there for some assistance.

*Short story:* I’m 30, pretty healthy and fit (I eat healthy, have a healthy weight, and healthy cholesterol, HDL, LDL, and triglycerides levels) have been cycling for a few years, and have had some on and off pain that mimics angina pain (chest compression and pressure/pain that radiates, most commonly up into my right or left jaw/ear). But I can’t consistently produce the symptoms. Anyone else my age deal with that?

*Long story: *I first got the pains in August 2012, after I’d been riding for about 9 months. I ride mostly to work (16 miles each way) a 3-4 days a week, plus a longish weekend ride (50+ miles). Unless I’m doing intervals, I keep about 80% of my max heart rate (around 170bpm). Sometime late August I started getting the pain during and after my rides: intense chest pressure and pain, usually on the left side, with pain that would radiate down my left shoulder and up into my left jaw and ear. Only happened twice.

Then had no more of it until November 2012 where it flared up again pretty bad (and were rather painful), on and off the bike. There were times I’d get up from a table and would get nailed with an episode that would last 20-30m.

Given that I’d had a nasty pulmonary embolism two years prior, I played it safe this time and headed into the cardiologist who I’d seen before. He listened to me for about 3 minutes before saying it was a freak thing, there was no way I could be having angina pain, that it was most likely some random esophageal muscle spasm, and that there was no need to do a stress test, since he considered my riding my bike a stress test and I could obviously do that OK. With that, I was shooed out the door and told not to come back for 20 years. Seemed reasonable and I hadn’t had another episode (aside from a little one in mid 2013) until this week.

The episodes haven’t been as bad as the past ones in 2012. But they’ve brought to my mind the issue and that maybe something is up. I looked around on some running and cycling forums and have found numerous people (though above my age, usually 40+) who’ve had the same issues (and more consistently), were perfect specimens of fitness, were cleared by their cardiologists, and then all of a sudden had a heart attack. That’s kind of unsettling. A friend of mine told about a 40-year old Cat1 racer he rode with all time who started having angina symptoms that he ignored until he collapsed dead during a ride from a massive heart attack.

I’m planning on getting into a different cardio very soon, but I want to know if you personally or you know someone who is around my age and has dealt with a similar issue, and if there’s any insight you have.

_Thank you _so much for your time and help!


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## welsh dragon (24 Feb 2014)

As Rocky says. Go see your Doctor straight away. There is no point in asking people here. Get to the Dr's..


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## compo (24 Feb 2014)

Get to the doctor, as others have said. It isn't necessarily your heart but you need testing to confirm what's causing the pain.


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## slowmotion (24 Feb 2014)

Go to your GP please. Don't bother to do any self-diagnosis on Google or Forums.


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## ScotiaLass (24 Feb 2014)

Get referred to a different cardiologist ASAP. 
There could be a number of reasons for your symptoms, but the only person who can diagnose and treat you is a qualified doctor.


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## atwilson (24 Feb 2014)

Hi all - thanks for the responses and your concern (I love the cycling community)!

I just want to clarify that I _am_ in the process of scheduling an appointment with a different cardiologist (who's got experience with sports med) and I'm gonna push to get tested in all sorts of way. What I'm looking for with the post is people who've had similar experiences and are around my age. The reason for that is, based on my experience, when dealing with a very uncommon health issue (such a pulmonary emboli in a healthy 27 year old with no underlying cause found, or infrequent angina pain in a healthy 30 yr old cyclist) it's helpful to be able to mention other cases to the Dr, tests that others went through, etc. It helps me bring the Dr the best description I can of what I'm experiencing. Especially since there's a 90% chance I won't be able to replicate the issue during a test it can also help convince a busy specialist who normally deals with elderly patients that I'm not a hypochondriac and that this needs to be taken seriously.

Thank you again!


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## jonnysnorocket (24 Feb 2014)

By posting on here and elsewhere? I would say it,s a reasonable assumption that you are not happy with the care/ answers you are receiving from the (Health care Professionals) Get a second & third (if you need it) opinion, insist on another stress test & don't let yourself be fobbed off. You approach looking for an answer, you deserve an investigation and a proper answer .....get your arse down down the Dr's, not the interweb forums, 
Be well


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## simon the viking (24 Feb 2014)

As previous replies see a Doc asap but I can speak from experience......Bit of a long story but happy to share if anyone can be bothered to read it

I had a couple of bouts of really bad chest pains when in my early 30's I was convinced it was heart probs and was linked up to a monitor a few times they found nothing, the doctor in the end decided it was Gastro reflux! I kept drinking a bottle of Gaviscon a week but kept getting worse until I was getting a bout of pains once a week.......

A couple of years later I was rushed into hospital with pancreatitus and the two causes for that is alcoholism and Gaul stones...... The doctors and nurses seemed quite rude at first (I was in extreme pain) and kept asking me how much I drank..... after the blood test came back showing that I was sober (and was so most of time) their attitude changed totally and decided it must be an inflamed Gaul bladder (which it was) had Gaul bladder op and not had any pains since ..... that was 10 years ago but if you had asked when I was having the pains I would have sworn heart probs....

On a funny note (well funny now) I actually went in to work with the pancreatitus thinking it was a dodgy takeaway the night before, by the time I got to work I was sweating buckets and couldn't walk without shoving my fingers into my abdomen...... My Boss took one look at me and said "What the F***** wrong with you" (She never ever swore normally) and wouldn't let me drive (didn't cycle then) the 20 miles home again..... 3 hours later I was intensive care

Hope this helps.......


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## Fab Foodie (24 Feb 2014)

New doc/ cardiologist ASAP and demand a 'stress test'.
As a fit cycling 42 year old I had some similar symptoms and ended up with an emergency stenting.
You're getting an early warning, heed it.


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## atwilson (24 Feb 2014)

simon the viking said:


> As previous replies see a Doc asap but I can speak from experience......Bit of a long story but happy to share if anyone can be bothered to read it
> 
> I had a couple of bouts of really bad chest pains when in my early 30's I was convinced it was heart probs and was linked up to a monitor a few times they found nothing, the doctor in the end decided it was Gastro reflux! I kept drinking a bottle of Gaviscon a week but kept getting worse until I was getting a bout of pains once a week.......
> 
> ...


Thanks!


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## atwilson (24 Feb 2014)

Fab Foodie said:


> New doc/ cardiologist ASAP and demand a 'stress test'.
> As a fit cycling 42 year old I had some similar symptoms and ended up with an emergency stenting.
> You're getting an early warning, heed it.



Thanks!


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## dave r (24 Feb 2014)

As others have said get down the doctor, its not as simple as I'm young, fit and healthy, there's other factors involved, I'm a lot older than you and a life long fit cyclist, that didn't stop me having angina and needing stenting, I had four fitted, my pains could have been mistaken for indigestion.


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## Jon George (24 Feb 2014)

As someone who has worked (part-time) in Out-of-Hours care for twenty years I know that diagnosis generally starts out as a percentage game until tests prove otherwise, and that it's a damn good idea to garner knowledge pre-examination. These days, doctors will often ask what you, as a patient, would like to happen - so go prepared. Keep well.


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## buggi (24 Feb 2014)

seriously i only read something yesterday about chest pain that radiates up the back to the jaw being a heart attack. Get an emergency appt with the doc straight away tomorrow and under NO circumstances (a) see the same cardiologist that saw you last time, (demand another consultant) and (b) let them fob you off without doing tests. I don't mean to scare you but that is exactly what i read yesterday, a nurse explaining what her own heart attack felt like. If you experience this again, stop what you are doing, phone for an ambulance, sit on the floor with your back against a wall, bring your knees to your chest and put your head down on your knees. This will help take pressure off your heart.
in fact, fark that, go to the hospital immediately.


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## atwilson (25 Feb 2014)

Thank you all! Still working to get into a quality cardiologist as soon as possible. I appreciate the input and would still love to hear from folks who've gone through similiar things and what their symptoms looked like. 

Either way, I'll update on hear once I get the results from my test. Maybe it'll end up being useful to others.


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## pawl (26 Feb 2014)

atwilson said:


> Thank you all! Still working to get into a quality cardiologist as soon as possible. I appreciate the input and would still love to hear from folks who've gone through similiar things and what their symptoms looked like.
> 
> Either way, I'll update on hear once I get the results from my test. Maybe it'll end up being useful to others.


I underwent open heart surgery in June last year (post is somewhere on this site)
My sympt.oms consisted of feeling feint when riding steep hills or walking up steep hills.I actualy passed out for a short time while walking in the Lake district.I had no heart pain prior to feinting. I had some pain in my left shoulder which I put down to age, I was 72 at the time.
I visited my GP who did an ECG result irregular heart beat.I was referred to my local cardiac unit where I had numerous tests re heart function result the Aortic valve wasn't opening fully and there was some restriction in blood flow in one of the arteries from the heart.
I underwent open heart surgery to replace the valve and bypass . I am fortunate that we have one of the best coronary care units in the UK The Glenfield Hospital Leicester plus a brilliant GP.
I was back riding on the road within 10 weeks and the Turbo immediately on discharge from hospital
Put some pressure on your GP to refer you for the appropriate tests ECG angiogram etc.
Good luck.


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## atwilson (7 Mar 2014)

Finished up at the Mayo Clinic today. All tests (blood panel, ECG, chest x-ray, and stress echo) came back normal with no indications of ischemia (lack of blood and oxygen to the heart), and so no sign that this is heart related. The Dr said he wasn't sure what was causing the issue, but the infrequency of it might indicate that it's something else. When asked if it could just be demanding too much work on a heart not properly trained, he couldn't say one way or the other.

So, the plan this week is to start poking the bear with a stick with VO2 max intervals and some climbs. If the symptoms start reappearing and stays isolated to times when I'm on the bike, then I'll go back for a non-invasive angiogram.

Thanks again all! I'll update this thread if something notable changes.


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## ColinJ (7 Mar 2014)

Why not ask for the loan of a portable heart event monitor, a device that you hold against your chest to catch events that only happen occasionally? Then go out and see if you get the pain again.


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## Fab Foodie (7 Mar 2014)

Be aware that not everybody has the same symptoms . I never had the pain down the arm or chest but it always felt like it was in my back muscles, like a spasm or cramp. I felt it when I smoked, rode hard uphill and when shagging! Only when I had my attack did I have the 'filing cabinet on the chest' moment.


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